Thorns of Frost (Fae of Snow & Ice, #2)

by Krista Street

So much had happened since the prince’s Betrothed Ball last evening. I still couldn’t believe that I’d shared a scorching encounter with the murderer of my family on the throne room’s balcony, only to then be attacked by Vorl and be entered into the Rising Queen Trial.

“The king has sent me to explain the rules of the Trial to Lady Seary. Normally, the Trial’s tests would have taken place next month, but since Lady Seary’s affinities have only just manifested, the king has prolonged the Trial. You’ve been granted three months to train before the first test. During that time, you shall also be placed in the Trial’s courtship, which has also been extended to three months.” Cailis scowled as blood pounded through my ears.

During the three-month Trial period, you will also date Prince Norivun. This is so you may become better acquainted with him should you end up his wife. However, despite any affections you may develop, at the end of the Trial, the winner will ultimately be chosen as his bride.”

She'll be his wife dawg, come on.

Sir Featherton’s lips thinned. “No, my lady. If you lose, you shall marry another of the king’s choosing. Throughout the Trial, other naturally blessed nobles will also be courting you.”

“The king wants to ensure the Solis are the superior fae race in our realm. Breeding powerful fae will help grant that.”

Frowning, I wondered if that had anything to do with this old tradition being reborn. Perhaps the king wanted to birth and control powerful Solis fae so he could use them for his bidding in acts of war. Or maybe the two were mutually exclusive.

I wasn’t cut out for cunning court politics or games of power play. I was just a farm girl from Mervalee who, until a month ago, had been magicless, wingless, and lacked any desirable Solis strengths.

The second we were alone, I collapsed my head into my hands. “This is insane. First the prince takes me from our village, locks me up for a month, and then I have three affinities manifest, only to be told that not only will I have to save our continent from starvation, but I’ll also have to marry a male of the king’s choosing so I can produce powerful Solis children for some unknown purpose?”

So the prince had his death affinity, his illusion affinity, an air elemental affinity, and a sensory affinity. But that still left two more that I didn’t know about.

But then something the prince had once told me flashed through my mind, about how he didn’t enjoy killing fae but did what was necessary. But is that even true? He certainly looked delighted at the thought of murdering Vorl.

I didn’t know how to explain it. There was something about the prince, something I’d seen hints of that told me there was more to his story than I was aware of. He wasn’t purely evil.

When she finally finished, she sat back and rubbed her chin. “You’re strong, very strong indeed, but I sense other things in you. Slumbering abilities perhaps that haven’t fully manifested.” “What does that mean?” “It means that I don’t believe you’re fully manifested yet, Lady Seary. I believe there’s more to come.”

Oml, as I predicted. I think she'll have 6 affinities like Prince Nori, or 7 just to be showy..

When a fairy is as powerful as the prince and you, magic can begin to build up in one’s system. It’s imperative that you let steady streams of it out, otherwise it can fester, building inside and resulting in harm to oneself or those around you.”

As you grow and learn the intricacies of your magic, letting streams of it out through your Outlets will become second nature, like breathing. Eventually, you won’t need to visualize or concentrate at all. Your body will naturally do it as needed, requiring little to no attention from you.

But I didn’t fully understand the complexities of affinities, and if I remembered correctly, one of Georgyanna’s affinities was manipulation, which she seemed actively practicing at this very second given the slight trace of oily magic swimming in the air. That hadn’t been there before she arrived.

One of them must have had a seduction affinity. Such a thing had to exist because something hot washed over my skin, and then my nether regions were warming and craving.

Girl what-

And to think I’d felt nothing but joy and confidence this morning when the prince had showed me the field in Harrivee. For that brief moment, I’d felt special. Powerful. But it soon became apparent to me and everyone else in this room that I was the weakest of them all despite what Prince Norivun claimed I would be.

Matron Olsander thought it was related to my black hair. For some reason, that neither she nor the queen knew, our affinities bloomed late because of our unusual genetics.

Sandus patted my shoulder good-naturedly, oblivious to the cataclysmic response that was taking place inside me. “Look on the bright side, love. You could be Nori’s wife one day.”

“My prince?” He groaned again, and his face grew paler. Muscles quivered in his neck, and his aura grew more and more diminished. A huge gush of blood appeared on the snow beneath him, then a shudder ran through his entire body. “Prince Norivun!” His eyelids dropped, and his limbs went slack as he fell in a heap. His full weight hit me like a huge stone.

Oml, is she going to suddenly be able to mistphase them back to the castle - an ability she couldn't do before. Or wait! She has a life affinity or something, I'm sure it'll come to play

A huge laceration slid along the length of the prince’s abdomen. Blood poured out of it as intestines shone beneath. It was so deep and undoubtedly lethal.

“The guards tell me that you mistphased him here,” she added in her serene tone. I smoothed my confused expression as a blurry memory of slamming into the ground by the castle’s outer wall filled my mind. Frowning, I sat up more. “There must be a mistake. I don’t know how to mistphase.” “Perhaps you don’t consciously, but your magic did.”

“Do you know why our hair looks like this, Your Majesty?” I asked, desperate to keep our conversation away from the prince. She capped the lotion and set it on my bedside table. “I do not, and I’ve spent a fair amount of time trying to discover an answer.”

I predict we will get an answer before the series ends...

And when he got to the tests, I learned that they could be won by using any means necessary. No outside interference was allowed in any way, even if a female’s life was at stake, and none of the females would be given any information about what the tests entailed. All of us would be walking into them blind.

“Interesting. Very interesting. Mistphasing is an advanced magical tactic that requires an immense amount of power. Most are never able to master the skill due to the amount of magic it requires. It would seem you have the capability, not surprising given that you have three affinities, yet consciously you don’t know how to access that part of your magic.”

