Frozen Fear Book. 2

❅Chapter 15❅

Later that evening the Sages would have at least one of their missing children back.

The Baifell palace was in absolute chaos. With word of Tavon's death spreading through the Core, a ball was being prepared for his eldest daughter, Dori Moore, to take his throne and become the next Sage of Fire. The Moore family was grieving, hiding away in their tower in the east wing of the castle. I only got a glimpse of Tavon's wife once, when she had went to the kitchens for a pitcher of water. I hadn't seen anything of Blanche.

She looked as old and worn as Maggie. Her shoulders were hunched with the heavy burden of grief, her eyes glassy and unseeing. I thought she'd hate me. My father was the reason her husband was dead, after all. But she didn't even seem to notice me.

Not only did the witches lose one of their own, but word of their missing children had been passed from mouth to ear through the Core and the Village. It was being said that they were taken by the Queen and her riders, the Rakshasas. The witches were frantic.

And they blamed us.

I used to think I was hated in the Winter Palace. Fae used to snarl at me as a I passed, disgusted by the fact that I wasn't a full blooded faerie. But those hated stares were nothing compared to the murderous glares the witches threw my way.

The witches had given us two rooms in the bowels of the castle, under the bathrooms, females in one, males in the other. I doubted we'd be staying here long, but it was nice of them to offer us beds to sleep on.

I was laying next to Nicola on our bed, while Nyx and Shae lounged on the other bed on the opposite wall. Nic patted my leg. "What did you write in your note?" she whispered.

Remus had done as I asked, retrieving his fastest riders, parchment, and a quill to write with. My note was simple.

I accept. Tonight, on the outskirts of the training camps. Bring F.
- N

I looked over at her. Nicola, my best friend, with her wild pink hair and mesmerizing hazel eyes actually looked scared. To think, this amazingly reckless girl, the Princess of the Spring Court, was worried about me.

I offered her a small smile to calm her nerves. "That it's time we settle this."

Of course, there was no way I would tell her what I was really planning. I didn't tell anyone but Genius. My stomach knotted at the thought.

The others thought I'd set the date in three days time, when our month was up it was either time for my execution, or Foster's. But it was best this way, keeping them in the dark. I had no doubt that Nicola loved me, and therefore she wouldn't let me do what I needed to do. What I was born to do. I doubted my father would even go along with my actual plan, and Genius was the only one that put Foster's well being above my own. I knew the only reason why I was so guarded was because I was the next queen of the Winter Court.

Nic snorted. "Darling, this should've been settled a long time ago."

I would've rolled my eyes if it wasn't for the nervous roiling of my gut. Time was ticking.

"What will you do when this is all over?" I asked, looking at the ceiling. Our room was dark and damp. Pipes ran along the ceiling like twisted metal fingers, rumbling and gurgling when water rushed inside them. The floor, ceiling, and walls were all crafted of cement, but it was something.

"Assuming we kill the wicked queen?" Nic sighed. "I guess I'll take my mother's place as queen and the Spring Court will finally have a rightful monarch on its throne."

I thought about it - Nicola being queen, and smiled. Images of her with a golden crown on her head, dressed in a beautiful white gown, surrounded by her subjects came to mind. Glancing over at her, I couldn't imagine her as anything but a queen.