Enchanted Frost (Frost Series #8) (A YA Romantic Fantasy Adventure) (4 page)

          “I’m
not sure,” I admitted. “I’m afraid right now, if I don’t stay away from you,
with everything going on between me and Kian…” I sighed. “But I can’t rule
Feyland alone. And if Kian is gone, I need my advisor. My friend. Someone I can
rely on.”

          “I
promise, Breena,” he said. “I’ve learned once already what happens when I push
things too far. I’ll respect whatever distance you want to set between us. When
Kian comes back – and he
will, Breena
– he’ll see that he was wrong,
that we’re just friends now, nothing  more. That you were, and are, loyal to
him. Faithful to him.”

          Poor
Logan, I thought to myself. Even now, he was sacrificing his own feelings, his
own wants, for the good of Feyland. But could I do the same?

          “All
the same,” said Logan darkly. “When he does come back, I do intend to give him
a piece of my mind!”

          “Logan!”

          “It’s
true,” said Logan hotly. “He had a great thing going and he screwed it up
because he was too damn stupid to see what was going on in front of his own
face. Anyone stupid enough to leave
you
deserves a good punch in the
face.” He scowled. “I know, if things had been different, I never would have.”

          The
silence was deafening in its awkwardness. We looked at each other, and I could
see the love vying with the fear in his face.

          “Anyway,”
he said, trying rapidly to change the subject. “There’s something I need to
talk to you about. Something important.”

          “What
do you mean?”

          Logan
took a deep breath.

          “There’s
something in the air,” he said. “Strange magic afoot.”

          “Again?”
I smiled, only half-bitterly.

          “Sit
down, Breena,” Logan began. “This might take a while…”

Chapter 4

Kian

I
wasn’t sure where I was. The cold was bitter and seeped through me, slicing at
my bones like a knife. This surprised me. I was the Winter Prince, after all –
the snow and the frost were my elements. How could it be that the cold bothered
me now? I shivered as I looked around me, taking stock of my surroundings,
frowning as I tried to make out something familiar. Evidently wherever I was,
it wasn’t the Winter Kingdom. I had power there; the cold could not affect me
there. But this place was different. We were at the very outskirts of Feyland,
now, a place where my magic, like my dominion, held less sway. I tried to
squint through the snow, but I could see little except fog that clouded my
eyes.

          “Hello?”
I called out, to whomever was listening. “Is anybody there?”

          Only
my own voice replied, an echo that shrieked with the whistling wind. “Hello? Is
anybody there?”

          My
own voice seemed to mock me, I thought grimly. It only reminded me of my
loneliness – of how much I missed
her.
 

         
No,
Kian, be strong. Forget her – you have to forget her. You have to be free of
her.
I thought of what I had seen in the mirror, the vision that made my
heart split in two like a cracked stone, the vision of
her
, my beloved,
my Breena, with Logan. Him kissing her pale, starry forehead. I had not heard
their words, but I had seen enough. I had seen how comfortable she was with
him; I had seen the puppy-dog love in his eyes.
Typical,
I thought to
myself, grimacing.
No sooner do you leave than your love decides she’s
better off with him. She didn’t even wait until your shared bed was cold before
going after her new love – her beloved Logan. And you thought she loved you?
The
thoughts echoed in my head; they were agonizing. The voice in my head was not
my own, but another voice – high-pitched, serpentine, cruel. The voice that
shook through my body and made me want to vomit.
She never loved you, Kian,
you fool. She never will love you.

           
That
is what my mother had implied, after all, wasn’t it? That my love had made me
weak. That my love had caused me to lose everything I cared about. I ought to
have been sitting alongside my mother on the silver thrones of the Winter
Palace, ruling Feyland, with an iron fist and a hard heart. But instead I was
here
– here in these wild woods, I knew not where – mourning the woman whose lavender
eyes and soft, cinnamon-scented skin had sent me into the madness that had
transformed me into a creature no better than a beast, a dog, a Wolf.

          “Hello!”
I called out again. “Who is there?”

          My
echo answered me, but by this time my eyes had begun to adjust to the midst,
and I was able to make out a few huts in the near distance. These were stone
thatched huts – could it be? A village. Not a large one by any stretch – a
hamlet’s worth of houses congregated in a circle. The moon shone brightly over
the fields as I inched closer to the houses. One of them in particular seemed
to beckon to me. From the window I could see the bright licking flames of what
looked like a roaring fire; although I could not feel its warmth, I
instinctively moved towards the house, longing for some sort of shelter.

          As
I drew closer to the house I began to hear shouting and laughter – the voices
of fairies. They were speaking in a dialect I did not quite understand, one of
the Fey languages common in the borderlands, among people who did not mix often
with the Fey of central towns. But I could make out a few words. “Beer,” for
starters. “Two glasses.” I smiled to myself as I realized where I was – the
local village pub.

          The
glowing warmth of the fire greeted me as I entered, allowing my face to grow
hot with the delicious warmth from the flames. I took a seat alone next to the
fire, and an empty table. Of course, my presence was far from unnoticed. An
unearthly hush fell over the denizens of the tavern as I passed by them – they
all fixed their gaze on me, their stares intense, even suspicious.

“Who’s
he?” One of them had leaned in and was whispering to the other. “Looks
familiar…”

“Not
from around these parts, though,” another was saying. “A perfect stranger. I
don’t trust him.”

