Ambrosia (Frost and Nectar Book 2)

Delicate white webs of frost spread over the old panes, obscuring my view of the snowy world outside. I breathed on the glass, fogging it up, and ran my hand over it to get a view of the kingdom.

The cold seeping through the glass made me shiver, so I pulled the blanket tighter around myself to get warm and glanced back at the fireplace. Once again, the blaze had simmered down to embers. I couldn’t keep the damn thing lit. The temperature in the castle kept plummeting, low enough for me to see my breath form a mist around my head. Right now, I was wearing three layers: long underwear, pajamas, then leather pants, a shirt, and two sweaters—and a blanket over it all.

My mind slid back to two years earlier, when I was working in an office and drowning in a perpetual torrent of Jira tickets. Every night, I’d work till nine and get takeout curry or pizza for dinner. I’d started to grow increasingly bored with my life, until the day I’d marched into my manager’s office and quit.

Gerald had been a patronizing fifty-five-year-old man who’d once gotten drunk at an office party and claimed he’d had a former career as a “stunt cock” in Canadian porn. It had been deeply satisfying to tell him I wouldn’t be coming back.

I hadn’t needed the money. Who in their right mind worked ten hours a day when they had millions in a bank account from the last startup?

And the first several months of retirement had been amazing. Yoga, lunches by myself, endless books, a wine tour in Sonoma…it had all started with euphoria that drifted into contentment, then complacency, before settling into absolute boredom. The amount of wine I was drinking kept creeping up. I’d pour the drinks earlier, first at five, then four. And wasn’t two p.m. acceptable when you didn’t have anything else to do?

I’d been starting to get desperate for a story I could tell, an adventure.

And that was how I’d ended up here, in a frigid castle with temperatures that beyond all expectations continued to get colder.

That was also how I’d lost my best friend two weeks ago. And that was why I was still here, waiting for her return.

I wasn’t leaving without her.

I pulled the blanket tighter around me, my thoughts once again roving over the landscape of Ava’s disappearance.

I hadn’t been there to see how it had happened, but Aeron had been. Ava had plunged through some kind of magical portal, and Torin had followed after her. Within moments, the portal had sealed with ice, then stone. The king’s throne had broken, and a wintry hoarfrost had snapped across the kingdom.

So now, the biting cold seeped into every stone in Faerie, into every piece of fabric and glass. It cooled hot tea before the cups were even filled and stung cheeks and exposed fingers. It made my teeth chatter when I crawled into bed and slid into my body like a phantom when I slept. Here, the cold was an unwanted guest that would never leave.

As I stared between the blooms of frost on the window, a large black and red dragon swept through the stormy skies in the distance, his wings outstretched in the setting sun. A shudder rippled up my spine.

I knew I was safe in the castle—at least, I thought I was safe here. But it was an instinctive terror, and the sight of the dragon made my heart hammer faster. I didn’t think humans had evolved to mentally cope with the sight of actual dragons.

From what I gathered, dragons weren’t normal here, either. No one in the castle seemed to want to venture outside, which didn’t do anything to calm my nerves. Supposedly, the dragon was a sign of some sort of dark magic encroaching, or maybe a sign that the dragon was waiting for people to die of the cold so it could roast our bodies and feast. Dragons hoarded things, and the rumors were that this dragon hoarded corpses.

A knock sounded on the door, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Aeron.” His voice pierced the oak door.

I let out a long sigh. Maybe he’d warm me. I still couldn’t get him to share a bed with me—not because he didn’t want to, but because of some stupid vow of chastity that made no sense whatsoever. But I could tell he was tempted, lingering around me longer, leaning in to kiss me.

With chattering teeth, I hurried over to the door. I really hadn’t seen him enough in the past two weeks. He’d been working nonstop, delivering food to hungry families, trying to keep homes heated.

When I pulled open the door, I found him standing in the hall, clouds of breath puffing from his blue lips. He held a plate with a single piece of bread on it, and it made my heart squeeze.

“Get in here,” I said. “You’re freezing.”

“I thought you might be hungry.” My stomach rumbled sharply, and yet I didn’t quite feel like eating. Stress had that effect on me.

