Yasmine Galenorn - Crimson Veil

As I watched, the two Shadow Hunters—Vampiric Fae who were members of the Indigo Court—launched themselves at my guards. They were twisting, morphing into the great cerulean-colored beasts they became when they aimed to destroy, to rip muscle and sinew away from the bone, to devour the flesh and—in some cases—the life force.

Check was engaging with a jeweled sword as Fearless toppled back. He’d just recovered from a similar attack, and my blood began to rise as I watched my men struggling to keep the Shadow Hunters’ slobbering jaws and great bared teeth from latching onto them.

There was no way I could survive should I set down on the ground—not even my queen’s dagger could deflect the attack of one of these monsters, but then, I knew exactly what I could do. It was a dangerous choice, but I couldn’t fly off and let the Shadow Hunters ravage my guards.

I spiraled up to the nearest tree and landed on the first bare branch I could find big enough to support myself when I changed back into my normal shape.

I balanced on the limb, making certain it would be wide enough to support my weight without breaking. I grabbed hold of the trunk as my cloak almost threw me off balance when I transformed back into myself. But I caught myself and managed to stand at the crotch of the limb where it met the trunk, putting my weight back against the tree.

I closed my eyes and summoned the winds. A shiver of delight raced through me. It had become more and more dangerous for me to call in the gale force winds, to stir up a tornado, but it was also a gift that could save both Check and Fearless and I wouldn’t hesitate to use it. As I glanced at the ground below, the blood channeled across the snow in a delicate wash of rose that spread over the the blanket of white. Whether the blood belonged to Check, Fearless, or the Shadow Hunters, I didn’t know.

The breeze started small, but quickly sped up, rushing through me. They went beyond the winds of the cold Winter realm. They were from the heart of the primal Wind Element. A boreal wind sweeping directly out from the plane of air. The gusting currents buoyed me up, filled me with a delicious sense of power, as I rose to my tiptoes, balancing precariously on the branch.

I raised my arms, no longer needing the support of the tree trunk, as the winds lifted me into the air and spun me aloft, carrying me on a bank of mist and whirling snow. A whispered Gale Force, and the winds turned into a storm of hurricane proportions, only instead of driving rain along in front, the fury picked up the snow and used it as a weapon.

Sleet and snow pelted against the Shadow Hunters, blinding the Vampiric Fae as they struggled against the biting wind. Check and Fearless fell back, Check shouting something to me that I couldn’t hear through the raging storm, but I understood his gestures. He wanted me to drop the storm, to fly back to the barrow.

But the winds held me in their mania, and I couldn’t break free. Each time I used this power, it was harder to rein myself back in. Each time was a step closer to me being enslaved by the chaotic forces driving the wind across the world. One day, I knew I might not be able to free myself.

Today, they summoned me, cajoled me to dive headfirst, to give myself over to them.

But then, shouts from below caught my attention, and I saw a handful of other guards wading into the fray. They must have seen what was going on and rushed to help. Armed, they pushed forward to attack the Shadow Hunters, even as Check and Fearless rejoined the battle. They were too many and Myst’s pair couldn’t stand up against them.

In that moment of clarity, I released the storm, and as the Shadow Hunters fell under the wave of my guards, I transformed back into my owl form, and returned to the snow field below.

I sat on the edge of my bed, letting Druise, my personal maid, help me change clothes. She bundled me up into a clean, dry pair of black jeans and laced my royal blue corset snugly, then brought me dry boots, and a spider-web thin black cloak embroidered with silver threads. As she draped the cloak around my shoulders, she was careful not to touch the crown that circled my head. A diadem of silver leaves entwining on either side of the circlet, the vines met in the center to embrace a glowing cabochon of black onyx, and below that, a sparkling diamond teardrop.

I sat on the bed, sipping tea and eating a cookie.

The huge, four-poster bed was made from yew wood, the headboard intricately carved. Piled high with under-blankets and sheets, the indigo comforter matched the pattern of the carpet. Covering rows of cobblestones, the rug was a sweeping panorama of swirling patterns set in indigo, eggplant, and silver.

On the ceiling over the bed, the pattern continued, only in inlaid gems of iolite, sapphire, amethyst, and quartz. The rest of the ceiling was jet-black, and the gems shimmered with an inner light that picked up the glow from the lanterns, setting to a slow, sinuous dance of movement in light and shadow.

“How long before you have to be at your meeting?” Druise refilled my teacup and I inhaled the rich aroma of peppermint, grateful as it cleared my head. I glanced up at the clock—time worked differently here in the realm of Snow and Ice but I used a clock to keep me on track within the barrow. The familiar touch from the outer world made me more comfortable as I adjusted to my new way of life.

“An hour. They’re conferring now, but I needed a little while to think.” Actually, what I had needed was a chance to decompress from raising the winds.

I inhaled slowly, my breath grounding me back into my body. After I finished my tea and cookies, I stood, sighing. Time to face the reality we had all been dreading. But we’d known it was coming. Myst was out for my blood and bone.

It had been a month since my cousin Rhiannon and I had taken the thrones of Summer and Winter. A month since I had married Grieve, and she had married Chatter. Since then, Rhia and I poured intensive study into the language of our new people, the customs of our courts, as we desperately attempted to learn what it meant to be Fae queens. The whole concept that we were effectively immortal was still too much to deal with, although truth was, we could be killed. But if we avoided accidents and murder, and no one found our heartstones, we would live into the mists of time until we were ready to let go and lay down our duties.

Gathering up the messenger bag I carried within the barrow, I made sure my notebooks were in it, along with pens, chewing gum, Epi-pen, and everything else I would need when out of my chambers. With one last look around the bedroom, wishing I could just curl up in the chamber and hide, I pushed open the door. Check was waiting on the other side to escort me to the council room.

The council room was a dark chamber, lit by the ever present lanterns that lined the Eldburry Barrow. The lights within, pale blue and violet, were young Ice Elementals, indentured into service for a time before they were set loose into the world. They did not mind their service—in the Fae world, in the world of Elementals, human rules and emotions didn’t always apply. In the Marburry Barrow—in the Summer Court of Rivers and Rushes—the lights were fueled by young Fire Elementals.

Strict was waiting at the table, along with Grieve, my Fae Prince-turned-King. Also waiting were Check and Fearless, and several other advisors and guard leaders. As I entered the room, they stood to bow. Once again it hit me that I was the end of the line. No matter what everyone else did, it all came back to land on my shoulders.

I took my place at the table and nodded for them to sit. A servant brought over a tray filled with roast beef sandwiches, bowls of hot chicken soup, and the ever present tea. I was weaning them onto coffee, but they would drink their tea.