bring about. Not content with the balance, she was looking to rule over the world, creating a snowy hunting ground for the Indigo Court. And the Golden Wood was her chosen place to make her stand. Home to both the Summer and Winter Courts of this region, the Twin Hollies led into my realmâthe Court of Snow and Ice. Twin Oaks led into my cousin Rhiannonâs realmâthe Court of Rivers and Rushes.
We shared the wood, and the balance entailed handing over rule on the summer and winter solstices, with each of us guarding our half of the year. Mine was the waning half, hers was the waxing. But Myst had destroyed the balance before we came to power. She had managed to wrest it away from Lainule, the former Queen of Rivers and Rushes, and Tabera, the late Queen of Snow and Ice. She had destroyed Taberaâs heartstone, killing the Winter Queen, and had managed to drive Lainule back to the Golden Isle.
Skimming the top of the snow was still a novelty for me. I hadnât gotten used to being able to traverse the wintery fields as if I were gliding on air. Suddenly, for pure joy, I twirled, skating on the crust, delicate in my movements for the first time in my life.
Behind me, Check laughed gently. âBe careful, Your Highness. You can still slip and hurt yourself.â
âIâve fallen so many times in my life itâs second nature.â And it was true. Iâd spent my youth honing my skills in running away, dodging danger, and sneaking into apartments in order to ransack them for money. Iâd learned how to climb through windows, drop down fire escapes, and edge out onto ledges in order to avoid people coming home before I was done pilfering their apartments. But, given all that, while Iâd developed muscle and speed, Iâd never considered myself graceful.
âBe that as it may, perhaps the skating should wait until weâre safely at home in our own realm.â Grieve glanced over his shoulder, a smile spreading across his face. He stopped suddenly, staring at me. âCicely, you are so beautifulâlook at you, in a mantle of white.â
I glanced down. I was wearing the owl-feather cloak, but the softly falling snow had blanketed me in a layer of flakes, freezing against my skin, against my hair. I was outlined in frost, in winterâs lacework shawl. I held out my hand and watched as the snow landed on my palm, not meltingâbut sitting there, crystalline and pristine.
The realization slowly filtered through that I was now colder than the snow. Colder than the dead. I had truly become the Queen of Snow and Ice, and though my heart pumped and blood raced through my veins, heat no longer translated through my body. I was winter incarnate, as frozen as the icicles hanging from the eaves.
Grieve moved to my side, reaching out his hand. In the same silence, we turned and began to run again, heading toward the Twin Oaks.
We were nearing the turnoff leading to the Marburry Barrow when a flutter of wings caught my attention. I glanced up. A great horned owlâlooking much like my father, though I knew it couldnât beâswept past. I shaded my eyes to gaze up at the circling form. As the owl swooped lower and lower, a noise of rustling bushes sounded behind us, and Check whirled, pulling out his sword. But it was Strict sweeping out of the trees, taking long strides.
He was almost to us when the owl suddenly spiraled down to land on a nearby log. Strict passed me with a perfunctory nod, then knelt by the owl and waited. My heart fluttered. I knew it wasnât my father, but for Strict to kneel to anybody meant this was someone terribly important.
The owl was larger than my father was in owl form, with a wingspan that must have stretched over five feet in width. He was white, mottled with brown markings, and I had the feeling this bird had seen the decades come and go. I knew he was UwilahsidheâI could feel the connection between us even though I was only