Page 136 of Frozen Hearts and Death Magic

They came across fae—wide awake—all along the way the palace, unlike the previous time she’d been here, which was what? Yesterday? A week before? She wasn’t sure. But the feeling wasn’t festive or relieved. If anything, what she gathered from the eyes of those fae was fear. Not fear of her, but of something else. Fear and despair, everywhere she looked.

She was going to ask them if they realized they had just woken up from what seemed to have been a long slumber, but then she decided it would give too much away. Instead, she asked, “Did something happen here?”

“You’ll talk to our king.” The guard’s voice was firm, but not harsh.

Indeed. As far as she knew, taking a stranger to the king wasn’t something that was usually done, at least not in human kingdoms where they kept formalities. “Do all visitors get that honor?”

The man snorted. “Visitors.”

Right. Secret, sealed city and all that. It made sense that they would be wary of her. What didn’t make sense was why they were awake now, unless she had previously come during nap time or something.

She decided to be playful and see if she could fish for information. “Aren’t you happy to see a new face?”

“Human.” There was a warning in the guard’s voice. “Keep your words. They’ll do you no favors. If you have questions, ask our king.”

Human. The derision they used to say that word told her everything she needed to know about them. At least River wasn’t like that. Or she thought so. She kept her thoughts to herself, not interested in wasting her precious breath, since apparently it wasn’t appreciated.

When they got to the city, more guards escorted her, which made her feel really important. Well, as the Umbraar princess, she was important, it was just that she didn’t usually feel it. Perhaps the right word was dangerous, and there was a strange pleasure in noticing that the inhabitants of this city had some fear of her. That was unlike River, even if he claimed she’d almost killed him once. If metal magic itself was deadly to the fae, then she was indeed quite dangerous, and had to remember that. But she wasn’t here to threaten or scare anyone, but to talk to them, to understand what was happening.

The palace still looked like a tree—a dead tree—but it felt a lot more grandiose when there were guards standing at its entrance. They took her to a hall with white marble floor and columns, contrasting with most of the wood architecture of the city. She hadn’t been here before, as its doors had been closed then. A raised dais had five chairs, and then there were two balconies on the sides, from where more curious spectators could watch whatever happened here. But the room was empty now. And remained empty for many minutes.

In a way, it was embarrassing and slightly humiliating to be brought here in shackles like a prisoner. Perhaps she should have tried to argue more, bargain with them, but then, she’d been so eager for any kind of answer, and the idea of seeing the king had been too tempting. Regardless. What mattered was getting answers.

After a long time standing, a door opened, and five fae came in, two of them guards. Three of them were nobles. One was a young woman with pale hair and burgundy eyes, and the other was a young man with similar features. Then there was another man, somewhat older, wearing a golden circlet. He had to be the king, and Naia had to catch a breath. With light brown hair and brownish red eyes, plus that square jaw with delicate lips, he looked just like River.

---