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Wrath paused and looked back at me. “The path to the realm of Winter is found outside Summer. Are we all here?”
I glanced around. Grieve, Chatter, Kaylin, Luna, Peyton, and Rhiannon…and me. All waiting. And behind them, Lainule waited, her robes shimmering gold and green. Her hair was turning fast now, the highlights auburn among the gold.
“We’re here.” I steeled myself.
“A moment.” Wrath motioned to the side, and Druise ran up carrying a heavy cloak the color of twilight. She draped it around my shoulders and fastened it with a silver pin in the shape of a holly leaf. I rubbed my hand on the material. It was soft, almost like velvet, and warm.
I looked up at my father. He smiled and shrugged.
“You may be destined to become the Queen of Ice and Snow, my daughter, but even you will find the realm harsh and cold at first. That will change, of course, but for now, best you be protected. The rest of you, cloak up. Grieve and Chatter will be fine, but mortals and half-bloods must take care.”
And out came another servant with a cloak for Rhiannon, matching mine but in a deep hunter green with a gold brooch, and slipped it over her shoulders, fastening it for her. Yet another servant carried cloaks for Luna, Peyton, and Kaylin. When we were all ready, we headed toward the portal, following my father.
As we emerged from the portal, I saw what my playing with the winds had wrought. The sky was shimmering with snow, the pale sun that had been trying to peek out through the clouds the past few days was gone, and a cutting wind was blowing the snow into high drifts. I’d taken Myst’s handiwork and made it worse.
“Once we stop the Indigo Court, at least winter will fade normally,” Luna said.
I bit my lip. “It will fade here, but…” I glanced at my father. “Where Grieve and I will be living, it will be perpetual winter, won’t it?”
He nodded. “Yes, my dear. And Rhiannon will live in perpetual summer. I have a feeling you two are going to break tradition, though, and come out of your realms more often than Lainule did, or Tabera.”
Grieve took my hand as we turned in a direction I had not yet been in—this was not the way to where we had found Lainule’s heartstone, nor where we had journeyed to the realm of the Bat People. Instead, we were heading into the core of the forest, toward the Cascade foothills. There was no path here, but as Wrath moved forward, the bushes opened up for him, pulling back under their heavy weight of snow, as if they sensed his coming and acknowledged his presence.
“Who was the King of Winter? You said Tabera was murdered by Myst. But what about her King?”
He paused and turned. “Tabera was married to Shatter. As always happens when a queen dies and is not replaced, he died with her.” The look on his face told me that his death had not gone easy.
“Did Myst kill him, too?”
“No.” Wrath glanced up at the snow that fell softly, with a muffled hiss, around our shoulders. “When Myst came to this land, when you were her daughter, she didn’t attempt a coup of the Winter Court. Not until this past year. She hid in the shadows for centuries, biding her time, and bred her court.”
I had wondered about that—my memories of that time were nebulous, coming in snippets, and I had no clue of how things had gone down other than what I’d been shown.
“When did she kill Tabera?”
My father frowned. “Last year she came out of hiding, emerged and destroyed the Winter Court. Because we—and Tabera—kept to the traditions of having contact only during the Solstices when the reins of control change over, we did not know it had happened until Litha—the Summer Solstice.”
“So you had no clue?”
He shrugged, a dark look clouding his face. “In some ways, we gave her the perfect setup. Tabera could have called for help, if we had kept closer contact. So Myst threw her down—she found Tabera’s heartstone and destroyed it.”
I shivered. Destroying a queen’s heartstone was cold, deliberate execution. “And Shatter tried to avenge her?”
“Yes.” Wrath started walking again. “From what the remnants of the Winter Court tell us—those who managed to escape and were not turned—Shatter planned out an assassination. But a few of his guards fell under Myst’s spell, including his most loyal captain. Shatter’s plan was exposed. Before Myst could kill him, Shatter destroyed himself, taking a number of Myst’s new converts with him. He blew up part of the Winter palace. We’ve had a crew working on it nonstop since we routed her from the Barrow.”
A thought crossed my mind. “Is Myst…will she still have Shadow Hunters there?”
“No,” Grieve said. “When she routed Summer, she took up residence in the Court of Rivers and Rushes because it provided easier access to the town and their people.”
Wrath nodded. “The guards and tradesmen have been working hard, and there are no signs of Myst or her Shadow Hunters. The Winter Court is ready and waiting for you.”
I fell silent, thinking about everything he had told me, as we traversed the roughening terrain. Lainule, Grieve, Chatter, and Wrath had no problem, of course. They could walk on top of the snow if they wanted. Kaylin wasn’t far behind them—he moved with an ease that belied the demon within him. But Luna, Rhiannon, Peyton, and I weren’t faring quite as well. How the hell was I going to function once I actually moved into the realm of Winter if I couldn’t even get around?
“I’m going to have to get snowshoes, I think, once we move in.” I was grumbling and knew it, but the thought of a continual struggle to even get around in my own home was daunting.
Lainule glanced at Wrath. “I think we should tell her. I’ve hinted at it before, but I haven’t come out and told her clearly.”
“Tell me what?” Please, oh, please, let it be something good for a change.
