Winter came and went without a single snowflake.

And, as the time passed, Cyrene’s powers grew, her control improved, and she was lost more and more to this boy.

“Just one more,” Dean said, wrapping his arms around her waist and trying to hold her to him.

“I have to go. You always make me late,” Cyrene chided.

He dropped his lips down on hers again, and she sighed into him. Creator, I could do this all day! He swung her around in his room and backed her legs up against the footboard of his bed.

“Skip training for one day,” he encouraged.

“And would you skip a day of your military training?”

“For you, I would do anything.”

He planted a kiss on her lips and then across her cheek before moving down the curve of her neck. She felt breathless.

She had to fight not to give in and skip training for the day. Matilde, Vera, and Avoca would kill her. But it was getting harder and harder to pull away from Dean. Harder and harder to remind herself to stop and not to give herself away. Many people back home had thought that Cyrene was Edric’s mistress, and despite the fact that it wasn’t true, Cyrene did not want the same rumors to fly about her and Dean. He wasn’t married, but it simply wasn’t proper to move forward. But curse her body for wanting to.

“I have to go,” she reminded him.

“You said that once.”

“You will be the death of me, Dean Ellison.”

She tugged away from him, but he grabbed her hand and gently kissed it.

“You are the life of me, Cyrene Strohm.”

“How do you expect me to leave when you say things like that?”

His brown eyes lit up, and that gorgeous smile that had won her over lit her up from the inside out. “I don’t.”

“I have work to do.”

“How is that going?” he asked sincerely.

She knew he was just trying to keep her with him longer. He would do it every day they were together, and that was most days after he had talked to Alise and convinced her to leave them alone. She had been under the impression that Cyrene was just going to disappear, but the longer Cyrene had stayed, the clearer it had become that she wasn’t going anywhere.

“Good,” Cyrene said. “Making progress.”

“Moved on from water?”

Cyrene frowned and shook her head.

Despite her limitation of being Bound to Byern, Cyrene had been working twice as hard to master her powers. Matilde and Vera had warned her that it normally took years to be able to manipulate all of the elements, but Cyrene didn’t want to hear it. She felt ahead of the game since she was Bound to Avoca. They had spent all winter on the water element, and they had to be getting close to mastering it. Cyrene was anxious to move forward with her training.

“No, but I will, if you let me go,” she rebuked.

He groaned in protest, but then he leaned down and kissed her one more time, wrapping his arms around her. “Come back to me today. I’m going to miss you.”

“You’ll be too busy beating Robard to miss me,” she said with a wink before scurrying out of his arms and rushing to the door.

Training went much the same as it had been going.

She’d wake up exhausted and go to bed exhausted. Her powers were growing, but she never felt like she used as much energy as she had against the Braj or Indres. No more blackouts. No more Serafina visions. Just the endless, tiresome work of making water do her bidding.

She and Avoca linked, and together, they reached toward the ocean and pulled up a huge amount of water. Cyrene took lead and began spiraling the water in the air, creating a spherical cyclone. Avoca twisted, and Cyrene could feel what she was going to do before she even did it. Avoca jerked her hand, and the cyclone rose into the air, picking up sand, rocks, and even more water. It rotated and enlarged as it spiraled upward.

All the while, Matilde was shooting dangerous flames in their direction. The first time she had tried that, both Avoca and Cyrene had needed new clothes because their gowns had been singed beyond repair by the end of practice. Now, working as a team, they could dodge the flames while still raising the water formation overhead.

“Now, freeze it,” Vera said.

She jabbed at Avoca with her magic, and Cyrene could feel the ice hit her in the sternum.

“Ugh!” Avoca cried, nearly losing focus.

Cyrene reacted on instinct to protect her and take more of the energy for herself. She felt the burst of release as her powers rushed from the depths within her. She took a deep breath and forced herself to keep going. She was never as good at freezing the water as Avoca, but it was a test. Vera had taken Avoca out of the equation for a reason.

Cyrene shot her hands forward, and in her moment of clarity, the sphere shook and cracked. Then, before her eyes, there was a perfectly round ice crystal. The bits of sand and rocks and seaweed were trapped within it, but it was so flawless that Cyrene nearly cried.

She brought it down toward them, and as it drew near, the water was so cold that it made their breaths come out in puffs in front of them. Cyrene giggled and then did something on instinct. She ruptured the ice crystal into tiny snowflakes and let them softly rain down on them, as if they were in the Taken Mountains.

She held her tongue out in front of herself and danced in the snow. Avoca laughed along with her, and soon, all four of them were twirling around in the snow on the middle of a deserted tropical island.

“First and last snow of the season,” Cyrene murmured.

“In spring,” Avoca said.

