“Here,” Emrick grunts, holding out a brown paper bag for me. I grin as I walk forward and take my breakfast. They know better than to take me anywhere before I’m fed. I’m the furthest thing from a morning person.
“Coffee, Queenie?” Jacob asks, handing over the liquid perfection. He knows exactly how I like my coffee and I love him even more for bringing it. I take a long sip and groan in appreciation.
“Jacob, I think I love you," I sigh as the coffee warms my empty stomach. Emrick makes an offended noise and I turn to my biggest knight. “I love you for feeding me, big guy," I reassure him with a grin. He returns my smile and picks up our bags, happy with my small acknowledgement.
“Is your mouse really coming with us?” Maddox asks, as he looks appalled at my decision. Dormouse squeaks angrily at him. Mads raises an eyebrow but still looks at me expectantly for an answer. You would think he’d know me well enough by now, to not question my unconventional choices.
“Dormouse, you mean? He has a name," Jacob reminds him, walking over and making kissing noises at our tiny companion. The fact his snark was this on point this early was a testament to Andras, he’s clearly transforming my bestie into a morning person. Hell must have frozen over. “I packed your food too, little dude. I knew you wouldn’t let her leave you behind.”
“That was my next worry. Thanks, my prince!” I give him a quick kiss on the cheek in appreciation. “Alright men, what’s the plan?” I use my best fierce warrior, queen voice. Sadly, nobody seems impressed.
“What’s with the voice?” Bowen teases and I scowl at him.
“That’s my badass warrior queen voice," I huff at him. He lets out a laugh that says he thinks I’m adorable, not badass.
“Come on, it was an obvious badass, let’s do this kind of voice," Jacob replies with an eye roll.
“Will they ever truly understand us, Jacob?” I ask in a dramatic voice and give a fake melancholy sigh.
“Not likely," Emrick says with a chuckle. “But I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
“It would be much more boring without them,” Gerwyn agrees. His violet eyes shine with amusement and I can’t help but smile back. We all get along so well and despite our dramatics, they’re really starting to understand our sarcasm and our own brand of crazy. Not only that, but laugh along with it now. What more could I want?
“Let’s head out, we don’t want to get caught in the wilds of Winter after nightfall,” Maddox says, bringing us all back to the task at hand. He starts handing out supplies and bags until we’re all holding gear of some kind and nothing is left behind. Of course I’m given only a backpack, but if I’m trekking through snow, I can’t really complain. Thankfully I’d brought winter boots, I just hope they hold up to the frigid wasteland that I picture the court to be.
Gerwyn jumps into his teacher mode, giving us a rundown of what we might encounter. “It’s not the same as Spring’s layout. Essentially the entire land revolved around the conceited king. There is one village and it is the castle city, though it is quite a bit larger than the other villages you’ve seen so far. Most of what lies on the outside of the castle is the snow-covered lands and the typical border mountains. We honestly don’t need much planning for the journey, since it is essentially a straight walk from the border gates," he explains, looking at each of us, ensuring we understood.
“Won’t that walk be covered in snow now?” Andras inquires. He seems concerned, which makes me wonder just how bad this will be.
“How deep is the snow?” I ask before he can answer.
“It’ll hit your knees at least,” Gerwyn answers sympathetically. “And yes, I expect us to have to forge a path through the untouched snow. Our road out of town to here used to be spelled to repel it, but most charms in Faerie were broken in the war.”
“Great,” I mutter, but try to keep my tone light. I’m not going to get discouraged before we even start, but internally I’m freaking out a little. Becoming fae had given me a few inches, but I’m still short enough that knee to thigh deep snow will be a workout to conquer.
“We’ll be fine, I’ll pull you out of the snow if you disappear,” Jacob teases as he links arms with Andras and walks past me. I flip him off but his sarcasm does the trick, lightening the mood enough for us to start moving.
“You might want to say goodbye to your people,” Bowen says. When I look at him confused, he raises an eyebrow and points behind me. My chest clenches at the sight of a large crowd, all here to see us off.
“Our journey begins, when we come back, half of Faerie will be ours again,” I call out. My voice is full of determination and confidence, a deafening cheer following the statement. We all wave before turning to the bridge and starting across.
The moment we step across the bridge, it’s like a switch is flipped. The temperature drops from high seventies right down to frigid levels. My winter coat isn’t enough to keep the chill out and I pick up my pace in hopes that body heat will help keep me warm enough.
Snow falls as we step further into the lands, wind swirling it in our faces. Dormy scurries off of my shoulder and into my coat, settling inside the warmth.
It takes several minutes for my body to adjust to the temperature change, that or I’m already numb, either way the steps get a bit easier as we head toward the parted trees. They’re the only sign that a road once stood here.
Pine and fir trees block the rest of the land from view. From here I can’t even tell if we have to go through a gate to enter the rest of the lands or if the trees act as that barrier.
Without warning, I stop and press my hand to the ground, wanting to check on the status of the lands. My magic barely graces the surface when I feel an intense anger slam into me. Unlike the strong pain I felt from Spring, this feels… wrong. It’s tainted by something, though I can’t tell what. There are no flashes, but shades of red and shadows fill my vision. They’re way too blurry to make sense of, but I can make out the clash of swords, angry yells, and psychotic babbling.
Well, that’s unsettling.
“Something’s wrong here,” I mutter as I pull back like the ground shocked me. The others all stare at me, waiting for more of an explanation but I’m not even sure how to put it into words. “It's angry. And the visions didn’t make any sense.” Frustration drips from my tone. I hate that we’re going in blind. How can I protect my group if Faerie isn’t going to work with me?
“Faerie?” Maddox asks. He glances around like something is about to jump out at us, but we haven’t exactly run into any dangerous creatures yet. And since no fae could have survived the cursed lands, we’re safe.
Are we though?