26. Chapter Twenty Six

The forest is a wall of white as we trudge through the trees. My breath condenses in a fog with every exhale. Beside me, Nero pushes on steadily. Icicles cling to the tips of his hair, blown back by the headwind.

"She can't have gotten far, especially in this storm. We have to find her before she freezes to death." I yell over the noise of the ceaseless wind.

"We have to find shelter before we freeze to death, Aramis. We're wandering in circles." He yells back. "Look, there seems to be a small ravine. If we're lucky, we can find a cave to weather the rest of the storm in."

"I won't leave her alone in this blizzard." I wave at the snow blowing around us.

"While I love this recent change of heart, I don't want to explain to yer father how I let ye die. Who will save yer people then?"

The sting of his words sinks in.

"I'm sorry."

"Aye, I ken the urgency to see this through—and quickly, but Sybil is a smart lass. She would have sensed the storm coming an' found shelter." Nero briefly glances back my way before starting down the side of the ravine. I can't help but wonder if he's is hiding more.

Stones and shards of ice tumble down the slope with each step. I quickly follow after, the snow biting into my palms as I grip the side of the rocky surface for support. Glancing over my shoulder, I notice a thin ice covered stream at the bottom surrounded by rocks. Its surface appears smooth under the thin blanket of snow, but a fall from this height would be dangerous.

"Any luck?" I shout at Nero, the wind carrying my voice away.

"Up ahead, I see a darker shadow!" He throws out his arm to point and I watch as he slips from the ravine wall. His whole body leans precariously backwards as he scrambles at the rock and ice before him, wings flapping on his back. Instinctively, I reach out to the surrounding air and blast it against his back, slamming his head into the snow. His claws make purchase in the rock wall and he turns a grateful smile in my direction. A laugh erupts and I slam my fist against the wall before me at the sight of his face plastered with snow.

Nero grabs a fistful of it and throws it right at my face, faster than I can move. I'm blinded by white as I swipe at my face. "You ass."

"But at least I'm your arse," he replies, batting his eyes dramatically at me.

"Get moving before I let you tumble down onto your ass for goofing off. I am freezing and I am not in the mood to lose any fingers today." My teeth chatter as if to emphasize my statement.

"Yes, your royal highness. As you wish." He jumps down to a small ledge, his feet crunching in the snow. His massive frame disappears before he pops his head back out and says, "It's going to be tight."

"Better tight than being stuck out in the snow," I say through clenched, chattering teeth, and I follow him along the ravine edge. "Do you think you'll be able to light a fire?"

"That's hard to say. With all this snow, any wood is bound to be soaked. Even with my powers of fire, it'll be difficult." He frowns back at me.

"What if I dry it out before you light it on fire?" Lifting my hand, I use my powers to brush away the piling snow, revealing more branches.

"We should be careful how much energy we use. You never know if we will need it," Nero says.

"All the energy in the world won't matter if we freeze to death," I grumble under my breath as I watch his body disappear into the rock face once more.

His head reappears with a sharp grin on his face. "Did I mention Drakes have exceptional hearing?"

"You may have skipped that part, and about a dozen other facts about your life." I retort as I duck and follow him into the opening. The cave is a small one, barely deep enough for the two of us to sit side by side. Nero tucks his wings behind him and braces himself on the floor, knees to his chest. He pats the ground next to him.

"It's nae the hot springs in the mountains, but it's dry. Well, at least until the ice you're covered in melts," he laughs.

"Me? You're one to talk." I gesture from his head to his toes, where the ice has already melted, soaking his chemise. I quickly brush off the layer of snow that has gathered in my hair, shoulders, and pack.

After slinging off my pack and cloak, I wedge myself between him and the hard cave wall. I am used to Shadowvale's harsh winters, but usually we are lucky enough to find a tavern or local to stay with if we are caught out in a storm. I pull my cloak over my body up to my chin, take a deep breath and try to relax my tense muscles.

"How long have you known?" I finally ask, my gut churning, still trying to put the puzzle pieces together concerning Nero's true identity. I lean my head back against the rocky wall, my body exhausted.

