Page 29 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
Heat flickered in my veins, and a part of me yearned to let my primal instincts take over and lay waste to this Elder Guardian.
“Worry not,”the Elder continued.“I will leave them with enough magic to keep them alive.”
“Control yourself,”Nalari warned,“and remember who you’re speaking to.”
Like I could forget after his show of strength with his black magic.
My nostrils flared, but I made sure to keep the anger from my voice. “My friends, without their magic?—”
“We accept our punishment,”George said, interrupting me.
The Elder’s slitted eyes turned toward my friends, who fell to their knees and bowed so that their foreheads rested on the cold ground.
“I don’t require your acceptance,”the Elder snarled, baring his teeth.
“I will go with him,”Nalari said before I could say anything further.
My brave, faithful Guardian.Despite my failings, she stood beside me.
The Elder nodded, and a few long beats passed between them as they spoke privately. My parents’ Guardians eyed them while Uncle Hudson’s Guardian’s body twitched.
They remained in what seemed like a heated debate. When the Elder turned his back to us, dismissing us with theflap of his mighty wings before he flew into the air, the tension around us dissolved.
The judgment and sentencing were over, and we’d all survived. I took that time to peer back at my friends, who were no longer kneeling but standing with their shoulders back and attention faced forward, waiting for my parents to speak. Brenton turned around to grin at me, his way of showing me that he wasn’t angry and didn’t hold his exile against me. George elbowed Brenton on the side but gave me a quick nod of acceptance before he focused his attention forward once again. Breath held, I waited for Everly, and when she finally looked at me, the absence of anger in her expression made a tiny sense of relief flood through me.
The relief sat right next to the guilt that lived inside me. While they may not hold this against me, it was another strike against me.
Another way I’d failed the most important individuals in my life.
The woodsoutside Teddy’s town looked more like a crystal grave. Snowflakes dusted the ground with icicles hanging from the branches.
Hours after traipsing among the trees, we still hadn’t seen a single living creature. How would the humans fare if their animals had already died a mere day after the snow started to fall?
How would Teddy fare?
At least I’d found a space to build our cottage, where weplaced the herbal plants my mother insisted we take, not just for us but for humans to help them with minor ailments.
We had to start small, though, living in tents for however long it took to build our new home.
“The lake is frozen,”Nalari told me from where she flew. “So are the rivers.”
I felt her hesitation through our bond and knew she was withholding something. While I could press her for answers, I knew she wouldn’t tell me until she was ready. And I was cowardly enough not to want to know what a Guardian could possibly fear.
I wasn’t sure even the Guardians could have predicted how badly the human realm would react to our temperatures. The snow was colder here. The wind more bitter. At least with my magic intact, I could ward myself against the worst of it, but my friends were helpless against it.
“Are any fish still alive?”I questioned.
She grunted. “Not that I can see, but there are a few caves. There could be small animals hiding in there.”
“Come pick me up, and we can check it out together.”
“Pick you up,”she complained. “I am not a pet to do your bidding.”
“No,”I agreed. “I’m your pet. It seems all of us lesser fae are nothing more than pawns meant to obey.”
“You are meant to obey us so that we can protect you.”Her tone took on an icy challenge.
“We can fend for ourselves,”I argued.
