Page 119 of Kiss of Ice

Right here, right now, there was no place he’d rather be. He lay with his ice queen in his arms and let the world go right on by.

Epilogue

“We have been waiting for three hours,” said the Head of the Witch Council testily. A crone of more than seven hundred years old, she felt no compunction to be polite to the Emperor of the realm. She’d seen him running round in his diapers.

Kam leaned back in his throne and stifled a sigh.

“Apologies, Council Leader Cassia. I had something urgent to attend to. How can I help you?”

The wiccan gestured to the delegation behind her.

“May I introduce our smallest and oldest coven, your Majesty. They are few, but revered among the wiccan.”

Kam examined them with interest. They were a group of seven, which was small for a coven. But there seemed nothing particularly special about them. He smiled politely.

“I welcome you to the Gilded Palace. Which part of the realm do you hail from?”

“They don’t live in Nush’aldaam. They reside in the human realm,” said Cassia. Kam’s eyes narrowed.

“Witches who cross into the human realm usually do so because they want to practise dark magic. I don’t tolerate dark magic.”

One of the coven came forward. She looked, if possible, older than the Council Leader. She leaned heavily on her staff and gazed at Kam with unnerving directness.

“We do not practise the dark arts, your Majesty. We live in the human realm because that’s where we were sent five thousand years ago. We guard some very special relics.”

“You were sent there? By who?”

“By the angels, your Majesty.”

Surprised, Kam looked to the Council Leader for an explanation.

“What’s going on, Cassia?”

“A few weeks ago, before your wedding, a wiccan came to see me. She works here as a dresser to the Empress.”

“Ruth. Yes, I know her.”

“She was concerned because the gilded runes on the walls of the palace had begun to fluctuate. They were shining brighter at night. Surely you must have noticed?”

Kam nodded slowly. Of course he’d noticed. And he hadn’t been the only one. But it hadn’t seemed especially important. Just a strange quirk of an ancient string of letters that had been around for so long, people barely noticed them any more. And they’dalwaysshone at night. So what if they were glowing a little bit brighter?

“Is it a problem?”

“Unfortunately, yes, your Majesty.” Cassia turned to the coven leader. “I think you’d better explain, Lenore.”

The older wiccan nodded.

“The runes on the palace were placed there five thousand years ago to protect Nush’aldaam from the demonicus spirits. The demons who waged the long and bloody war your ancestors helped to win, your Majesty. The fact that they’re glowing brighter means they’re working harder. The demons are once again a threat.”

Kam frowned.

“What do you mean? How can they be a threat? They were vanquished!”

“They were trapped,” she corrected. “In another realm. Sealed in by the angels. But we believe the seal is failing.”

The blood drained from Kam’s face. He grasped the arms of the throne so tightly he thought his fingers might leave dents.

“That’s not possible. The seal is impermeable. Unbreakable.”

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