The svelte, redheaded, Warrior, Princess smiled as she leaned on her elbows, her body draped over the width of her bed. “Oh yeah, you probably haven’t heard. He just returned from years of exile. He was cursed, or something like that, by some crazy witch. He disappeared for over a hundred years, and just recently returned. No one knows what happened to him in all that time, but from what I hear, he came back a different Faery. Quite changed they say. Almost like the old Prince was completely gone. Apparently his identity had to be confirmed by his own mother. She knew immediately it was him, and no one argues with the Queen.”

Shade pondered her words. She wondered what had happened to him that he would be so hard and cold now. Maybe it was all a front to shake them up a bit.

Oh, whatever.

“What time is dinner? I’m starved.” Shade asked. “I can’t nap anyway, not in this see-through ice house. It’s so cold in here! No wonder they call it the ‘Glass Castle of Winter’!” Shade rubbed her arms and shivered. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a soft, blue, cashmere, sweater. She slipped it on and hugged her arms in its warmth.

“I know what you mean. Definitely not the kind of ‘summer’ home I’d want. I wonder just how cold it is at his main home in Santiran City. It must be full of icicles there!” Sary laughed as she swung her legs back and forth.

Shade yawned and scooted back until her back hit the pillows. “Ya, probably. I just know that he seems eerily familiar to me. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him before, but he ‘feels’ familiar. Is that weird, Sary? Or am I just insane already?” She sighed.

Sary sat up in her bed and watched her. “No, you’re definitely not insane. You have no idea what kinds of magic you possess do you, Shade? I’ve heard of the things you have done. No one I know can do such things. You are one of the most powerful Fey I know. If you could control your magic, who knows what you could do. I believe these feelings you’re getting are based on real things. Trust yourself, you might find that you’re right about it.”

Shade smiled at her friend. Sary had been a comfort since Brisa had packed and left for college. She was alone now; her one friend moving on to a normal life. She had never felt more alone than the few weeks she had had without Brisa. She called her up frequently, but it was definitely not the same. It would never be the same ever again.

She sighed as she leaned down to get her pack off the floor when a knock echoed from the door. She glanced at Sary, who shrugged. Turning back to the door, she got up and moved towards it. Turning the knob, she felt the door give under the weight of whoever now shoved at it.

“Shade Dyer? Your presence is requested by Prince Lotinar.” A large massive man entered, he was clad in metal and leather, followed by his identical twin. Shade’s eyes widened and her mouth opened to scream, but stopped when Camulus slipped in behind the guards. Shade eyed them both in confusion.

“Camulus, they’re part of Aveta’s guards!” Shade exclaimed. She backed into the room and ran towards her backpack on the floor, hoping to yank her sword out in time.

“Shade, stop, it’s ok. Draden and his brother Andraste are no longer part of Aveta’s troops. They have sworn allegiance to Prince Lotinar. It’s ok.” Camulus’ hands were up, trying to persuade her that they meant her no harm. Shade’s frantic eyes stared at the pair and widened even more as Draden approached her. She gripped her pack to her chest, afraid to let go, and so ready to run for it if she had to.

“What?” She shook her head in disbelief. Sary shimmied over to her and held her around the shoulders, whispering to her to calm down. Shade refocused herself and looked up to Sary, who despite the scare, appeared calm.

“It’s ok, Shade, Camulus is trustworthy. Let’s just see what Prince Lotinar wants,” Sary said.

“Only Shade is summoned, Sary.” Camulus nodded toward them and beckoned Shade to follow them. She moved her eyes to stare at Camulus. Pulling back her fear, she nodded softly and proceeded to follow him while still clutching her pack.

Shade glared at Draden who watched her with calm, ocean-blue eyes. His hair was pulled back neatly, and his scruffy stubble was now shaved clean. He still looked like he had seen a little too much hard soldiering, but he didn’t seem as dangerous this time around, as he had at the Santiran Fountains. He stared right back at her and grinned as she approached them. She eyed him up and down and continued on past him, following the green Elven-Pixie.

