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CHAPTER1
“You’re serious? I could be yourwife?” My eyes widened even more as I gazed up at Prince Norivun Deema Melustral Achul, first son of the king, Bringer of Darkness, Death Master of the continent, son of Prinavee Territory, and crown prince and heir to the Winter Court’s throne.
The prince growled low in his throat as his sapphire irises burned brightly. Artful silver strands of hair flowed to his shoulders, and massive wings tipped with talons rose from his back. Those wings looked as lethal as the crown prince.
“That’s correct,” he said.
My sister, Cailis, threw up her hands and stormed across the room.
“Please go,” I whispered. “All of you.”
Behind the prince, his four guards waited—Haxil, Ryder, Nish, and Sandus. Instead of heeding my request, they all looked to their prince for direction.
“Very well.” The prince straightened from my bed, his aura pounding from him in waves, before he strode from the Exorbiant Chamber with his guards, Murl, and Daiseeum following.
“I shall have refreshments delivered shortly. I’m sure you’re famished,” Daiseeum called from the door before bobbing her head and dipping into a curtsy.
“Thank you, Daiseeum,” I replied automatically.
Once they all left, Cailis fumed. “This is absurd. Honestly, it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You have to join the Rising Queen Trial to be his potentialwife?”
I gripped the bedsheets tighter as my stomach flipped. “So I’m not dreaming?”
“I wish this was a dream. I’ve been worried sick since he took you last month, despite your letters, butthis—” She shook her head. “I never imagined anything like that.”
“That makes two of us.”
I flopped back onto my pillows. Sunlight shone through my bed chambers’ glass doors. Outside, my beautiful garden glowed vibrantly in my private courtyard. The thrivingoremin its soil meant our normal winter landscape didn’t affect it.
I closed my eyes as I remembered what else I needed to do. “There’s more than just the Trial, Cailis. There’s so much more that’s gone on during the past month.”
She scowled. “What else has happened?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but a knock came on my door, and then Daiseeum entered, carrying a tray of food. My stomach growled, and I sat up when she placed it beside me.
“Enjoy, m’lady.” She curtsied, her gaze darting between me and Cailis before she departed.
My sister’s eyes bulged. “So much food.”
“There always is.”
* * *
The empty traysat between us as I leaned back, sipping my tea as I finished telling my sister everything that had happened since the prince had whisked me away from our village in Mervalee Territory over a month ago.
Her baffled expression grew, getting a frown out of me. “Did they censor all of this from my letters?” I asked.
She nodded. “I knew you were alive, but everything you just told me was blacked out.” Nibbling her lip, she said, “So, let me get this straight... Prince Norivun is demanding that you save our continent by using your new affinity to make the crops grow again?”
I nodded.
A slow smile spread across Cailis’s face until it turned into a wide grin. She laughed in delight. “Ilara...you have an affinity!Multipleaffinities. You’re not a defective anymore! And you have a fire affinity, just like mother and Tormesh did. Oh, Ilara, this is joyous news!” She grabbed my hands, then pulled me into a hug.
The anxiety that had been pulsing through me halted. A soft laugh escaped me too when she squealed. Air, fire, and the ability to create life pulsed inside me. I had actual affinities now, like most Solis fae. I wasn’t a defective any longer. I’d simply bloomed late.
Yeah, like ten winters late.
“I still can’t believe it,” I whispered.
