Page 93 of Frozen Hearts and Death Magic

Naia didn’t know what else she’d find in the palace, but she had the feeling that she had to go there. As she approached it, she saw more and more houses, mostly made of stone.

The area around the palace was a little city with cobbled streets and many square stone houses, surrounded by dry trees.

Naia found a few fae sleeping on the street. This was odd. She wished she could move them somewhere better, but she didn’t even know where to move them and how to do it. Well, she could maybe find some large silver tray or something and use it to move them. Too much work. Perhaps River could do it. Perhaps that was what he was doing. Suddenly, she realized that he could catch her here. Oh, well, perhaps that would be good: a chance to confront him directly.

The palace was built of stones, even if the exterior walls were wood. It had large chambers and the main difference from human palaces was that the walls were less polished, and some places on the floor looked like they used to have vegetation. It was as if even the palace wanted to be part of nature. Dead nature. Her stomach churned. Whatever was happening here was a horrible tragedy. She couldn’t fathom what River felt seeing this place like this, so dead.

Naia wasn’t sure what she was looking for as she wandered through hallways and rooms, crossing sleeping fae here and there, who were dressed in silk and velvet and wore more accessories than the fae outside.

Eventually, she found a large chamber with two large chairs. That had to be the throne room, but it was empty. Naia’s attention was drawn to a tapestry behind the chairs. It had to be the royal family. There was a couple wearing bramble crowns: the king and queen. The king had brown hair and brown-red eyes, while the queen had the typical silvery blond hair. Her eyes looked pink in the tapestry. Surrounding them, there were two identical girls, both looking like the queen, and two male fae with blonde hair and red eyes. A part of the tapestry had been burned, and Naia wasn’t sure if there had been anyone there or not.

This didn’t explain the sleeping. Well, what had she been expecting? Some written account on how this had happened? If anything, there had been no warning, otherwise the fae would have changed clothes and gone to their beds. At least that was what Naia would have done.

Having come here looking for answers, all she had found was an even bigger mystery. Oh, she was going to make River talk, no matter what it took.

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