I sat on the bed with the plate of bread in my lap and the blanket over my shoulders. “What I really want more than bread is for you to get warm next to me. You’ve been out in the cold all day, haven’t you?”

“You need to keep the fire going.” Aeron crossed to the hearth. “I don’t want you freezing in here by yourself.”

“I don’t understand how everything changed so fast,” I said. “Just a few weeks ago, we were eating entire banquets, and now it’s all blizzards and food rations.”

He knelt, trying to stoke the fire again. “Torin didn’t want to marry until it was absolutely necessary. If Ava had sat on the throne, we’d be enjoying spring right now. Torin had been promised money that we were supposed to use to buy food. The humans offered him an enormous sum for filming the trials, but the contract also required an actual wedding. Without the wedding itself, they’re not paying him. The granaries are empty. The livestock have been slaughtered. I’ve been visiting house after house today. The young and old are getting sick without heat and the right nutrition. People are eating all of their farm animals. The chickens are freezing to death, not laying eggs. Nothing has grown in Faerie for years. We were down to our last rations when Torin disappeared.”

A weight pressed on my chest. Someone needed to take control here. “What is Orla doing?”

“Refusing to take the throne. She’s certain Torin will be back any day now. And I don’t know if she’s wrong. She’s unfailingly loyal, and Torin never wanted her on the throne. He thought she was too weak, and that the magic would kill her.”

He turned back to me. “We are not in good shape. We don’t have any more time to spare. And I know Torin wouldn’t be allowing this to happen if he had any control whatsoever. If he could be here, he would. I’m just worried that he’s…” Aeron trailed off for a moment. “That he’s trapped or something.”

Worry twisted in my gut. If Torin was in trouble, Ava must be, too.

I slid the plate of bread onto a bedside table. “What is the dragon I keep seeing?”

He crossed to the bed. “It’s the curse the demons placed on us long ago. When the frost encroaches, dark magic takes over. The dragon is circling like a vulture, waiting to eat the dead, to feed off our destruction. Our kingdom hasn’t seen them in centuries, but I think they’re attracted to misery and desperation.”

When he sat down across from me, I pulled the blanket off myself, and I wrapped it around both of us until we were cocooned in wool. He took my cold hands in his and rubbed them together, then breathed on them.

When he looked up at me again, his golden hair hung before his eyes, and his cheeks were pink with the cold. Even with the chaos around us, he still had that perfect rakish charm.

“I don’t understand what happened,” he said. “I keep piecing together what I saw, trying to make sense of it. Moria had come up here to speak to Ava but wouldn’t allow me anywhere in earshot. Ava ran down to the throne room to speak to Torin. And then I saw him touch her, and ice spread over her body. But I don’t understand why Torin would freeze her with his magic. I suppose it was an accident, but I’ve never known him to lose control of his magic before.”

A disturbing memory threaded through my mind, a tidbit of a conversation I’d overheard.

“How much do you trust Torin?” I asked.

“Honestly, I trust him with my life. I’ve known him since we were little.”

I shifted closer to him.

“I don’t trust Moria,” I began. “Ava didn’t trust her, either, but whatever Moria said to Ava, it was believable enough to make her upset. I didn’t hear the whole conversation, but I heard a little. Moria accused Torin of killing her sister. I think Moria’s sister might have been the person whose diary we found. She was Torin’s girlfriend or lover or something.”

Aeron stared at me. “Milisandia. That’s what Moria said? Milisandia went missing. But it’s treasonous to accuse a king of an unlawful murder. And of course, Torin is not a murderer. He kills lawfully.”

“So maybe Moria was lying. But something about that conversation had Ava rushing to speak to Torin, and now they’re both gone. What if Torin was trying to cover up what he did?”

Aeron went still. “Maybe you misheard.”

Annoyance flickered through me. “I didn’t mishear,” I said, more sharply than I needed to. When had I last eaten? It had probably been far too long.

He stared at me, a line forming between his eyebrows. “Torin never spoke about Milisandia after she went missing, but I always assumed…well, I assumed she ran off with someone else, started a new life with someone across the mountains. You have to understand, Shalini. I’ve known him since we were boys. He’s not a murderer, and I will not tolerate the accusation.”

