Reign of Ice (Forever Fae series) (21 page)

I DIDN’T KNOW if I would have time to write Brayden the letter, but I did it anyway. I had to let him know how I felt and how sorry I was for leaving him. He was probably never going to forgive me, and if I did survive I was sure he would never let me live it down. Dressed in my warrior gear, I changed my appearance to make myself look like one of our warriors.

No sooner had I gotten out of the palace and almost into the stables
when Coran stopped me. “Saddle up your horse, lad. The queen has gone missing and we need to find her,” he relayed quickly. “Meet the others at the gate.” He didn’t even wait for an answer, but ran off inside the palace.

That was quick,
I thought to myself. I didn’t expect them to search for me so soon. Lennox whinnied in his stall, and I knew he had to be confused. To him I smelled like Ariella, but I didn’t look it. It was strange being a female and impersonating a male. It wasn’t something I liked doing, but I had no choice.

Lennox sniffed me curiously as I rubbed his soft, white mane. I whispered in his ear, “It’s me, Lennox, but I can’t take you this time. I don’t want anyone recognizing me.”

I kissed him on the muzzle and saddled up the brown and white spotted mare beside him; I had no clue which warrior she belonged to.

“You are a beauty,” I said to her.

She nuzzled me and blew out her breath. After I buckled everything down, I mounted her and rode quickly out of the stables. I immediately headed away from the palace, toward the front gate.

While trying to sneak out, I could feel
Brayden’s anguish like a knife to my chest. His pain was my pain and it felt terrible. I wanted to open my mind so I could speak to him, but if I did that I would probably lose my courage and go back. Coran’s voice echoed against the wind as he updated the warriors’ on my status. The sound of hoof beats thumped across the ground, and only seconds later they came into view thundering toward the gate. The doors opened and the riders blazed through like the speed of lightning. I joined in and followed them as we left the Winter Court and its protection behind.

No one even noticed they picked up a stray rider. Instead, they all kept their eyes on the forest and the surrounding foliage, looking for attackers while they searched for me. Without being noticed, I ambled off toward the woods and snuck away quietly. There were evil scouts that patrolled the forest so I knew I was bound to run into someone, but I didn’t expect it to be the person who showed up … a person who was no longer a part of our realm and someone who had just recently become a pain in my ass.

“I knew you were up to no good,” he said, pursing his lips. “And I must say that seeing you as a man is kind of weird. Does Brayden know you can do this?” Riding alongside me, or better yet, appearing right beside me, was Merrick on a majestic silver colored mare with eyes as black as coal.

“What are you doing here?” I hissed. “And how did you know it was me?”

Nonchalantly, he shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, looking sheepish. “Well, let’s see …” He paused for a minute and cleared his throat before admitting, “I was watching you, but not in a creepy sort of way. I followed you to your room and slipped inside without you noticing. Needless to say it was a shock when I saw you turn into a man. You don’t actually …” He shuddered, glancing down at my waist and then back up to my eyes, lifting a curious brow.

“Really,” I snapped, rolling my eyes. “Why are you going to ask me a question like that? No, I don’t have man parts if that’s what you’re wondering. It’s
a glamour, Merrick. I don’t go into all the fine details when it comes to certain parts of the body. I’m sure I could if I wanted to, but that’s not really what I’m interested in.”

He held his hands up in defeat. “Okay, I was just curious. So what is your plan exactly?”

We were only a quarter of the way through the Mystical Forest so we still had a good ride ahead of us before we would get to the sorcerer. I was hoping to get there before dawn, and if we rode hard it was a possibility.

Slowing our pace to a trot, I sighed and explained, “There’s not much to tell really. I’m going to the Black Forest, and once I get close to Alasdair I’m going to kill him.”

“Do you think it’ll be that easy?” Merrick asked skeptically. “You’re not going to get anywhere near him looking like that. You’ll just be another worthless faerie in his army.”

“I know that, Merrick. Believe it or not I have thought about this. I’m going to watch the sorcerer and find out
who he trusts most. Once I figure that out, I’ll glamour myself and get close to him that way. I know what I’m doing.”

Groaning, Merrick nodded. “Well, then I guess it’s a good thing I came along. I happen to know
who the creature is that you seek. He was the one who helped Warren and Avery take Calista when the sorcerer was after her.”

“Then it must be fate that brought you to me.”