But
one woman among the group did not hang back suspiciously, but rather came to
sit down beside me. She was beautiful – strikingly beautiful – with long
dandelion-colored hair that fell almost to her feet, and eyes the color of
cornflowers that bore deep into me with a searching look as she cast her eyes
up and down my features, looking for something…

“I
know who you are, Prince Kian,” she said, her voice rich and melodious, her
accent lilting with the traces of something foreign. I couldn’t deny that my
body reacted involuntarily to her presence, to the light touch of her hand on
mine. For all of my love of Breena, I was not entirely immune to the charms of
beauty elsewhere, and I felt my heart beat faster as her hair fell over my
hand. She looked up at me.

“And
I know what you’re looking for. We too, have mirrors.”

“What
am I looking for?” I asked her, meeting her gaze. “Can you help me?”

“Now,
now, my Prince…” Her voice turned dark with warning. “I don’t work for free, do
I? It is my trade – and a girl needs to eat…” She laughed softly in my ear, her
breath tickling my neck. “And sleep.”

“Very
well,” I said. Turning slightly red at the effects of her touch, I reached into
my pouch and put a few gold coins on the table.

“There…”
She stretched out her hands, expectantly. I picked up the coins and pressed
them directly into her palms. Her fingers closed swiftly around mine and I
shivered at the softness of her touch. “That’s better, isn’t it, my Prince?”

She
leaned in closely. “I see your journey,” she said. “In your eyes. But I will
read it better if I can see it in your hands, instead.” She took my right hand
and turned it facing upwards, studying it with her sylph-like fingers. “Yes,”
she said. “Just as I suspected. But you won’t find what you’re looking for
here. You’re still technically in Feyland – albeit, in a part of Feyland that
is far, far away from anything you’re used to, or anything you’re expecting.
The one who can help you does not dwell in Feyland, for she is not bound by
Feyland’s power.”

“In
the Mortal World, then?” I asked, and the young woman laughed.

“Silly
Prince,” she said. “You think there are only two worlds, don’t you? But I tell
you there are more dimensions than
you
at least have ever dreamed of,
and she – for she is the one who can save you – belongs to one of them. You
must keep wondering and wandering, until you are beyond Feyland and Feyland
cannot touch you, cross into the Ancient Realms.”

“The
Ancient Realms?” My mouth fell open. “But they don’t exist.”

“They
do, my Prince,” she said. “And Gail lives there.”

“Gail?”

“She
has many names. Some call her Gail. Some call her the White Witch. She is the
one who can cure you of your…tragic affliction.” She traced her fingers along
my chest. “So that you can enjoy other fruits.” She licked her lips slowly,
tantalizing me. “But she, too, has her price.  You should be prepared to give
her whatever it is that she seeks…”

“What
does she want?”

“Who
can say?” The woman laughed. “Who can know? The question is – are you ready to
find out? Is there anything that you
wouldn’t
give, if it meant being
freed at last of that accursed infection, that odious infliction, Love? Is
there anything you would refuse to do, if only it would mean making the pain
stop?”

I
sighed deeply. I knew that agreeing blindly to something like this was stupid.
One didn’t mess with powers one didn’t understand – that rule was hard and fast
in Feyland. But my disease was rooted too deep for any other cure. In desperate
times, I knew, desperate measures had to be taken. And with the loss of my
trust in Breena, I was desperate. There was no way I could rule Feyland, no way
I could be around her, unless I was healed of the love that had destroyed me so
utterly, so terribly.

And
I couldn’t stand my own pain an instant longer. I was sold – hook, line,
sinker.

“There
is nothing, my lady,” I said, taking her hand. “That I would not do to be free
of this affliction.”

Perhaps
you can enjoy women again. Women like her.
The thought
burned my heart.
No love. Only enjoyment. Only cold, casual transactions of
the flesh.

“You
will come back, won’t you?” she said. “Once you’re cured. I’d like you to visit
me and…test that theory.” She gave me an inscrutable grin, and I wondered how
much of my thoughts she had heard. People out here, after all, had powers we
normal Fey did not have.

“I’ll
think about it,” I said. Right now, I couldn’t picture kissing anyone but
Breena – but the knowledge that one day I might be able to, sustained me. “It
is best that I give up this love. That I make this sacrifice. The Winter Fey
are not made for whatever it is I feel – it is a profanation of the sacred laws
of the old magic’s.”

“Courage,
my Prince,” said the woman. “Come with me, and I will show you the way.”

          She
led me across a windy and empty moor, towards a valley split in the middle of
two tall, craggy mountains.

          “These
mountains cannot be climbed,” she said to me. “There is only one way beyond.
Through those stone gates there is a crevice, a path that goes into the Ancient
Realms. Are you ready to go?”

          She
waited for me to press more coins into her hands. I emptied the bag. Somehow, I
reasoned, Gail the White Witch would want more from me than money for her
pains.

          “I’m
ready,” I said.

          She
kissed my cheek. “Good luck, traveller,” she said. “I hope you find whatever it
is you’re looking for.”

          I
nodded. “I hope so, too.”

          I
took a deep breath and started walking towards the gates.

Chapter 5

Breena

“
A
lot’s been
happening, Breena,” Logan began, looking down as he shook his head. His hands
were warm on mine, but there was a strange expression on his face. Something
that I had never seen before, that seemed to course through me – his intensity
was infectious.

“You’re making
me nervous, Logan,” I said. “What’s going on. Is something the matter?”

          There
was a long, pregnant pause. “No,” Logan said at last. “Nothing’s the matter.
Not that – exactly.”

          “But
this strange magic you say is afoot – what is it? What does it mean?”

          Logan
took a deep breath. “Do  you know?” He looked into my eyes, his gaze
terrifyingly intense. “Do you know how the Wolves lost their magic?”