"I didn't find out until years after we became friends. I started showing signs and my mother confessed my father was a shifter. I guess that makes me a halfling." He slides to the ground next to me. Steam rises from his snow wet clothes slowly drying from his warm body. "Didn't ye ever wonder how a boy of yer age could break down yer door and carry ye to the healers when even yer best guards couldn't?"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I ask, unable to hide the hurt. "Were you ever planning to tell me?" Before Sybil came into the picture, my mind silently finishes the thought. Because, before Sybil, I might not have handled this so well.

Nero gazes solemnly from beside me. The silence weighs heavily in the air. I exhale, tense and unsure if I'm ready to hear his response.

"I was scared it would break our friendship." Nero sighs as he restlessly tosses a ball of fire back and forth between his palms. His fingers are tipped in sharp claws. "Ye were so consumed with hatred for shifters after yer mum's death. Ye still can't stand the thought of them. So much so that after a hundred years you deny yer own feelings towards yer mate." Silver lines his eyes as his words trail off. Sparks and ash fall to the snow as he clenches his fist.

"I—" The words die on my tongue as I watch the grief play across my best friend's face. How would I have responded a hundred years ago? Fifty? Twenty-five? The truth is that I would likely have arrested him and taken him back to the castle for treason.

But things are different now. My mate is a shifter, so I can certainly accept my best friend being one too. Is this what the spirits in the forest were talking about? My hand reaches to grasp the stone around my neck that seems to pulse against my skin since Nero's transformation.

Knowing how my entire existence has been shaped by my prejudices and hatred, can I really be angered that he feared for our friendship by withholding this information? With a sigh, I stand up, then reach down and help him to his feet.

"Nero, you've been my friend for over a hundred years." I begin, clapping him on the shoulder. He turns the gesture into a hug, and I accept it. "For too long, I've been looking for ways to seek revenge for my mother's death and needing to protect my people. But perhaps it's time to change."

"I'm surprised yer taking this so well, yer majesty." Nero jabs me in the side of the ribs and grins. "What an unprejudiced reaction."

"I'll give you an unprejudiced reaction." My brow raises in challenge and we both start laughing. I have a lot to process, but I am finally learning to not let pride and prejudices get in the middle of a century-long friendship. It will not shape my future, or the man I hope to become one day. With the hope of Sybil accepting me as her mate—one day—and with Nero at our side, surely all that comes after this is manageable.

"How long do you think the storm will last?" I inquire after a while, watching the wind blow furiously outside the cave opening. It is slowly filling up the space with snow. Hopefully, it will help keep our body heat in the small space.

"Ye and I both ken Shadowvale winter storms are unpredictable. They can be two hours or two weeks. But ye know, I'm nae very good at small talk and ye are very good at evading difficult conversations." Nero rubs his hands together before exhaling against them. The small cavern immediately warms up a degree or two. He cocks his head and grins, a dimple appearing in his right cheek. "At least yer lucky I'm a fire drake, nae an ice drake."

"There are ice drakes?" I ask, my eyebrows shooting up.

"Maybe?" He shrugs before digging in his pack and pulling out a flask and taking a swig before offering it to me. I drink deep, reveling in the burning sensation while it slides smoothly down my throat. My eyes water as the warm sensation fills the rest of my body.

"Whoa there. I know it's been a shocking afternoon, but we need to keep our wits about us." Nero takes the flask from my hand and returns it to his pack. "Ye ken better than anyone how potent this stuff is."

"What did you mean by, maybe?" My hand drifts to the crystal at my neck and I rub my thumb against its smooth cool surface, once again quiet.

"I don't see why there shouldn't be ice drakes. There are earth, water, wind, an' fire elementals plus all the sub-elementals. Why can't there be more than just fire an' earth drakes?" He counts off the types on his fingers, the tips of his claws making tiny clicking noises.

"Have you ever met other drakes?" I ask, curiously. I watch his face fall as he stares in his lap.

"That's one thing Sybil and I have in common. I've never known another drake in ma life, outside of the man me mum said was my da."

"Sybil has only known one drake in her life?" My heart speeds up at the sound of her name.

"Nae, ye dolt." He reaches over to ruffle my hair and I swat him away. "Unicorn shifters are as rare as they come. I inquired around, but besides Sybil and her parents, nae one has heard hide nor tail of them for over a century. Wouldn't ye think if she knew of other kin, she'd have moved to them after her parents' death?"