In the hall, she fell into step behind Camulus. Shade glanced back to watch the twin guards bringing up the rear, and the door to her room grow smaller the further away they went. She felt so alone again without Sary by her side. Even Soap and Dylan seemed to feel far away in their chambers on the next floor. She wondered if Dylan could feel her panic. She breathed in and tried to calm her nerves before he was compelled to run out here and save her. She felt a little less apprehensive the closer they got to the Prince’s chambers. The feeling of danger subsided slowly as curiosity flooded her mind.

Chapter Five

THE PRINCE’S CHAMBERS were just as elaborate as the sitting room. Here there were threads of deep purple and blue in the rugs that ran along the stone floors as well as the length of the curtains that ran the expanse of the windows. The prince probably liked to block out the bright daylight that constantly poured into the room in waking hours. Shade was escorted into the room and directed to sit on one of the lush settee chairs. She watched the twin guards and Camulus bow to her and the Prince as they turned and shut the heavy wooden doors behind them. She wrung her fingers together while glancing up at Prince Lotinar, whose back now faced her, as he again was lost in a stare out the windows.

Suddenly, he reached up and loosened one of the knots that held the massive material of curtains. The mass swayed with a whoosh across half the windows, swinging gently into position. He followed the curtains as they came to a halt, and then he turned toward her. He watched her for a moment, causing Shade to squirm in her chair quietly. She mentally forced herself to stop it and straightened, feeling the weight of his stare.

“Do you know that Queen Aveta has her Lonares spies crawling all over Faerie, watching us with their insolent eyes, taking back any little bit of information, useless or not back to her? I found that I had to fit all the windows to my castle with lengths of curtain; that took half a year to make, to keep her spies at bay.” He glided over to the second set of tied curtains and loosened them too, throwing the room into the soft dark light of the chandelier.

Shade watched intently. Without his stare bogging her down, he was easy on the eyes. He wore a long silver-white coat that fastened up to his neck, it was tailored to hug his thin waist and accent his broad shoulders. Swirls glinted down the sides of it like glimmering snakes. Glittering diamonds fastened the long sleeves around his wrists, while his pants of the same color were adorned down the sides in a similar swirled fashion. His silver-grey hair draped down over the white-silver of his garments much like a spill of mercury. His shoes were custom made to match the outfit perfectly, but appeared to be made of something soft and pliable, like some sort of dyed leather.

Shade found herself caught off guard as the Prince stopped moving and turned towards her, finding her gawking at his outfit. She averted her eyes down to the deep purple rugs, feeling her face flushing scarlet. The last thing she had wanted was to be caught staring at a Prince.

“Do you like what you see?” Prince Lotinar watched for her reaction. She looked back up at him and studied his gleaming emerald eyes.

“Do I know you?” Shade asked. She felt hauntingly lost for a moment and would bet her life on having met him somewhere before that day. Yet he was as alien to her as most everyone in Faerie was.

He waited to answer as he let her apprehension build. A smile played on his lips as he sized her up and down. Shade felt na**d under his intensive exam and could hardly stand it much longer. She stood up, feeling anxious and wanting to run out of his chambers, out of the Glass Castle, and deep into the more familiar woods. She didn’t though; she glued herself to the floor as her heart raced in her chest and her breathing quickened.

Get a grip already! There is no way you know this person. No way in hell! Shade thought. She slowed her breathing while closing her eyes to block his face. As the panic receded, she was able to open them again and look upon him.

“Am I that repulsive?” A twinge of hurt filled his icy voice. “I thought by returning to my former appearance, I would be much more pleasurable to look at for you.” Prince Lotinar paused and watched her as realization flashed across his face. “I was hoping you would remember me. I see that you don’t, not in the least.” His lips pressed into a thin line as sadness swept across his jeweled eyes. He looked away, peering through a gap in the great curtains; a faraway look crept across his face.

Shade looked at him as her eyes widened. She knew who he reminded her of, but it did not seem possible that he could be that person. She shook her head and sank back down on the settee.

