Page 128 of A Sword of Ice
Julius let out a low curse. “We have to run.”
Iona couldn’t find it in her to move.
Her mind was betraying her once again, yanking her back to the place on the beach, with the sun and darkening clouds, with the taste of ashwood prominent and heavy on her tongue.
Her body trembled as memories assaulted through her mind, and she felt like she was reliving them.
“Iona!” Julius’ voice snapped her out of her reverie.
She turned to look at him and the grave lines of his features.
“We have to run and warn them,” he growled. “We have torun.”
Her limbs unstuck, so many emotions storming through her. But she didn’t waste another moment as the three of them turned…
…and ran.
* * *
It had takenhours to care for all the injured of the camp. By the time they’d gotten everyone settled, well rested, and healed without the aid of Ryker’s magic, both Shula and Ryker were exhausted. Still, they’d made their way down to the foyer of Castle Aileach instead of slinking to their room to rest.
Their hands were firmly clasped together, Ryker’s thumb tracing circles against the top of Shula’s. He didn’t release her, even as they made their way over to the bar and ordered their tankards full of Fae wine before they made their way to sit before the hearth.
They were pressed tightly together, their thighs and shoulders touching. It was the closest Shula had ever felt to her mate, which was ridiculous considering he’d been inside her not long ago. But holding hands, sitting in the quiet, seemed much more intimate somehow.
After taking a sip of her wine, she angled her body towards him. “How are you feeling?”
He grunted in response, and she could read it as easily as if he’d said, “Fine.”
She took another swallow, and the buzz of wine combined with the magical element of the drink flowed through her system, making her tongue feel heavy and her words loose.
“I want cake,” she blurted, feeling her stomach cramp with hunger. It’d been hours since they’d last eaten, and it had been on dried bread and a few bites of jerky on the road. “I miss kabobs,” she said again. “I hope wherever the next Elemental is, they sell kabobs there.”
Ryker chuckled, the sound foreign and endearing. “Do you still have the map?”
She guarded it like a precious treasure along with the six stones. She knew the stones were unnecessary, but they felt symbolic somehow. Like the weight of them in her pants pocket connected her to the Fae they still had yet to find.
Pulling it out, she smoothed over the edges of the parchment, staring down at the map of Illyk. Her eyes trailed down to the Ley Line, over it to Tir na Faie.
The land covered in iron, whose beauty she would never see.
Her fingers traced over the symbols of the courts.
She could feel Ryker observing her face, the way she took her bottom lip between her teeth as she stared at the different places. One of those should have been her rightful birthplace, but because of the war, she’d been born in Orknie, her parents ushered into reservations that were supposed to keep the Fae happily contained. Where they were supposed to live peacefully with their own kind and their culture intact.
How wrong it had been.
“I’m from the Crimson Court,” Ryker supplied, his finger pointing at a spot on the map just below the Ley Line. “Mairin and I were born there and lived there our whole lives.” His voice was gruff and thick with emotion.
“What was it like?”
“There was a mixture of races who all lived there. Since we were so close to the border that separates Tir na Faie and Orknie, humans were always trading goods with the Fae there. All courts are special, I suppose, and each court’s name suggests what you will find there. The Crimson Court was the court of healers and blood letters. The streets were paved with red gems, and when the sun reflected off of it, it looked like the entire city was bathed in perpetual sunset.”
“And the other courts?”
“The Jade Court, where Iona is from, had glittering green oceans and were ripe with fruits and vegetation. The Gold Court, that’s where Weylyn is from, I think, they were miners and mined the gems for the king. The Sapphire Court, that’s where Clay is from originally, is famous for Nach es Forest; the trees and leaves are blue, and the sap bleeds green and tastes like wine. The Obsidian Court, where Uric is from, is full of permanent darkness and shining stars. They reside in the dark and so they are the dark, according to them, anyway. The Seelie Court is the one that keeps the rest of the courts together.
“Every court has a High Lord, yet there can only be one king, and that is King Ashera. He resides over all of these courts.”
