indigo court 05.5 - night shivers

by Yasmine Galenorn

  NIGHT SHIVERS

  -An Indigo Court Novella-

  YASMINE GALENORN

  A Nightqueen Enterprises LLC Publication

  Published by Yasmine Galenorn

  PO Box 2037, Kirkland WA 98083-2037

  NIGHT SHIVERS

  An Indigo Court Novella

  Copyright ©2015 by Yasmine Galenorn

  First Chapter of NIGHT MYST published/posted by arrangement with Berkley Publishing Group, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Copyright © Yasmine Galenorn, 2010

  First Electronic Printing: 2015 Nightqueen Enterprises LLC

  Cover Art imagery licensed via Shutterstock.com

  Cover Design by Yasmine Galenorn

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any format, be it print or electronic or audio, without permission. Please prevent piracy by purchasing only authorized versions of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, or places is entirely coincidental and not to be construed as representative or an endorsement of any living/existing group, person, place, or business.

  A Nightqueen Enterprises LLC Publication

  Published in the United States of America

  INTRODUCTION

  The Beginning

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Character List

  First chapter of Night Mist

  Biography and Complete Book List

  INTRODUCTION

  When I originally wrote NIGHT’S END—the last book in the Indigo Court Series—I truly believed that I was done with it. I really didn’t have any more stories to tell in the world. But after leaving it alone for a while, a few gremlins began to nudge my thoughts. Gremlins that started to become ideas. I tried to shake them off because I knew that my publisher really wasn’t looking for more Indigo Court books.

  Then I decided to go hybrid (not only work within traditional publishing, but also self-publishing). At that moment, I realized that I didn’t have to stick to storylines that would have a broad-enough appeal to warrant a mass-market contract.

  I could take Cicely’s world anywhere I wanted. As long as I wrote a good story and wrote true to my characters, I could explore all sorts of avenues. And that freedom opened up the proverbial creative floodgates.

  So here we go—my first Indigo Court novella. I’m hoping this won’t be the last story. I plan on writing more in this world now that I know where I want to go with it, and I hope you enjoy the ride as much as you did the original series.

  Thanks to the usual suspects: my husband Samwise who supports me in so many ways. I thank my assistants Andria Holley and Jenn Price. They keep me on track. A loving thank-you to my Galenorn Gang, who make writing a lot more fun with their purrs and meows. Most reverent devotion to Ukko—who rules over the wind and sky, Rauni—queen of the harvest, Tapio—the Hunter in the forest, and Mielikki—goddess of the Woodlands and Dark Fae Queen in her own right, my spiritual guardians. To Brighid, Goddess of poetry and inspiration. And to the Fae—both dark and light—who walk this world beside us, may we see you in the shadows, and in the shimmer of ice. My spiritual grounding keeps me centered and focused.

  And thank you to my Moon Stalkers—my fans and my readers, for your support and enthusiasm. You can find me on the net at Galenorn En/Visions. To make certain you get all updates on new releases, please sign up for my monthly newsletter. If you write to me snail mail (see web site for address), please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you would like a reply. Lots of cool promo goodies are available—see web site.

  ~The Painted Panther

  ~Yasmine Galenorn

  “The madman often tells the truth.”

  Old Norse proverb

  The Beginning

  The new Courts had risen to power, the Queen of Snow and Ice on her frozen throne, and the Queen of Rivers and Rushes in her fiery realm. The time of the Vampiric Fae had passed, and what few were still alive hid themselves, cloaking against discovery. A time of truce between factions was growing—the true vampires of the Crimson Court, the Fae, and the Consortium. Together, the three powers negotiated peace, and looked to creating a world that all could enjoy—including the yummanii—the human-born. But there are always enemies, and there will always be war. And so, a year after Queen Cicely accepted the crown of Snow and Ice, there came to her door the first hint of a new threat—perhaps an even greater one than Myst had presented…

  From: The New Courts of Fae

  Chapter 1

  A storm was racing in off the distant ice fields. As I stood at the crest of the hill, I could feel it riding the winds, hard, like a Wind Elemental on an overdose of steroids. The gusts were strong with this one, and the blizzard would be harsh and fierce. I could almost feel a sentience to the storm, as though it were a creature. Hunger drove it. That, and the desire to cover the land in a cloak of white.

  I brushed my hair from my face as the wind whipped through, catching up the strands that had strayed from my ponytail. My crown fit snuggly, but it could only do so much in keeping me presentable. At least I don’t have helmet hair, I thought.

  But out here—on the Western Floes by the Crashing Sea—looks didn’t matter. Out here, where the ice stretched out over deep oceans of freezing water, survival was the name of the game. And stray hairs were the last thing I was worried about. I was dressed in a thick pair of black jeans. For this journey, I had refused Druise’s attempt to get me into my traditional corset top, insisting instead on a heavy layered sweatshirt. The cold wouldn’t bother me too much, but I needed to be able to move. Even though I was essentially immortal, if I fell into the azure depths, I could still drown.

