Page 47 of Frozen Hearts and Death Magic

“You don’t want to stay and argue?” Fel asked him.

“Not when tempers are running this hot, no,” their father said between gritted teeth.

“It was the fae, wasn’t it?” Fel asked.

Her father nodded. “I saw many fae warriors around the room. If that was the fae or an illusion, I do not know.”

An illusion? What if the fae warriors hadn’t been real? That would explain how River had gotten rid of them so easily.

“But the light explosions were real,” her father added.

“Naia, what did you see?” Fel asked.

“Lots of people scared. Screams. Mirrors breaking. That was you, wasn’t it?”

Her brother shook his head. “I don’t know. It was all so fast. One moment I was throwing shards, the next, it was all gone.”

“Strange times are ahead of us,” was all she managed to say.

“There’s a war coming, isn’t there?” Fel asked.

Their father sighed. “I think it just got here. The question is which war. And against whom.”

Naia had the same questions, and yet she couldn’t say most of what she thought. And to think that she would be gone by dawn. That would be such a blow for her father, such a blow for Fel. She had agreed with River too easily and now was feeling foolish. But foolish or not, she’d made the bargain, and now she’d need to honor it.

* * *

Leah’s worldwas falling apart like the mirrors that had once surrounded the top hall. There was so much panic around her, and she didn’t understand anything. She’d seen almost nothing, considering a mirror had blocked her view before shattering in thousands of pieces—and considering the tears in her eyes. Where had those explosions come from? This attack was terrible for her kingdom and her parents. Other kings could complain about their poor security, could even accuse them of having planned it all.

Strangely, what bothered Leah the most was not the chaos around her, the danger within the walls of the castle she once considered safe, but Naia’s words and Fel’s indifference. The discomfort was like an insect crawling under her skin, then there was that cold feeling inside her.

Fel was now rushing out of the room with his family without sparing her a single glance. Not a single glance from him, leaving only emptiness inside her. For a moment she even thought that he could have tried to protect her, that he’d moved the mirror that had been in front of her, but that was impossible, when he wasn’t even looking in her direction.

What had happened between them had all been a lie, a lie. Leah had been fooled, and almost done what her mother had warned her against. Her mother. Where was she? Leaving the ballroom, looking distraught. Leah then looked for her father, who was walking towards her, Kasim at his side.

“Are you hurt?” her father asked.

“No.” She realized she was crying and took a deep breath, in an effort to stop it.

Her father eyed her up and down, as if double-checking her words. “Kasim will take you to your room. Stay inside until someone comes and tells you it’s safe.”

She frowned. “You think there are more intruders?”

“I don’t know.”

As she turned to leave, a quick thought came to her mind. “Dad.”

He paused.

She continued, “I think I’ll accept Venard’s offer.” The words tasted bitter but sounded right.

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” He waved a hand and dismissed her.

As she walked up with Kasim and two guards, he asked her, “Are you sure of what you just told your father?”

She shrugged. “How sure does one get?”

“You could wait, Leah.”

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