We left the palace early, prepared to visit the Trials before our departure. Of course, nothing ever went the way I’d planned. The airships were ready and stocked with everything we needed for the journey, but the crew would have to wait.

I was the heir to the Ever Frost throne, and the protector of the realm.

Set between two rows of buildings that reached as tall as the dark storm clouds above, the central market of Ever Frost filled the city’s square. The glass dome that covered the inner city protected us from the extreme cold and the elements of our world’s unrelenting foul weather.

The smell was what overwhelmed me at first. Spices and perfumes, raw fish and sweat. Fresh fruits and vegetables grown from genetic farms, raw or smoked meats, exotic smelling salts, carpets, and silks were all spread out over wooden tables draped with cloth and carts that had been pushed from far below the city’s boundaries.

I was supposed to leave for Allandria that morning, but reports of a disturbance in my kingdom delayed my departure. Eleven years had passed since I’d first met the Aether, what was another few days?

Maxim walked closely beside me, tall like a bodyguard, though I was the more muscular of the two of us. We were a good team, almost like brothers. After my mother rescued him from the orphanages in the human realm, he’d been stuck to me, almost like a shadow.

The prince of Ever Frost and the human prince without a kingdom. Still, as elementals, we were bound by magic and couldn’t escape one another if we tried.

I stroked my bearded chin as I glanced from building to building. The stone structures had been built centuries ago, and housed the faeries of Ever Frost. This was the most brutal terrain out of all of the realms, and yet, we’d found a way to survive.

Maxim walked slowly, paying strict attention to our surroundings.

“Let me know if you notice anything out of the ordinary.”

I nodded, not really paying attention to what he had said. My mind had already wandered to the large crowds of people that had come from all over the realm to witness the Trials—a series of tests for the warriors who were in a competition to serve the new queen once she arrived.

“Are you listening to me, Stellan? Of course, you aren’t,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “Your heads in the clouds, as always.”

“Yes, Maxim. I’m listening,” I lied. “I’m also trying to focus. You should too.”

“Something is not right,” he whispered, tensing, his brows furrowing. He bent to take a handful of dirt from the side of the road where flowers and small trees had been planted.

I stood by as he sniffed the dark soil and glanced up at me with a scowl on his face. It wasn’t much different from his usual expression.

Always serious, always a scholar, Maxim rarely smiled, but something about the glint of worry in his eyes worried me.

“What is it?”

He shook his head, standing to his full height which was nearly a half-foot taller than me.

“I’m not sure. Smells of something not of this world. I think its the faint scent of magic from The Veil,” he said, scratching his chin. “I vaguely remember that strange aromas from crossing it years back.”

“Just brilliant,” I mumbled. That’s all I needed was to deal with one of the creatures from The Veil stalking my kingdom.

We were both in disguise, wearing gray cloaks over our fine clothes. As we walked through the maze of streets and marketplaces, I tried to keep my hair covered, for red was rare in Ever Frost.

My mother was from a faraway kingdom, where such a shade was more common. But, here, the faeries were more used to white or blond hair, with the occasional bright blue like Eliza’s.

“The reports say there is a possible body snatcher lingering about,” Maxim said.

My cheeks paled. This was something beyond my training. “A corsus?”

He nodded, confirming my fear of the evil creatures who liked to steal and inhabit the bodies of those of weak body or mind.

“Why couldn’t it be something simple, like a sprite? Sprites are at least easy to banish back to The Veil.”

He shrugged, lifting a thick brow. “Sprites don’t like the cold.”

Bloody know-it-all. I scowled over my shoulder. “That wasn’t a literal question, my friend. I just wish it would be something easy and not a class 5 entity.”

“I see,” Maxim said, his voice lowering. “The patrollers count seven bodies left behind.”

I shook my head, and began to take a step forward when Maxim stopped me by outstretching his arm in my path.

“Wait,” he said. “Do you smell that?”

I sniffed the air. The faint scent of death wafted over the collection of usual aromas of the morning market.

“Death,” I said, throwing open my cloak to reveal a scepter made of bone, onyx, and enchanted glass.

Maxim glanced at me. “You ready?”

I stretched my neck muscles from side to side. “Always.”