Chapter 146

It’s April. Even if Etra arrived at the warm region through the blizzards of April, unless Milo was already waiting at the border with the herbs and a change of horses, it would be impossible for Etra to return in time. And unless Milo could see the future, how could he prepare any such thing?

“Ah,” he said as a sudden spark of hope hit him. There was more than one person in the warm region who could see the future. The mother of Ilyin’s mother could – she foresaw her own daughter dying. He stood quickly.

“Which way did Etra go?” he asked. There were many routes to the warm region. The Delrose route was safest, yet also the longest. Etra woudn’t have taken it when time was such a factor. She could handle herself with a sword – that’s why Aden had appointed her to Ilyin – so she would have risked a shorter, more dangerous path.

There was no more time for pondering. Divine light flashed in his hand. It flared so brightly that even Emil, rushing down the hall, had to cover his eyes against the light pouring out of Ilyin’s room.

Enough power to make any place a warm region, at least for a bit.

***

The winter region was a land of monsters, unforgiving to humans. Biflten had been their domain originally, until the first Duke of Winter came here.

The monsters, like the land itself, had shown no kindness to the first humans that came. And the blizzard that raged on the way to Biflten showed none now.

Etra felt like she was suffocating until an endless wave of snow. The divine power was being focused on the battlefield, but this was still the Duke of Winter’s territory. Even so, the wind and snow was so harsh they could barely open their eyes.

She could easily go the wrong way in a snowstorm like this. If not for desperate need, it would be foolish to be out here at all. But here she was, in desperate need, and couldn’t stop no matter what. With the herbs secured, she rode on.

Thankfully, her horse was born and raised in the winter region. If Milo’s carriage hadn’t been waiting at the border, she would have had to exchange it for a fresh horse in the warm region. And there was no way a warm region horse could have navigated this snow properly.

“This weather is …,” she said, but the words petered out against the wind. It was getting stronger. Even the horse was having trouble pushing against it.

Etra’s gaze went to the sky. The clouds were dark, thicker than usual. The sun should have been up by now, but she couldn’t tell if it was day or night.

This is taking too long, she thought.

She clenched her teeth against the thought. The Mistress of Delrose had a beautiful light, though it was too weak to shine in the cold of winter.

She couldn’t let that light be lost in this land of winter. She had already done so much for the winter region and had so much more to do. It wasn’t yet Ilyin’s time to go. Etra wouldn’t allow it.

Suddenly her horse reared. Etra closed her eyes and reined back out of instinct, expecting the horse to either bolt or buck her off in its panic. But the beast seemed to calm as quickly as it had started, and Etra suddenly noticed what had caught its attention.

The blue light of divine power suddenly flooded the area, piercing the darkness and pushing away the clouds. The storm dissipated around her and the sun, completely obscured just a moment before, now shone brightly overhead.

A miracle, just in time. And Etra knew immediately who must have sent it.

“Your Majesty,” she breathed gratefully, and spurred the horse as fast as she dared toward the manor.

***

Those in Biflten mansion saw a miracle that day. There were those that believed that the divine power of the Duke of Winter was only to bring warmth or cold to people and monsters. But all saw that Biflten was truly the Duke of Winter’s land, and his ability to tame and command its climate was greater than they’d ever imagined.

“Light…,” one of Elo’s maids said as she stared at the sky. The clouds that covered Biflten thinned out. And through the opening, the sun so long forgotten in the winter region shone down.

The Green Mille and Blue Nos watched as well, but none were so affected as those of Shining Elo.

Shining.

Their label came from their divine object and its ability to create the Wall of Light. Their land had a wedding hall made of warm region light, though it was manmade.

“Summer…,” some among them mumbled now, for the light that came through the clouds was nothing like the man-made light that the people of Elo knew.