A hand caught my arm as soon as I emerged from the threshold and, before I could get my bearings, dragged me downward, into the . . . snow? Falin was beside me, kneeling low. I eyed the snow under my feet. It glistened in a fluffy white sheet all around me, but though it looked deep, my boots remained on top of it, not making an impression. Still, I didn’t want to kneel in it, so I let Falin tug me into a low curtsy, but not all the way to the ground. My knees protested the less than familiar pose, but Falin didn’t release me, so I was forced to hold the curtsy. While his grip kept me locked in the awkward position, it didn’t prevent me from looking up.
What I assumed would be a room, wasn’t. We were in a small clearing. Pale trees, their bare branches weighted with snow, ringed the clearing, including behind me. Which meant the door I’d passed through had vanished. Great.
The Winter Queen paced several feet in front of me. She was a vision of Sleagh Maith beauty. Tall and lithe, her snow-white gown clung to her, accentuating her understated but feminine curves. Her dark hair hung around her heart-shaped face in perfect ringlets, glistening ice crystals kissing the curls. She was entrancing, either her magic or her presence making those around her wish to please her, to admire her. I’d had to fight the pull of those enchantments the first time I’d met her. Today it was simpler as she was making no attempt to dazzle me. In fact, I wasn’t sure she’d noticed we’d entered the room. Her full red lips were tugged downward in a scowl and her movements were jerky, her fingers clutching the skirt of her gown as she paced.
Behind her, a long mahogany table was out of place in the snow-covered clearing. Four fae sat around the table. One I recognized on sight: Ryese, the queen’s nephew. Saying he smiled at me when he caught my gaze would be an overstatement. It was more a smug glower. He lifted a crystal flute filled with golden liquid in a silent toast, and my stomach made a painful twist.
Ryese had spent the last couple of months trying to seduce me, and while he was handsome enough—most Sleagh Maith were unearthly gorgeous—arrogant entitlement didn’t appeal to me. My continual rejection irritated him, and more than once I’d glimpsed a very nasty cloud of anger behind his pretty features. His eyes, with irises so light they almost looked white except for a pale blue outer ring, gleamed in the fae light, and the mocking greeting made me fear the worst about why I may have been summoned to court.
Beside him sat a female Sleagh Maith. Her chestnut-colored hair was piled high on her head and woven through with mistletoe, the white berries hanging down like gems around her face. Her gown was the color of an evergreen dusted with snow and decorated with more mistletoe accents. She studied me with inquisitive eyes as green as my own, but her features were carefully placid, controlled.
Across from her was a blond-haired fae. At first glance I assumed he was just another Sleagh Maith, but something about the arrangement of his features made me second-guess that assessment. It was nothing I could point to and say that one thing made him different. It was the height of his forehead, the width between his eyes, the shape of his ears, the angle of his jaw—nearly every feature—was just a little off, a little more other, than the other Sleagh Maith I’d met.
The last fae at the table was another male Sleagh Maith. He had dove-white hair pulled back in a stern knot at the base of his skull. His brown frock coat was austere and unadorned aside from holly leaf buttons and cuff links. He gave me only a cursory glance before his attention returned to his queen.
My gaze also slid back to the queen, who still paced the length of the clearing. She whispered something under her breath in that chimelike language I’d heard other fae use in the past, but while the language might sound pretty, by her tone I guessed it was a curse.
“My queen?” Falin said, his head still bowed.
She whirled around. Her ice blue gaze landed on us with the weight of a glacier. She radiated power, anger, and . . . distress.
The last caught me off guard. I let my eyes wander to the fae at the table again, but none betrayed anything.
“You took your time, Knight.” The queen shoved the skirt from her hands and turned to me. “Lexi, I require your abilities.”
I cringed inwardly at the nickname, but it was the request that made my spine stiffen. My abilities? She couldn’t think I’d merge realities for her, could she? Hell, even if I could fully control the ability, I wouldn’t use it for the queen.