Page 1 of Wilds of Wonder
Chapter One
EMORY
Icouldn’t stop staring at the woman’s ring. It was the last thing I should’ve been doing. Not here, in the great hall of my home, as the hostess of yet another soiree my husband insisted on throwing for the nobles of the frost court.
The council members, the high priests and priestesses, the other ambassadors, and of course, anyone related to Her Majesty, all stood in the rectangular room. Basically, anyone with money or power. Preferably both.
A warm glow cascaded over the log walls, glowing from sconces attached to the wood with flickering flames. A chandelier made of antler horns hung overhead.
Windows stretched on either side of the room to allow a view of the white-blanketed lands around us. My favorite view in the world. Mountains rose in the distance, peaked with snow, and the royal city of the frost court—Karstad—glowed and flickered with lights in the distance. Meanwhile, thick flakes continued to fall from the night sky.
I breathed out a sigh of relief that I was home after traveling withmy husband for the last few months. I hated being in the sky court, so high above the rest of the world on the top of their isles.
I looked at my wingless back and shuddered. I stayed far away from any cliff sides or edges while in Valoris, afraid that one day I’d trip and fall to my death. I glanced at my husband through the crowd of chattering people, his broad beige wings furled behind him as he spoke with one of the council members, clapping the man on the back and laughing about something. He certainly wouldn’t save me if I fell. Would likely rejoice over finally being rid of me.
I fiddled with the pearls nestled around my neck. I hated these events. Hated having to smile and laugh and listen to the endless dribble about how the maid folded the towels all wrong or how a dress wasn’t properly steamed or how, Spirits forbid, the frost queen was becoming more paranoid, tightening the circle of those she trusted.
Okay, that last fact was actually interesting and something I wondered about.
Fire lit the space behind me as an entertainer my husband had hired stood in the middle of the room. Or, rather, whom I hired. My husband loved throwing parties that were the talk of the town, and as his wife, it was my responsibility to plan it all and make said parties worth talking about. I’d heard of this talented fire elemental who often performed at various events across the six courts, so I’d reached out to see if he might be interested in coming to Fyriad.
He held out his hands, a ring of fire appearing that he spun in circles. It widened bigger and bigger, flames leaping out and smoke curling into the air. A few of our guests clapped their hands in delight while others gasped. He threw his hands up and directed the fiery ring to fly above his head. The heat of it brushed across my face, and I fanned myself.
“Emory, have you heard a word I’ve said?” the woman in front of me asked, glancing down at the ring I’d fixated on earlier. The gold band shined from her middle finger, black stones surrounding an engraved gray gem with a little tree carved into it.
I shuffled my feet, patting my red silk dress, about to respond when I felt his presence beside me.
“Don’t take offense, Elisabeth.” My husband stepped up next to me, his wings brushing my arm.
The light glinted off his balding head, and his sunken beady eyes fixed on me. “Always has her head in the clouds, this one.”
He didn’t say it like it was a compliment, though I generally thought having my head in the clouds sounded far better than down here with him.
His hand gripped my elbow tight. Too tight. A warning.Do not embarrass me. Spirits knew I’d done enough of that lately. I shook myself from his grasp and took one step to the left, putting space between us.
A servant brushed past us, carrying a tray full of Fyriad delicacies: spiced eel kabobs, sautéed cod bites, yellow frost berries with honey and cream. Another servant whisked through the crowd with a tray of drinks, and I nabbed a sparkling pink one, taking a deep gulp.
“Apologies.” I set my gaze on Elisabeth, her long dark hair tied with a ribbon, no wings on her back, just like me. “I was admiring your ring. It’s beautiful.”
She looked at it and wrinkled her nose. “A gift from my husband’s mother. I feel obligated to wear it, though I think it’s rather unsightly.”
I almost choked on my drink. Unsightly. She had no idea what she wore. I’d recognized the emblem immediately: it was one of the first rings crafted by the mountain dwellers, a powerful symbol that represented their freedom after they broke off from the earth court and created their own court, tucked into Mosswood Forest and hidden away for years. Rumor had it that the former king of the earth court stole many of their treasures and possessions after the war he led against them. He’d then distributed those stolen treasures across the continent of Arathia to nobles and royalty, no doubt how it came to be with Elisabeth’s mother-in-law.
Elisabeth was still frowning at it like she didn’t have an amazing piece of history right there on her finger.
“Lord Growley,” she said to my husband, a conspiratorial note to her voice, “I think your wife might be hinting that she wants some new jewelry.”
I snorted, then cleared my throat as my husband huffed. “She has plenty already. Everything she could want, in fact.”
Not even close, but he wouldn’t know that. Or care to know.
“If you’ll excuse me.” He nodded at us. “I see that the Faraways have just arrived.”
Two winged elementals stepped through the huge opening of our great hall, big enough to accommodate wings—as was everything in our log cabin.
Elisabeth looked around the bright room, lips pursed. “I don’t know how you live in that cave home of yours in the sky court.”
Elisabeth and her husband were frost elementals like myself, and while her husband served as ambassador to the water court, they primarily resided here.
