Titolo: Reign of ice
Autore: L.P. Dover
Genere: New adult fantasy, romance
Trama: Two courts to four is what needs to be … to save the land so shall we see.
Trama: Two courts to four is what needs to be … to save the land so shall we see.
The scroll has been found and now the fae know how to defeat the dark sorcerer, to end his evil existence in the Land of the Fae. However, the only thing standing in the way is the one bond that must be formed; the one that will empower all four courts together and make them invincible. Ariella and Brayden’s bond will not come easily, for Ariella is mischievous and head-strong with a heart full of love, while Brayden is strong and loyal with a heart made of ice.
What do you do when the fate of your land rests upon your shoulders because of the bond you must form to save it? How are you supposed to do that when the one man to help you fulfill the prophecy is the one who doesn’t believe in love?
With all four princesses bound together as one, will they be strong enough to save the life of Ariella, who is destined to be the one who ends it, the one who will sacrifice everything to save the people she loves? In this final installment of the Forever Fae series you will see how the bonds of love and all the sacrifices it takes to truly conquer the evil once and for all.
L.P. Dover I am an avid reader that loves my collection of books. Writing has always been a passion of mine and now I am glad that I get to share my passion with the world. I live in North Carolina and I absolutely love being a southern girl. I spent several years in college starting out with a major in Psychology and then switching to dental. I worked in the dental field for eight years and then decided to stay home with my two beautiful girls. I spent the beginning of my reading years reading suspense thrillers, but now I can't get away from the paranormal/fantasy books. I knew ever since then that if I wrote anything it would be in a paranormal aspect. Now that I have started on my passion and began writing, you will not see me go anywhere without a notebook and pen. #1
The
second the vision disappeared, Brayden abruptly let go of my hand and stumbled
back as if I’d burned him. Everyone around us stared and whispered amongst
themselves, looking delighted and joyful, knowing very well what just happened
between us. I felt the same way in my heart, but my smile quickly vanished when
Brayden turned on his heel and walked away with not so much as a word to me.
We’d just had a vision of our destiny and of us making love to each other, and
he up and walked away from me.
I don’t think so.
Clenching
my hands into tight fists at my side, my blood boiled and ignited in my veins
as I watched his retreating form head for the door. “Seriously?” I shouted.
I
was mortified and completely embarrassed as everyone in the room witnessed my
rejection. Their pitying looks were too much to bear. Before he disappeared out
the door, I yelled one last thing to him, “Don’t slip on the ice you
cold-hearted bastard!”
Gasps
erupted throughout the room, but I was too pissed to care. Marching out of the
chamber, I kept my head held high and sucked back the angry tears that trembled
behind my eyes. I should’ve known from my sisters’ experiences that what I felt
before was the connection calling to my soul. Of all the princes I was to be
bound to … why did it have to be the one that knew nothing about love, or even
how to smile for that matter?
The
Land of the Fae was doomed.
#2
As
my feet pounded against the sand, I could hear someone behind me, chasing me,
but I didn’t slow down. I pushed harder but it didn’t matter because a set of
strong hands caught my arms in an instant and whirled me around. I was not
expecting it to be the man it was, the one who hadn’t cared to acknowledge me
from the very beginning.
My
breath came out raspy from running, but I immediately pulled out of his grasp and
glared at him. “What do you want?” I hissed.
He
clenched his jaw and sighed. If I was reading his gaze correctly he almost
looked worried for me, but that definitely couldn’t be right … right?
“I
saw you run out of the palace and I wanted to make sure you were all right. Are
you leaving?” he asked.
I
snorted and rolled my eyes incredulously. “Yes, I am. So if you’ll excuse me I
need to saddle my horse and get the hell out of here.” I turned to walk away,
making sure to keep my chin in the air with dignity after being humiliated by
him on numerous occasions. I groaned when I looked over and noticed he was
keeping his pace beside me.
“I’ll
accompany you,” he insisted. “It’s the least I can do.”