My mind travels to Edmund, the poor elemental child orphaned after the death of his parents. I close my eyes, my fist clenching. Sybil has no one. I had my father at least, although after the death of my mother—he was never the same man.

"Death of a loved one affects us all differently." I sigh, grabbing a pebble beside me and tossing it to bounce off the hard stone floor. "Do you remember when we first found Edmund after that shifter raid?"

"Aye, he was a wee lad." Nero grins, lost in memories. "He followed us around like a pup after ye brought him home. If he wasn't on yer heels, he was my shadow constantly asking questions."

"That boy was an endless stream of questions; how does this work, what does it take to get on the king's guard, when can I go on a mission, when can I learn to wield a real sword, why why why…" I chuckle then sober up as I think about him at the castle waiting for us to return. But how can we return now? "How is he going to take all this?"

"The lad is smart and he trusts ye, and he trusts us. He took a shine to Sybil after she healed him. The world is nae black nor white, Aramis. He'll understand that not all shifters are evil, like the group that raided his city and killed his parents."

"Perhaps you're right. But what about Sybil? What am I going to say to her?"

"Tell her the truth. Tell her how ye feel. Yer fated mates, Aramis. Ye were nae the only one looking when ye thought the other's back was turned. She cares about ye, even if she hasn't admitted it to herself." He chuckles and nudges me. "Look how long it took ye to accept it.

"Yeah, but…" Guilt churns heavy in my stomach as I replay that night in the dungeons. Sybil standing defiant and proud despite her torn gown and bloodied head. How could I have been such a fool and not seen it? I should have been the one to rescue her that night.

"I'm nae saying she will forgive you right away. Ye've got some groveling to do my laddie, but I've seen the real you. I ken she will too, just be honest with her and give her time," he says solemnly.

"How about you tell me how you helped Sybil escape?" I ask, trying to lighten the mood and I am pleased when I see a shocked expression on Nero's face.

"I–" He pauses and glances at me. "Alright, ye've got me. I could nae leave her down there. Not knowing what I did about Kieran and the Queen's plans."

The words settle belatedly in my mind. The ones of plans that Kieran and the queen have. "What plans, Nero?" I ask, rage lacing my words, my entire body tensing.

"Easy there, Prince." Nero responds soothingly, but any humor is wiped off his face as he sees the expression on my face.

"No, you told me it's time to tell me the truth. I want to hear it."

"The Queen has been using dark magic for quite some time. You have seen her power in the throne room. That is not normal magic, Aramis. It's dark, and it is unforgiving. As such, it asks for a price. We are not entirely sure what her ultimate goal is, but she is draining shifters' of their magic to counteract the effects of whatever evil she is manipulating. It helps her cheat time. The attacks are an excuse. She sends some sort of demons to raid unprotected villages, and then she sends us there to collect the leftover shifters."

"You fucking knew!" The words slip out of my mouth automatically. "Sybil told me all of this and I called her a liar to her face. Goddess-damn it, Nero." She is never going to forgive me. After all this time… after trying to protect my people, I have been unknowingly causing harm. Goddess above, no wonder people have torn opinions about me. "Fuck, Nero!" The words burst out, revealing the hurt I don't want to show. "Why didn't you say something earlier?" Fury rises in my gut. I have played a part in all this destruction: innocent men, women and children, not rebels.

"Would you have believed me? Would you have believed any of it?" Nero asks, voice cracking after moments of silence, clearly reading my own. He leans his head against the rocky cave wall behind him as he runs his hand through his hair and takes a steady breath. Everything I've ever believed has been a partial lie, and it was I who was unraveling my kingdom one raid at a time. I press my lips into a line and sigh. I must make amends. To him, to my people. And, most importantly, to Sybil.

The light coming through the cave mouth has slowly become darker as the evening wanes and snow fills the entrance.

"Tis going to be a long night, Aramis." Nero cuts me off. "Ye ken speculate on what ifs until water burns, but ye will nae be any closer to the answers ye seek. Ye ken we need as much sleep as we can get if we're going to hike through the snow banks an' catch up wi' Sybil. We won't find her in the dark, even if it stops snowing."

I sigh again, knowing he's right. But this conversation isn't over, and we both know it. A long time passes as I sit in silence watching his small ball of flame dance before us until sleep claims me.