Page 135 of Frozen Hearts and Death Magic

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Naia felt imprisoned,not only imprisoned in that house, imprisoned in her dreams. Perhaps River had looked at her with a loving, caring expression, but what kind of care was that? It hurt to know that he’d taken away her freedom, and hurt even more to realize that it was because he didn’t want to give her any explanation, didn’t want to answer her questions. She wanted to strangle River, but that would obviously be hard, considering she couldn’t wake up.

But she was awake—from a certain point-of-view. If she could think all that, if she was aware of what was happening, then she wasn’t dreaming. The question was how to be truly awake and in her body.

Fire. The word came to her like a whisper from the wind. Her magical fire could counter the magic blocking the Ancient City, perhaps it could… She lit a flame in her hand.

Naia sat up, her heart racing, and looked around the room. It was night, River was not here, and she had no idea how much time had passed. Days? Hours? Months? She wasn’t sure. Perhaps it had all been a strange dream that he’d made her sleep, that he had looked at her with kind, loving eyes. But no, she had asked him about that fae city, had asked what all of that meant, and had gotten no answers. He had made her sleep. Now it was the middle of the night, and he wasn’t here.

What part of her thought that living with a fae would work out? He’d said he would declare his love in front of his people, in front of his father. What a joke. That was the kind of fae promise one should be wary of. If his people were all asleep, there was no way that wedding could ever happen.

Naia took the mirror Fel had given her, but she couldn’t feel any magic in it. She wondered if her brother was all right, if her father was well. Her father. Now remorse took over her thoughts. What had gotten into her that had made her trade her family for a tricky fae? Now she was here, still without any answer, not any closer to figuring out what was happening than before. And the worst part was suspecting that she was being played by River. But why? Why couldn’t he have left her alone? Alone, lonely, and unsure about her future, but maybe it was better than tasting something that wasn’t meant to be hers.

Anyway. Whining wasn’t going to fix anything. She had to find solutions, and this time, she was getting to the bottom of this, no matter how long it took. She then recalled getting back from the Ancient City, how River had been distraught with worry, how he had held her as if nothing else mattered in the world. Sure. Then he not only had avoided her questions, he had made her sleep.

Naia got dressed, took a knife, and went outside. Still no sign of River. She’d been under the impression that he would come home every night—like a husband. Well, she’d been under lots of wrong impressions—and was about to fix them and figure out the truth.

With a flame in her hand and fire in her heart, she crossed the thicket surrounding the house and soon found herself walking in the meadow leading to the Ancient palace, only the stars illuminating her way.

At least now she knew she didn’t have to avoid being seen, and she also knew she wouldn’t find anyone to give her any information, so that was a step ahead of last time. She also knew there was no point asking River about any of that, so that was another step ahead. A painful step ahead, but sometimes you had to wade through pain to move forward. And yet that pain meant she cared for River, which only made her annoyed—and even more hurt.

Naia cared for River, and once she had thought it could work out, despite everything. And yet the reality was that she had no idea who he really was, what he wanted, and what his plans were. She’d once thought they’d share a life together, and yet he’d never shared any of his fears, wishes, and plans with her. And then, he was fae, a race renowned for being untrustworthy. She’d thought she had it all figured out, that she wasn’t going to let him trick her, but she’d been tricked and doomed from the moment they had first kissed. Or even from the moment she had first seen him.

Step after step she walked, hoping to reach the city and the castle, not sure what she was about to find, not sure even what she was looking for. All she wanted were some answers. That first little house seemed a lot closer this time, perhaps because she’d been expecting it, perhaps because she wasn’t being as careful or slow. This was River’s city, and his people. Of course he wanted to save them. The question was: save them from what? And how?

This area had some dry, ugly trees, and it made the landscape spooky at night. If she weren’t so angry, she would perhaps turn back and wait for daytime, as the night cast ominous shadows on the ground. But her goal was the city and the palace. Still, she stopped. There was a different sound in the air, perhaps a different feel. Well, it was night, that was what was different. Naia pressed on.

Too late, she heard a set of steps. Far too late. Four fae jumped from trees in front of her, and two more on her back. They were all wearing the uniform she’d seen in the Fae palace, a green tunic with brown pants, and had bows and arrows. Two of them pointed their weapons at her. What surprised her most was seeing anyone alive and moving in this place.

Naia raised her hands slowly. Sure, that movement would only put her at an advantage to set them all on fire, but hopefully they had no idea about it. She wanted to ask them who they were and what they were doing here, but knew that it was better to remain quiet when threatened.

“Who are you?” one of the fae said.

“Oh, I have the same question.” Oops, she forgot to hold her tongue. “I mean, I mean no harm.”

Guards. They were guards, she realized. The one who’d spoken was a little taller than the others and had hair as white as the snow in Frostlake, with dark red eyes. The two guards with the bows also had snow-like hair, but one had bright red eyes, and the other had pink eyes. The one in the middle had sandy blond hair, and red eyes again. She had no idea what the two guards behind her looked like because she wasn’t going to turn.

The fae then asked, “Who are you and how did you come to our sacred city?”

“I’m… a friend,” she said. “I wanted to know what’s going on. I want to help.”

“Help? You’re human. You’re not exactly a friend of our kind.”

“I know River. I’m his… friend.” That word sounded awful, but what else was she going to say she was to him?

The guards looked at each other.

The blond guard, who’d been silent until then, stared at her. “We should take her to King Spring.”

“She has magic. I can smell it,” the other guard said.

Meanwhile, the archers still had their bows aimed at her, not completely taut, to be fair, and she could burn them. But she obviously didn’t want to use her fire yet and risk hurting four people. “I’d love to talk to your king,” she said.

The blond guard nodded. “Very well. But we’ll need to bind your hands.” He pulled a pair of shackles from his belt. Brass. Not as easy to work as iron, but she could deal with that too.

Naia extended her arms. The thought of having her hands bound wasn’t great, but then, she could get rid of those shackles easily. At least she was on her way to the palace, where the king would shine a light on what was going on.

One thing she hadn’t considered was how uncomfortable it would be to spend time walking like that. And how uncomfortable it would be to deal with the curious looks in her direction.

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