Winter Queen by Amber Argyle Read Free Book Online Page B

gathered at her fingertips, and crystals sang in her ears. A new awareness grew inside her chest. She let her thoughts go and felt herself fragmenting, her body disintegrating into swirls of snow.
    From deep inside Ilyenna, something whispered a warning. Danger and chaos and destruction lay before her.
    “No! Not yet,” one of the fairies cried.
    The warning was drowned out by the chiming of crystals and the wind rushing in Ilyenna’s ears. As if in a trance, she continued to fragment. The four fairies pulled and tugged at her hair and clothes, but they were no stronger than hummingbirds.
    The one with furry wings planted herself in front of Ilyenna, fists on her slim hips. “You will not enter winter. Not yet. If you do, winter will never let you go.”
    Shocked, Ilyenna pulled back into her physical form.
    Clearly relieved, the fairy bowed. “I am Chriel, my queen.”
    The fairies circled her, their small hands reverently tracing her temple, neck, hair, her bare back. “The power inside her—so beautiful.”
    Ilyenna wasn’t sure which one of them said it. Once again, she realized she hadn’t expelled the air in her lungs. When she did, wind and snow rushed from her lips. Chriel tumbled back, her wings beating hard. Ilyenna clamped her hand over her mouth.
    Shaking snow from her hair, Chriel fluttered back to her. “You might want to be a trifle more careful with winter’s wind, Queen.”
    Ilyenna took a deep breath and let it out very slowly, very carefully. As cold as it was, her breath should have misted the air. It didn’t. “ Winter queen?” she asked.
    The fairy with wings like the finest glass fluttered them unhurriedly. “Winter has birthed you, endowing you with its power. You are a force of nature manifest in flesh—hence you are winter queen.”
    “I’ll live forever?”
    The fairy’s wings quivered. “Not forever. But neither are you a mere mortal.” She bowed, her wings dropping low. “I am Tanyis. We would have you as our queen—the conduit of winter’s power, if you are willing. But there is a price.”
    “A price?” Ilyenna echoed.
    “There is always a price.” The fairy with wings that looked like broken glass flew forward. “You mustn’t agree unless you’re certain, mortal. The transformation has been set in motion, but you have yet to enter winter. We can still stop it.”
    The other fairies shot the fourth looks of cold disapproval.
    Normally, Ilyenna wouldn’t have been so bold, but the ice racing through her veins lent her courage. “If you had doubts, Ursella, you shouldn’t have chosen me.”
    Ursella’s eyes narrowed into a tiny glare.
    The other three shot her looks of triumph. “I knew she called to me.” Chriel clapped her hands in delight.
    “What price?” Ilyenna asked again.
    “Your humanity,” Ursella said, her wings stiff.
    Ilyenna tried to speak, but she had no breath in her lungs. She had to remember to keep breathing. She inhaled and spoke carefully. “I don’t understand . . .”
    The blue fairy with wings like fans of frost smiled. “I am Qari, my queen. You have been reborn into winter, but as Ursella said, the transformation is not complete. You must agree to the price first—your humanity.”
    Ilyenna looked from one fairy to the next in confusion.
    Qari went on. “Humans feel all ranges of emotions. As a queen of winter, the emotions on the light side of the Balance will be alien to you—emotions like passion, protectiveness, trust. Instead, you will naturally gravitate toward indifference, jealousy, and rage. You will no longer belong with mankind. Instead, you will be a force of nature. Your soul will be reborn, as your body has been. In return, the powers of winter shall be yours permanently.”
    “And if I refuse?”
    “ Winter will fade and you shall forever return to your human state,” Qari said.
    “Do not make the decision, lightly,” Ursella warned. “The price will cost you everything that makes you Ilyenna—a healer,