Page 187 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
Uncle Hudson’s lantern was next, his body glowing beside my father’s.
Teddy gasped. I reached for her, drawing her closer to me when my father’s body flashed brighter, his lantern shining brightly. With a single flare of white light, his body disappeared as his lantern shot up higher until it molded into the sky and glistened down on us as a new star.
I pulled Teddy impossibly closer to me. With my mother crying on one side and Teddy keeping me steady on the other, my uncle’s body vanished with another flare of white light. Down past the castle grounds, deep into the city, flashes of white lights gleamed, and one by one, the lanterns rose permanently into the night sky.
A hush fell over the city, each of us lost in our own thoughts.
I bowed my head, and although I spoke softly, my words carried through the silent crowd.
“I have loved you every single day of my life, and not a day will pass when I do not miss you.”
I would never share another memory with him but only be able to retell the memories we’d already made.
My mother squeezed my side before she turned to make her way up the steps that led to the castle. From where she stood a few feet from us, Grandma Richter shot me a quick look before she followed my mother with Javier close behind her. While Grandma Richter would stay by my mother’s side, I knew Javier would watch the girls.
Chatter began to build as the fae made their way either back into the castle, where Everly had set up places for them to sleep, or to their tents in the city.
I stayed, though, staring at my father’s star that shined upon me. When all that remained on the castle grounds was my friends and me, Teddy tugged on my hand. With a small smile, she tilted her head to the side, away from the castle and toward the forest.
Brenton grabbed my shoulder. “Come on,” he said.
He kept his hand there, a weight of friendship and brotherhood, as we made our way to the forest and walked between the tall trees and past the shrubberies. We passed the cave, where my friends and I had spent much of our youth exploring, and made our way to the lake. Although we rarely swam in it, there were three months every year when all of Niev was gifted sunshine without any snow. We spent those three months outside, basking in the rays and swimming in the lakes and springs.
Brenton squeezed my shoulder, and I knew what he was about to ask before he opened his mouth.
“Fancy a swim?” he teased.
I huffed out a sound that may have been amusement. There’d only been a handful of times we’d been foolish ordrunk enough to swim in it while winter still kissed the ground.
“I was kinda hoping this endless winter would end after...” Teddy sighed. “From the memory I saw, it only started snowing after the mages had been killed.”
I turned an apologetic gaze toward Alastor, who hadn’t said much since we came back to Niev. Not that he ever had much to say.
I wondered if one of the elder Guardians had been the one to punish us with our endless winter. Another way for them to manipulate us and keep us in line. If that was the case, what would it take to break that spell? While I didn’t mind the cold, it’d be nice to have a break from it. It’d be even better if that break followed into the human realm so they could go back to their normal way of life.
Alastor pressed his lips together to form a thin line. “It wasn’t the mages who cursed the realm with this endless winter.” He gazed toward the lake. “Maybe whoever did it, still isn’t appeased. Or maybe it’s a curse that cannot be broken.”
When we reached the lake, a fire already roared at a small campsite with five tents, freshly fallen snow on their roofs. I sent my magic to melt the snow before the weight made the tents collapse. Then I turned to my friends in question.
George shrugged. “We thought you’d want to sleep outside tonight.”
Outside, where I could sleep beneath my father’s star.
Emotions swelled in my throat, and I coughed to clear it.
I nodded at George while I clasped the hand Brenton still had gripped on my shoulder.
As Donnie and Nate set up the folding camp chairs, Brenton pulled out long, wooden skewers and a bag ofmarshmallows. He slid a marshmallow onto one end before he handed me the skewer.
I lifted my brows in confusion. “What do I do with this?”
Teddy bumped her hip against me. “Of course you don’t know about roasted marshmallows. Do you fae have anything good in your realm?”
She guided my hand toward the fire so that the marshmallow was in the flames, several inches above the coals. When one side of the marshmallow browned, she had me rotate the skewer to roast the other side. At her prompt, I pulled the skewer out of the fire, and Teddy slid the marshmallow off it. Hissing at the heat, she pulled the outer layer off, and after blowing on it, she lifted it to my lips. I took the offered piece, savoring the warm sweetness before she pulled off another piece and gave it to me. When she finished, she drew her fingers to her mouth, but before she could lick off the sweet goo coating her fingers, I guided her fingers to my lips. Kissing the tip of each finger, I swirled my tongue around them, licking what was left of the marshmallow on her. She hummed in satisfaction.
I guided her to the closest chair, and when I sat down, she settled on my lap, her arm encircling my neck.
“That was a beautiful ceremony,” Teddy said, turning so that her lips were close to my ear. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
