In a blink, Jax’s suffocating Ironcrest magic disappeared, and the dozen fae who hovered near us released collective sighs of relief. All of them stayed put, their wings continuing to flap and hold them aloft, but the first swirled around and raced back to where he’d come from. The rest stayed, circling us, weapons still in hand.
Lander growled low in his throat, probably because one of the weapons was trained right at him, but there was less fury in the Solis guards’ auras. It was as if they kept their weapons up out of the training instilled in them versus wanting to actually use them.
Their close proximity, however, did give me a moment to study them, and everything I’d ever heard about the Solis fae proved to be true. All of them had silvery or white hair, and each had blue eyes. Their uniform tops were a light yellow, and black breeches covered their legs. If I remembered right, the territory color of Harrivee was yellow, so that wasn’t surprising.
In addition to the uniform tops, all of them wore gloves, and thick scarves encircled their necks. It was obvious they were equipped to fly in freezing temperatures, yet I couldn’t help but wonder if their clothes were enchanted to keep them warm or if their bodies had simply adapted to the cold, and they didn’t feel it like I did.
Shivers continually wracked my frame, the cold atmospheric wind not helping, and I had to keep my jaw locked so as not to tremble with cold.
Thankfully, we didn’t have to hover in the freezing temperature for long. A shout came from above, and the initial fairy who had confronted us zoomed back our way, dipping and weaving around the smaller floating meadows.
He stopped a short distance away and made a gesture with his hands. All of the fae surrounding us lowered their weapons.
“Prince Adarian is right. This foreign royal and his friends have been granted permission to visit the meadows. We’re to take them to Hartivul Mine.” The guard inclined his head. “Apologies, my prince. Follow me.”
Jax commandedthe carpet to keep pace with our fae escort. We glided in the center, the guards surrounding us, and everyone dipped and wove up and around the floating meadows.
We flew higher, the solid land below now distant. Cities on the ground’s surface became visible too, but they were just specks, too far away to clearly see.
My eyes widened more as the meadows grew closer. Impossibly, on the tops of most of them were plants and grasses, growing and blooming on the flat surfaces. Some even had flowers. Yet, it was stillfreezing. Snow dotted all of the meadows, but the vegetation didn’t seem to mind. Miraculously, the plants grew through it.
“How is that possible?” I gaped when we sped by an entire field of budding roses emerging from crisp white snow.
“Magic,” Jax replied. “This land is blessed with immense magic that allows plants to grow in their frozen climate. They call itorem.”
“Look at that.” Phillen nodded toward a cascading waterfall on one of the floating meadows. Ice coated the waterfall’s sides, but the pond it fell into was mostly open water. From there, the pool wove into a small river that snaked along the meadow’s surface. The river swept all the way to the edge of the meadow, where it dripped off, falling in a perpetual waterfall to the ground. It was one of the largest meadows that we’d passed. Rolling hills and a small mountain on its surface graced its landscape.
“This is so beautiful,” I whispered.
Jax inched closer to my side, his pine and spicy scent filling the breeze. “We’re very lucky to witness this today. Most fae in our realm are never granted this privilege.”
“Are you friends with the royal family here? Is that why they were so welcoming?”
Jax shrugged. “Norivun and I are of similar age. I grew up seeing him at sporadic royal events held among the four continents. I suppose you could say we’re friends, although we don’t frequently see each other, and we don’t talk often, but we’ve always gotten along.”
“Our destination is straight ahead,” the fairy guard leading the way called over his shoulder, his flapping wings obstructing my view of his face.
Jax’s and my conversation halted, and my jaw dropped when I beheld thehugefloating meadow we glided toward. It was the largest one I’d seen so far. The depth of the floating meadow had to plunge at least a thousand feet below its surface, and the width of it stretched several miles.
Despite its massive weight and the rocky sides that tapered into a cone shape beneath it, the enormous meadow hung suspended in the air as though it was as light as a feather.
Fae working on the meadow’s surface could be seen as we drifted closer to the center. All of them had silver hair and black wings. Some stayed put, calling out orders to those around them. Others emerged from what looked like the entrance to a cave, which I guessed was the mine, as they walked to a large winged creature that lay docilely on the meadow’s surface.
The creature was an animal I wasn’t familiar with, but it appeared to be asleep since its eyes were closed and its scaled head rested on the snowy ground. Its body was covered in furry white feathers, and I couldn’t tell if it was a bird or reptile, but it had wings folded at its side, and strapped to the animal’s large frame was a harness with several large buckets attached to it.
The fae who approached the sleeping animal did so readily, as though not scared of it. When they reached it, they placed whatever they were carrying into the large containers harnessed to the animal and then secured the bucket’s top flap.
“What is that flying behemoth?” Trivan called to the Solis around us, pointing to the animal.
“Aligersail,” one answered. “We use them to bring the mine’s harvest back to the ground. It’s easier than the mineworkers carrying heavy sacks. More secure too. Ligersails can be trained to detect deceit. If anyone working in the mines attempts to steal the harvested stones, the ligersail makes its displeasure known.”
Bowan laughed. “I bet that makes catching criminals easier.”
The guard grinned slyly. “Indeed.”
We flew closer to the cave, and the fairy guard pointed to a flat area near the mine’s entrance. “Land there.”
Jax followed his command and settled the carpet on the meadow’s snowy surface. Back on solid ground, my body still swayed. The floating meadow dipped and moved beneath us. It was an entirely disorienting feeling.