  Grieve was standing by the edge of the ice sheet we were on, his hand shading his eyes from the gleam of late afternoon light. The sky was silver, with strands of blue streaking through it. The sun never rose, nor shone down with its brilliant beams. The realm of Snow and Ice was illuminated by silver hues, accentuated with pale blue in the morning. At dusk, they faded into a velvety aubergine and then into deep black.

  “Do you see anything?” I cautiously skirted the jutting blocks of ice that littered the floe, coming to stand by his side.

  He shook his head. “Not yet. I know The Wave Catcher was supposed to be arriving at our harbor today.”

  “Harbor” was a kind word for the makeshift piers we stood next to. The Crashing Sea was as violent as its name, and very few ships ever came over the horizon to dock by our shores. For one thing, most of the ships would have to launch from another realm, coming through a dangerous portal.

  “Do you think…will they be on it?” I could barely breathe, hoping against hope, but my love softly turned and took my hands in his. His hair hung down his back, spun platinum against his olive skin. His eyes were the black of night, with a thousand stars circling in them.

  My love. My Prince. My King. Grieve, my chosen consort.

  “Cicely, you know they can’t return here. Wrath and Lainule are forever gone from these realms. The minute they crossed into the realm of Snow and Ice they would begin to age and die. They must remain on the Golden Isle, where they will live until they are ready to let go and walk into the mists.” He lifted one of my hands and kissed it gently, his razor-sharp teeth grazing my skin. I shivered at his touch.

  “I know, but I keep hoping. I miss them.” Miss was putting it mildly. Every day, I thought about my father, and the former Queen of Rivers and Rushes. They had not only changed my life forever, but had been instrumenta
l to my very existence.

  “I know you do. But focus on the positive. The ship is bringing new members for our Court—and for the Court of Rivers and Rushes. New immigrants.”

  Grieve seemed genuinely excited, and I tried to match his enthusiasm. But the thought of newcomers entering our halls scared the crap out of me. Would they accept me as their queen, given my heritage? I was only half Cambyra Fae—the rest of me was magic-born, regardless of the fact that I had been through a magical transformation.

  I was still unsure of my place, and each day brought its own series of accomplishments and setbacks. At least I could speak Cambyra fairly well. I had immersed myself in it, forced Grieve to spend at least an hour a day talking to me in the dialect of the Winter Fae, and though I wasn’t entirely skilled, I finally had managed a rudimentary grasp of how the language worked.

  An owl hovered overhead, then settled down near us. Shifting—like a blur on the ice—my grandfather straightened up. I flashed him a grateful smile. He knew how nervous I was.

  “Hunter, I’m glad you made it.”

  “To see new blood come to our land? I wouldn’t miss it, my girl.”

  “There! I see the ship!” Check, one of my personal bodyguards, pointed out a dark shape riding the swells of the Crashing Sea. As it grew closer, the ship came into focus, ghostly in the mists that boiled along the water. A massive galleon with three masts, the sails were fully unfurled, the wind driving against them with a hard, steady breeze. The wood of The Wave Catcher gleamed in the late afternoon, carved from ancient white oaks back on the Golden Isle, the birthplace of the Sidhe.

  I strained my eyes, trying to see anyone who might be watching over the railing, but could see no one. There were no figures rushing about, no shouts from the deck. In fact, the silence was downright eerie as the ship slowly approached the edge of the floe. I cocked my head, wondering why the ship was sparkling so brightly.

  “Something’s wrong. Look at the ice.” Grieve leaned toward me, and pointed to the masts. I squinted, realizing he was right. The masts—the railings, the entire ship seemed encased in a layer of ice.

  “Reminds me of when the men are out on the Bering Sea on The Deadliest Catch.” I shook my head. “There’s something odd about that ice, but I can’t put my finger on what.”

  “ ‘Deadliest Catch’? What are you talking about?”

  “Television show. I used to watch it all the time. I can’t now that we live here.” But I remembered all too well what the ships had looked like, icing up during the freezing storms that hit them. The storms knocked them around like spinning tops, and the men had to get out on the decks and break the ice off before it overloaded the ships and sent them to the bottom of the sea.

  “The ice should have capsized her by now, shouldn’t it?” I didn’t know much about ships, but I did know that this wasn’t normal.

  Grieve shook his head. “No, it shouldn’t. The ship came through the mists into our realm. When you really think about it, I doubt if it’s been on the waters long enough to become so iced over. The crew should have taken care of it, even so.” He motioned to Check. “Take the Queen back a safe distance. The ship is traveling at a good clip and they are showing no signs of slowing down, even though they’re almost to the docks.”

  Check nodded. As usual, I was forced to retreat to the top of the cliff, away from the length of ice that stretched out to form a natural pier. Posts had been frozen into it, with strong ropes to tie down the ships as they eased into the harbor.

  As I struggled to see what they were doing, the ship kept its heading: straight at the ice.

  My men hesitated at first, then began to back away. Then, as the galleon lurched into port, they turned to run. The ship rammed itself into the edge of the floe. As the two forces met, the scream of wood against ice was excruciating. The ship shrieked, the wood splintering like toothpicks, as the ice—hundreds of meters deep—won the battle, driving like a wedge into the hull of the boat. The destruction echoed around us as the ship shuddered to a halt and then the water began to flow in through the holes in the hull.

