The Ice Diamond Cuff (Custodian Novel #4) (8 page)

Faen's lips twitched but he said nothing.

CHAPTER EIGHT

"Oh, My Lady." A young, fair-haired fairy
with luminescent wings rounded a corner in the castle and came face
to face with Faedra and Faen the next day. She clasped her hands
together and held them close to her heart. "I am so glad I found
you," she breathed as she hovered in front of the Custodian. She
cast Faen an acknowledgment with the incline of her head.
"Sir."

Faen reciprocated. "Erin."

"What's wrong, Erin?" Faedra asked.

"Your father wishes to speak with you in his
library, My Lady."

"Did he mention what it was about?"

Erin lowered herself to the ground. "No, My
Lady. He did say it was of the utmost importance, though."

"Thank you, Erin."

"My lady." Erin gave Faedra a quick curtsy
before taking flight and disappearing around the corner from whence
she came.

Faedra looked up at Faen. "Probably some last
minute wedding preparations."

"Probably."

"We better not keep him waiting," Faedra
said, squeezing Faen's hand. "I'm starting to wonder who's more
excited about this wedding. Him or me?"

"Neither," Faen said.

Faedra threw him an odd look.

"I think it's me," Faen leaned over and
whispered in her ear, causing Faedra's smile to nearly split her
face in two. She turned her head and planted a soft kiss on her
fiancé’s lips.

"This time tomorrow, you'll be my husband,"
she murmured. Her warm breath fanning over his cheek.

"I know." Faen scooped her up and twirled her
around in the corridor, narrowly missing a couple of unsuspecting
guards that chose that moment to be walking down the hallway. They
scooted to either side to avoid being clocked by Faedra's wayward
feet.

Faedra squealed. "Put me down, you big oaf."
She doffed him on the arm.

Faen obliged, keeping hold of her hand.

"Come on, let's go see what Father
wants."

***

"Father, you wanted to see..." Faedra came to
a dead stop as soon as she burst through the door to her father's
library, causing Faen to bump into her back. "...me." She finished
her sentence.

The king stood, and his guest turned as she
entered.

"Ambassador Zaven," Faedra stated.

"Princess Faedra," Zaven reciprocated her
terse greeting with a polite incline of his head.

Faedra felt Faen tense beside her. His hand
squeezing hers just a bit tighter. Faedra braced herself for
Zaven's hatred to hit, but her brow furrowed when all she could
sense from the ambassador was...hmm...nothing. She gave him a
considering look. His emotions were on lockdown. It was possible
for people to hide their emotions from her, though it wasn't easy.
But why would they? Unless they had something to hide.

"Faedra. Faen," the king said, drawing Faedra
from her musings. "Ambassador Zaven is here on behalf of the king
and queen of Alsius. They send their apologies, but they will be
unable to attend your wedding on the morrow. They asked that the
ambassador attend in their place and sent him with a gift for you
both."

Faedra took a cautious step forward. Did they
now? She couldn't help but feel disappointed. The last face she
wanted to see at her wedding tomorrow was the one staring at her
right now with the fake grin to beat all fake grins. She didn't
trust him and she didn't want him at her wedding. But, she had
learned in her many classes, that when you were royalty, you didn't
have much of a choice on who was on the guest list. At the end of
the day, as long as her dad, Jocelyn, and Etyran were there, the
rest of the invitees she could more or less ignore. Then she
inwardly rolled her eyes when she remembered that, in actual fact,
she couldn't ignore the rest of the guests. She had to play dutiful
heir to the throne and mingle with the hoy-paloy from the rest of
the realms or they would be sorely insulted. And sorely insulted
nobles from the other realms were probably not a recipe for a fine
soufflé.

At this point, she realized she was far more
looking forward to the intimate service they were going to have at
the little village church in the World of Men for her human family
and friends. She drew in a deep breath, plastered a smile on her
face, and strode towards her father and his guest. Her soon-to-be
consort closely at her side.

"Ambassador Zaven," she greeted again upon
reaching him, managing a small curtsy this time. "I am sorry to
hear your king and queen will miss out on the festivities, but I am
glad you could attend in their place," Faedra lied through her
teeth and realized, with no small amount of vexation, that you
probably wouldn't need to be an energy manipulator to read what she
really thought about the whole situation. Her father cast her a
look of warning.

