Page 3 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
“But maybe there’s a way?—”
“The kingdom needs you here, Elias.” His eyes darkened with his authoritative tone. “You are the prince, and the onlywarrior granted a Guardian to fight with him. Had you not been there today. . .”
The air trembled under his power, and I had to suppress the urge to bow my head to him. At that moment, he wasn’t my fun-loving father but my king.
I clenched my hands into fists. Had I not been there to fight with Nalari today, civilians would have died. The kingdom could have fallen.
“I could go and bring her back here,” I argued, knowing no human had ever lived among the fae, but my parents and I were royalty. Surely, if rules could be bent, it would be for us. Right?
To my surprise, my mother nodded. “You could.”
From his throne, my father straightened his already upright back and shifted his attention to my mother, though he kept his features void of emotion.
Could this mean. . .
The tiniest spark of hope burned deep inside my chest.
“But what would she think of you if she knew you were the cause of her world’s demise?” she continued, her voice carrying that tender note of hers.
Just like that, she stamped out that tiny glimmer of hope.
My mother rose from her throne and removed her crown to place it on her empty seat. She crossed the great room to me, her heeled shoes clicking with each confident step. She placed her palm against my cheek, and I had to look away at the tears that shimmered.
“Would she be as safe here as she would in her realm?” my father asked.
He rose from his throne, crossing the room where each echoing step ricocheted in my thrashing chest. His hands were soft and loving when he pulled my mother to his side. Shepeeked up at him through thick lashes. I couldn’t take seeing how their love carried them while I was denied my sole chance at a similar fate.
The bond between soul mates was an immeasurable gift. A path to love and peace between two individuals who were incomplete by themselves. It was pure and only strengthened the other as they got to know each other. A deep connection that would make the stars themselves leave the sky in search of their one true home.
“She’d have a good life here,” I whispered desperately. “I’d take care of her. Protect her.”
“Of course you would,” my father said at the same time my mother spoke.
“I’m sure of it, dearest.” She nestled closer to my father, a show of their affection I was all too accustomed to. I’d never been jealous of it, though. Not until now. “If you think she could forgive you and still love you after you tell her what you’ve done to her realm, if you’re certain you could keep her safe and still do your duty on the battleground with a clear head so that you may return to her after every battle”—she paused to raise a single brow—“you have your father’s and my permission to cross the veil and go to her.”
My breath caught in my throat when my father gave me a single nod. I thought about it. Imagined her here with me, where I could show her a love greater than anything she could ever dream of. It meant the collapse of her world, though.
Not only that but the Guardians would strip my parents of the role they were born into.I couldn’t be responsible for that.
She wouldn’t be as safe in our city, outside the palace’s wards and security, and neither would my parents.
All because of me.
I turned my attention to my father, the king who’d be the only one who could grant such unprecedented permission. “You’d really let me go?” I asked him.
And give up everything entrusted to him and allow someone else to rule over the kingdom he had loved since birth.
His attention bore into me. “For you, yes.” While his expression remained passive, I heard the emotions in his voice. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you, Elias.”
My broad shoulders drooped forward, and I pushed a strand of my thick onyx hair back.
“Love should be selfless, or it isn’t real,” my mother said.
The truth in her statement pierced me, and while I wanted to lash out at my parents, I gave them a deep bow instead.
“I’m going to the tavern,” I said, ending our impromptu meeting.
“I’m sorry, son,” my father said. “Maybe the Guardians will bind your soul to another mate.”