Matilde nodded with a smile at Cyrene and Avoca.

Vera looked pleased as well. “I think that concludes the water element.”

“What?” Cyrene asked in surprise.

“You have more to learn, but you could not have done what you just did without significant control and understanding of the element,” Matilde said.

Vera nodded. “The Bride of the Sea ceremony is coming up this week to praise the start of spring. We’ll break until then and start up on the next element henceforth.”

“What will we be working on?” Cyrene asked.

“Earth,” Matilde said automatically. “Avoca has a perfect grasp on it, and you should know how to manipulate her element, as she does yours.”

Avoca looked ecstatic. “I can’t wait.”

The girls returned to the capital with a feeling of giddiness between them. Avoca almost immediately disappeared to go find Ahlvie. He still wasn’t staying in the palace because he appeared to like his new job as an entertainer, but he had relocated closer to the grounds to be near Avoca and Cyrene.

To both Cyrene’s and Avoca’s dismay, Ceis’f had not returned. Avoca had sent a messenger to Eldora to ask her mother about him, and her response had been disheartening. No sign of Ceis’f back home either. If they hadn’t had training…and if not for Ahlvie, Cyrene was sure Avoca would have gone out to look for Ceis’f. But he had done what she had asked of him, so she tried to block him out.

Since today was the first day in months they had ended early, Cyrene decided to go down to the training barracks and check in on Dean. But, when she got down there, it was mostly empty, and no one had seen Dean at all that day. She found that strange but decided not to panic about it. She hurried back up to the palace and looked everywhere for him. She finally was about to give up when Robard abruptly stopped in front of her.

Cyrene stood her ground with fire in her eyes. “What do you want?”

“The Queen has requested your presence,” he said smoothly. “If you’ll follow me.”

“What? So, you and Alise can trap me again? I think not. You can tell me where to find her and be on your way.”

“I’m under orders.”

“And I don’t care.”

“From Prince Dean,” he bit out.

Cyrene’s brow furrowed. “If you make one wrong move…”

“No worries, Affiliate,” he said dryly. “I think where you’re going will be bad enough.”

Cyrene opened her mouth to ask what he was talking about, but he grabbed her elbow and unceremoniously yanked her down the hallway. She was lost in her thoughts about what the Queen could possibly want from her, let alone why Robard was collecting her on Dean’s orders.

When she stumbled forward into the throne room with Robard on her heels, the tension was unbearably high. Queen Cassia, Princesses Brigette and Alise, and Prince Dean were standing together, arguing. Each was yelling over the other, trying to be heard.

Queen Cassia snapped at them to be quiet, and everyone turned to stare at Cyrene at once. She had the distinct sense of déjà vu from the time when everyone in the castle had thought she had been murdered. Edric and Kael had rushed to her side because they had been so worried. But, for some reason, she didn’t think that was the case here.

The Queen was holding a piece of paper in her hand, and despite her regal appearance, she seemed ready to hurt the first person she got her hands on. Brigette looked like she hadn’t slept in weeks. All of her energy had left her. Alise seemed smug, whereas Dean looked irritated.

When his eyes met Cyrene’s across the room, instead of the happy man she had been falling head over heels for, she saw he was guarded.

“You requested to see me, Your Majesty,” Cyrene said, falling back into her proper ways with ease. She dipped a low curtsy to the Queen before rising with her chin held high.

“Yes. It seems that your presence in my city has become an international matter,” the Queen said.

“Pardon?”

“You are to immediately leave Eleysia and return to your homeland,” she commanded.

Cyrene’s eyes widened. “You’re making me leave? But why? I’ve been here for months. I thought I had proven myself.”

“It’s not a matter of proving yourself,” Queen Cassia said. She held up the paper in her hand, and from where Cyrene was standing, she could see that it was a letter. “It’s a matter of this.”

“Mother,” Dean said urgently, “can’t you reconsider?”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “You spoke for this girl once. I don’t think you can do any more for her.”

“What is that?” Cyrene asked.

“It is a personal letter from the King of Byern, demanding your immediate return upon receipt of this letter,” Queen Cassia said.

Cyrene’s mouth fell open. “He did what?” she snapped.

“He’s sending an army to retrieve you, in fact,” Alise said with a self-satisfied smile.

“An army?” Cyrene squeaked. “He would never—”

“Do it again,” Dean finished for her.

She opened her mouth to protest, but what could she say? Edric had sent an army into Aurum to retrieve her. No matter how validated she felt about leaving and finding the key to unlocking her magic in Eleysia, she couldn’t deny what he had done or why he had done it.

She had spent the last couple of months trying to forget the Dremylon men and all the trouble they caused…and what they did to her heart. But she refused to return at Edric’s summons. She was not a toy. She might be bound to Byern, but she’d rightfully made her own choice to leave.