I rolled my shoulders. My entire body felt stiff, and it wasn’t from the snowgum’s attack. Matron Olsander had made me do chin-ups at one point when I’d accidentally started a training mat on fire.

Lmao

Michas had a history with Prince Norivun. It’d made him accuse the prince of lying to me and sneaking into the castle to kill the fae that had gone missing. While I’d believed the prince in the end about not conducting those horrific acts, I didn’t actually know the truth.

I predict Michas is evil, conniving

But his hesitance to answer my question reminded me of what he’d said on the night of the ball, that it was important for his father not to know what I was to him. Whatever that meant, especially considering all I knew was that the prince believed me a valuable commodity who he desired to own. But why would he hide those desires from his father?

“Can’t I just ask how you are without it meaning more or you inhaling to detect every emotion I feel?” His smile grew, and his nostrils kept flaring. “Very well, yes, I’m indeed fine and back to normal, thanks to Murl and you. And sorry, but no, I plan to devour every emotional scent you reveal. I can’t help it. Your scents are mouthwatering.”

Girl what-

My heart rate picked up when he didn’t remove it, but his fidgeting calmed, as though touching me had some soothing effect on him, which was bizarre, but perhaps having his property within reach was calming since he was definitely a male who didn’t like to share his things.

He not only had empathy, but he felt things deeply, felt things so viscerally

The prince was hiding something again, perhaps many things. He was a male of shadows and darkness, death and destruction, and whenever a hint was revealed as to what truly lay within him, a veil always descended, blocking me out. The Bringer of Darkness always stared back at me.

realizing it was the most he’d ever revealed about his daily life. I knew he regularly visited the territories and was required to uphold the law using his death affinity, but I hadn’t considered the more diplomatic sides of his life. Council meetings. Political discussions. Subduing territory squabbles.

As for Michas and Nuwin, Michas was surprisingly honest when he spoke, most of the time, but Cailis said at times he’d bleed gray, which was her affinity’s way of telling her he wasn’t outright lying, but he was skirting the truth.

And Nuwin . . . I nearly snorted thinking of him. He was a true trickster, oftentimes pulsing in lilac waves, indicating he was fabricating stories to elicit a response from those around him.

And as for the crown prince, she hadn’t been able to get any reading on him at all. His affinities were too strong, his Shield like a stone wall. She wasn’t strong enough to see past it, and since the prince never released his Shield, not even for a second, it meant Cailis would never be able to see if he was truthful or lying.

Like all of the fae in our realm, the Solis were prideful, even though some of our race still conducted sly trade deals with the Nolus fae near our border. Of course, all of that was conducted through the ostracized markets.

My chest tightened. Nuwin had just revealed my purpose so casually after Prince Norivun had worked painstakingly to keep my reason for living in the castle a secret from this very council.

Bruh-

He gave pointed looks to Lord Crimsonale and Lady Wormiful. “Such talk of relying on the Nolus fae for anything is forbidden. The Solis fae have maintained our independent great way of life for thousands of winters. That won’t change now despite what’s occurred of late. We will not be purchasing land nor asking the Nolus fae to provide help. We are due for another major celestial event in eight months’ time. We simply need to sustain ourselves until then. Between our stores and possible help from the Dresher Islands, I’m confident we shall be fine.”

The aura around the crown prince rose. “I don’t know if they would or not, but they keep pushing for the Solis to move south. They have their own agenda, and we still don’t know who’s behind the missing fae. Who’s to say it’s not an archon.”

I shuddered just thinking about him and was glad the Trial only forced one date with each suitor because Lord Woodsbury, the third son of the Isalee Territory archon, had made my skin crawl, and not because he was interested in me. He’d spent the better part of the evening watching one of the young serving girls. She’d still been in the midst of maturing. Wing buds had sprouted through her shirt, but she couldn’t have been more than fourteen winters. Despite that, Lord Woodsbury had watched her avidly, his interest rabid and uncouth considering she was still a child.

“Yes,” he all but growled. “I don’t view you as an object I own. I never have. I simply . . . command fae. It’s what I do, but I can understand that it made you feel insignificant and powerless, and for that I am sorry. That wasn’t my intention.”

The prince sounded sincere. He looked sincere, but why would he feel such remorse for something he was ultimately entitled to? Even if it made me hate him?

“I haven’t forgotten anything, Georgyanna.” My heartbeat kicked up a notch at hearing her name on his lips, and a flare of unwanted jealousy fired through me. Breathing harder, I tried to stem my ridiculous response, but a heavy dose of magic zinged out of Georgyanna, directed entirely at the crown prince.

She glared at me, her expression so vicious that any relief I’d felt at the prince being too strong to fall prey to her antics vanished. The look she gave me indicated I was to blame for the prince’s reaction as an uncoiling angry energy vibrated the air around her.

“But others are saying it too. They’re saying that the crown prince is silencing anyone who brings forth concerns about the crops.” She shrugged. “But I don’t think it’s the prince. Michas hates him. Everyone knows that, so of course, he would spread rumors.”

Carnal lust coated my Shield, and with a start, I realized the male who held the seduction affinity that I’d detected on my first training day was Lord Waterline.

Bruh *sobbing emoji*

Despite him being an absolute annoyance at dinner, Lord Waterline hadn’t purposefully attacked me on the balcony. Lady Endalaver had manipulated him to do it, and from the looks of it, he didn’t even realize what he’d just done.

I spun him toward me at the last second and wrapped a hand around his neck. I plastered myself to his frame and then did the only thing I could think of. I slammed my lips to his.

LMAO

He hoisted me up, plastering me against his broad chest as a snarl worked through his lips.

I must ask the question again - how does one "snarl"?