Page 13 of Frozen Hearts and Death Magic

Leah shook her head. “It’s fine.”

He was beside them in a couple of seconds. “Apologies, my lady.” Naia had to hold down her laughter at seeing him acting so formal. He took Leah’s hand and kissed it, and for a moment she feared the girl would notice something was off, but she didn’t, perhaps because they were both wearing gloves. “Isofel, at your service,” he said while looking down, as if avoiding looking at her.

“I’m Leah.” She pointed to his skates. “Nice magic you have. I didn’t know you could do that with ironbringing.”

He smiled and floated above the ice. “I can do a lot.” Show off. He probably had iron in his inner shirt or vest.

“You can fly!” Leah sounded impressed.

He got back on the ice and shrugged. “Just float a little.”

Leah turned to Naia. “What about you? Are you also an ironbringer, or do you have your father’s magic?”

Fel seemed disappointed that he was no longer the center of attention and was now looking away.

Naia considered the question. “I… uh.” She couldn’t mention her fire. “Ironbringer, like Fel, except he’s better. What about you?”

She smiled. “Necromancer. Like my father.” Somehow she managed to say it with pride, not with any of the awkwardness or shame Naia would have expected, considering it was the creepiest magic in Aluria.

Fine, deathbringing could be deadly, but it also had many advantages, like allowing someone to travel through the hollow. Necromancy… was about dealing with the dead and there was no getting out of it. But then, if it had been necromancy that had cleared Naia’s father’s name, perhaps there was something good about it.

Leah explained to her how to move her feet, and slowly, Naia got the hang of it and stopped feeling cold and uncomfortable. She was glad they had come. Being here, in this lake surrounded by snow and ice, felt peaceful. And perhaps she’d make a friend.

Her father didn’t have female servants, other than an old cook who worked only a few hours a day, and Naia often wished she had some feminine company. Perhaps she wanted to talk about kissing and love, and all those wishes she never mentioned to anyone. But then, she had no idea if this princess even thought about those things or if she was just cold-hearted and manipulative, like her father claimed all princesses were. Naia was pretty sure she couldn’t confess having kissed a fae, couldn’t try to figure out if they always disappeared after a kiss or if it had been a problem with her. So many questions.

Fel kept a distance from them, but he did observe their movements enough that he was now actually skating, even if he was also using his magic. Naia was not using ironbringing. If anything, she thought she’d fall even harder if she tried to control the blades. For Fel it was different; his first instinct was always to turn to his magic, and she didn’t blame him. She wondered if there would be malicious whispers about him. The Ironhold family had seen him and Naia when they were born and should be aware of his condition, but she didn’t think it was a subject they’d want to mention.

Naia closed her eyes as she felt her feet gliding on the ice. Leah was way ahead of them, further into the frozen lake, speeding with grace and skill.

Fel was near Naia, but his eyes were locked on the Frostlake princess, which he did whenever the girl wasn’t looking at him. Sneaky. Then his eyes widened in shock.

Naia followed his line of sight, and noticed something disturbing the surface of the ice. Then it broke, and a gigantic watersnake emerged from the water, its huge blue scales glinting in the sun. The creature was right beside Leah, who then fell, surrounded by broken ice, the creature advancing on her. Watersnakes were usually seen only near the ocean, and were associated with magic and the fae. It was strange to see one in a lake like that, and in a frozen lake.

Naia felt the fire in her begging to come out, and lit two flames in her hands.

Fel was also rushing to the creature, but his eyes met hers, and he shook his head slightly. “Let me deal with it.” His expression was calm except for the warning in his eyes.

Right, she wasn’t supposed to let anyone see her power. But if she couldn’t use it in an emergency, what was the point? Naia quenched the flames in her palms, but still skated toward the creature, right behind Fel. He ungloved his hands and sent his metal fingers flying towards the monster, hitting the scales around its huge yellow eyes. The creature recoiled and dove back under the water. Leah was sitting, probably about to perform some magic, as her eyes were turning completely black, but the ice she was standing on was already cracking.

Everyone would hate the Umbraar royal family even more if a princess died while skating with them. That was a horrible, selfish thought. Leah had been friendly and nice to them, and didn’t deserve to get hurt. But what was Naia going to do? Her fire could only melt the ice, not put it back together. It could have maybe hurt the watersnake, but now it couldn’t fix any of the damage.

Then she noticed silver pieces floating towards Leah. Fel’s hands. Of course. He could control them from a moderate distance. The hands held Leah and lifted her in the air, while the ice underneath her cracked. He’d done all that without even flinching. Of course; Umbraar men didn’t flinch.

Leah was brought close to them and landed beside Fel, her eyes turning blue again, but wide with surprise. Fel pulled the metal pieces that made his hands, reformed them, and put them back in the gloves.

The advisor with the dark brown skin was beside them, a sword in his hand. “Let’s go back,” he said with some difficulty, as he was almost breathless.

Leah moved quickly to the border of the lake, Naia and Fel following them at a distance.

Naia turned to her brother. “Good job.”

Fel grunted, which was what he did when he didn’t know what to reply, then said, “Wasn’t it an interesting coincidence?”

Naia wasn’t sure where he was going with this. “The watersnake?”

He nodded. “Right when the royal families were supposed to be here.”

“You think someone enchanted a watersnake? I mean, a powerful wildbringer could do that, but it would be a lot of work.”

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