Summer of Frost (8 page)

“Everyone’s ready to go,
ai dulin
,”
Oren insisted after opening the door to my room. “Are you
ready?”

“Just about,” I answered. “I just need to
finish this letter.” Taking in a deep, frustrated breath, I
scribbled out the last few lines, signing my name at the
bottom.

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re mad
about something?”

“It’s because I am, Oren. Drake wouldn’t
hear me out when I tried to tell him about our dreams, so I’m
letting it all out in the letter. One way or another he’s going to
hear me out. It took all I had not to chase after him and beat the
shit out of him for walking away from me.”

Oren chuckled and came over to take a peek
at the angry words scribbled on the parchment. His eyes went wide
and he whistled. “I don’t think this is the way to tell him, nor do
I think you doing it in your dream was the way either. Give him the
letter if you want, but I think it’d be a big mistake. He may have
been a dick last night, but you need to think about it from his
standpoint before you run off saying things you’d regret.”

I huffed. “Fine! I’ll speak to him before we
leave. How did you learn to be so calm about things?”

Oren tilted his lip in a half-smile. “It
took years and years of practice, Princess. Finish up and I’ll meet
you out front,” he said softly.

“Okay, just give me a few minutes to say my
good-byes.”

First, I needed to tell Kalen and Meliantha
farewell, and then find Drake to get everything out in the open.
Rolling up the letter, I secured it with a tiny blue ribbon, and
placed it inside the small pouch on my belt that was connected to
my armor. Now that I’d been trained in combat, I always wore my
warrior gear when I travelled, Brayden’s orders. It wasn’t very
comfortable, but it sure as hell would protect me from unwanted
arrows flying through the air or a swipe of a sword. Grabbing my
spear, I attached it to the harness on my back and headed for the
door. The palace was quiet as I made my way through the corridors,
breathing in the delicious aromas of roses that were in vases lined
up and down the hallways.

When I reached Kalen and Meliantha’s room, I
knocked lightly on the door, hoping I wouldn’t wake the little ones
if they were asleep. Kalen answered the door carrying his
wide-awake little boy in his arms. Kale’s bright red hair reminded
me so much of Drake, but the eyes …

“What the …” I started, staring in awe at my
nephew and then back up to Kalen. “He has purple eyes,” I
whispered, eyes wide open in surprise.

Kalen smiled, but Meliantha was the one who
spoke. “They both do,” she announced, elated.

I trailed past Kalen to Meliantha’s side
where sure enough my niece, Lia, had purple eyes as well. “This is
amazing,” I murmured, not taking my eyes off the little girl. “I
guess you’re not the only one now.”

Meliantha laughed. “No, and thank the
heavens for that. I was tired of being the only one. Hopefully,
when these two get older and have children of their own, there will
be more faeries with amethyst eyes.”

“I sure hope so. I know what it’s like to be
the odd one out.”

It didn’t bother me to be the odd one out. I
kind of liked being my own person and not blending in with the
norm. No one has ever had green eyes in the Winter Court, and most
of the time my people just overlooked it. They all knew it had to
be because of the Prophecy and me being one of the Four.

“I’m sure when you have kids one of them
will have your beautiful green eyes,” Meliantha added, looking
thoughtful.

Shrugging noncommittally, I turned to my
brother. “Yeah, kids are nowhere near in my future. I just wanted
to come by and say farewell, and to say thank you for letting me
visit.”

Kalen came up to me and kissed me on the
cheek. “Anytime. It was great seeing you. I’ve missed giving you
hell,” he teased.

I laughed. “I’ve missed you, too. Things
just aren’t the same with you and Ryder gone. Brayden is about as
fun as an ice shard stuck up the ass.”

Kalen doubled over laughing. “I am
definitely going to tell him that! What’s bad is that you’re right.
Hopefully, one of these days he’ll open up and have some fun.
Goodness knows Ryder and I’ve tried to get him to loosen up.” He
paused and wiped the tears from under his eyes. “I do hope you come
back to see us soon. Mel and I would both love to have you. It
would definitely keep things interesting around here.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I smiled at them
both, and kissed the little ones, before leaving their room. Now it
was time to suck it up and find Drake.

After searching through the palace, and
knocking on the door to the room he stayed in, I was met with
silence.
Where was everyone?
I wondered. When I walked out
of the palace, our Winter warriors were on their horses ready to
go, except Sarette. She and Ariella were on the steps, talking.

“Hey,” I said, catching their attention
while descending the steps.

“It’s about time,” Sarette teased. “I was
starting to think you wanted to stay here.”

“No,” I expressed quickly, shaking my head.
“I just wanted to say bye to my brother and Meliantha.”

Someone whistling caught my attention from
behind me, and I turned to see that it was Brayden riding up on his
horse. “Sorcha, are you ready to go? We need to get going!” he
called out. He gave me an impatient glare, but then his gaze
lingered on Ariella just a tad bit longer than normal.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see
Ariella pretending not to notice. When I faced her, she cleared her
throat and bowed her head, averting her eyes. “Be safe going back
home, Sorcha.”

When she lifted her head, I narrowed my eyes
at her, but all she did was smile innocently. She wasn’t fooling
me. “I’ll be safe. I always am,” I drawled out. “When are you going
back to Summer?” I really wanted to know where Drake was, but I
didn’t want to ask outright.

