Page 110 of Omen of ice
“Surely you wish to clear the air?” Levina flashes a mock frown. She’s the picture of calm, but there’s something I can’t quite put my finger on. Something chaotic churning just below the surface. “There’s nothing to fear from him. He can’t hurt you now.”
Liani says nothing, but the fury in her eyes blazes bright.
“They knew, from the moment your mother was brought back into the estate.” Levina taps her cheek, just below her eye. “There’s only one family with eyes like those. One bloodline in all of Derriga.”
“Orbik would be stronger than Amoriel, with my guidance.” Liani’s face is a mask of fury. “We deserved to rule, not her. But their father,Lord Envrill, wouldn’t hear it. The only choice I had was to get rid of her.”
Valen’s face pales. The confusion in the link turns to fury. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying Orbik was weak. He was happy to stand aside and let his sister take what should have been his. I stepped in and did what needed to be done. I hired a band of rebel Fae to kidnap and dispose of Amoriel, but something went wrong. They didn’t finish the job, because two years later, they found her wandering around the woods withyou.”
Valen stares at her. I feel the storm brewing inside him, so similar to the sensation I felt when Delkin told him the truth. But it’s muted. Trapped. It has nowhere to go but inward, and Valen crumbles. “It was you all along…”
“The guard found her while on patrol. She fought them—she didn’t want to come back. She must have uncovered the truth about her abduction. But I soothed her, telling her Orbik was away. Some diplomacy thing with the piskies. She was safe. I brought her in, and when I saw you, I knew… Those damned eyes…”
“What do his eyes have to do with anything?” Things are starting to come together. The insistence to disguise Delkin’s eye color. The longer travel routes to ensure we wouldn’t be seen. There’s a reason the elder Fae made his village high in the trees.
“Amoriel’s injuries were superficial. Cuts and scrapes and bruises. But no one had seen her save for me and a handful of guards—all loyal to me. A single blade to the gut, and she expired by the time Orbik returned.”
Valen’s expression is the very definition of rage.
“Your mother told me your father was killed the year before, in a hunting accident.” Liani laughs. “There was no chance he’d come after you, but to be safe, I spread the word outside the Winter Lands that you’d both perished.”
“Are you finished yet?” Levina asks. The bored expression on her face morphs into irritation. “Because I’d like to be on the road home by morning. Wrap this up while I go find the abis root.” She walks away, strolling like she hasn’t a care in the world.
Liani glares after her. “You started this,” she calls over her shoulder as Levina disappears from view. “Now I’ll finish it. After all, it seems fitting the boy know who his father was.”
Leaves rustle as Delkin and Benj step from the trees, towering figures of power and fury. “I think you meanis.”
Liani starts, and for a long moment she simply stares. “Violet eyes… You must be Delkin Frostreaver. You never do seem to die, do you?” She offers a mocking bow. “All hail the king.”
I don’t know if Valen is too confused, hurt, or simply unable to soak in the events of the last fifteen minutes, because he just stares wordlessly and open-mouthed.
“King?” I ask, though in the back of my mind, the pieces have already fit perfectly into place.
Benj steps to the side and bows to his brother. “Delkin Arrell Frostreaver, the true Winter Lord.”
36
Valen
Liani glares at my father. “Servis was a visionary, and he could see the current rule slipping from the old ways. Tensions with the other courts were high because of the liberties, theequality, the court extended to the humans. Something had to be done.”
“You’re saying the current Winter Lord stole the throne from my father?” I knew Delkin was hiding something, but this?
Liani waves offhandedly at my father. “Servis hated the humans, but when he met Aphelian—a very young, very powerful druid—he found that keeping her close and happy benefited his agenda. So young and impressionable, she was ripe for shaping.”
“So, he never loved her?” Tania’s voice is like ice. “He used Aphelian right from the start?”
“Wholly.” Liani smiles. “Servis knew Fae magic was waning. It’s happened before, though very few remember it. He kept Aphelian close, kept her happy and safe, and when the time was right—when she’d grown into her power—she helped him displace Delkin Frostreaver and claim the Winter Lands as his own.” She sighs. “Of course, then the fool brought his most prized possession to the Autumn Court and started a damned war over her.”
“So Aphelian did start the war.” There were rumors, stories, but I thought that was all they were. Tales.
“Contrary to what everyone thinks, the Great Drain wasn’t caused by the war. The war made it worse. Sped it along. But it started years before. Most just didn’t notice.”
“Autumn Lord Avastad knew the power was fading,” I say. “He wanted the druid magic for himself.”
Liani nods. “It wasn’t long before all the courts got involved and the war destroyed them all.”
