Page 33 of Sun, Moon & Shadow

He stared her down, the faintest hint of a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Yes, that would be unwise to mention,” she huffed, hooking her booted foot into the stirrup and swinging her leg over. Shifting in the saddle, she adjusted her dress so it covered her legs as much as possible. Callan mounted behind her and took hold of the reins.

“You can have your pick of any horse in the stables when we arrive in Nivali,” he murmured in her ear as he nudged Frost into a trot.

“I’ll accept that as an apology,” she said. The warm rush of his laugh brushed against her cheek, and Nova was thankful he sat at her back and couldn't see her blushing.

She tried to hide it, but the prospect of leaving the Estate’s protective shield frightened her. Though the sun had fully risen roughly an hour after they’d passed through the Estate’s massive wooden gates, Nova still flinched at the snap of twigs as they rode along the worn cart path beneath trees crowned with terracotta leaves. The only creatures she spied lurking in the forest were wood sprites flitting from limb to limb, no larger than hummingbirds, their gold-veined wings shimmering in the sunlight. Though the creatures had sharp teeth and could be vicious, swarming when provoked, they were mostly harmless, according to Fawn’s lessons.

Callan tugged gently on the reins, steering the horse toward a row of apple trees lining the path. As they passed, he plucked a fragrant golden apple from a branch, buffing it on his cloak before handing it to her. Holding the ripe fruit in both hands, Nova brought it to her nose and inhaled deeply before sinking her teeth into it.

“Is it just my Fae senses, or does the food taste much better here?” she asked, mouth full of the sweet fruit.

“Legend says that long ago, when mortals could freely enter Aemoria, eating our food or drinking our wine enchanted them, making them vulnerable. It’s one of the reasons the Boundary was created, barring humans from entering. But, to your point, I choked down enough mealy apples and stale bread while I searched for you below the Boundary to say this with a fair bit of certainty: The food here is much better.”

A few moments later, Nova took a final bite of the apple and tossed the core into the brush. Movement caught her eye, and she tilted her head back to see a raven lazily circling high above them, a smudge of black against the expanse of clear blue sky. Callan nudged Frost into a canter when they reached a fork in the path, taking them deeper into the forest and only slowing to a walk once they were sheltered beneath a canopy of overhanging branches.

“Is something the matter?” Nova asked, twisting to look at him.

“A lone raven.” He tipped his head toward the shadowy tunnel stretching through the trees behind them. “It’s a bad omen.”

Eyes wide, Nova twisted further to look over her shoulder, but nothing followed. There was no sound but birdsong and the rustle of leaves in the light breeze. The morning was comfortably warm. As they plodded along, crossing between cool shadows and patches of dappled sunlight, Nova leaned back, relaxing against Callan’s chest.

“How much longer until we reach the portal?” she asked, absentmindedly combing her fingers through the snowy strands of Frost’s mane.

“Not long now. See the crest up ahead?” He pointed at a gradual slope in the path before them. “The portal is in a clearing on the far side of that hill.”

“How does it work, exactly?” The notion of traveling in minutes a distance that would have taken weeks in the Human Realm fascinated her.

“Portals sit on sites of ancient magic throughout the territories. Each portal is a gateway leading to a sacred site in another location. The one up ahead is connected to an ancient site in Nivali, not far from the capital.”

When they reached the hill a short time later, Callan wrapped his left arm snug around her waist, clicking his tongue for the horse to pick up speed on the incline. When they descended the opposite side, he steered them to the right and off the packed-dirt path. Frost stepped nimbly over roots and overgrown brush. Callan loosened his grip on Nova, but his arm lingered, resting loosely around her middle.

At last, they crossed into a large circular clearing, the ground carpeted in spongy, green moss. At the center stood an ancient tree. Its knotted branches and thick roots reached out nearly to the edge of the circle. The wide trunk was split, as if it had once been struck by lightning, creating an opening large enough for them to pass through, even while seated atop the horse. The tree appeared hollow with a seemingly infinite blackness contained within it. As they approached, a glimmer ran across the opening, not unlike the ripple that had revealed the shield over the training field. The breeze stilled, and the forest birds went silent.

“Are you ready?” Callan asked.

The fine hairs on Nova’s arms stood on end. “Y-yes,” she answered, stifling a shudder triggered by her proximity to such concentrated magic.

Callan urged Frost on, and they entered the portal. The sensation reminded Nova of crossing the Boundary. All sound faded as if she’d been plunged underwater, and a great weight pressed in on her from every direction. The horse trudged forward slowly, as if fighting against the pull of a tide.

After what felt like only a matter of minutes, Frost carried them through a passageway and onto a snowy, windblown cliff overlooking a cove flanked by high bluffs. Nova twisted in the saddle. The portal entrance was a cave in the rock face, unremarkable except for the carved symbols around the opening. Nova recognized the characters as those she’d seen etched on Callan’s blade. A weathered stone carving of Brumal, the god of transformation, stood to the right of the cave, arms held out with palms facing the overcast sky.

Moored in the harbor below, dozens of ships of varying sizes bobbed on the water. Large patches of ice, thick and opaque, dotted the cove. Set back from the sandy shoreline stood a great wooden structure, its peaked roof blanketed in pure white snow. A sprawling city of smaller wooden structures surrounded the main building with evergreen trees jutting up toward the sky like ships’ masts between them. Dozens of tiny windows glowed with the flickering orange of firelight. Nova glanced up, realizing the sky was already growing dark.

“It’s nearly nightfall,” she said, pulling her hood over her head against a blast of icy wind. The soft fur lining tickled her chilled cheeks.

“Traveling by portal is much faster than traveling over land, but it still takes time.” Callan’s tone was serious, his expression somber, as he pulled up his own hood and opened his cloak, draping it over her shoulders. She leaned into him and pulled the material tight around them both, the combined heat of their bodies warming her immediately. “And days are much shorter in the Winter Court.”

Frost snorted impatiently, pawing at the snow-covered rock. Callan made no move to start their journey down the mountainside.

Nova realized he was stalling.

“The wind’s picking up,” she said after a few moments. “Perhaps we should be going.”

“Of course,” Callan said. His voice had a faraway quality, as if her words had pulled him from a trance. With a nudge from Callan’s boots to his ribs, Frost started off along the snowy decline toward the Estate.

The bite of the frigid wind against her face lessened once they made it down off the mountainside and were shielded by the dense evergreen forest. The air was thick with the sharp scent of pine and cedar as they traveled between the trees. Snow slid off the branches, landing with soft thuds on the forest floor, the freed limbs springing up and casting clouds of fine white powder into the air.