They slept on the train and arrived before the sun had risen on the Frozen City. The moment Faryn's boots set foot onto the platform, she was whisked away by two Elves without so much as a word. They led her away from her friends, from Nick, from Klaus. And she panicked. This all had been a trap. She was going to be taken below the city and locked in a cell.
But instead of chains and ice, she found herself dunked into a warm bath before being left alone.
Heart still racing that her body was warm and not frozen, she sunk down into the water, trying to force relaxation.
Where her grandfather's home was reminiscent of a wintery storm, everything in this bathroom appeared as if it had been touched by frost. The true colors of the furniture underneath were muted by the sparkling white material. It was on the tub as well, and she touched it to see if she could determine what it was. It wasn't as cold as ice. Rather it felt like glass.
It was almost an hour later when three women, all Elves, swept into the room. By that point, Faryn had tugged on a robe that had been laid out and was thankfully not completely naked.
They pulled her out of the bathroom and into the adjoining bedroom. This room also looked as if it had been touched by frost. A platter of grapes and crackers rested near a headless gray mannequin garbed in a dress.
The dress was beautiful. Truly stunning. It was the lightest blue—almost gray. Lace that looked like frost was placed in certain spots on the dress to create the illusion that it was crawling up it. The sleeves broke at the elbows before continuing halfway down the forearms in lines, as if they were icicles, held together by thread that Faryn had to squint to see even with her heightened vision. Though the neckline plunged deeply there were strips of clear fabric laid between the V like the ones on the sleeves.
She was expected to wear something so grand? She would disappear in that dress.
The women told Faryn to eat while they examined both the dress and her, making small adjustments here and there.
Once they were ready, they instructed her to remove her robe and step into the dress with their help. Faryn's face was flushed the entire time.
There wasn't a mirror for Faryn to see what she looked like, and the Elves' faces were drawn together as they circled her, placing a pin in her skirt and two in her sleeve.
They had her take it off so they could make the alterations and one of them held open her robe for her to slide back on.
There was no way they hadn't seen the bruises on her neck, a reminder of Klaus. They were impossible to miss, but they didn't comment, didn't let their eyes linger, and Faryn wasn't sure if she was grateful for that.
*****
By the time the Elves left her, the sun had risen and set in its short presence in the sky. She'd been fastened into the dress, her makeup done so that silver sparkles shown on her face in the places where Klaus seemed to usually wear gold. Her hair had been curled and left to hang down her back. Whether it was an intended effect or not, the white streaks were now more prominent. And she was going before Winter with them.
She stood on the balcony attached to the bedroom. Here it was, above and below her, the city she'd been trying so hard to avoid. It was as if every building was made of ice that looked like thickly packed snow. The city had been constructed in a circle, the buildings towering higher the closer to the center they were. The Court's palace was only about a fourth of the way into the city. From her balcony, part of the ice moat and the wall that kept the city separated from the Barents Sea were visible.
Somewhere below her feet were the dungeons.
Sighing, she held up her palm. She had controlled ice and sleet but there had been no indication that she could create or manipulate snow, frost, or wind. And she was okay if that was the case; she only wished she knew what her powers were. Where they began and where they ended.
Faryn's nostrils flared and she stiffened as she caught the scent of freshly cut pine and toasted sugar. She turned, finding Cassian in the center of her room, hands tucked into the pockets of a light gray coat trimmed in silver. Even as he stood in the dark, his boots were so polished they gleamed. Wanting to block out any unnecessary light as she studied the city, she had shut off the lights in the bedroom. The unintended consequence was that Cassian was illuminated by the lights of the city above and around Faryn. A consequence because it made him look ethereal while she stood there being swallowed up by a dress.
His eyes were fixed on her. The lights of the city didn't catch in them, didn't make them shimmer. Instead, something about them looked despondent.
"What is it?" Had something happened? Her mother? His mother?
He approached slowly. "I'm being called home. I leave right after court."
