Snowdrifts swirled like silver mist across the courtyard of Hollowspire as Kaelin stood before the approaching sled caravan. The siege was over, the gates his ice beast had torn down now lying in frozen ruins behind him. His forces were still tending to the wounded and gathering spoils when the sound of jingling harness bells drifted through the cold air.
The lead sled was carved from pale glacier wood, pulled by six white-furred frost elk. Upon it stood a woman draped in layered silks of deep blue and white, her crown a jagged ring of crystal. Her eyes shone with the cold clarity of the far north. This was Queen Thalyra of Veyln Tundra, ruler of the Ice Courts, a noble Kaelin had heard about only in whispers. They said she had turned back an entire Guild battalion with a single gesture.
She stepped down onto the snow with unhurried grace, her gaze taking in the shattered gates and the still-smoking watchtowers. "So it is true," she said, her voice low but carrying easily. "The lost heir of Aeryn is more than a rumor."
Kaelin kept his stance steady. "And you came all this way to see for yourself?"
Her lips curved into a small smile. "I came because the winds told me the Guilds will unite against you. And because, perhaps, our causes are not so different."
He studied her, the way the cold seemed to ripple from her without dimming her warmth of tone. Behind him, Sova stepped closer, his hand lightly brushing the hilt of his weapon. Kaelin could feel the unspoken warning in that gesture. Trust was a rare thing in this war, and Thalyra's arrival was too well-timed to be pure chance.
Still, Kaelin could not ignore the potential. The Ice Courts commanded legions trained for tundra battles, their war-chants able to shake the resolve of even seasoned Guild captains. If she truly meant to join him, his growing rebellion could strike at the Guilds' frozen heartlands.
Thalyra's gaze swept over the courtyard, lingering on the ice beast still crouched by the moat. "You wield the old ways," she said softly. "It has been a long time since I have seen such a command of the frozen element. My mother once told me the Aeryn bloodline could shape the winter itself. I see she did not lie."
Her words stirred something in him, a faint echo of the lessons he had pieced together from the Glacier Monks, the fragments of memory from his parents' old home, the whispers of what the Aeryn name once meant. He had been an orphan on Valyssar's streets not so long ago, stealing bread and hiding from Guild enforcers. Now a queen was speaking to him as an equal.
"I will not fight the Guilds alone," Kaelin said finally. "If you mean to stand with me, prove it. We have more than enough enemies."
She inclined her head. "Then let us speak within. There is much I can give you. Soldiers. Weapons. Knowledge of Guild strongholds. But first, you must see what we face together."
As they entered the broken gates, Kaelin noticed how her guards moved. Their armor was silent, their faces hidden behind frostglass masks, their steps in perfect unison. He had fought beside disciplined warriors before, but these were different. It was as though they moved with one mind.
Later, in the great hall where fires struggled against the lingering chill of battle, they spoke of maps and troop numbers. Thalyra's voice wove a picture of Guild supply lines, hidden passes, and ancient ruins that could serve as staging grounds. Her every word seemed precise, deliberate, and Kaelin found himself leaning forward, drawn in despite Sova's sharp glances.
But beneath it all, there was a faint undercurrent he could not place, like a shadow in the snow.
If the Aeryn blood in him could feel storms before they came, it also felt this… something in her gaze that lingered too long on the shards of ice hanging from the rafters.
Still, when she raised her goblet and said, "To our alliance," Kaelin lifted his own.
The storm had not yet broken. But it was coming.
...
Snow crunched under Kaelin's boots as he followed Queen Thalyra through the frozen pass. The wind howled between the cliffs, carrying flecks of ice that stung his cheeks. Ahead, her white-furred elk moved with sure steps, their breath steaming in the frigid air. Behind him, only a handful of his most trusted fighters had come, the rest left behind to guard Hollowspire. Sova walked just to his right, his eyes scanning every shadow.
Thalyra had spoken of a Guild relic buried deep in the ruins of an ancient tomb, a weapon forged in the first years after the Shattering. She claimed it could shatter elemental wards, a tool they would need for the next phase of their war. Kaelin had agreed to see it for himself.
They reached the mouth of the tomb by midmorning. It loomed like the open jaw of some long-dead beast, its teeth jagged pillars of ice. Old carvings marked the entrance, worn smooth by centuries of wind. Kaelin felt something stir in the air, a heaviness that clung to the skin, like the breath before a storm.
Inside, the walls glittered faintly with frozen crystals. The air was still and biting cold, each exhale hanging in the air like smoke. Their footsteps echoed, a slow rhythm in the silence. Kaelin's senses sharpened, the way they always did before danger. He could feel the faint pull of water within the ice, hear the way the wind outside seemed to fade as they descended deeper.