Court of Frost and Embers (The Pair Bond Chronicles Book 1)

by Leeann M. Shane

He let out a gruff sigh, his shoulders slouching. He looked me right in the eye. “Fae’s are not human, Princess. We are dangerous, ruthless beings, but we always keep our word. Does it feel rotten inside to betray me?”

  “Yes,” I admitted. “It hurts almost as badly as the emptiness.”

  His eyes softened. “I am not one for forgiveness. I rarely need it. An ounce of betrayal may as well be a pound. But I also know that an etern is even more important than your truth. I’ve seen faes do atrocious things when they lose them, even worse to keep them. Driven to madness. It’s an awful thing. I’ve never felt the pull, but I understand that it’s out there. I am doing everything I can to bring him back to you. I promise. All you have to do is trust me.”

  Holy crap I felt like crap. “I’m sorry,” I repeated, not knowing what else to do. “I won’t do it again.”

  “Is that a promise?” he checked.

  “Yes,” I promised him, meaning it. “And technically, you stopped me before I did anything wrong. It was more of a possible betrayal bred from desperation. Just a hiccup.”

  “What is a hiccup?” he wondered, fighting a smile.

  “Err… an involuntary spasm that makes you sort of burp and cough. It also means a minor setback. I take it fairies don’t hiccup?”

  “No,” he answered simply, not even bothering to consider how absurd that would be. “Are they comical?”

  I found his question amusing, fighting my own smile. “They can be. Especially if they go on and on. I got them one time for hours. I threw up and had to take a nap for them to stop.”

  His eyes widened in alarm. “That sounds awful.”

  I guessed to a fairy, it kind of did. “It isn’t fun,” I agreed. “They’re not as bad as passing gas in front of my entire freshman gym class due to a miscalculated sit-up.”

  He gaped at me. “You poor thing. Humans. As if being mortal isn’t enough, they’re disgusting.” He brushed the conversation off with a tiny shake of his head, exiling mortality into a neat, horrific box he never had to reopen again. “It is time for your questions. Join me in my war room.” He held his arm out, giving me his elbow.

  “Can I change first?”

  “Are your gowns not of liking?” Worry coated his words. “I can have the seamstress create new ones. Grander ones. Greater ones. Anything you want, Princess, I will give you.”

  His concern brought me up short. I shook my head, unsure how to tell him what I wanted and still appreciate what was given to me. “The gowns are beautiful. All of them. I’m not used to wearing dresses, that’s all. I’m more of a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. Are there jeans in Faierie?”

  His expression screwed together. “What are jeans?”

  “They’re pants.”

  He brightened. “If the princess wants pants, she gets pants.” He wiggled his still outstretched elbow.

  I took his elbow with an internal sigh. “I wish you’d stop calling me that.”

  He led me out of my room, and we walked patiently through the castle, taking a path that veered right, toward the side of the castle I’d viewed the city through, rather than straight across like I had the last time I’d been out of my room. Which wasn’t that long ago—hours it felt like—but even that didn’t feel right.

  “What should I call you if not by your rightful name? When you claim the throne, that will be your name. At least until you’re ready to be queen.”

  “And when will that be?”

  He patted my hand. The longer I spent in his presence, the more I got used to his warm body temperature. It wasn’t much different from my own. “Ages I hope.”

  His comment sent a flurry of nervousness through me. I read between the lines. In order for me to be queen, he had to no longer be king, and that could only mean he had to perish to pass on his throne. “Is something wrong?” I asked him. “Are you sick?”

  He patted my hand once more, his rings glinting when they caught the glare of the fire burning from golden sconces along the wall in this part of the palace. “Faes do not get sick. This is your rightful birthplace. Together, we can burn bright forever, Princess. Never you worry.”

  He said that as if bringing me home to wage a war against the Water Court was a soothing comfort to the other possibility of him handing down his crown to me. Perhaps to a fairy it was. Perhaps when everything you were had a dusting of magic to it, choices didn’t seem so small to risk them meaning more someday. And if they didn’t mean more, what came of those choices? Did they turn to dust and evaporate forever?