“You shake your head, but you must believe, Shade,” Prince Lotinar said. He approached her so swiftly, she gasped at his sudden closeness. He placed his hands on her arms and smiled. “It’s me, Shade. Ursad. Please remember.”

Shade squinted her eyes at him, Ursad?

“What?” Shade’s voice quivered as she absorbed what he said.

“I’m Ursad. Don’t you remember me at all? I was hoping to find you again. You left before I could show you what happened when you kissed me. I didn’t even know what had happened myself until I walked past the mirror. I woke up and you were gone, but you broke the curse on me.”

Shade let out a sigh of relief. Of course. She could see it now. His jeweled eyes gleamed the exact same way Ursad’s had, even in his disfigured cursed form. She had never seen anyone else with eyes like those. Soap’s weren’t even that bright.

“Ursad, it’s really you, isn’t it? I knew it. I just knew that I had met you before. Why didn’t you say anything before, like when we arrived? Why didn’t you tell me?” Shade felt her shock lessen as they spoke. She studied his face more now that his guard was down. He was incredibly handsome. No wonder women had thrown themselves at his feet. No wonder some jealous witch had cursed him for his looks and attitude so long ago.

“I broke the curse? How do you even know it was me? I did nothing.” She said.

“You kissed me, Shade. I just know that’s what happened. You did kiss me, did you not? Before you left me behind?” His eyes darkened with the memory of abandonment floating behind them.

“Uh, yes but, how would that break any kind of curse?”

“Remember the story I told you? The witch said only a kiss from a Queen-to-be would break it. That means you are a Princess Shade, no doubt about it.” Ursad smiled, his eyes lighting up again. Shade shook her head, but his smile was contagious. She liked how happy he looked. His icy exterior had been just a show. He was the same old Ursad she had met on a cold sandy beach after barely escaping Blythe, the evil Dryad Queen.

“Ursad, you know, a few months ago I would have told you that you were insane, but so much has happened, and I have to say that I wouldn’t be surprised if I was a Princess.” Ursad laughed and launched into her for a tight embrace, holding her as if to never let go. When he finally did, he lingered to study her face and absorbed it into his memory.

“Um, Ursad, you know why I left right?” She paused, waiting to see his response. His face melted into a more serious tone as he nodded. “I won’t tolerate you using any kind of magic or Faerie tricks on me. I just can’t let anyone do that to me ever again. You do understand, right?” Shade licked her now dry lips, her mouth felt like a desert.

Ursad reached up, pushing a strand of her hair back behind her ear and nodded softly. “I promise to never hurt you again, Shade. I am indebted to you for everything.”

Shade stared at Ursad, studying his face again and wondering what it was that swirled around in his head. “Um, Ursad? I don’t want you to feel that you owe me anything. I just want to be friends and know that I can trust you. Is that alright?”

Ursad stared back at her. His face seemed to fall in disappointment.

Great, I just pushed Rylan away, and now I’m pushing another person away.

“I–I knew you would be upset to see me.” He pulled away, standing to pace the room. His agitation seemed to ripple through the air as his control on his magic wavered. It slipped out into the air around her, shooting across her like short gusts of wind. She wondered how much of his magic had been restored when the curse lifted. It had been a few months, but there probably hadn’t been too much to challenge him and cause him to lose grip on his power. She wondered even now if he would try to imprison her again with his now stronger charms.

“Ursad, I’m not upset to see you. I really don’t know what you want from me. I’m happy to see that you’re ok, cured even. What did you expect from me when we met again? That I would run into your arms like a long lost lover? I left because of your deception. You tried to trap me as your ‘pet’ in Faerie. So what if it didn’t work out because I’m also Fey. The point is that you tried to do it, more than once too! I forgive you now, but that is all you can have from me.” She continued watching him pace until he came to a stop in the middle of the room. He moved to sink onto the floor before her, looking up to meet her eyes.

“You’re right, Shade. I deserve nothing. I am still indebted to you. That has not changed. I am sorry for everything.” He bowed his head, breathing in deeply and contemplating his next words. Bringing his eyes back to hers, his face was calmer with his rage extinguished. He smiled and stood up, holding his hand out to her.