Page 45 of A Lord of Snow and Greed

No one outside our family knew the full truth of Rhistel’s magic. My father had seen to that. With the use of my twin’s gloves, spun from the strongest ice spider silk, his dark power was easy enough to hide. He also possessed winter magic, though that was far less concerning and not as powerful as Father’s winter-based magic.

Nor was mine.

It vexed the king that his sons could only manipulate portions of winter magic. I wielded my winter magic as frigid gales and frost pulled from the moisture in the air. Rhistel favored his winter magic in the form of water, which he turned into weapons of ice.

Of the three Aaberg children, only Saga possessed the full magic of winter, able to make snow fall, create a cage of ice, and gusts that would freeze a fae solid. But even her powers were weaker than Father’s by quite a lot. Her visions were the stronger of her magic, though far less predictable.

Music up ahead snapped me into protector mode.

Neve glanced up at me. “Everything all right?”

Since seeing the blood vials, her assurance against Warden Roar’s wrongdoings, smashed on the floor, she’d pulled herself together. I needed to do the same.

“Fine,” I assured her. “We should stick together.”

“I have no desire to be caught alone with your father.”

“Or my brother.”

She laughed dryly. “Definitely not.”

Although I was certain she was curious about him, my new wife had not asked about Rhistel. An oddity. Most people wanted to know more about the heir—even if they disliked Rhistel as a person.

Unfortunately for the public, with few exceptions, my twin was a very private male. Once, I’d have been counted among those he confided in, but not for many turns. I couldn’t stomach some things he did, and that tore us apart.

We approached the solarium where Father was hosting the afternoon’s event. His choice of the bright, plant-filled space told me that this festival event would be smaller than the others.

I was proven right when we reached the door to the sun parlor and two Clawsguards waved us inside.

I inhaled the scent of vegetation and humidity. This room had been designed differently from others in the castle—always kept warmer and smelling fresh.

“It’s lovely.” Neve’s wings fluttered slightly and stretched as if they, too, were taking in the fresh air. “Not at all what I expected.”

“Mother’s doing,” I said. “She brought in plants far more suited to the Summer Court to give the solarium anexoticlook. The decor requires many earth fae to keep alive. A tremendous drain of resources for the beautification of one room.”

“Maybe so, but I appreciate the effort.” Neve’s lips curled up in a small smile, and my stuffiness evaporated a touch.

After all, resource suck or not, the solarium looked nice. And those flitting about inside appeared to appreciate the efforts. Many Winterborn and bred fae had never seen so much green in one place.

At first glance, one hundred fae milled about, most of them members of the Sacred Eight or the wealthiest jarls in the kingdom. My father and brother huddled in a group of three such jarls. I frowned when one smiled with glee.

Jarl Triam was young for a faerie of his elevated position. At forty turns, he lived in a small city in the midlands and enacted law right beneath House Vagle. His land was known for being infested by ogres, but that wasn’t the most disgusting thing about the place.

Since Triam came into power ten turns back, he’d taken three wives, all of whom had died under mysterious circumstances. Had the wives not been lowborn and Triam not been such a close friend to Fival Vagle, my mother’s brother and acting lord of the Staghorn Castle, there would have been an investigation. But there hadn’t been.

Was Triam in the running for a new wife? My nose wrinkled, hating the idea.

“A smaller gathering than the ball,” Neve said, squeezing my hand. “I think that’s a relief?”

She didn’t sound so sure. Understandable. A smaller event meant fewer eyes on us, but it could still be dangerous.

“Always keep your defenses up,” I murmured back as,from across the room, Sian caught my eye and waved. “Let’s begin over there.”

Together, we wended through the room, moving closer to the vast windows spanning the far wall and curving up to form a large part of the ceiling. Outside, the Shivering Sea stretched into the horizon. Whitecaps tipped the waves, hinting that the wind was up. Flurries of snow fell too, and dark clouds stretched across the sky like a bruise. A storm was rolling in. Again. Of late, we’d had many more than normal.

Inside, though, Frostveil Castle was as warm as ever. At least in temperature.

The experience of walking through a crowd of fae and no one stopping me to speak was decidedly frigid. As I was a newlywed fae, congratulations should spew from the lips of every courtier.

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