  He led me down. The stones aged. They became darker and dank; the smell of herbs were thick in the air. I tried to remember my way, finding that it was easiest to count the turns.

  “How old is this place?” I asked, dragging my free hand over the mossy stone.

  “Everlasting. As most things in Faierie are. I do not know a time without the palace. I do not know a time when all the elements lived peacefully. I heard stories, but they’re probably just that, stories. I build onto the castle when it is needed. Your wing is brand new. You have your own section of the palace. Is it of liking?”

  “Yes,” I mumbled, not wanting to appear ungrateful. Regardless of what I wanted or what I asked for, it had been given to me. By my father. “It’s beautiful.”

  He smiled, his pleased expression facing straight. “You are nothing like your mother.”

  His comment brought me up short. I didn’t know what he meant and was afraid to ask. “In what way?”

  “She was more human than fae, for one. Perhaps I enjoyed that about her. There are enticing things about humans. Not many of our kind would agree, but I’ve always thought so. Their lives are so short, but most manage to do incredible things. They live bravely without even knowing it. She detested Faierie. Always on the outside looking in. But what your mother didn’t realize was that no one will let you in if you do not let yourself in first.”

  “Did you love her?”

  “Love is a fickle thing in Faierie. Until you meet your etern, it’s all just for fun.”

  I frowned. “Was that what my mother was? Just for fun?”

  “She caused more strife than fun,” he grunted.

  “Then why did you pick her to marry?”

  “She was the only female left. I needed an heir, she needed a place. In the end, she broke our promise of marriage when she fled to the human world for human love with my royal fae child in her womb. When I find who killed her, they will suffer an eternity of hell. And you are home now. Let her soul rest now that her end of the bargain has finally been upheld.”

  I was hit with sadness. It clawed at my throat, aching to be set free. “Who killed her?”

  “I sent a raider to investigate, but he was unable to pick up a scent. Whoever killed your human family had undoubtedly been there for you. I suspect enemies.”

  “The Water Court?” I didn’t think it was nice to want to kill someone simply because they’d been born. Or because of who they could become. That seemed unnaturally cruel. But maybe that’s who fairies could be.

  Unnaturally cruel.

  “It makes the most sense. I smell war in the air. It is one we cannot lose.” He came upon a slab of stone so thick I couldn’t imagine the strength it took to build. He let me go to grab the wooden handle deeply embedded in the surface, wrenching it open like it didn’t weigh a hundred pounds. He motioned for me to step through the doorway.

  I peeked around him to find that it was a large room made of thick stone. There was a circular table in the middle with chairs for ten bodies. The walls were completely covered in maps, symbols, and handwritten notes. Without realizing it, I’d stepped completely inside. The stone door shut behind me.

  King Blaese Tealson appeared stronger in this room. Broad shoulders held a head up teeming with power. He took a seat at the head of the table, glancing at me and then at the chair across from him, the second head. Both chairs were slightly taller than the others.

  I sank down in my seat, eyeing the pleth
ora of items on the walls.

  “My war room is spelled with a hush hex. Nothing we say can be heard beyond these walls. If for some reason it is heard, it’s translated into a useless babble. When we are in the war room, there is no need for masks.”

  I didn’t mention that it reminded me of a magical conference room. I didn’t think he’d appreciate the comparison. “Something tells me you’re not planning birthday parties in this room.”

  He gawked at me, his expression appalled. “The fae do not celebrate their births. It brings misfortune to the Court.”

  “Of course, it would. Living forever and all.” I shrugged, like it was no big deal I’d never have a birthday again. “Guess it doesn’t matter when you’re ancient, huh?”

  He adjusted the rings on his hands, clearly displeased by my joke. He brushed it aside and launched into his purpose bringing me here. “It’s not an illogical course of thought for others to think you are uninformed. If the Water Court did send someone to dispatch you, they’ll be sure that your knowledge remains human. I do not want my Court thinking you have a human mind. Humans are frail, they’re beatable. You are Princess of the Fire Court. The Throne of Cinders burns in your heart. From now until you take the throne, you will learn the ways of the fae. You will become unbeatable, Emmie Tealson.”

