though that snow never seemed to reach the ground.
A hush fell over the bar as we wove through the tables, the vacuum of noise rushing out in front of us and then filling back in with quiet whispers in our wake. I knew why. The silence stemmed from the fact that Falin was the queen’s knight, her bloody hands. The whispers were likely because we were accompanied by the Shadow Prince. Knowing why the fae reacted so strongly didn’t make it any less unnerving.
While I might not have visited recently, I had gotten more familiar with the place when I had been dining here regularly. I didn’t know most of these fae by name, but I recognized many of the faces that were now tilted toward their neighbors, voices pitched low. A glaistig and a water nymph eating a companionable lunch looked up as the sweeping hush flowed over them. They took one glance our way, dropped their food, and fled to the door of the Bloom without a backward glance.
Falin watched them go, a grim frown etching itself across his face. He didn’t like being the bogeyman of the winter court, but as any cop would tell you, running at the sight of authority was a good way to look guilty. He’d remember those two and likely look into their recent activity.
We reached the base of the tree, which acted as the door to Faerie, and I hesitated. Falin gave me a moment—he was used to my reluctance to cross into the court—but Dugan openly studied me.
“You’re afraid to enter?” The question was curious, not holding a hint of ridicule, and yet I still felt heat rise to my cheeks.
“It’s not the entering that’s the problem. It’s the fear that I won’t be able to leave again.”
Dugan nodded. “A reasonable fear given your . . . uniqueness. I admit, I’m hesitant for much the same reason. Even with the knight’s vow, walking into the winter court is a treacherous proposition.”
“Then why do it? I’ve been summoned and as I like living in Nekros, I kind of have to respond. You could go back to the shadow court and wait for me to let you know what I learn. We have a contract; I’ll keep you updated.”
“While that sounds safer, I have reached the stage of needing to make a calculated gamble. Our court looks like the guilty party. If I leave now, I look as suspicious as those two independents who fled at the sight of the Winter Knight. Mitigating damage and preventing war is my main mission. If I fail, it really doesn’t matter if I am captured now or stand with a desperate cause later in the shadow court.”
Put that way, he was rather between a rock and a hard place. “I guess it’s time to put on our brave faces then,” I said, taking a deep breath.
Dugan gave me one of those looks again, like he was trying to puzzle me out. I shot him a weak smile and walked toward the tree. Falin fell in step beside me. After the barest hesitation, Dugan took up a position on my other side, so that we all circled the tree at the same time.
The world around us blurred, colors smearing as the warm lights and deep wood tones of the bar were washed away. They were replaced by the glimmering whites and icy blues of the frozen halls of the winter court. The amaranthine tree was gone; in its place stood an enormous pillar of ice, carved with intricate scenes of fae in snowy landscapes. The hall around us was solid ice, the walls lined with what appeared to be statues carved from glistening ice but I knew from experience were guards that could awaken and attack at the queen’s whim.
Not that there was a shortage of living guards.
Six stepped out to block our path as soon as the hall solidified around us. I’d never seen more than two guarding the doorway before. The murder clearly had the queen on edge.
“Knight,” the guard in front said, dipping her head.
I guessed at her gender based solely on the pitch of her voice. The blue ice armor she wore was identical to that of her companions and showed little of her shape beneath. The hoods the guards wore covered their faces, so all I could see was the triangle of her jaw and chin; the rest of her features were lost in shadows too deep to be natural. Despite