wine were thick, and I motioned to the bartender. “Brandy, please.” Tossing a coin on the counter, I took the proffered glass and turned to let my gaze flicker through the crowd.
There . . . in the corner . . . a man who was staring directly at me. He was tall, at least to me, probably about five nine and rough looking. Five-o’clock razor stubble shadowed his chin. I knew those features.
He was wearing leather buckskin pants, and his chest was bare, with a cape of wolf pelts draped around his shoulder and a headdress of teeth and bones and cedar rising from his head. His eyes were dark, so dark you could fall in and lose yourself for days. He looked to be in his early forties, and I noticed everyone had given him wide berth.
When he caught me staring at him, he raised his glass silently to me and I headed over in his direction.
“Howl. It’s good to see you again.”
“As it is you, Lady Iris.” He motioned to the opposite seat. “Please, sit.”
I slid into the booth and carefully placed my brandy on the table in front of me. “Thank you for meeting me. I did bring a companion but left him outside.” I wanted to be straight up in case he somehow knew I’d come with backup.
“Not a problem,” he said, attending to his own drink. He paused, sipping the golden liquor in his glass. “So, tell me, how can I help you?”
“I’m seeking information and help and it has to do with something in the Northlands. You are one of the Elemental Lords, ruling over the plane of ice and snow. I thought perhaps you might be willing or able to help me.”
“You ask, knowing there is always a price to pay. I sense no fear. Desperation, perhaps? You are able. Willing? We shall see.” He raised one eyebrow. “
I let out a soft sigh. “I was accused of murder, of misusing my powers. I have no memory of whether this is true. That is what I seek to find out: What really happened so many centuries ago. Whether I destroyed the man I loved or whether I was framed. That’s why I need your help.”
“How would I be able to help you with that?”
I paled. “They say I ripped away his spirit and embedded it in a moving shadow, then destroyed his body. I certainly had the power to do so, but . . .”
“And again, I ask, how would I be able to help you with this?”
I gazed into his eyes, direct, opening up my fears that I would be forever cursed. “His spirit roams in shadow form through the Northlands, through the lands you rule over, and that is where I must go to seek the truth. Vikkommin is forever trapped within the shadow and he’s gone mad over the years. I need to set him free and hope to learn the truth of my past if I’m ever to break a curse placed on my head.”
Howl finished his drink and signaled for another. He leaned forward, across the table. “Mistress Sprite, you have been living in sorrow for centuries now. Are you sure you want to chance deepening that pain? What if you find out that you were responsible?”
I swallowed the rest of my drink, and when the waitress came I motioned for another.
“If I did do it, then I’ll turn myself in to the temple and await their punishment. They set me free the first time because we couldn’t find the truth. If I
The thought of what the Elder Council could—and would—do to me should I be proven guilty terrified me. But if I had done it . . . if I’d trapped Vikkommin for centuries in shadow form and tortured his body, then I deserved whatever they offered me. I hung my head, waiting.
Howl reached across the table and took my hand in his. His touch sparked the wild, feral side of me and I gazed into those brilliant eyes.
“You truly deserve your title, stripped or not. Few are so brave as to willingly walk into the fire. But my dear Iris, I cannot help you. Not now. This is not my season and the Northlands are in the throes of autumn. Return to me near midwinter. Return to me when the snows are high and the winds howl around the eaves. And then I will help you. You may bring with you three friends. That is all I will allow when it comes to mortals.”
I caught his fingers in mine. “Thank you. I did not expect you to agree.”
“Beware, Iris Kuusi—I have offered my help in uncovering your past. It may not be the help you want. It may be the door to your own destruction.”
“Understood.” I polished off my brandy and nodded to him, turning to leave.
“Iris?”
Turning back, I saw he was leaning forward, watching me. “Yes?”
“You are caught between worlds, you are caught between paths, between destinies. If you do this thing, it may alter your life forever. Make very certain you are willing to pay the cost before returning to me. Only then shall you summon me.”
He tossed me a shimmering quartz bead. I caught it, gazing into the fractured surface. I could have sworn snowflakes glimmered from within. “What is this?”
“When you are ready, smash the gem and it will alert me. I’ll meet you in Elqaneve, in the Wounded Warrior tavern, two days after you have shattered the crystal. If you do not come to me within that time, then it will be as if we had never spoken.”
As I watched, he flickered and began to vanish, and then—he faded out of the booth and it was as if he’d never been there.
I GLANCED UP, Shaking off my memories. Everyone was looking at me, including Trenyth. I let out a long sigh. “I broke the crystal yesterday. If I don’t meet him before sunrise, I won’t ever meet him at all. He’ll lead us to the Northlands.”
Smoky nodded. “I have spoken with him, long ago. He is as honorable as you can expect one of the Elemental Lords to be.”
“I came prepared with some gifts to make your journey easier,” Trenyth said. But my mind was far away, returning over and over to the bloody room and what was left of my fiancé. And the dark shadow he had become.
TWO
THE STREETS WERE NEARLY CLEAR BY THE time we pulled up in front of the Wounded Warrior. Trenyth had given us climbing rope and food, and delicately light elfin cloaks that shed snow and water and cold like a duck’s down. As he helped me out of the carriage, he took me aside.
“Mistress Iris, I have something for you and I want you to promise me you’ll carry it with you.” He held out a small jewelry box.
I frowned, slowly accepting it. “What is this?”
Inside the velvet box sat a ring, a silver ring with a blue stone. It was beautiful and ornate, the band embellished with etchings of roses and leaves, but the energy coming from it was obscured to me.
“This is a ring of Shevah. It captures the spirit of Elqaneve and draws on the powers of Queen Asteria. It will strengthen you in the storm and shadow, and guide you when you are not sure of which direction to go. It won’t save you from harm, nor will it bring you victory, but the gift it bears may help see you through your task with a little more safety.”
His soft smile touched my heart, and I gazed into the eyes of the royal assistant. He was right-hand man to the Queen, her personal bodyguard. We had seen into his heart and knew something he didn’t even know about himself—Trenyth was in love with Queen Asteria. She was his all, and he would die for her. Any gift or help he gave to us had come from the heart of a gentle soul.
I held up the ring. It had been sized for small fingers, and so I slipped it on my right index finger and it fit, perfectly. As I gazed at the soft glow of the gem, a tear slid down my cheek and I found myself crying—just a little.