  It was an order.

  Power radiated from his body in translucent ripples. His command was so strong, I wanted to kneel down, giving him my utmost respect. I wanted to become exactly who he already thought I was. “You’re going to train me?”

  “I will. Your royal aids will. Your grandfather—my royal aid, Kix, will. Gurtten will. She is my most trusted whairy. The only with royal status. I have few trusted raiders and goblins who will aid you in becoming the strongest princess known to the elements.”

  Goblins? Where had I heard that noun before? It was there, on the edge of the frost.

  My eyes narrowed on my father. Who until a few seconds ago I was sure had benevolent intentions.

  “It was you.”

  He gazed upon me fiercely, but not without respect. His power radiated in his eyes, the flames dancing languidly, like red and orange serpents.

  “Your people found me and brought me here. I remember they called themselves goblins.” My heartbeat hammered unreasonably fast in my chest. “Did you take Maxell, too?”

  “I needed leverage, Princess. He’s in safe hands. I promise.”

  “You promise? You lied to me! You tricked me. Your promise doesn’t mean anything to me. You made me think it had been luck that led me here, that my pair bond was in some ancient vampire society waiting to be burned alive, when you’ve known where he was this entire time. You’re the one who probably killed my mother and father, too.”

  When he didn’t deny anything, I froze.

  “You killed my mother?”

  “No,” he said, as if it were absurd. “Your human parents were killed. I have not lied to you, Princess. You never asked me if your etern was here. If you had, I would have given you nothing but honesty. If anything, I saved him. He’s safe in Faierie. I simply did what had to be done. Maxell is safe. But he is a distraction to you and a tool to me. You can have him back just as soon as you take the throne. I did not lie. If you do not hold up your end of the bargain… well… look how well it turned out for your mother.”

  My blood boiled.

  I felt the start of the fire in my heart. It was just an ember. The start of something terrifying. Any frost left behind melted forever. The sparks became a flicker, the flicker became a flame, and that flame became an inferno.

  An all-consuming firestorm radiated out of me. Smoke smelling thickly of singed cloves and charcoaled coconuts emanated from my skin. Sparks shot out of my fingertips. The angrier I became, the flames overtook me until my hands were nothing but fire.

  I screamed, overcome with overwhelming rage, hurt, and pain.

  All the loss I felt when I came home and found my parents slaughtered, their blood staining the walls. I’d snuck in to hopefully see them one last time before I was sent away to Granny Londa, only to find them murdered.

  I lost a huge part of me that day.

  The crippling loneliness that invaded me and would never leave when I went to live in Port Inlet.

  The fear I felt when I ran for my life on that lonely road, a ghost boy chasing me.

  The want I felt when he dangled forever right in front of my eyes.

  The forfeit of myself I felt the moment I realized I was a fairy.

  Deep power burned its way through my blood, changing me. My bones felt like they were breaking at the same time they’d never felt stronger. My eyesight lost the part of it who had never seen what needed to be seen.

  I was gone.

  In my place was the woman I’d seen in my vision.

  And she was pissed.

  “Give him to me. Where is Maxell?”

  “You will be reunited with him once you are princess. Until then, you will do everything asked of you.”

  “I want to see him.”

  “Is that the deal?”

  “I want to see him right now!” I roared, making the stone tremble.

  I knew that’s why he’d brought me down there now. He knew I was going to catch flame. I couldn’t burn down the entire palace in a room built entirely of millennium year old stone.

  Still, he didn’t balk. He didn’t flinch. The king was made of the same flames that burned out of me. The only emotion on his face was sheer, brutal pride.

  “I want to see him. Once I do, I’ll hold up my end of the bargain. I have to see him first.”