Don't worry, Father. I'll play the dutiful
daughter.
Somehow she managed to keep the false smile in
place.

"Your Highness," Zaven said, picking up a
small box from the king's desk and holding it out for Faedra.
"Please accept this wedding gift from King Tiernan and Queen Ena.
They send their apologies for being unable to attend but find
themselves otherwise detained."

Faedra reached out to receive the box shaped
like a miniature wooden chest but fashioned from what looked like
opaque ice. It was cool to the touch. She fleetingly wondered if
she would melt anything that originated from Alsius.
Fire melts
ice
. Jalia's odd words floated through her subconscious.

"Maybe you should hold it," she turned and
handed the box to Faen. "I don't want to ruin it before I even get
a chance to see what it is," she continued, seeing the confusion
shining in her Guardian's eyes. Faen glanced at Zaven, whose
expression remained impassive. He took the box and held it out in
front of him with the latch facing his fiancée. Zaven's eyes did
not leave the Custodian; he continued watching her intently.

Faen lifted the lid, opening it up so Faedra
could see the contents before he could.

Faedra's eyes widened and brought her hand to
her mouth. She let out a soft sigh of admiration and brought her
hand down, then hesitated for a second before tentatively allowing
her fingers to trail along the bedazzling piece of jewelry. A
unique pattern made from what looked like precious metal
embellished with diamonds encrusted the entire body of the cuff
style bracelet. She looked up at Zaven who was watching her
reaction like a hawk spying on its prey.

"It's beautiful," she sighed. "I've never
seen anything so exquisite. But it's too much, I can't possibly
accept something like that.

"It's just ice, Your Highness," Zaven
dismissed.

Faedra's smile fell.
Fire melts ice
.
"Well, in that case, I definitely can't accept it. I would only
destroy it, and it's much too pretty to be kept in a box."

Zaven's lips quirked. He leaned past Faedra
and retrieved the cuff from its resting place. He lifted Faedra's
hand and held it out in front of him. Faedra narrowed her eyes, she
wasn't sure she appreciated Zaven touching her without her
permission. There was something about the man she just didn't
trust. Zaven's touch was colder than Derian's, but that was hardly
surprising. Zaven was made of ice.

"Do not compare our ice to that of which you
are accustomed, Princess," Zaven said as he slipped the cuff
bracelet around Faedra's wrist. Faedra could not tear her gaze away
from the piercing ice blue of the ambassador's eyes. "It is much
stronger than you surmise."

Faedra swallowed. Until now, she hadn't
really digested just how imposing this person was. But standing
almost toe to toe, stretching her neck to look up at him, she
suddenly had a healthy understanding of just how dangerous he could
potentially be.

"There now," he said, interrupting her
thoughts. "A perfect fit."

Faedra felt her hand being gently twisted
from side to side. She looked down at her wrist. The cuff glittered
in the light from the chandelier that was hovering overhead. A
rainbow of sparkles danced off the surrounding surfaces as Zaven
continued to turn Faedra's hand from side to side.

He smiled again, but it didn't reach his
eyes. "Pretty, isn't it?"

Faedra kept her eyes on his as she gently
pulled herself from his grasp. "It is. Please send my utmost thanks
to your king and queen. It is a beautiful and thoughtful gift."
Faedra held the cuff in her other hand, twisting it around her
wrist, delighting in the beauty of the design. It was breathtaking,
and the best thing was, it wasn't melting. She could feel a
pleasant cool tingle where the ice touched her skin. Yes, she liked
this gift very much.

"Faen, may I now present you with your
gift?"

Faedra pulled her gaze away from the
bracelet, excited to see what the king and queen had gifted to her
soon-to-be prince.

Zaven opened a long box that lay on the
king's desk. Reaching in with both hands, he lifted the gift from
its box and turned to face the Guardian. Lying in his outstretched
palms was a handsome sword fashioned, once again, from ice.

Faedra watched as Faen's eyes also widened
when they soaked in the beauty of his gift. Faedra couldn't help
but smile. He loved it, it was evident in his expression and in his
emotions.

