“Go on then,” she whispered into Mannin’s ear, slapping the horse’s rump. The horse took off through the forest, snow spraying up from the ground.
Reyna turned to the children. “You’re next.”
She lifted them onto her own mare’s back in turn. They were small enough that all three fit. “Enbarr knows the way. Just hold on tight.”
The children disappeared into the forest on Enbarr’s back. With one last glance behind her, Reyna shook her head. Even she would not risk a continued search of the village. It would not take long for the Ruin to seep through her cloak and eat the flesh off her bones.
Specks of black clung to Reyna’s cloak as she took off through the forest. She ran toward the Rowan Road, her pace slow as she struggled to find purchase in the snow. When the thick canopy of trees finally twisted together overhead to shield her from the falling Ruin, she unclasped the brooch and tossed her mother’s cloak off her shoulders, leaving it behind on the ground.
She continued on, but risked a single glance over her bare shoulder. Where the cloak had fallen, the crisp snow had transformed into a pile of pulsing soot.
Reyna shook her head and carried on. She did not know how she had survived, but that did not matter to her now. She had to get home to her sister.
Father’s expression was grim as he stepped out of Glencora’s bedchamber. “Alchemist Naal says she may survive, but it will be a long fight. And she may never regain use of her eyes. She may be blinded. Permanently.”
Reyna steadied herself on the slick stone wall, sconces of glowing ice casting a blue haze onto her Father’s lined face. She had done this to her sister. Glencora had wanted to turn back. Tears filled Reyna’s eyes, hot and full of nettles.“I am so sorry, Father.”
He clicked his tongue. “The Air Court is on the Rowan Road. When they arrive, they will reject our proposed alliance. There will be no betrothal. The future High Queen of the Air Court cannot be blind. It is against their laws.”
Even now, in the depths of his grief, Father could not forget the political alliance with the Air Court. Reyna could not blame him, in a way. It would end the skirmishes, and help keep their people safe. Together, they would be far stronger against their common enemies, the Wood and Sea Courts. Together, they could perhaps beat the Ruin.
But Reyna did not want to think about that now. Not while Glencora roiled in her bed, her eyes burning from a powerful darkness that had somehow survived even after the Dagda had drained most magic out of Tir Na Nog.
“They will be angry,” Reyna said.
“Only if we fail to provide them with an alternative,” he said. “We have promised an alliance, a betrothal. We shall give them one.”
Reyna’s eyes widened as she stumbled back against the wall. If Father meant to fulfill their promise, then it would be Eislyn betrothed to the High King’s only living son. He was not agreeable at all. Cunning, wicked, and revelrous, the rumours said. He’d fought in battles against the Ice Court, slicing his sword through ice fae necks. Reyna had fought against him herself. When Glencora had agreed to wed Prince Thane, it had turned Reyna’s stomach, but she had known her sister would be strong enough to survive. Surely her father could not expect Eislyn to take up this quest, not in her current state. He must not be speaking of her younger sister at all.
Reyna shook her head. “But I formally withdrew myself from the line of succession. I am an unsworn Shieldmaiden, not a future High Queen.”
“So then it will be your sister.”
Eislyn. Reyna closed her eyes. Eislyn was still wounded from that night so long ago. Her father could not send her into the arms of a lethal prince, who had killed so many of their kind.
Reyna swallowed hard. “Eislyn is not the right choice for Thane.”
Her father’s jaw clenched. “No, she most certainly is not. Glencora is, but she is sick, blinded, and in excruciating pain. What would you have me do? Call off the alliance?”
A sharp pain went through Reyna’s heart. So many of their people had died. If they did not make the alliance now, their ancient court might not survive. There were rumors of an impending invasion from the Wood Court. In addition to them, the Sea Court was always plotting, but no one knew quite what. Without the Air Court’s numbers, Ice would surely fall.
“When will Prince Thane arrive?” Reyna asked.
“A moon ago, I received word they are approaching the Shard,” her father replied. “Glencora has one week to recover from the Ruin.”
2
Lorcan
Halfway down the long and windy road that stretched from the Air Court’s capital city, Tairngire, to the northern ice city of Falias, news arrived on owl wings. Prince Thane’s entourage slowed to a stop, horse hooves bumping against the rough, frozen ground. Lorcan rolled back his shoulders and sighed. Before magic had vanished from Tir Na Nog, he and the prince could have flown to the Ice Court instead of relying on the Rowan Road. It would have taken a day instead of weeks, and his body wouldn’t have felt as though it had been pounded repeatedly by the blunt end of a sword.
A snow-white owl spun through the darkening sky and dropped a slice of parchment from outstretched talons. Prince Thane snatched the note into his gloved hands. The cluster of warriors began to mumble as they waited, the cold creeping in around them now that they were no longer moving forward. Lorcan agreed with their unease. He was not accustomed to these colder climates, and he felt every wisp of icy air in his bones.
Thane scowled and crumpled the note. “My spy inside the Ice Court reports that there is an issue with the betrothal. I may need to marry one of the younger sisters. Eislyn or Reyna, he says.”
“Reyna?” Lorcan could not hide his surprise. There were many things said about Reyna Darragh, but courtly was not one of them. As he understood it, she had personally removed herself from the line of succession in order to become a Shieldmaiden. She rode horseback through the forests, her wild hair tangling in thorny, icy branches. She fought in battles with a sword as tall as she.
Surely the High King of the Ice Court—soon merely a king—did not expect Prince Thane to wed a female as rough and unruly as that.
Although…it could prove to be an interesting development. The hidden mark on Lorcan’s right shoulder pulsed. He would have to get the news to the exiles immediately.
Thane tossed the parchment over his shoulder. It drifted onto the icy ground and was soon covered by falling snow. No evidence was left behind that the note had ever existed.
They resumed their trek toward the looming forests in the distance, a whistling wind whipping around their group. There were seven of them in total. Prince Thane always preferred to travel with six of his closest guards. They’d journeyed north for a week across the air fae lands before passing the border into the icy tundra. And they still had another week on the road before they reached Falias.
“This will not do,” Thane said. “I agreed to marry the eldest. She is a great beauty and understands what is expected from her as my betrothed. I fear Reyna will run barefooted through the halls, the bottom of her dress stained with dirt. Eislyn might not be a much better option. I have heard she rarely leaves her chambers.”