We rode for another couple of hours until the fatigue finally set in and I almost fell off my horse; I would have if Merrick didn’t catch me in his arms. I was too tired to keep up the glamour, so I was back to my normal self, but what really shocked me was the feel of Merrick’s skin against mine as he caught me.

“I didn’t know you could touch me,” I mumbled sleepily. “Can you touch
Calista when you’re around her?”

Merrick carried me over to a soft, patchy area of green grass and laid me down on a blanket he’d just spread out. Sadly, he shook his head and answered, “No, I can’t touch her. The only time I can touch her is when
Sorcha has us in the dream realm together.”

“Then why can you touch me?” I wondered.

“I’m not sure. I didn’t even know I could until I saw you falling off your horse. It’s an amazing feeling to be able to touch someone other than in the Hereafter. It makes me almost feel alive.”

“I’m glad,” I murmured, my eyelids growing heavier. Merrick sat down beside me and put his arm around me.

“Go to sleep, Ariella. I’ll watch over you tonight and wake you up if I hear someone coming.”

Nodding, I snuggled into his side, and before I could reply I drifted off into an uneasy slumber. I should’ve known that sleep wouldn’t keep my heart safe.

AS I WAITED
on Sorcha to call Ariella into the dream realm, I paced along the snow and ice, contemplating what I was going to say to her. What the hell was I going to say? Come home?

“I’ve got her,”
Sorcha said as soon as she opened her eyes. “Don’t be too hard on her, brother. She’s only doing what the rest of us would’ve done. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that I knew. I told her I wouldn’t unless she decided to do something like this.”

She backed away and disappeared through the trees so I could have my time with Ariella. I wasn’t happy knowing that my own family knew of
Ariella’s fate and I didn’t.

Would I have handled things differently? Probably. However, nothing was going to stand in the way of me bonding with her. I would’ve spent the time I had trying to find ways to keep her safe and away from her fate.

I could feel her presence long before she actually appeared in the dream realm. Her long blonde hair hung loose around her shoulders, giving her face an ethereal look, and with her pale, glimmering skin there was no doubt that she could pass for a real angel … she was my angel. When she turned around she wasn’t surprised to see me.

Her eyes glistened with tears and her lips trembled when she cried, “Brayden, I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.” Hearing her voice was all it took to tear me apart inside.

Rushing to her, I grabbed her around the waist and held her tight against me, so tight that I almost believed if I held on hard enough that she wouldn’t be able to get away. “Please don’t do this to me, Ariella. You don’t have to do this alone,” I pleaded.

She sobbed in my shoulder and held me almost as tight as I held her. “Yes, I do. I am the only one the sorcerer will trust, and if you come in and attack him we will lose. I will miss my chance. We might triumph in the end, but at what cost … the lives of our people? We would risk and lose so much if we did that.”

“I don’t understand. How are you going to get the sorcerer to trust you?”

Before she could answer, the dream realm shifted and things started to fade. What was happening?
Sorcha ran toward us and exclaimed, “She’s waking up! She shouldn’t be waking up now!”

“What?” I shouted.

That couldn’t be so. We had only been in the dream realm for a matter of minutes. There was no way it could be over. Ariella closed her eyes and agreed, “She’s right. I can feel myself trying to wake up. Merrick said he would wake me up if someone comes. There must be something going on.”

“Wait … Merrick is with you?” I asked angrily. “He better be glad he’s a ghost because if I could hurt him right now I would.”

“He’s helping me,” she claimed. “And at least I’m not alone.”

Sighing, I breathed her in and crushed her lips with mine, tasting the sweetness of her
Winter essence on her tongue. I took in the scent of her, my court in every fiber of her being. She was my lover, my queen, and … my wife. I was never going to let her go, I couldn’t.

“You will never be alone,” I told her.

She gripped my arm, her eyes blazing. “Promise me you won’t come for me, Brayden. Promise me!”

She began to fade, her body slowly disappearing before my eyes, while the grip she had on my arm started to loosen. I wish I could promise her, but that would be a lie.

“Promise me,” she repeated more forcefully.

Shaking my head, I gazed into her tear-filled ice blue eyes and responded, “I can’t promise that, angel. Can you honestly say you wouldn’t come for me in this situation?”

She lowered her gaze and sighed, knowing very well that I knew her answer. When she lifted her head, the tears had streamed down her cheeks, and she was fading faster. Before she was completely taken out of the dream realm I did promise her one thing.

“I will always come for you, angel. That is what I promise you.”

Then … she was gone.