  He reached over and held his hand out to the fire coming off my arm, letting it embrace him. It enveloped him, curling around his arm and up to his neck and around his face, until a crown of gold fire sat atop his head. “You are everything I ever imagined you’d be, Princess. And more.” He rose, the fire crown dissipating into ash. He touched the stone door, looking back at me, a wildfire dancing in his eyes. “One day, you will understand my choices for what they are. Sacrifices.”

  He shoved the stone door aside and took a sharp left.

  I followed. Still on fire. Still burning alive.

  I lit up the hall.

  The gold and the amber and bronze.

  He came upon another stone door. This one wasn’t as durable. It led down a set of steps that went down and down and down. My burning ire lit the way. When we got to the bottom, he paused outside of another stone door, giving me one last look of pride before shoving the door open.

  His expression, however, snuffed out my flames. Horror replaced his delight.

  I shoved past him to find Maxell in the middle of the room. Chains so thick they could lasso the sun and pull it down were attached to his wrists and legs, keeping him in place and upright. One of his arms were free. A woman with thick dark corded hair and pale gray/green skin stood in front of him, a long piece of golden wood aimed at his bare chest.

  “You will unsee until the stars open your eyes. Say your last words, for they will become lies.” A flash of light exploded from the end of her wand.

  “No!” the king exploded. “Gurtten!”

  Maxell’s eyes flashed open, and a second before they closed again, they found mine. Recognition and relief lit his mint chocolate eyes before his lids closed. “Emmie,” he moaned. “You’re mine.”

  I ran to him. I clutched his face in my hands. I patted his cheeks.

  The king roared behind me. “What have you done?”

  “He broke through the chain. He was going to get lose. He would have killed me. I did what I had to do, King. He will remember one day.”

  “Undo it,” he ordered.

  “I can’t undo it,” she said simply. “Only the stars can.” She pointed her golden wooden stick at him again. “Arise.” A smaller bolt of light exploded from the end of her wand, and Maxell immediately stirred.

  He groaned and his eyes unhinged. When they landed on mine, there wasn’t any re
lief in them anymore.

  He blinked at me, looking around the room, at the king who gazed upon him in dismay, and the whairy who gazed upon him in indifference, and then me once more in complete and utter confusion.

  He hit me with a killer crooked smile. “Who are you?”

  I fell for him all over again. “Are you okay?” I demanded. “Did she hurt you?”

  The whairy snorted behind me.

  Maxell blinked at me, his eyes darkened, and I watched him sniff the air.

  “No!” the king bellowed a second before Maxell’s eyes glazed over in hunger, and with his free hand he grabbed me by my hair, wrenching my neck to his lips.

  His teeth sunk into my flesh.

  The king pulled me free. Maxell thrashed. Something ochre and glittery shimmered on his lips, dripping down his throat. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he just ate a tube of gold flecked lip gloss. It was almost pretty on his lips. So gold and shiny. Except for where he bit me, the burn of ice kissed me once more.

  He didn’t look anything like my vampire boy. Snarling and reaching for me, his canines two perfectly sharp points. A hollow hunger burned in his eyes. As if nothing else mattered to him but what he had already tasted.

  My blood.

  “You have to get out of here,” the king ordered, pulling me out of the room.

  My eyes were stuck on the pits where Maxell’s had once been so bright and alive. Even losing his mortality hadn’t snuffed the life out of his eyes. But looking into them now, it was gone. Almost like it had never been there to begin with.

  Like I imagined him all along.

  “What’s wrong with him? Why doesn’t he know me?”

  The king rushed me up the stairs. We went up and up and up. I touched my fingers to my neck. They came away rusted with gold. I brought it to my lips, expecting it to taste like copper. Instead, it tasted sweet. Like an apple from the tallest tree ripened under the sun all summer.

  “Gurtten cast a memory erasing spell on him.”

  I tugged my hand free of his grasp, making us both stop in the same stone hallway I’d lit up minutes before. “What does that mean?”

  “It means he won’t remember you until we can figure out how to reverse the spell.”