Ariella grinned excitedly. “I’m actually
staying here for a few more days. I’ll be travelling back with my
parents once they come and leave. Not only do I get to spend more
time with the babies, but there are a lot of handsome warriors here
that I’d like to get to know.”

I loved her flippant attitude, and found
myself smiling at her flirtatiousness. Ariella was not a bashful
female by any means, and if she ever came to the Winter Court again
I was sure she’d give my warriors something to talk about, maybe
even my brother, Brayden.

Changing the subject, I casually asked,
“What about Drake? When is he leaving?”

“Oh, he already left not too long ago. I
don’t know why he was in such a hurry,” she admitted curiously. “He
just said he had to leave and didn’t want to be here anymore.”

My heart felt like it sunk in my chest, and
was about to explode. He didn’t want me in his dreams, and now he
was gone. How was I going to talk to him?

“I’m sure he had his reasons,” I replied
smoothly. “Take care, Ariella. Hopefully, we’ll see each other
again soon.”

She nodded her head and smiled. Oren and
Alston were both waiting by my horse when I approached. Once I
settled onto my horse, Alston winked and patted my leg, but I just
couldn’t bring myself to smile. Too many emotions were warring in
my body, and I had no clue how to feel. Mainly I was angry, but
mostly at myself if I was being honest.

“
Are you going to be okay?”
Oren
asked silently.

Taking a deep breath, I sat up straighter on
my horse.
“Of course, Oren,”
I replied, keeping my face
devoid of the turmoil going on inside my body. When I glanced his
way, his raised eyebrows and pursed lips informed me he didn’t
believe my lie for a second. Hell, I would’ve done anything to
believe it.

“I can’t wait to get home,” Sarette sighed,
riding beside me.

“Me too,” I mumbled. “But it was great
seeing my brother and his family.”

Sarette was on my left side while Alston was
on my right, riding close to me. Oren trailed behind me, keeping
his ever watchful eye on the forest surrounding us. He looked
preoccupied with something, but before I could ask, Alston began to
speak.

“Do you mind if we talk tonight?” Alston
asked, sneaking a glance back at Oren before whispering,
“Alone.”

Immediately, I glanced at Sarette, who of
course had a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. I silently
groaned and bit my cheek before turning back to Alston.

“That’ll be fine,” I answered him with faux
enthusiasm. “Just give me some time to get settled, and then I’m
all yours.”

The smile he gave me was alluring and sexy,
and I tried to ignore the hidden meaning behind it. He was going to
try and lure himself back into my bed, but I wasn’t falling for it.
In a way, I wanted to release my frustration by doing something
foolish like that without my heart getting in the way, but I knew
it wouldn’t let me. Or at least I hoped it wouldn’t let me do
anything foolish.

My wayward thoughts were put on hold when
Oren spoke in my mind.
“Sorcha, something’s not right.”
Instantly, I jerked my head in his direction. I could feel his
concern and worry floating across the bond … danger was coming, and
it was coming fast.

At that moment, I could see Brayden up
front, circling around and headed straight for me. When he
approached, he looked dangerous and in full control. His demanding
words were directed to me and Sarette. “I want you both to back up
and take cover. If we begin to lose ground I want you to run as
fast as you can back to the Spring Court and get help. Whatever
happens, I don’t want you trying to help. I need you two to run, do
you understand?”

“No!” I hissed, reaching for my spear. “I’ve
been training for years, and I know how to fight. The dark sorcerer
is going to find me no matter what we do. Pretending otherwise is
just being naïve. You can’t make me run, Brayden. I might as well
fight my way through it.”

“Me too,” Sarette snapped, pulling out her
sword. “If you haven’t noticed, Sorcha and I aren’t little girls
anymore. We’re ready to do this!”

I smiled at my friend and she smiled back
triumphantly, knowing Brayden wouldn’t want to waste his breath in
arguing. Infuriated with me, Brayden snarled and was about to yell
at me, but he didn’t get the chance because out of nowhere the evil
began to strike. The dark sorcerer’s army was coming straight for
us.

“Attack!” Brayden yelled, drawing his
sword.

The earth below me trembled with the
footsteps of the mighty army coming toward us. We were outnumbered,
but it didn’t stop us from fighting. Swords clashed as the army
made contact with ours. Magic permeated the air, but I was ready,
ready to fight.

“Stay close to me,
ai dulin,
” Oren
growled.

“I will!”

Alston bounded off into the fight, drawing a
scream from Sarette who wanted him close to her. I lost sight of
him in the fray. Momentarily I was shocked; all I could focus on
were the traitors of my land coming for blood with their eyes fixed
on me and Sarette. My friend appeared ready and hungry for a
fight.

“Get ready, Sarette!”

She gave me an evil grin. “Oh, I am! These
idiots will regret the day they messed with the two baddest bitches
of the Winter Court!”

We both smiled at each other before taking
off screaming, and wielding our weapons at the enemy. I’d never
killed anyone, but I’d do anything necessary to protect my people.
With my spear in hand, I fought. Using my earth abilities, I
trapped the enemy in the earth and impaled them one by one with my
spear.

My first kill was an elf, and the moment I
thrust my spear through his heart I could’ve sworn I saw a smile
pass over his face. He wanted to die. My gut clenched with the
thought that some of them might’ve been forced to do this, to turn
traitor to their people, but there was nothing I could do about it
at that moment except protect my people.