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Glowering, I tightened my arms over my chest. “What’s your last affinity? Now that I know of five of the six, surely, you can just tell me what the last one is.”
He grinned. “Nope.”
I shook my head, but I couldn’t stop my smile. “Well, if you’re done showing off and using me for your amusement, I was hoping you could join me on an outing.”
The crown prince cocked an eyebrow as a wolfish grin streaked across his face. “To my bed chambers?”
His guards snickered.
I rolled my eyes but had to smother a laugh. “No, you filthy-minded prince...to Isalee.”
The energy in the room sobered as the prince frowned. “Back to Isalee? Why? What’s wrong?”
“I want to study that field again. Something tells me that it’s possible the lack oforemisn’t what’s killing the crops.”
CHAPTER29
The prince and his four guards accompanied me as we mistphased to Isalee. When we arrived at the same field, a clear pale-green sky and a stunningly bright sun blazed down on us. It was the exact opposite from the weather this morning.
“A clear winter day in my home territory.” Haxil whistled. “Count yourself lucky. These days only happen a few times a season.”
Taking that as a good omen, I created a dome of fire around the five of us, spreading it wide enough that it didn’t burn anyone in the interior, but it was hot enough at the perimeter that it would keep any wayward predators from thinking twice about attacking.
Ryder cocked an eyebrow as his long braid trailed down his back. He did a slow circle, admiring my handiwork. “You’ve become pretty proficient with your affinities, Lady Seary.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Haxil said with a grin.
Nish frowned, but a new light entered his eyes as he crossed his arms, studying me. “I have to say it is rather...impressive.”
“Thank you,” I said, suppressing a smile. “Anyway, the reason I wanted to return here was because of what I sensed earlier. It got me thinking.” I leaned down to the snow and pushed at least four feet to the side before kneeling on the frozen ground.
Norivun joined me, inching closer to me until we touched. “What did you sense?”
I leaned more into him, that soothing feeling rushing through me as I laid my palm flat against the ground and closed my eyes. “I’m not sure, but...”
Magic swirled in my belly, and I drew upon it, calling my life-giving affinity to the surface before pushing it out of me. My power spiraled into the land as I searched for a hint oforem. Once again, nothing was there. I pushed deeper, trying to find thatoffsensation I’d detected only hours ago.
My magic dove through the ground, hunting and searching. Despair began to plague me, but then I hit something. It was so very deep in the land. Deeper than I’d ever tried to push my affinity before.
Forehead furrowing, I concentrated on assessing it, letting my magic spread out like probing fingers. It took so much concentration that I had to call upon everything Matron Olsander had taught me.
“How strange,” I murmured. “It almost feels like a veil or some kind of net is deep within the land.” I paused and glanced up at the prince as my mind raced. “Do you think our crops are dying from an unnatural occurrence that has nothing to do with the gods? That perhaps whatever I’m feeling in the land is encapsulating theorem?”
The prince’s lips parted. “Does it feel like that?”
“I don’t know, but I wasn’t strong enough before to dive my affinity this deep. It makes me suspect that what I’m feeling now has spread throughout the continent.”
He scowled, the expression making him look downright scary. “If that’s the case, my guess is that Wormiful and Crimsonale are behind whatever you’re feeling.”
“That’s what I’m thinking too, and if they’ve found a way to douse our land’soremand starve our fae, then we’d be forced to move south. It plays into exactly what they’re pushing for.”
His hand pressed against my back. “But how are they doing it? How are they creating whatever you’re feeling?”
I shook my head. “I have no idea, but if we don’t figure it out, my affinity can’t save us.”
I closed my eyes and returned my attention to the soil. Brows scrunching together, I dug deep into my reserves to force my affinity to dive farther.
Whatever was in the land zapped me again, its responses growing stronger the farther down I went, almost as if it was trying to deter me. But I pushed my affinity through it anyway, burrowing my magic as deep as it would go. The netting heated in response, growing hotter and hotter and hotter as I drilled through it.
