That thought made her heart sink a little, but she tried to push it out of her mind. She hadn’t come searching for the Oracle for her own selfish feelings. She was doing it to help Adara, and to save their kingdom.
“If you say so.” Leap crossed his arms as he leaned against the window, the annoyance on his face giving way to a more thoughtful expression. “Were you able to get a sense of where she was, at least? Or were you two frolicking through some fanciful dreamscape?”
“No, I think the place in the dream is a facsimile of the place she’s being kept.” Mavlyn did her best to describe the room, specifically mentioning the grey stone walls and lack of windows that all the fancy white furniture hadn’t failed to cover up.
“Hmm. It felt like an underground bunker?” Leap tapped his chin as he considered what Mavlyn had said. “Sounds like she’s being held at Windhelm.” At Mavlyn’s blank look, he added, “It’s a fortress built into the heart of one of the Gaoth Aire mountains, about a two-hour ride from here on Cirra. It’s an ancient stronghold that predates the Dragon-Fae war, back when the clans were still warring for dominance over the Gaoth Aire. Once House Seifir had established itself as the ruling clan, they established Angtun as their official seat of power. But Windhelm still exists, and our military still uses it as an operations base.”
“Great,” Mavlyn grumbled. “That means it’s going to be heavily defended.”
“I’m sure we can figure out a way to break in.” Leap sighed, turning to look out the window at the glittering spires below. “The real challenge is going to be figuring out how to get out ofherefirst.”
18
Adara
Lady Axlya wasted no time after General Slaugh’s calamitous declaration. She called an emergency council meeting with the leaders of each of the water clans—lake, marsh, ocean, and ice—and ordered all family members residing in the castle to attend.
“How is she going to get the clan leaders here on short notice?” I asked as Prentis and I hurried toward the meeting place. “She’s given us all mere hours to appear.”
“The clan leaders won’t be attending in person,” Prentis explained. His stride ate up the ground, and I had to take two steps for every one of his just to keep pace. His expression revealed nothing, but there was a determined set to his jaw as we walked, lines of tension running from his shoulders and into the soles of his boots as they echoed across the tiled floors. “They’ll be appearing via ice mirror.”
“Ice mirror?” I echoed, not sure if I’d heard him right. “What do you mean, ice mirror?”
Prentis’s mouth twisted into a smirk. “You’re about to find out.”
We rounded the corner, where a set of double doors awaited us at the end of a long corridor. The doors were thrown wide open and flanked by two guards, who inclined their heads respectfully to Prentis as we passed into a large tower room. The ceiling stretched impossibly high above, light filtering in through a series of rectangular windows that trailed up the sides of the tower in a spiral pattern. Below the windows, a set of twelve mirrors ringed the circumference of the room, each one ten feet tall and set in silver frames. At first, I thought they were made of frosted glass, but upon closer inspection, I realized that the glass panes were actually sheets ofice.
Ice mirrors indeed.
“Adara, Prentis, you’re here.” Lady Axlya’s voice ripped my attention from the mirrors, and I turned to the assembled nobles. A semi-circle of chairs had been placed on the left side of the room, where Axlya sat in the center, her consorts and advisors seated on her right. An unpleasant feeling rippled through me as I spied Cascada seated in a chair to Axlya’s left, but I barely spared her a thought as I noticed the male sitting right next to her.
Einar.
Though Axlya’s presence dominated the room, I found my gaze riveted to the dragon male who infuriated and inspired me in equal parts. His golden gaze ensnared mine, and the phantom puncture marks he’d leftthrobbed, shooting straight from my neck into my groin. Heat pooled between my thighs, and his nostrils flared as though he could sense my sudden rush of desire.
Damn him. I resisted the urge to clench my fists. Einar had done something to me when he’d bitten me, and judging by the glint in his eyes, he knew exactly what was happening to me. I’d always been drawn to him, I could admit that now, but I’d never felt the pull with such intensity. It was as though no one else in the room existed, only the two of us. My legs trembled beneath my dress as I fought against the desire to take a running leap straight into his lap and finish what we’d started yesterday.Thiswas why I’d been avoiding him since Prentis had found us yesterday.
And why, I suspected, he’d been avoiding me as well.
“Adara?” Prentis’s fingers were at my elbow, pulling me back to the present. I was suddenly aware of everyone else’s eyes on me, and my skin prickled with embarrassment as I realized they’d all watched me salivate over Einar like a lust-ridden nymph. Prentis himself didn’t seem pleased. His mouth flattened into a thin line, and he looked at Einar as if he’d enjoy nothing more than to use his water whip to throw him bodily from the room. The smirk curling at the corner of Einar’s lips told me he, too, was aware of that. I fought the urge to roll my eyes as I took my seat next to him, sandwiched between him and Prentis, who was seated directly to Axlya’s left.
“How did you convince Lady Axlya to let you in?” I muttered out of the corner of my lips, leaning toward him so the others wouldn’t hear.
He only winked at me. “A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”
Ididroll my eyes at him then, leaning away from Einar and cutting off the conversation. I glanced at the mirrors across the room and immediately wished I hadn’t—three of them flashed a brilliant gold, so bright they scorched my eyes. As I blinked rapidly, trying to get rid of the spots that appeared in my vision, shadowy forms took shape on the icy surfaces, revealing three Greater Fae.
“Thank you for coming on short notice,” Lady Axlya said, her voice echoing in the chamber. She sat straight backed in her chair, no longer the languorous noble playing games of cat and mouse, but an iron-fisted leader, prepared to do whatever it took to protect her realm. “I’ve summoned you here today because I’ve received some shocking news.”
As Lady Axlya informed them about General Slaugh’s missive, Prentis filled me in on the clan leaders. The fae on the left was Lady Ria of the Marsh Fae. She wore her heather colored braid in loose waves down her back, her willowy form draped in a daffodil colored gown with a square neckline. The fae in the middle was Lord Aigean of the Ocean Fae. He wore a skin-tight suit that molded to every inch of his swimmer’s body, and perched on a throne that seemed crafted from sea shells. In the mirror on the right, wearing ice blue leathers trimmed with fur, was Lady Tamil, representative of the Ice Fae. Her father, Lord Tor, was the ice clan’s patriarch, but a terrible illness had afflicted him, leaving her to rule in his stead while he recovered.
“And what about the lake fae clan leader?” I whispered to Prentis.
His voice was entirely too smug as he answered, “You’re sitting right next to him.”
My cheeks burned as I sat back in my chair. I felt woefully out of my depth in this room—I might be water fae, might be a descendent of House Usciete and the rightful heir to Ediria’s throne. But this was yet another subtle reminder that I knew nothing, that I wasn’t qualified to even be in this room, never mind sit on the throne.
What had I been thinking, coming here?