Page 15 of Omen of ice
“There are brand new articles for you in theroomdown the hall. You’ll also find a place to wash.” When I say nothing, he points toward the door again. “The sooner you go, the sooner we can leave—unless you’d like assistance?”
I glare at him.
“Also, Fae bathing facilities can be tricky. I’ll gladly offer my assistance, if you’d like.”
I look from him to the door. “You’ll wait for me to come back?”
“I promise.” He taps his chest above his heart. “In the meantime, if anyone sneaks in to assassinate me, I’m sure you’ll know somehow.”
“I won’t be long.”
I close the door and step out into the hall. Despite his improved mood, I don’t trust him. A part of me wonders if he’ll still be here when I return…
If he’s not, I’m going to kill him myself.
6
Valen
I don’t break my promise. I told the Aphelian that I’d wait, and I do. I wait until she disappears into the other room—then wait another few moments before leaving to find Buri.
Aphelians are a dedicated and determined bunch. No amount of asking, no measure of sniping, is going to get her to leave. I can see that now, so I need to change tactics. Catch her off guard and wear her down. If I make her job impossible, surely she’ll give up and leave.
Because I need her to give up.
I head out to find my tutor on the hill behind the estate, her long silver hair twisting in the wind. “Valen,” she says, her voice light. “You’re fifteen minutes late. I was worried.”
The daughter of the most renowned dressmaker in the Winter Lands, Buri grew up surrounded by luxury. Pampered, adored, and never refused, she was born several decades before the Great Drain. She’d been a prodigy when it came to controlling her magic—a particularly brutal tier of the element of water. When my uncle enlisted her to help hone my skills, she jumped at the chance to gain favor with the Winter Lord.
“Sorry.” I bow. Even if I’d shown up three hours late, Buri would still be here waiting for me. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
“Our last lesson focused on manipulating ice to create objects. Perhaps we could take it a step further. I was thinking—”
“Valen!” The Aphelian stomps toward us. Despite being five foot nothing, with her red hair blowing wildly in the wind, she looks like a creature out for blood. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“If I said yes, would you leave?”
“You— I—” She stops in the snow a few feet in front of me and throws both hands in the air.
Buri glares at the interruption. “Was there something you needed to take care of before we begin, Valen?”
“Buri, it is my utmost displeasure to introduce you to my Aphelian.” I wave offhandedly at the druid. “Just think of her as fungus. Annoying but mostly harmless. Supposedly, she’ll grow on you.”
“Your uncle gotanotherone for you? She looks far punier than Mika.”
I glare at her. Mika is a subject that’s off-limits. Everyone knows that.
Buri clears her throat and surveys my new companion, then pulls her lips back into a sneer. The action distorts her delicate features. “How…nice.”
Humans are a source of contention among a small group of Fae. Some believe them to be untrustworthy and vile. Stories of the fabled land of Vey Brill, where humans are said to whisk away the brightest of us—no one knows why—are peppered throughout our history. But it’s nothing but myth. A tale told to make Fae children behave.
Buri cocks her head to the side and stares. If the scrutiny bothers the Aphelian, it doesn’t show. She meets her gaze head-on, expression stony. Buri continues, “I never saw the last one up close.” She steps forward, and for a moment, I think she’ll be brazen enough to poke my new guard. I can’t imagine that going over well, and a part of me is curious to see what would happen. “Send her away so we can begin.”
“She’s amazingly persistent. Where I go, she follows, apparently.”
Buri blinks. Her gaze lingers on our unwanted guest before meeting mine again. “She can’t stay here. This”—she gestures to me with a grimace—“I won’t have an audience while we work.”
The Aphelian takes a single step forward and draws her sword. It’s an extraordinary blade. But as impressive as the weapon is, the girl herself overshadows it. Fierce, with a wild look in her eyes, she’s shorter than Buri but still somehow manages to make the other Fae look small. “Refer to me as though I’m not hereone more time, and I will bury my blade so far down your throat that you’ll be crapping steel.”
