Tamil fell silent for a moment, tilting her head to watch as the stars hurtled past us. “It doesn’t affect you, though,” she finally said. “Because you’re half-dragon.”
“I never thought about it… but you must be right.” I’d never felt any negative effects from riding on Einar’s back, and it hadn’t occurred to me that doing so would weaken a fae. I wondered if my mother had experienced the same thing Tamil was going through, or if she’d even ever ridden on my father’s back before. Perhaps the mate bond between them had protected her.
The mate bond.I lifted a hand to my neck, brushing my fingers against the spot where Einar had bitten me. We were headed to Bala Oighr, where Tamil’s ice priestess stood ready and waiting to perform the ritual. That meant I was no longer beholden to Lady Axlya’s wishes—that I didn’t have to marry Prentis.
That I could marry Einar instead, if I wanted.
I felt more than heard the rumbling purr that came from Einar’s chest, almost as if he knew the direction my thoughts had turned. The vibrations traveled straight to my core, sending a flush of heat through my body, and suddenly, I wished I wasn’t pressed against Tamil’s back. The close contact seemed inappropriate, given the lustful direction of my thoughts, and I did my best to shove thoughts of Einar out of my mind.
I tried to stay awake through the duration of the flight, but I must have dozed off. One second I was staring at the silvery sea of clouds below me, and the next, Tamil was nudging my knee.
“Wake up, Adara,” she said. “We’re nearly there.”
Blinking, I lifted my head from Tamil’s shoulder, then let out a gasp. The rivers and lakes and gently rolling hills of Lochanlee had disappeared, giving way to a vast, rugged tundra. A massive wall of ice loomed beyond it, stretching from one end to the other as far as I could see and rising several miles above the ground to claw at the sky with its jagged edges. The sun was just beginning to crest the horizon, backlighting the wall with buttery yellow rays so it sparkled with the force of a mountain of diamonds.
“You’d better let us down here,” Tamil called to Einar, pitching her voice high to be heard over the shrieking winds. “Otherwise the archers will try to take us out, and while your dragon hide will protect you, I’d rather not be turned into a pincushion this morning!”
Einar obeyed, setting us down a mile out from the wall. “This place is freezing,” he grumbled once he’d shifted back into bi-pedal form. He hunched his broad shoulders against the stiff wind and rubbed his massive arms, which were clad only in the tunic he’d brought. “I wish I’d thought to fetch a cloak before we made our escape.”
“We’ll provide you with furs once we get inside,” Tamil promised. Flakes of snow fell around us, disappearing into her white hair and frosted eyelashes. “Let’s get going.”
The three of us trudged through the snowy landscape, keeping our heads down against the wind. Einar did his best to bear the cold, but I could feel his discomfort through our bond, even muted as it was. I sidled closer so I could slip my hand into his, offering him what little warmth I could. He immediately tucked my arm into his, and a warm glow spread through my body, prompting a smile to tug at my cheeks.
“Thank you for flying us here,” I whispered, leaning into him. I knew how tired he had to be after traveling through the night.
“You don’t have to thank me for that.” He turned his head to press a kiss to the top of my cheek. “I would fly through a legion of shadow creatures for you.”
Tamil’s eyes flickered our way, but she said nothing, allowing us the moment of intimacy. I wondered if she approved or not, and if watching us reminded us of the romance between my parents. Had she supported my mother? Or had she opposed the union like Prentis had?
“Who goes there?” someone shouted as we approached the ice wall. I craned my neck to stare up at the sheer face of the wall, to a lookout tower perched directly above us. One of many towers, I realized as I scanned the top of the wall. They were spaced about a dozen yards apart, each lit with torches and manned with a pair of archers. The one speaking to us now had his bow drawn, and I tried not to be intimidated by the arrow aimed directly at my face.
“It’s me, Diren,” Tamil called back, lowering her hood to reveal her face. “Tamil. These are my companions, Adara and Einar. My father is expecting us.”
I started, having forgotten about Tamil’s father. She’d mentioned that he was bedridden, hanging onto life by a mere thread. Did she find time to send word to him about our arrival, despite escaping on such short notice?
“All right,” Diren shouted back after a long moment. “One second.”
A large, rectangular section of the wall, about twice my height and five times my width, melted away, revealing a passage for us. Tamil led the way, Einar bringing up the rear, and I followed between them. The walls of the ice tunnel glittered around us, bathing us in a ghostly blue glow not dissimilar to the eerie light the underground river had given off earlier. While the tunnel was more than large enough to accommodate us, I couldn’t help but be aware of the thousands of tons of ice above us, pressing in from all sides. Sweat crept along my temples as my mind threatened to conjure nightmarish scenarios, and I had to press my lips together to keep myself from urging Tamil to walk faster.
The ice wall isn’t going to come crashing down on top of us,I reminded myself.It has literally held for thousands of years.
We emerged on the other side of the wall to find the two guards from the top of the wall waiting for us. “Lady Tamil,” Diren said, confusion on his face as he beheld us. “The last I heard, you were at the war council in Usciete. How did you get here so quickly, on foot?”
“We didn’t come on foot,” Tamil said. She swept her hand toward Einar and said, “Einar here is a dragon. He was kind enough to give us a ride… though as a fae, I don’t recommend riding on dragonback unless you’d like to have all your magic siphoned out of your body. Please fetch us a few mounts from the stables. I’d rather not walk all the way to the fortress, or ride on dragonback again anytime soon.”
She shuddered a little, and guilt wracked me as I noticed the shadows beneath her eyes and the gaunt expression on her face. She’d been putting on a brave face, keeping pace with us as we trudged through the snow… but then again, maybe she was only able to keep up because we were all tired. Einar had flown through the night, and I’d been fasting for ten days. None of us were in peak condition, to say the least.
“A dragon?” Diren’s companion yelped. He reached for his sword, and Einar let out a low growl, shifting his body in front of mine. “How is that possible? All the dragons are supposed to be dead!”
“I’ve heard rumors of a dragon spotted in the attack on Kaipei Castle,” Diren said. His eyes narrowed on me. “Are you the fae who killed King Aolis?”
I swallowed hard at the censure in his eyes, and looked to Tamil. I knew in the back of my mind that rumors about me had to be swirling through the countryside. Many of the Edirian citizens would look at me as a traitor rather than a savior of the realm, since they didn’t know the truth about King Aolis and the shadow creatures.
“It’s a long story, Diren,” Tamil said heavily, “and I’m tired. But you know me, and you know our father. Would we bring a murderer into Bala Oighr?”
“No,” Diren said. “Not willingly. But you might be tricked into helping one.”
Tamil squared her shoulders and looked the soldier dead in the eye. “I realize you’re being protective,” she said in a steely tone, “but I gave you an order, and as the acting ruler of Bala Oighr, I don’t owe you any explanation.”