rolled her neck and massaged her stiff muscles then went cross-eyed when a snowflake landed on the tip of her nose.
The courtyard and city had a light dusting of the stuff, but none of it had fallen on her or Pegasus due to the overhang of the stable.
It was colder, but she didn’t feel it—the heat charm in her dress had automatically activated while she slept, and splaying out on Pegasus was like sleeping with an oven anyway.
Behind her, Pegasus scrambled to his feet and shook like a dog.
Angelique rested an arm on his back as she shook off the cobwebs sleep left in her mind. “Wait, that means the elves are free? That’s marvelous!” Angelique laughed and flung her arms around Pegasus’ neck, hopping in place a little as she gleefully hugged him. “This is the best news we’ve gotten in a long time! I’m happy for them—but this is the best news for the continent we’ve gotten since we found out the mirror had been stolen from Verglas! The elves are free!”
Angelique twirled in a dizzying circle—her glee making her light hearted.
For years, the continent had been dealt a terrible hand—so many losses, with Angelique and the royals of the nations scrambling to maintain their lands.
But now…the elves are free! Angelique sagged against Pegasus with her relief.
He nosed her side.
“Even if Themerysaldi can’t help me with Evariste, the return of the elves changes the tides in this battle.” Angelique shut her eyes as she felt some of the weight she’d been carrying for years slip off her shoulders. “Having them join our forces will give us a magical fighting force—something we’ve lacked since the Veneno Conclave has turned chicken. Even if we have to wait a few months for the elves to recover, this is a major win for us. Prince Severin and the others are going to be delighted!”
Pegasus didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he stayed where he was, letting Angelique lean against him.
“At least the elf curse didn’t involve true love or love’s first kiss.” Angelique shivered in revulsion. “I’m so sick of those counter-curses, I could tear my hair out. That’s been the pattern for almost this entire time. Although now that I think of it, based on the timeline of when the elves disappeared, their curse was probably the first one cast.”
Angelique had gone to Themerysaldi as soon as she had confirmed Evariste really was taken. It was a few weeks after the initial attack—because Evariste had shoved her through a portal in the house’s sitting room that opened up in the snowy country of Verglas and shut the gate behind her, which meant she had to travel back across the continent to reach the cottage again.
But Prince Severin was the first official curse Angelique had personally witnessed, and he hadn’t been cursed until after the Veneno Conclave had thoroughly investigated the attack and Evariste’s disappearance. And his curse was the first of many that Angelique had found had a weakness against true love counter-curses.
It seems like there is something important about that…
Pegasus pricked his ears, stirring Angelique. “What is it?”
He turned his head to Alabaster Forest.
Curious, Angelique looked with him and was able to pick up the faint thud of pounding hooves.
“Must be a messenger sent to tell me,” Angelique predicted. She rubbed her hands together in anticipation. “I should send word to Clovicus and Prince Severin—we finally have hope again!”
The hoofbeats grew louder, until a creature emerged from the woods.
It was huge—roughly the size of Pegasus—and it was something of a cross between a stag and a horse.
It possessed the noble face and delicate build of a deer, but its body was more equine, and its coat was fuzzy warm fur not unlike a wolf’s. It was black with white socks and gray swirls of magic that moved across its neck, shoulders, and rump.
Angelique recognized it as one of King Themerysaldi’s unusual, magical mounts. She squinted at its back, and sure enough, both the Elf King and Quinn were perched there.
“Angelique!” Themerysaldi shouted, breaking the muffled silence the lightly falling snow created.
His odd mount slowed from a canter to a trot as they entered the edges of Sideralis. “Angelique!”
Angelique grinned as the pair rode closer. “I know, I know. Your curse is broken.” She brushed some snow off her shoulders. “It woke me out of a dead sleep when it shattered. Congratulations!”
She was about to offer to set off some celebratory fireworks or lights or something when she finally recognized that the