I bit my lip. “Okay, but when Ava questioned him about it, Torin froze her with his magic.” Aeron’s fingers were still like ice cubes. “Don’t you think that’s strange?”

“We live in strange times.”

Sorrow tightened my chest. When it came down to it, Torin seemed a million times more trustworthy than Moria.

“So, how do we get Ava back from wherever she went?” I asked. “Isn’t there some kind of magic? You must have Seelie witches here who can tell where they are or what happened to her.”

Orange light wavered over the hearthstones. Aeron really had done a good job of getting the fire going again.

“Orla sent soldiers to search for an old crone named Modron,” he said. “She lives far beyond the frozen Avon River. Modron is said to be as old as Faerie itself, and she might also be the only person who could fix Torin’s throne. She’s a truth-teller, and she gives us glimpses of what happened in the past.”

“As old as Faerie itself?” My eyebrows rose. “How has she stayed alive this long?”

“No one knows. Some say she’s a god or a nature spirit. I think she’s a Dearg Due who summons humans to Faerie and drinks gallons of their blood. It keeps her heart pumping.”

My lip curled. “Really?”

“No one does that at court anymore. It sort of went out of fashion. No one has seen her in decades, I think.”

I stared at him. “Moria is a Dearg Due, isn’t she? Has she returned to her kingdom?”

Aeron shook his head. “No.” His face paled. “Actually, she’s been advising Orla. If what you said is true, that she made treasonous accusations against Torin, I should let Orla know right away. We’ll get them back,” said Aeron with more confidence than his furrowed brow suggested. “I’m sure Modron will help us learn the truth. And I have complete faith in the king.”

The cold bit at my skin, and I nodded. “You know, it’s impossible to get warm in here, even with the fire. This isn’t a normal cold. But where I come from, they say body heat is the best way to warm another person.”

“Is that right?” He raised his eyebrows, and a sultry look ignited in his eyes.

My gaze brushed down to his beautiful lips, then back up again. How could anyone be so perfect looking?

His eyes danced with a seductive promise. “Every day, I think of giving up my vow.”

He slid his hand around my neck, pulling me closer. With the touch of his lips against mine, embers rose to molten heat inside me, until I found myself pushing him down onto the bed.

He kissed me back, deeply, and it felt like the kiss of a man who’d been thinking about this intensely, every moment of every day.

As my hand slid under his uniform, feeling the heat of his hard abs, he moaned into my mouth.

“Wait,” he whispered. “I can’t.”

Gods damn it, Torin.

A loud knock sounded at my chamber entrance, and I caught my breath, my gaze reluctantly sliding to the door. I tried not to groan audibly with exasperation.

Sighing, I noticed that someone had slid a letter under the door, which was weird. I didn’t feel important enough to get letters here, just a human who’d overstayed her welcome by several weeks.

Aeron kissed my throat, his lips hot against my skin. “Are you going to get the door?” he murmured against my neck.

“Hang on, Aeron. I’m coming right back to you.”

Painful as it was, I forced myself away from him, my heart racing. What if this was news about Torin or Ava?

I picked up a cream envelope with maroon calligraphy on the surface. It was addressed to Shalini.

When I opened it, I found an invitation, inscribed with the same maroon ink and ornate decorations around the borders.

Dear Shalini,

We have succeeded in locating Modron, and our soldiers are returning with her as we speak. In the meantime, we have been working hard to keep every family fed and clothed through the cursed frost. This terrible tragedy that has befallen our kingdom is not an accident of nature, but the scourge of the demons’ evil curse. We ask that you not blame King Torin for his absence in this time of need. We have only one true source of blame, and it’s the demons who have haunted and tormented us for centuries.

While we wait for the arrival of Modron, we request the presence of all members of the court in the throne room tomorrow night at dusk so that we may discuss our current situation and discover how to work together.

It was signed by Moria and Orla. My stomach twisted, heart hammering.

I wasn’t sure I was ready to find out what had happened to Ava, and I knew I didn’t trust Moria to get to the truth.

Deep in my bones, I knew Ava was in trouble.

With a pang of regret, I realized I almost wanted to stay in the safe cocoon of ignorance with Aeron for just a little longer.