Sandus nodded. “That he is.”
In his dragon form, Norivun rose twenty feet tall. At his full height, his lips split into a grin as long, razor-sharp teeth hung from his gums. The guards had completely given up on besting him in their sparring, and I could have sworn that Norivun was grinning at me.
“Very nice, Nori. She’s thoroughly impressed.” Sandus waved toward the prince’s shredded clothes on the floor. “Would you like me to grab you a new pair of pants and a tunic?” He headed toward a chest against the wall.
In a second brilliant flash of magic, so strong it nearly knocked me off my feet, Norivun shifted back to his fae form. His huge leathery wings, tipped with talons, appeared at his back again, and my eyes widened.
“That’s why you have talons on your wings?” I blurted as the crown prince pulled on a fresh pair of pants that Sandus had thrown to him. “It’s your dragon affinity that caused that?”
He gave me a crooked grin. “I wondered how long it would take you to figure out.”
Haxil, Ryder, and Nish all laughed or smirked, and I resisted the urge to smack the crown prince on his chest.
Norivun’s grin increased as his nostrils flared. “Is that scent I’m detecting from you anger or admiration?”
I crossed my arms. “You could have just told me about that affinity and saved me the shock. I thought it was an illusion.”
He laughed. “And miss seeing the disbelief you’re still wearing? No way.”
Haxil chuckled while Nish laughed so loud that he had to prop himself against Ryder to keep from tipping over.
“If it makes you feel better,” the prince said, stepping closer to me, “I don’t often shift. It’s my weakest affinity, and I can’t hold my dragon form for more than a few days.”
Glowering, I tightened my arms over my chest. “What’s your last affinity? Now that I know of five of the six, surely, you can just tell me what the last one is.”
He grinned. “Nope.”
I shook my head, but I couldn’t stop my smile. “Well, if you’re done showing off and using me for your amusement, I was hoping you could join me on an outing.”
The crown prince cocked an eyebrow as a wolfish grin streaked across his face. “To my bed chambers?”
His guards snickered.
I rolled my eyes but had to smother a laugh. “No, you filthy-minded prince . . . to Isalee.”
The energy in the room sobered as the prince frowned. “Back to Isalee? Why? What’s wrong?”
“I want to study that field again. Something tells me that it’s possible the lack of orem isn’t what’s killing the crops.”
CHAPTER 29
The prince and his four guards accompanied me as we mistphased to Isalee. When we arrived at the same field, a clear pale-green sky and a stunningly bright sun blazed down on us. It was the exact opposite from the weather this morning.
“A clear winter day in my home territory.” Haxil whistled. “Count yourself lucky. These days only happen a few times a season.”
Taking that as a good omen, I created a dome of fire around the five of us, spreading it wide enough that it didn’t burn anyone in the interior, but it was hot enough at the perimeter that it would keep any wayward predators from thinking twice about attacking.
Ryder cocked an eyebrow as his long braid trailed down his back. He did a slow circle, admiring my handiwork. “You’ve become pretty proficient with your affinities, Lady Seary.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Haxil said with a grin.
Nish frowned, but a new light entered his eyes as he crossed his arms, studying me. “I have to say it is rather . . . impressive.”
“Thank you,” I said, suppressing a smile. “Anyway, the reason I wanted to return here was because of what I sensed earlier. It got me thinking.” I leaned down to the snow and pushed at least four feet to the side before kneeling on the frozen ground.
Norivun joined me, inching closer to me until we touched. “What did you sense?”
I leaned more into him, that soothing feeling rushing through me as I laid my palm flat against the ground and closed my eyes. “I’m not sure, but . . .”
Magic swirled in my belly, and I drew upon it, calling my life-giving affinity to the surface before pushing it out of me. My power spiraled into the land as I searched for a hint of orem. Once again, nothing was there. I pushed deeper, trying to find that off sensation I’d detected only hours ago.
My magic dove through the ground, hunting and searching. Despair began to plague me, but then I hit something. It was so very deep in the land. Deeper than I’d ever tried to push my affinity before.
Forehead furrowing, I concentrated on assessing it, letting my magic spread out like probing fingers. It took so much concentration that I had to call upon everything Matron Olsander had taught me.
“How strange,” I murmured. “It almost feels like a veil or some kind of net is deep within the land.” I paused and glanced up at the prince as my mind raced. “Do you think our crops are dying from an unnatural occurrence that has nothing to do with the gods? That perhaps whatever I’m feeling in the land is encapsulating the orem?”
The prince’s lips parted. “Does it feel like that?”
“I don’t know, but I wasn’t strong enough before to dive my affinity this deep. It makes me suspect that what I’m feeling now has spread throughout the continent.”
He scowled, the expression making him look downright scary. “If that’s the case, my guess is that Wormiful and Crimsonale are behind whatever you’re feeling.”
“That’s what I’m thinking too, and if they’ve found a way to douse our land’s orem and starve our fae, then we’d be forced to move south. It plays into exactly what they’re pushing for.”
His hand pressed against my back. “But how are they doing it? How are they creating whatever you’re feeling?”
I shook my head. “I have no idea, but if we don’t figure it out, my affinity can’t save us.”
I closed my eyes and returned my attention to the soil. Brows scrunching together, I dug deep into my reserves to force my affinity to dive farther.
Whatever was in the land zapped me again, its responses growing stronger the farther down I went, almost as if it was trying to deter me. But I pushed my affinity through it anyway, burrowing my magic as deep as it would go. The netting heated in response, growing hotter and hotter and hotter as I drilled through it.
ZAP!
I was flying.
Arms and legs extended upward as a clear sky shone above me.
Pain ricocheted through me as something followed me from the soil.
I landed on the ground so hard that I couldn’t breathe.
“Ilara!” the prince yelled.
My head lolled. My sight blurred. Everything went black.
“Ilara!” Hands gripped my shoulders as anxiety filled the male’s voice. It sounded as though he called out from far away, as though the male was underwater. “Ilara!”