“I’m not leaving Eleysia to go back to Byern,” Cyrene told them.

“You absolutely will!” Alise said.

The Queen shot her younger daughter a fierce look and then turned back to Cyrene. “We’re not starting a war over one person. You haven’t acted like other Affiliates here in Eleysia—I will say that much—but that does not mean we want Byern’s might knocking on our doorstep.”

“Let her stay, Mother,” Brigette said.

“No.”

“Do you want to break your son’s heart?” she whispered. But everyone could hear her.

Dean winced at the blow, as if someone had struck him. Cyrene wanted to reach out to him, but she knew that it wasn’t appropriate.

“I love my son, but I will not risk my country for him,” the Queen said. “And that’s final. I will write to King Edric and inform him that you will be returning to Byern promptly. Since we are not sailing out of the harbors in the next week, due to the Bride of the Sea ceremony, you will have a few days to settle your affairs here. But I can offer you nothing further.” Queen Cassia nodded her head and then left the room.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Cyrene thought the room might return to an uproar. But Brigette didn’t say a word. She just left. Alise shared a look with Robard that turned Cyrene’s body to ice.

In fact, after her afternoon on the beach, she could feel her body temperature dropping as her magic filled her. It had been weeks since her magic had gotten out of control. She realized she was shaking.

“Did you do this?” Cyrene asked Alise.

Alise just smiled. “Do what?”

“Did you?” she demanded. “You’ve hated me since the moment I walked in here. You’ve tried to get rid of me, and now, you’ve succeeded.”

“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” Alise said as she breezed past Cyrene to Robard.

Cyrene clenched her hands into fists. “You’re messing with people’s lives, and I’ve never even done anything to you!” She reached out and roughly grabbed Alise. Robard unsheathed his sword, but she didn’t even look at him. As if a sword would scare her after what she had seen. She knew Alise had something to do with this, and she wanted her to confess. “Just tell the truth.”

“You’re hurting a princess of the realm,” Alise said with her nose in the air. “If you want to leave here on good terms, I’d suggest you unhand me.”

“Cyrene,” Dean whispered, “just let her go.”

Cyrene threw Alise backward and had to catch herself from using her magic to do it. “I know you did this.”

“So what if I did?” Alise asked. “However it happened, you’ll be out of here in a few days.”

Every fiber in Cyrene’s body made her want to lunge forward and throttle Alise, but she resisted the urge. It wouldn’t help anything at this point. She hated letting Alise get away with this, but she needed to figure out how to stop it…not kill the person who had started it.

“Fine,” Cyrene said with a shake of her head.

Robard sheathed his sword and then followed Alise out of the room.

That left Cyrene completely alone with Dean. She nearly crumpled as the realization of her circumstances fully hit her. If she didn’t find a way out of this, then she would be leaving Dean and be on her way to Byern.

“Is it true?” Dean asked when she finally faced him again.

“Is what true?”

“Were you involved with the King?”

“Where did you hear that? Was that in the letter?” Cyrene asked anxiously.

She shouldn’t have felt nervous about this line of conversation, but the unease on Dean’s face didn’t calm her nerves.

“What does it matter? Is it true?” Dean sighed and ran a hand back through his hair. “Of course it’s true. Why else would he send an army to collect you…twice?”

“It doesn’t change anything. I’m not with him now, and not that I should have to explain my previous…relationships to you, but we were never really together either.”

“Cyrene, this changes everything.”

“Why? Why does it have to change anything?”

“Because you’re leaving!” he cried, finally loosening the anger he had been holding tight like a whip. “Because he’s coming to claim you.”

“Well, I’m not going back! I left the country for a reason, and anyway…I’m with you,” she said softly. Her blue eyes were pleading with him. She reached out and placed her hand on his arm. “I’m with you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“About Edric?” she asked.

He cringed at Edric’s name. “Yes.”

“I didn’t think it’d matter to tell you the truth.”

“It matters.”

“Why?” she demanded. “Why does my past change anything about you and me?”

“Do you love him?” Dean asked. He looked like her answer could plunge a knife through his chest.

“It’s complicated, Dean,” she said.

“So, you do.”

Cyrene sighed. How can I explain Edric to Dean? She had never wanted to have this conversation. What she’d had with Edric was completely separate from what she currently had with Dean. Thinking about them as a comparison felt wrong. And, at this point, she wasn’t even sure how much of her time with Edric had even been real.

“No,” she said finally. “No, I don’t.”

He pulled her against him and buried his face in her hair, breathing her in. “I can’t lose you,” he said softly.

“You won’t. I promise.”

She hoped that was a promise she could keep.