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Ryze pressed a fist to his chest. "You wound me."
"But I'm still right." Wornar finished the cheese and poured himself a cup of wine. "In our younger days, we would have come with an entourage of carriages and horses. And sent word weeks ahead of our arrival."
Ryze grimaced. "All of that organisation was tedious."
"You have staff to do that for you." Wornar sipped his wine.
"It was tedious for the staff," Ryze corrected himself. "Not to mention how long it takes to travel overland. Using a portal is much easier. Which reminds me." His gaze flicked over to me. "Khala has been trying to open them herself, but they snap shut before anyone can step through. Have you ever heard of that happening?"
Wornar cocked his head thoughtfully. His gaze lingered on me again. "I can't say I have. Can I see?"
I wanted to refuse. Something about him made me uncomfortable. Something more than the predatory look. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who tolerated being told no.
Ryze nodded to me. "I think it's safe for you to try, as long as there's an alpha present." He nodded again, this time at Wornar. He didn't need to.
I'd smelled the scent of alpha on him the minute he walked through the door.
I moved to an empty part of the room and focused on pulling water from the nearby ocean. Creating the portal itself was almost effortless. Forming the veil and then peeling it back. In moments I’d made a tunnel that should lead straight into my room back in the Winter Court.
I raised my hand towards the portal. A couple of centimetres from it, it slammed shut and disappeared.
I let out a squeak and yanked my hand back. The gods only know what might have happened if I'd touched it. I might have lost a couple of fingers.
"You didn't let it go by yourself," Wornar observed.
"If I did, I'm not aware of it," I said. "I felt as though I was holding it and then it was just gone. It doesn't even slip away. But…" I stopped to think. "It felt like it wasn't locked open. Like when you have to put a wedge in a door to keep from slamming shut on a windy day. But without the wind." Was I making any sense?
"Like sometimes a book wants to close but you have to put your hand on it to keep it open?" Zared suggested.
"Yes, like that," I agreed. "But I couldn't hold it open because…I don't know. Something is missing."
Wornar scratched one of his pointed ears. "That's very strange. For me, I need a combination of warmth and water. The sun, a fire. A hot cup of tea is perfect. Unless you want to drink it. I don't need a great deal of either though. I've never experienced a situation where there was a total absence of one or the other."
"Are you saying she needs something other than winter magic?" Ryze asked.
Wornar spread his hands to either side, almost spilling wine out of his cup. "Or she needs more than one catalyst like spring and autumn magic do."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"It could mean any number of things," Ryze said. "None of which I have answers for right now. When we get back home, we can experiment with various things." He told Wornar about the wall of ice at the river too.
"I won't ask you to show me that," Wornar said with a glance to the window and the ocean beyond. "That could end up messy. I suspect Vanissa wouldn't appreciate having her inn flooded just for a demonstration."
"It wouldn't go unnoticed by Cavan, either," Ryze said. "Nothing quite says, 'hello, we're in the city,' like a flood."
"That would certainly attract attention," Wornar agreed. "You might consider that in the future at some point. Preferably after I've left Garial."
"We'll bear that in mind." Ryze winked at me.
"Khala isn't going to be causing any floods," Zared said darkly. "Not on purpose. People might die." He gave both Fae men a dark look.
"People dying might be the purpose," Ryze said coolly. "If that's the case, then it may be a necessity. Right now, it's not." He wasn't giving up a centimetre to Zared. Not even a millimetre.
"I don't want to kill anyone," I said.
"Most of us don't want to kill anyone," Ryze said. "Except Tavian. He gets enjoyment out of it. The rest of us do what we have to do to stay alive and keep innocent people safe. If that means killing, then so be it. If the choice is between yourself and someone else, I assure you, you'll do what has to be done."
"Fae are bloodthirsty," Zared said accusingly.
