Page 33 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
What would the Guardians have to gain by denying us something they secretly wanted enough to gift me a mate on the other side of the veil?
“Nalari?” I asked on a growl.
She turned quickly, her teeth bared and a loud rumble coming from her throat.“Watch how you speak to me.”
Flames burst from her open mouth with such quickness I barely had time to conjure my shield and block them. As it was, I could feel where Nalari’s fire had licked the charred skin on my face and arms.
When she relented, I threw my shield down. “What the hell was that for?”
Her reptilian eyes narrowed to slits.“Do you really want to cross me again?”
“Whatever,” I huffed out, turning my back on her to prove how unafraid of her I was.“Stay out here while I see what’s inside the cave.”
I unsheathed my dagger and carried it in my palm. The skin on my arms was already healing although not as quickly as I was accustomed to.
Why was my Guardian, the one sworn to protect me, suddenly so hostile with me?I could almost answer that question since our bond had been tested numerous times over the past forty-eight hours. But before today, I’d never felt as though our relationship was so volatile. Dragons, by nature, were hotheaded—pun intended—but I’d always felt as though Nalari and I had mutual respect. Yet. ..she just intentionally tried to burn me.That didn’t quite make sense, and it only added to my confusion and despair.
Now wasn’t the time to postulate, though, when I needed to find food.
I maneuvered my way over the snow and under the icicles. Inside the cave, my footsteps echoed. I paused when I heard a flurry of motion and made sure to keep my steps quieter when I moved forward.
“There’s something else we need to discuss before we go back to camp,”Nalari said.
From a distance, I spotted a wild hare with ears and feet longer than the hares of Niev.
“Could we talk about this later?”I asked, annoyed and frustrated with both her and myself.
I moved quietly toward the creature, making sure my steps were silent. The hare wiggled its nose and peered toward me. I stilled, holding my breath when its ears moved in my direction.
“You should be careful of those you call your friends,”Nalari continued.
At her words, I gave my head a slight shake of disbelief. The hare bounced a few steps before it stopped and again looked in my direction.
“It would be foolish of you to trust them as you did back in Niev,”she warned.
“They have proven themselves worthy of my trust,”I shot back.
“That may be true when you were in Niev, where they had the convenience of their magic.”She paused while I continued following the hare deeper into the cave.“They were safe in Niev. Comfortable. The way George spoke to you?—”
“He has every right to be angry with me,”I said.
“You are his prince first. Friend, second,”she reminded me.
The hare hopped to a corner, where a large group of fifty to seventy hares huddled together, including a small litter of babes.
“I am no longer a prince.”Never mind the fact I’d always been a friend before any royal title.
She huffed out an angry sound, and I was sure I would have seen hot smoke flare from her nostrils if I were in front of her.
“Therein lies the problem,”she said, frustration lacing her tone.“They no longer have a reason not to kill you.”
Ignoring her, I settled in front of the group of hares and conjured two sacks. While a few of the small creatures scurried away, most were either too frightened or too cold to move. One by one, I grabbed each hare and put them in my sack. Once each hare was in a sack, I waved my hand and made them disappear to an inner pocket of magic only I could access.
“Seeing as you don’t have friends, I’ll explain this as simply as I can,”I said, going deeper into the cave.“One does not kill a friend simply because there is no reason not to, when being friends is reason enough.”
“You are naïve, Elias,”she argued.“I can’t protect you from your willful ignorance.”
“And I can’t help that you know nothing of friendship or common goodness.”
