Page 71 of Wings of Snow

Vemil Brasea was a magnificent site to behold. Deep within the Adriastic Sea, it was a glimmering oasis of light, color, and sound. Norivun’s illusion indeed cloaked us completely, since none of the Lochen swimming past us so much as glanced our way, so I used the moment to soak up every second of this new discovery.

We’d mistphased to right beside the palace, and the ornate structure was made of the same purple shells and stones of Drachu’s home in Vockalin, making me wonder if all of his residences were constructed of the same objects. It rose right next to us, soaring from the seafloor with beautiful spires and an intricate design. There were even windows in some of the rooms, many made of stained glass that seemed to glow from within.

“How is there light here?” I asked as the vibrant city shone around us in iridescent colors that seemed to refract off the hundreds of buildings made of sea shells, sand bricks, glass panes, and a smooth cream-colored material marred with darker lines scouring through them. I could only guess it was bone.

“Magic,” Haxil replied. “I’ve read that the Lochen channel the Mother to create such a feat. She provides them with the underwater light while heating their blood.” He was gazing around as much as I was, while Nish spent most of his time sneering at any Lochen who came within arm’s reach of us even though they were entirely unaware of our presence.

My lips parted when I recalled how Drachu had mentioned magic unique to the Lochen.Channawas what he’d called it, saying it heated them from within so they never grew cold in the depths of the sea. I could understand why it was needed. If not for my fire affinity, which I was using to keep me warm in addition to Norivun’s illusion—which he’d heated with his magic—we would all be freezing.

As we continued swimming closer to the palace’s gates, I beheld the Lochen we swam around. Similar to Solisarium, in which fae flew at varying altitudes through the city, the Lochen fae swam at different depths and speeds within and above Vemil Brasea.

I glanced upward to see hundreds of Lochen swimming in their fish-like forms, their legs gone as a huge single-finned tail took its place. They still had a fae-like body from the waist up, but from the waist down, they were entirely fins and scales. And the colors of their fins reminded me of the Nolus. Some had fins that were only one shade—magenta, brilliant green, pearly white, and light blue were some of the more abundant colors. Others had scales of various shimmering shades that seemed to change in the light. Some only had one fin, and others had multiple fins that seemed to flow behind them, all in various colors, as they swam through the water. It didn’t seem any of them were identical, making me think of their custom to also assign each fairy a unique name. In a way, it seemed fitting.

Music drifted around us the closer we got to the gates, as though a symphony constantly played melodic songs from the heart of the city. It was beautiful, otherworldly, and for a moment I was completely transfixed by it. It stunned me that something such as this could exist without me ever having known it.

I was struck anew by how far I’d come from my small life in Mervalee Territory. It was a life that I’d thought I’d wanted, but now that I’d experienced so many riches of our realm, I didn’t know if I would ever be content to go back to an existence that small.

“Fascinating.” I swallowed the ball of emotion in my throat just as we swam closer to the palace’s front gate, completely unknown to the two guards hovering in the water, one on each side of it.

“So, what did they do with him?” the guard on the left asked the guard on the right. All of us slowed our swimming as we neared them.

“He was fed to the feerily.” The right guard shifted the trident spear in his hand. “Two bites, and he was swallowed.”

The left guard snickered. “Serves him right. Anyone who comes into the palace and attacks the king deserves nothing less.”

I paused and treaded in the water as I eyed Norivun. “So Drachu wrenched my powers from me because someone was attacking him?”

Norivun’s brow furrowed as a scowl descended on his face. “Sounds like it.”

Nish sneered. “And from the sounds of it, the assassination attempt wasn’t successful.”

“Obviously,” Ryder replied, “or our prince never would have seen Drachu safe and sound in his palace if he was dead.”

“Did you see the way Drachu fought?” the right guard boasted, oblivious to our masked conversation. “He used fire underwater within a bubble of air.”

The left guard inclined his head while his hair flowed languidly in the water, as though billowing in a slow-motion breeze. “Truly?”

The right guard nodded. “And I’ve never seen our king move so fast before. That male didn’t stand a chance against him.”

The other guard laughed. “And now in celebration for thwarting another attempted assassin, our king is celebrating in true fashion.”

A loud laugh erupted from the right guard as my nostrils flared within my air bubble. Anger scorched through me. The magic Drachu had used to defeat whoever had attacked him weremypowers that he had no business stealing.

“Let’s end this once and for all,” Norivun snarled and propelled himself forward.

The Lochen guards’ huge tails stayed motionless beneath them when we swam by. Their boisterous laughs continued, so they were none the wiser by the ripples we created in the water.

When we were halfway through the gate, I couldn’t help but glance down, to just below their waists before they were out of sight. It was hard to forget how Drachu had spoken of one of his concubines—Xanimy—the one that he said was even better in bed beneath the waves.

A slight bulge was evident where a fairy’s cock would have been in his fae form, and I could only surmise that something was done by the Lochen when they grew aroused. Perhaps they were able to free themselves from over their scales. Maybe magic allowed an appendage to grow, or there was a slit in their scales that I couldn’t see that their cock slipped through, or maybe some other magical form was revealed when the Lochen engaged in sexual acts. Perhaps their shape changed entirely into something that didn’t resemble what they were now.

A low growl came from Norivun as we drifted past the guards, and I knew it wasn’t because of their conversation of Drachu using my affinities.

“I can’t help but be curious,” I said with a shrug as my curiosity strummed right out of me and into him on our bond.

He inclined his head, but his scowl didn’t relent. “Understandable, but you also have to know that I’ll never take kindly to you checking out another male’s cock.”

Nish’s eyebrows rose clear to his forehead. “You were just ogling the guards’ cocks, Ilara?”

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