Faryn's throat grew tight. "What about the vacation in Maladh? Spain?" She tried to infuse humor into her tone because deep down, didn't they all know she'd never really see them again—at least not all three together at once?
He stepped out onto the balcony, coming out of the shadows, and for a moment his eyes swept over the city before finding hers again. She felt as much as she saw them rake over her leaving her incased in heat despite the cold in the air.
"It will have to wait. My mother's insisting I return to training as her heir. Really I think she's just worried I'll get wrapped up in another scheme. And with Easter around the corner, Peter needs to get back to Nebraska."
She placed her hand down flat on the smooth railing. It was so easy to forget who these Acurials she'd started to call friends were. Cassian, the next Tooth Fairy. Important. Peter, the Easter Bunny. Important.
"My mother's ambassador is ready to usher me out of the palace as soon as Court ends, so I wanted to get the chance to tell you that I . . . I hope you're able to finish your studies."
"I'm hoping the Acurial professors will pull some strings."
He nodded as if now that she had answered his business was concluded, and he started to turn toward the doors. Was that really all he wanted to say to her? "I'll see you in—"
"Cassian."
He faced her immediately.
"Thank you. For helping me, even when it was probably one of the last things you wanted to do. Without you and Peter and Clíodhna, I'd be down in the dungeons."
"I'd do it all over again if I had to. I don't regret helping you, Faryn. I don't think I ever will." He turned for the doors once more.
"Cassian, wait." She grabbed his arm, feeling him tense underneath her. "Kiss me."
He didn't move nor did he breathe.
Her heart thudded. "Cassian—"
The rest of her words were silenced by his mouth crashing down on hers. His hands grasped her face, pulling her closer. The kiss was demanding, hungering, scorching her from the inside out even as the wind brushed over her skin. She slid her hands up the front of his jacket, feeling the firmness of the muscles beneath.
He let out a growl and backed her up against the railing, his hands leaving her face to press against her back. She wrapped one hand around the back of his neck. The other she tangled in his hair.
Biting her bottom lip, he drew a moan from her throat.
He pressed his body into hers and she wanted to keep him here, wanted Court to be pushed back indefinitely so he wouldn't have to leave.
Cassian leaned his face into the crook of her neck, his breathing ragged against the bare skin of her throat. Goosebumps rose over her skin. "If you didn't have to be presentable in a few minutes, I'd show you just what we meant about biting."
Faryn's body tensed, and her legs quaked. "Cassian." She wanted to know.
Their eyes met and then Cassian was reclaiming her lips, pressing against her until she arched her back over the railing and both her hands were tangled in his hair.
She wanted him. Like this. She wanted his hands on her, his mouth, even his teeth.
Her tongue swiped over his lip, and it only made him pull her tighter against him as she deepened the kiss. His fingers kneaded at her back, his thumbs brushed her sides, dragging the silk material of the dress against her skin.
And then he drew back, his gray eyes searching hers. She didn't know for what. "Faryn, I . . ." His lips, normally tinged white, were now pinker, his eyes dilated, and his hair, where Faryn's hands still were, was a mess.
"What is it?"
But Cassian didn't get the chance to answer. Someone knocked on the bedroom doors. Cassian pulled her away from the balcony before letting her go.
Her body felt cold.
But she ignored that feeling and brushed out her dress. Cassian started for the doors, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
They both knew what the knock meant. Court was about to begin, and soon after, Cassian would be gone.
Cassian made a sharp turn and cut across the balcony until he stood before her. He took her chin in his hand and tilted her head back until her eyes met his. "You look divine, Faryn. I hope you know that." He placed one more searing kiss against her lips before he pulled away and left her standing on the balcony.
It happened. They kissed. And it only took like the whole book. I'm sorry but also not really because I do love slow burns where even handholding is monumental.
The chapter on Wednesday, the first day of winter, will be a Story Branch of this chapter from Cassian's POV. I'll also be throwing in what he was doing before he came to see Faryn and who he goes to see before heading to Court.
And then on Christmas Eve, I'll be posting the last chapter!