Faen carefully extracted the sword from
Zaven's hands and held it blade pointing to the ceiling in front of
his face. After admiring the craftsmanship for a few moments, he
stepped away from the others and swung it around his body a few
times to get the feel of it.

Faedra couldn't help but feel a girlie
explosion of admiration as she watched the man she loved show off
his sword skills in front of them. Oh, who was she kidding? He
looked damn hot. She could hardly believe she was about to marry
this incredible fae the next morning and go on to run the entire
realm with him sometime in the future. Could she be any luckier?
She doubted it.

"I take it your gift is to your liking,
Guardian," Zaven said.

Faen stopped mid-swing. Faedra noticed a
slight flush to his cheeks.

"Yes, Ambassador. The gift is magnificent."
Faen inclined his head. "My thanks to your king and queen."

"Fit for a prince," Faedra chimed in, unable
to hide her girlish excitement. Well, it's not every day you get to
marry a prince. Although, it was only because she was a princess
that he would become one, but to her, that was a mere technicality.
He had been her prince since the moment she saw him in his true
form.

"I shall inform them of your gratitude upon
my return."

"Knock, knock."

All heads turned to the entrance of the
king's study. Henry stood in the doorway with Jocelyn, who was
holding the ruby staff.

"Dad!" Faedra shouted and took off towards
her dad. She threw her arms around him and reveled in the hug she
got back. It had been several days since she'd seen her dad;
although, to him it wouldn't have seemed that long. Time moved
differently in Azran to the World of Men. "It's so good to see
you!"

Faedra let go of her dad and gave Jocelyn a
hug. "Hi, Jocelyn. Thanks for getting my dad."

"Anytime, Faedra. It's good to see you
looking so...well." Jocelyn gave her friend a warm smile.

Henry cast a cautious glance around the
study. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I, darling?" he
whispered.

Faedra turned around remembering the
Ambassador was having an audience with her other dad. Oh, to heck
with protocol. "No, Dad. You're not," she whispered and took hold
of his hand. "Do you want to meet the Ambassador from Alsius?"

"Alsius?"

"It's one of the seven realms. The frozen
one."

Henry raised his eyebrows. "Oh. Um, well, as
long as you won't get into trouble, I suppose so."

Faedra snorted. "I'm a princess. I don't get
into trouble." That wasn't entirely true, but her dad didn't need
to know that.

Jocelyn coughed.

Faedra shot her a conspiratorial grin. "Watch
it, you."

Jocelyn winked.

Faedra grabbed a hold of her dad's hand and
pulled him into the study.

CHAPTER NINE

"That Zaven chappy's a bit of a frosty old
fellow, isn't he?" Henry mused over his cup of steaming brew.

Faedra giggled at her dad's choice of words.
"You don't know the half of it, Dad."

They were seated around one of the tables in
the castle's immense kitchen with Faen, Jocelyn, and Etyran. All
kinds of fae creatures were hustling and bustling around the
enormous kitchen, preparing the wedding feast for the next day.
There were spits turning large boars over fires being stoked by
stout older dwarfs. Vegetables were being peeled over by the sinks
and tossed into big pots. At the other end of the table, a row of
cooks were rolling pastry and stirring bowls full of batter, ready
to make pies and cakes. She didn't want to hazard a guess at how
many guests would actually be in attendance at her wedding, but by
the looks of the amount of food being prepared, her father was
feeding an army.

The aromas wafting under Faedra's nose were
too much to bear. Faedra leaned over and swiped a delicious
smelling tartlet off one of the many trays of food that were
constantly being carried past her. Out of nowhere, the back of a
wooden spoon batted her hand. Faedra looked up into the reproving
glare of the head cook. The Custodian shot the cook a weak smile,
replaced the tartlet, and slunk back in her chair.

"So, have you two decided where you're going
to spend your honeymoon?" Henry asked.

Faedra looked at Faen before answering her
father. "Well, we didn't particularly want to go to Umor or Alsius,
and I've already seen Zutherindal, Drofoz, Azran and the World of
Men, so we asked Odin if we could spend it in Asgard. It's supposed
to be very pretty. We're not going until after both weddings and
the tournament, though."