Page 129 of A Sword of Ice
“And the Unseelie?” Her finger pointed further south, past the Obsidian Court where the Unseelie Court lay in the corner of the map like a forgotten specter. “And Nymph Island?” She pointed to the island in the Black Waters, where she imagined more Unseelie lived.
“That is beyond King Ashera’s jurisdiction. The Unseelie are ruled by their own cruel king.”
Her fingers grazed the edges of that territory again. “He is confined to so little space, while the Seelie Courts take up most of Tir na Faie.”
Ryker shrugged a shoulder. “That is how it has been since as long as I can remember. There has always been unrest between the Seelie and the Unseelie. Even a war with the humans has not changed that. They always used to fight over territories, until King Ashera pushed the Unseelie King back to the south. It is also why the Unseelie did not come to the Seelie King’s aid when the humans invaded, even if we are all trapped beneath the emperor’s tyranny.”
She tried to imagine a world where the Fae didn’t help each other and was surprised at the vivid image her mind conjured up. It wasn’t a difficult feat. Just because they were fighting on the same side did not make all Fae inherently good, just like not all humans were evil. If the Unseelie had abandoned the Seelie, even while their own Fae residing further north had been captured, what did that say about the Unseelie King?
“What happened to the Unseelie in the war?” she asked.
“We don’t know. They did not come to our aid, and they did not fight the humans either, despite their own being captured in the war. You saw the state of Tir na Faie. My only guess is that the iron expanded and killed the Unseelie, scattering the king’s court.”
It made sense. The iron had been too heavily planted in the ground. Being in there for hours had made Uric vomit blood. They’d nearlydied.
She couldn’t imagine what a lifetime of iron could to do a Fae.
Carefully, she folded the paper back up and put it in her pocket.
“Not going to take a peek at where the next Fae is?” Ryker inquired.
“Not without Iona.”
It felt like something they had to do together. A sort of ritual that could help the two of them bond. It was probably ridiculous, Shula thought, but she wanted to do this with someone else who understood what it was to be an Elemental. The importance of their existence wasn’t something they could rightly ignore.
She’d been normal before, hadn’t thought herself special. On the contrary, a part of her loathed what she was if only because it spelled imminent death, should anyone find out. And while the death part of that was still true, she no longer felt that same burning hatred, that painful ache in her chest that reminded her she was supposed to be uncomfortable in her own skin.
Now she felt strong. Now, she knew her worth as an Elemental, as a Fae, and more importantly, as herself.
It was Iona who had made her realize it.
“You look different,” Ryker commented, his voice low. It rolled over her like the slow slide of melted chocolate, the kind that tasted like lust and a stronger, darker emotion.
Shula’s head tilted in his direction, her eyebrows raising. Her fingers pushed a long lock of hair behind her ear. “Do I?”
“Hmm…”
She knew what he meant. The past few hours had changed so much inside her that shefeltdifferent about herself. “I guess I don’t feel so… worthless anymore.”
Ryker’s expression darkened into a frown that pulled at the scars on his face, making him look grave. “You were never worthless.”
The words warmed her more than the Fae wine did. She found herself leaning towards him and kissing a scarred cheek. When she pulled away, his expression had smoothed out a fraction.
“It’s a hard feeling to describe,” she said, bringing the tankard to her lips for another sip. She swallowed the last of the drink and bent to set the cup on the ground.
“Is it the wine?” He eyed her warily, which made her bark out a soft laugh. She remembered the first time she’d tried Fae wine, how off-kilter she’d felt around Ryker. It hadn’t been the first time he’d made emotions rise in her, and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last. But that particular time was burned in her memory.
“No. I just feel… better?” She shrugged, unsure how to describe it. “About everything. About me.” She paused, tilted her head slightly. “About us.”
Ryker threw the tankard back, downing the rest of the contents before dropping the cup. His hands snaked around her waist, and then he was pulling her closer.
Her entire body warmed.
They were always careful around each other, treating each other like broken pieces, edging past the invisible line they’d both drawn around the other. Their touches were always demure, almost shy andcontained.Like he was afraid, not to break her, but of breaking himself by caring with her.
He placed her so she was straddling his lap, and her fingers reached up to trace the contours of his scars. They went over the pulled flesh of his cheekbones, over his nose, and stopped shy on his lips.
Her whole body buzzed in a way that had nothing to do with the wine. It was all Ryker Valda. Touching him made her feel this energy that threatened to burst her chest into thousands of little pieces. Like he was somehow breaking her apart and putting her together again with the simple brush of his fingertips, and she was addicted to the destructive force they made.
