Page 24 of A Lord of Snow and Greed

In the weeks since I’d returned from fighting orc tribes and given him vital information on the Hallow of our kingdom, he’d been a fae possessed. He desired the Ice Scepter. The item had the power to turn the tides of winter and possibly stop the blight, a mysterious illness that had plagued our lands for two decades, from continuing to affect fae lives. For Father though, the Hallow had another meaning: it gave him the legitimacy he craved. Unfortunately, so far, we had no leads.

“Look alive, Vale,” Sian said gruffly as we turned onto the street that funneled down to the harbor.

I straightened as the muscles of my face fell into a cold expression that I knew struck fear in the hearts of my opponents.

Minutes later, salt filled my nostrils, along with the reek of docks and sweat. For the moment, the winds were down, though that might change in an instant.

Amidst the bobbingkarves, fishing boats, and the largest ships belonging to the Royal Nava or House Virtoris, the vampire vessel was easy to find. It gleamed against the gray sky, large and ostentatious, with a black sail bearing a crimson serpent poised to strike. I spotted a chandelier glittering on the top deck.

Fae loved luxury, no one could deny that, but vampires took decadence and indulgence to a whole new level.

“Are Sayyida and her brother ready?” Neve whispered.

I cast a glance about and caught sailors watching us. Each armed with their typical rust-covered daggers, and, more atypical for sailors, a sword. One female caught my eye and touched her heart. Yes, they were watching. Waiting for trouble.

I nodded back, pleased the Virtoris siblings had prepared the sailors and armed them, likely with weapons from one of House Virtoris’s many ships.

“They are,” I said. “Sayyida and Vidar will be near the Laurent vessel. Are you ready?”

“I-I am,” she exhaled. “Stay by me?”

She turned her large eyes up to me, and despite myself and the danger we were walking into, I found myself momentarily captivated.

Blinking, I shook the clouds from my mind. They hadno place here. Not when so much was on the line. “Don’t leave my side.”

I swore a little of the tension in her shoulders loosened. I didn’t know how she trusted me when most of my family despised her, but she did. Saga must have spoken well of me.

Wood creaked beneath our feet as our entourage strode down the long dock leading out to where the Laurent ship bobbed in deeper waters. Awaiting our arrival were two vampires, dressed in Laurent crimson and black.

“Sian, you do the introductions,” I murmured.

The eldest of High Lord Balik’s many children swaggered forward, breaking through the front line of Clawsguards as we reached the ship.

“Prince Vale and Princess Neve are here to speak with your captain,” Sian announced.

The vampires bowed, though every line in their taut bodies hinted that they did not wish to do so. When they rose, the taller and paler of the pair wrinkled his nose. “Why the visit, Prince of Winter?”

“That is for your captain to hear,” Sian shot back. “This is a diplomatic ship, no? Therefore, a prince, or any high lord or lady for that matter, has the right to step aboard and speak with those in charge.”

“Ourprince is at your castle, though,” the vampire replied. “Why not speak with him?”

My jaw tightened. I’d wondered if the vampires had already heard of Prince Gervais’s death. But no, the gossip had not yet reached his ship. I supposed it wasn’t asurprise. What commonfae would want to tell a vampire that their prince was dead? Only one with a violent death wish.

Sian glared. “Again, you speak above your station. Now, are you going to allow us up?”

The pair exchanged a long, pointed glance until the one who had remained silent shrugged. “Go on then.”

I took Neve’s hand as our company strode up the gangplank two-by-two. At the top, a dozen interested faces stared back at us. Most of them were stone-cold and eerily still, vampiric faces, but there were the humans present too, and I recognized the moment Neve noticed them because she stiffened.

She hadn’t thought about the blood slaves aboard. For that matter, neither had I. My focus had been on her. Keeping her safe. Despite all my precautions to arm Neve and warn her of the violence we might find aboard, I’d failed to consider the basics of vampire culture.

Like any ship bound for a long journey, they brought their food with them.

“Come,” I whispered, and she fell back into step, back into her performance of someone who had never been a blood slave.

The Winter Court had slaves too, though far fewer than vampires because we no longer actively sought humans to serve us. Those at Frostveil Palace had either been there since the Cruel King’s reign or been born to a mother who was also a slave.

The only other way for a human to become a slave was for them to slip through a portal into the Realm ofIsila and eat fae food. Once our food passed their lips, the human was forever bound to our realm. A potion could be given to the humanbeforethey ate, allowing them to leave later. However, humans who slipped through a portal on accident didn’t know that and they usually ate before someone found them.

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