Chapter Five
Ontheotherside,theairwasevencolder,bitingatFlorian’slungsashebreathedin.Hewinced,pullingthehemofhisshirtupandoverhisnosetoblockouttheworstofthechillashelookedaround.Theywereinaforest,surroundedbytallevergreens—itwasnotterriblydifferentfromthelandscapetheyhadjustleft.Ifhedidn’tknowbetter,Florianmighthavewonderedwhetherornottheyhadmadethecrossingatall.Nexttohim,Kadetookinadeepbreathandhelditforasecond,thenletitoutinoneheavyexhalation,hiswarmbreathsteamingawayfromhismouthinagreatcloud.
“Are you okay?” Florian asked, brows furrowing. Kade nodded.
“Yeah,” he said. And to Florian’s surprise, Kade smiled before he reached for his hand. “Let’s go.”
He had insisted on Florian bundling up before they left, so he could not quite feel Kade’s hand through the knit gloves he was wearing; but somehow Kade seemed perfectly comfortable in just his heavy coat and winter boots. It made Florian think of how the Winter Court was always comfortable for him, and he wondered if Kade even felt the cold here. A light dusting of snow covered the ground, making their footsteps crunch as they walked.
As Florian looked closer at their surroundings, there were some slight, but noticeable differences: the trees were taller and thicker than they had been Earthside, and the shape of their leaves were different—they were sort of wobbly where he expected them to be straight, as if someone had taken a crimping iron to the pine needles of every tree in the forest. Some of them had small clusters of tiny purplish-blue berries, but most had only leaves. The sky was a bit brighter too, Florian realized; the tree cover blocked out most of the light, but from what he could see of the sky, it was a pale grayish blue like the moments right before sunset on a cloudy day. And itwascloudy; he couldn’t see the sun at all.
“Wait,” Kade said suddenly, stopping. Florian stumbled to a stop next to him and watched as his eyes flickered around their surroundings. He must have heard something. Kade let go of his hand to move his arm protectively in front of him, the other hand on his sword, but he called out loudly,
“It’s Kade. I have the King of the Winter Court with me.”
There was a beat of silence, then Florian could just make out something stirring about thirty feet from them. From behind a tree trunk, a huge white wolf padded out into the open, ears pricked up curiously and vivid blue eyes locked on Florian. He took in a sharp breath, his chest prickling with uneasiness as he took a step back; but when he glanced at Kade, he didn’t seem concerned. The wolf cocked its head curiously, and Kade snorted, pulling his hand away from both Florian and his sword.
“Good to see you, too, Bowen,” he said flatly, stepping closer to the wolf. Florian’s pulse slowed as the wolf trotted closer, stretching out then tossing his head and leaping right past Kade—only for his heart to start hammering all over again, as the wolf rushed up to him.
“Kade!” Florian yelped, stumbling backward. The wolf skidded to a stop a few feet from him, dropping into a play bow with its tail swishing back and forth eagerly.
“Knock it off, Bowen,” Kade snapped. “You know he can’t understand you unless you shift back.”
But Florian had learned a little from shifting as a wolf with Kade, and he could tell that when the wolf sneezed, Bowen was laughing. The wolf shook its body, then was enveloped in a bright blue light the same color as its eyes. When the light faded, a tall, skinny man was straightening to his feet, grinning widely at Florian. Florian stifled a gasp—he looked nearly identical to Kade, but as Kade stepped closer to them he could see that Bowen was taller than him by at least an inch. He was thinner too, lithe where Kade had muscle; but their features would have been identical if it weren’t for the wide smile and mischievous glint in his eyes, which were blue where Kade’s were orange.
“Sorry, sorry,” the man laughed, lowering his head in a quick bow, before meeting Florian’s eyes again. “I’m Bowen. Didn’t mean to startle you, your highness. Just keeping watch, as is my duty. Had to make sure you weren’t an imposter.”
Behind him, Kade visibly rolled his eyes. “We all know you’re only on watch duty to keep you out of trouble. Leave guests out of it.”
Bowen glanced between them with a chagrined face, before shrugging and stepping closer to Kade, shoving his shoulder playfully.
“Yeah, missed you too,” he laughed, and kept walking. “C’mon, I’ll walk you into town.”
Kade caught Florian’s eye, catching the nervous flush that had risen to his face. Of course Kade’s brother would be just as attractive.
“Don’t let him scare you,” Kade muttered, gently placing a hand on Florian’s back to guide him along as they walked.
“I’m not scared,” Florian stammered, but he sounded so flustered even to his own ears that he was sure Kade didn’t believe him. But that seemed less embarrassing than Kade knowing he was flustered because his brother was hot, so he didn’t say anything more. Kade’s gaze softened, his eyes just starting to crinkle at the edges; his thumb rubbed a soft circle on Florian’s back for a moment, before falling away as the distance between them and Bowen grew shorter.
“Hey, sorry to hear about your dad,” Bowen called over his shoulder as they walked, and Kade visibly scowled. “He was a cool guy. We’ll miss him.”
“Have some respect,” Kade sighed. Bowen turned around, walking backwards to glance suspiciously between them. Florian felt the heat rising in his face again, and when he glanced at Kade, he could see a hint of color in his cheeks as well. Bowen raised an eyebrow, but there was a sudden knowing gleam to his expression—another point of difference between the brothers, his face was far more expressive than Kade’s.
“Oh, that’s how it is?” he said, his tone suddenly conspiratorial. “Damn, Kade, I knew you were big on the whole honor and duty stuff, but this seems extreme even for you.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kade snapped, adding in a softer tone to Florian, “Don’t listen to him.”
“Okay,” Florian said. When he glanced up at Bowen, the taller man grinned widely at him, and he looked away quickly. However he had expected this encounter to go, this was certainlynotit.
Bowen was silent as they continued to walk, and soon Florian could see the shapes of buildings through the trees. They emerged at the edge of a forest uphill from a cozy-looking village nestled in a shallow valley, more trees rising up in a slope far on the opposite side. The village was more long than it was wide, following a single wide path through the valley in a slightly meandering oblong shape until it curved behind another hill and out of Florian’s line of sight. Smoke rose from many of the chimneys, and a light dusting of snow covered the wood and stone roofs.
He turned to Kade, enamored with the sight of the snowy village; but before he could say anything, a distant howl rose from the direction from the village, soon answered by another, and another. Florian blinked, looking around—he didn’t see any wolves, but they sounded nearby. Next to him, Kade sighed.
“Just means they know we’re here,” he said, fidgeting with his backpack before gesturing for Florian to follow him. “C’mon. Let’s go see my dad.”
“Sure,” Florian agreed, cautiously following him down the hill. With the snow and the steep incline, he felt like he might slip if his foot landed in the wrong spot—but ahead of them, Bowen had loped down the hill easily and was ambling for the center of the village. “Is, uh, is your brother gonna be there too?”
Kade snorted. “Maybe. I doubt it.”
