The Ascension (13 page)

“But I said to him ‘no way is a lighter sled going to win on the dark slope, not in those conditions’. Of course, he didn’t believe me, and…” Thankful y, that probably wouldn’t be a p r o b l e m .
Clandestinely
, making

noises

of

encouragement to the talking men, Devon half turned. He saw Gem unwrapping the young werewolf like a particularly complicated package. He fel into her arms to kiss her, and Devon felt a pang of jealousy. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one.

“I saw how he looked at you,” Rio said. “I thought for a moment that you’d fal en for him.” Devon tried to listen closer, but was cut off by a question from the idiot muttering about sleighs. He mumbled what he hoped was the right answer, before turning his attention back to Gem and her werewolf.

“You have to run, Rio. Run back to the others.”

“Not without you.”

“Devon has promised to keep me safe. I’l be fine.”

“-and then he actual y tried an ice spel on the runners,

which

as

you

know

completely

contravenes
section… hang on, why is he off that tree? What the…they’re escaping!”

Devon cursed inwardly. It seemed that there was only so long that
contentious
sleigh decisions could
captivate
an audience. Even a Winter Court one. He knew what he had to do.

“Escaping? Seize them!”

He lunged forward, grabbing Gem’s wrist just as the werewolf boy said something that sounded a lot like “I love you”. Hopeful y, he would have the sense to run, Devon thought. Unfortunately, he didn’t.

With another snarl, he shifted shape, and the resulting wolf flung itself at Devon. The fairy knight braced for the impact.

It didn’t come. With a speed that impressed Devon, Gem flung herself between them. She cried out as the wolf struck her, fal ing backwards into Devon’s arms. A sudden,
vindictive
part of him wanted to go at the wolf with his sword, but by the time he had put Gem down gently, the wolf wasn’t there to attack. It took one look at her, let out a whine that was ful of sorrow, and ran.

“Should we go after it?” one of the men asked. Devon shook his head.

“We cannot spare the time, and there are more important things to deal with.”

He nodded to where Gem lay on the ground, unconscious, her blonde hair spread out around her like a halo. The wound in her shoulder was obvious, but other than that her beauty was stunning.

“I wil heal her,” Devon said. “Be ready to leave when I am done.”

Devon lifted her easily, carrying her down to the edge of the water, where the bank provided some privacy. As careful y as he could, he peeled the top of Gem’s dress open to look at the wound that ran nearly up to her throat. The gash nearly missed her throat. He kept his eyes firmly on it. This was about helping her, not about some
prurient
interest. The wolf’s claws had left deep gashes, and Devon laid his hands on them.

Gem gasped as she woke, though it wasn’t in pain. She felt the coolness flowing through her. This was the second time a fairy had placed his hand on her to heal her, but instead of Spark’s warm glow, she now felt the healing power of ice through Devon.

And again, she felt like she was experiencing the best kiss she had ever had, leaving her and Devon breathless, as though they had shared an intense intimate moment, a strong bond. When it was done, she and Devon were staring at each other in silence breathing heavily. Gem’s eyes were warm and thankful. Devon’s eyes were fil ed with wonderment.

It was fairy magic, and Gem could feel her body heat up with the strong and fast pounding of her heart.

He was almost surprised to have Gem suddenly lean in to kiss him, her eyes staring deeply into his, her hands reaching up to touch his face.

Devon pul ed her in and wrapped his arms around her waist as he tenderly kissed her back. It was minutes before he could think to push her back. He found he couldn’t resist kissing her. His head was swimming. He had dreamed of it for so long, ever since he first saw her in Manhattan, through the ice.

And it was everything that he thought it would be. It was longer stil before he could actual y bring himself to pul back.

“Oh Gem,” his voice wavered a bit, betraying his cool passion. As much as I hate it, I have to take you to the Winter Court, remember?”

Gem nodded, even so, she drifted back towards him, her arms wrapping themselves around his waist. Devon inhaled slightly pul ing her close.

“Gem, what you’re feeling now is the aftermath of the healing. It involves mingling our life forces, and so it creates a… pul , between us. We must be careful.”

Gem nodded, and in doing so, she looked down. She blushed.

“You know, just once, I’d like to get through an adventure without ruining my clothes.”

“I’l find you some more,” Devon promised, grateful for the excuse. He left and found a spare tunic and hose from one of the men. In it, Gem looked, if anything, even prettier than she had before. As they rejoined the others, Devon could see several of the men giving her lingering looks. She real y was that beautiful. Devon’s eyes narrowed, feeling a fierce possessiveness overwhelmed him.

What was wrong with him? He was a fearless knight who did not need a woman. He was the Dark Knight of the Winter Court, who led brutal battles without hesitation. The pul between Gem and himself was clouding his judgment. But as he stared intently at Gem, he knew it was useless to fight the feelings he had toward the Queen of Anachronia.

“Queen Gem wil ride with me, and you wil treat her with respect. I lay claim to her. Anyone who touches her wil face me.”

Gem raised her eyebrows at that, but Devon didn’t care. With the pul of the shared healing thrumming in him, he didn’t care about anything but keeping her close to him.

Gem rode in front of Devon on the way back, pass the rest of the woods and into a clearing. It got colder and colder, but Devon and his Winter fairies didn’t seem bothered by the cold at al . Gem had begun to shiver when Devon pul ed out her pelt jacket and wrapped it around her. When it got colder, he wrapped his arms around Gem, holding her tight. “You’l get used to the cold,” Devon said.