  My men sprang into action, racing across the ice as the boat began to flounder. Three of them—owl shifters—transformed and flew up to the deck, shifting back as they landed. It was easier and safer than scaling the ropes, which were swinging from the sides of the hull.

  I watched, waiting. We had to get the Sidhe who were aboard safely off the ship. Some were Cambyra—the Shifting Fae. Others were the Sidhe of the Old World, but they were all our kinsmen. Fretting, I planned out what we would need. Blankets, food, medical care…but until I knew how many reserves we would need, all I could do was wait and hope that we got everyone off. That nobody would be dragged to the bottom as the ship slowly sank.

  The great ship moaned and keened, listing to her starboard side. I tried not to hold my breath, tried not to imagine my men in there, trapped as debris flew every which way. Time passed—I didn’t know how long, but finally, the men who went aboard were back at the rails. Another few moments and they took to the air in owl form again, soon landing near us. As they shifted back, one of them—Brazen—stepped forward, bowing low.

  “Your Majesty, I regret to inform you that we found no signs of life on board.”

  I stared at him. “Everyone is dead? But how? The ship just hit the ice—surely that couldn’t have killed everyone.” It didn’t make sense. The jolt could have easily knocked some off their feet to maybe hit their heads or break arms and legs, but otherwise…

  But Brazen shook his head. “No, Your Majesty. That’s not what I meant. There are no signs of life on board. There’s nobody aboard that ship.” He looked just as confused as I felt.

  I craned my neck, staring at the shuddering ship. It was starting to list badly. “Are you sure you looked through every deck?” The thought of people trapped, sucked down into the icy depths of the Crashing Sea, made my blood run slow, made the cold suddenly seem more terrifying. I loved the snow and ice and barren fields—they had become my home, but the waters were deadly, even for those of us who lived in the perpetual twilight.

  “Yes, we looked in every room. My men are fast and thorough. We would leave no creature behind, Your Majesty. Truly, there are supposed to be over two hundred people aboard that ship. There’s nary a one. There are signs of their existence—the ship has food and items aboard. I found the captain’s quarters, and one of our men—there he is.” He pointed to the ship, where a man emerged to the light. “He stayed to gather what he could. I will go help him now.”

  As Grieve and I watched, Brazen and another member of the guard managed to catch hold of one of the ropes and hold it taut, allowing the guard still aboard to tie a bundle to it and send it sliding to the icy shore. Then he, too, shifted and flew out of the boat.

  Brazen brought the sack of goods to us immediately. I noticed he was cradling something in his arm.

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s a cat, Your Majesty. A snow lynx kit.” He held it out, and I looked at the baby lynx. It let out a loud mew, one that said, “I’m hungry, feed me” or, perhaps, “Where’s my mother?”

  “Only one on board?” I met his eyes.

  “I don’t know, but Honor might be able to tell us when he gets here.” Brazen took the cat from me, though I lingered over its fur. The guard searched through the bag until he came up with a haunch of meat. He tore off bits and pressed them to the young cat’s mouth, who eagerly gobbled them up.

  Honor landed near us, then transformed back, coming to one knee at my side. “Your Majesty. I brought what I could find in the captain’s quarters. The baby lynx was the only creature we found alive on that ship. There was evidence that there were more—at least a litter—but they were nowhere in sight.”

  I nodded, thinking the kit must have been part of a litter. It was too young to be on its own. “But the Sidhe? All two hundred people coming to join our realms?”

  “No sign of them. Nothing but the possessions they brou
ght aboard the boat. No bodies, no skeletons… Nothing to show anybody was piloting the ship at all.”

  A chill raced through me. Something was dreadfully wrong.

  At that moment, a terrible screech sounded—the shriek of breaking wood—as the ice forced its way into the boat, fracturing still more of the wounded hull. I turned, watching the boat begin to keel.

  Shaking my head, I forced myself to turn away. “Until we know what happened, I want guards watching over this area. Make certain you set a decent-sized force. We don’t want a small scouting party caught unawares. Meanwhile, the lynx…” I looked down at the little kit. Soft, with a snowy coat spotted with black, the cat was beautiful. I leaned down and it gave me a pathetic roar. “I think…you will join His Lordship and me in our chambers. Make certain…” I motioned for Brazen to flip the kit over. I brushed through the fur, then smiled softly. “Make certain this little girl is warm and given what she needs and kept calm and happy. If Druise doesn’t have the time to take care of her for me, find someone trustworthy. In the meanwhile, we head back to the Barrow. This does not bode well, not in any sense. We have to send word to the Marburry Barrow that their passengers have vanished, and we must alert the Golden Isle that all aboard appear to have been lost somewhere in the mists.”

  And with that, I turned, my back to the water, as the great ship listed even further. I didn’t have the heart to watch it sink.

  We reached the Barrow before nightfall, running at full speed over the snow. I was almost as fast as the others now—those born full Cambyra Fae. My initiation into the queenship had seen to that. We ran on top of the ice and snow, leaving no tracks, a silent, swift force gliding by as the afternoon lengthened into dusk.