“Eventual y. For now, rest your back into my arms, close your eyes, and let me hold you.” He touched Gem’s eyelids and said a few words before she fel asleep, snug within his embrace. Moments passed by. Then she was being nudged awake. Devon pointed out the Winter Court’s palace. As the horse made its way along the bridge of ice, Gem could only look up in awe at the Winter Queen’s castle. The gateway to it rose above her like the maw to some great beast, icicles as large as people hanging down, the
accretions
of ice threatening impalement to any intruders. Behind Gem, Devon was quiet. He had been that way ever since
abetting
Rio’s escape. Gem hoped that he wasn’t starting to regret it. Not the least because, despite Devon’s warning, several of his men had given her hungry looks.

The party was met by a gaggle of servants, who took the horses as they dismounted. A smal penguin waddled among them, stopping before Devon and waving its flippers in
elaborate
motions.

Devon reacted to it as though it was communicating.

“I had thought to bring her to a room in the castle first, and al ow her to refresh herself. It has been a long ride.”

The penguin gave a squawk that managed to sound

remarkably
haughty
,

under

the

circumstances. Gem saw Devon’s eyes narrow.

“I don’t care if you are my aunt’s messenger.

Take that tone with me and I’l feed you to the bears.” The penguin edged back, then waddled over to Gem, hiding behind her. Gem found herself smiling.

“Leave it alone. It’s sweet.”

“You would not think that if you understood its message,” Devon muttered. “The
abridged
version is that we are not to keep the Winter Queen waiting, but must meet her at once in the throne room.” That made Gem bite her lip. She had known that this would come, but truthful y, she would have preferred a little more time to prepare. Devon, seeming to sense her discomfort, slipped a hand into hers.

“It wil be al right,” he promised in a whisper.

“I wil carry you off myself, whisk you away before I let her hurt you. Together, I suspect we could
elude
even my aunt.”

“You’d give al this up for me?” Gem asked, jokingly, looking round at the
effulgent
surroundings of the castle. When her eyes met Devon’s again, his gaze was more earnest that she had thought it might be.

“If it would keep you safe. You have saved my life against the wolf, and I…”

He tailed off, but Gem could guess at the rest of it. The question was, with Sparks, Rio, and even Goolrick looking for her attention already, did she need another man
enamored
of her? Wouldn’t the kindest thing to do is to push him away now, while she could? Some part of her held back from it, even as it seemed to be the sensible thing. But there was something about Devon that made her hold back. In the short amount of time since they met, she found that she real y did care about him. Gem found herself interrupted by the press of something in her other hand, which turned out to be the penguin’s flipper.

“It wants you to fol ow,” Devon said. He sighed. “We should hurry. Since she sent me out to fetch you, you wil probably receive my aunt’s
clemency
, as Word did, but making her wait wil not help.”

That made Gem hurry, at least until they reached the throne room. At the door to it, she paused, staring, because she couldn’t do anything else. The room was a
capacious
vault of a place, high arches held up by pil ars of solid ice. More ice ran down the wal s, reflecting light in crazed angles.

Here and there, it had been carved, or had simply been grown with magic, forming statues, pictures, and even furniture such as the benches around the wal s.

The middle of the hal was clear, and snow formed a carpet across the floor, leading up to a dais on which sat a throne built from the bones and tusks of ice-bound creatures, whales and polar bears, walruses and snow leopards. Gem didn’t need to see the frozen crown that sat on the head of the woman sitting there, because everything from her regal bearing to her
pallid
features said exactly who she was. Courtiers waited close by, along with a clutch of serving maids and heralds, but Gem didn’t look at them as she stepped closer. She was too busy staring at the Winter Queen.

Gem stopped at the edge of the dais, and Devon stopped with her. He had switched his grip to a light hold on her forearm, presumably to make it look more like the grip he might have on a prisoner.

The penguin waddled off to one side. The Winter Queen looked at them for a long moment before she spoke.

“Ah, nephew, you have done wel . Your men shal , of course, know my
munificence
.” Devon bowed his head.

“Thank you, My Queen.”

“Thank you, My Queen.”

“You, girl. Shouldn’t you be curtseying?” The reminder was delivered gently, but Gem could hear the threat. Stil she decided to be
obdurate
. She suspected it would be the only way to get the Winter Queen to respect her, and in any case, she wasn’t about to give in to bul ying.

“Do queens curtsey to one another?” Gem asked. The Winter Queen nodded, as though Gem had scored some sort of point.

“Oh, of course,” she said it like she had only just remembered. Gem didn’t believe it. “You are some kind of queen yourself, aren’t you?”

“I am Queen of Anachronia. But then, you know that.”

There was a chorus of gasps from the courtiers. Apparently they didn’t like Gem accusing their queen of playing games. Judging by the way Devon squeezed her arm, he didn’t like it either.

For her part, the Winter Queen laughed.

“You are right, of course. Ignore my courtiers.

They are such a
vapid
bunch.
Timorous
too. Why, I turn just a few of their number into ice statues, and suddenly they are afraid of me.”

Gem could understand the feeling.

“I believe you have my father here, your majesty,” she said. “Henry Word?”

“Oh yes, I’m sure he’s around somewhere.

You wil have plenty of time to look for him, as my guest. I fear that I wil not be around to act as a proper host. You wil have to forgive me for that.” The Winter Queen said it lightly, as though she were occupied planning a dinner party, not a war.

“I had heard of your preparations,” Gem said.

She thought about leaving it at that, but she couldn’t.

Not when she thought about al the people who would die. “People have told me several times that war is coming. There is one thing that they were not able to tel me though, your majesty, and I was hoping that, as a
venerable
and respected ruler, you might be able to enlighten me.”

The Winter Queen leaned back on her throne, smiling a faint smile.

“What is it you wish to know, child?”

“Wel …
why
are you having a war?” The smile vanished.

“It is necessary.” The Winter Queen stood.

“Summer, with its blasted heat and endless
sunshine
, must be
subjugated
for the good of al my subjects. I wouldn’t expect a mere girl to understand.”