I
didn’t know what came over me, but I burst out laughing. I whirled on him and
placed my hands on my hips, narrowing my eyes at him. “The least you can do?” I
muttered sardonically. “I’m sorry, Prince Brayden, but the least you can do is
leave me alone. I think you’ve done enough. I hate that talking to me is such an
inconvenience to you.”
Brayden
closed his eyes and lowered his head. He ran his hands over his face and
groaned before lifting his chocolate brown gaze to mine. “Talking to you is not
an inconvenience, Princess. You need to understand that this is all new to me.
Your ways are very different from mine.”
That was definitely true, I thought to myself.
“That
may be the case,” I snapped, “but it doesn’t give you the right to be an ass to
me. You humiliated me in front of everyone in the Spring Court, and today you
refused to talk to me or even look at me. I stayed with you day and night when
you were injured because I wanted to.
You fascinated me, and I thought there was more to you than what you let on,
but I was wrong.”
Even
saying those words felt wrong. My heart was warring with me to take them back,
but I couldn’t. When Brayden tried to reach for my hand, I backed away and
swallowed hard, shaking my head against the tears that stung behind my eyes. You cannot fall, I repeated over and
over in my mind. I did not want to cry in front of him or show him any weakness
whatsoever.
My
gaze never faltering, I looked straight at him and said, “We’ll figure out
another way to save our land. There has to be another way. I may be young, but
I’m not going to put up with your bullshit, even if we are destined to be
together.”
#3
Taking
a deep breath, I left the cover of the wall and slowly sauntered out through
the crowd with my head held high. The warriors halted in mid-motion, bowing as
I walked past them heading toward Brayden. He hadn’t turn to acknowledge me,
but with the rigid stance and the tenseness in his muscles I knew he could feel
I was there.
“What are you doing here?” Brayden
asked, his voice bland and disinterested as he kept his back to me.
“I’m not going to answer that question
until you turn to face me,” I snapped. The warriors around us gasped and halted
with their mouths wide open, staring back and forth at us.
Brayden crossed his arms over his chest
and finally turned to face me. Yep, he was back to being the emotionless
bastard that he was before. However, I was going to fix that problem … fast.
Now that I had his attention I said, “Whether you like it or not I’m here to
train. Either you can fight with me or I’ll find one of these other handsome
warriors to teach me a thing or two.”
When all he did was clench his teeth, I
backed away from him and pulled out my sword, turning around so I could address
the warriors. “All right, since Prince Brayden won’t answer me, who here wants
to fight me and help me train?”
Several of the warriors smiled while
others looked to Brayden for guidance. I heard one of them whispering to
another, “I don’t feel right about fighting his queen.”
Brayden heard the fighter say it too
because his gaze instantly found mine. “I’m not his queen,” I announced,
narrowing my eyes at him.
“She’s right,” he agreed. “She’s not my
queen. If she wants to fight then let’s show her how we do it in the Winter
Court.”
The guys all hollered and resumed back
to their fighting, except I caught several of them sneak glances my way to
watch me battle. Brayden picked a couple of his warriors to stand back and join
me, all circling me like I was their prey. With my sword gripped firmly in my
right hand, I was ready. However, I couldn’t stop myself from taunting Brayden
just a little bit more. He was standing outside of the circle, watching on with
a smirk on his face.
“What’s wrong, Prince Brayden, afraid
you might get your ass kicked?” I teased.
Brayden’s smirk grew wider and he
retorted back, “Not at all, Princess. I just have to see if you are worthy enough to fight me.”
#4
Taking
a deep breath, Brayden took my hand and opened his closed fist. In his palm lay
a shiny silver and onyx band with a symbol engraved on it. I couldn’t tell what
the symbol was until he slid the band slowly down on my finger. However, it
wasn’t just a symbol, it was the crest of the Winter Court … our Court of Ice.
“How?”
I whispered. Did he really remember the
symbol in our vision?
“Yes,
I did,” he replied, giving me the answer to my silent question. “I can still see
our vision clearly, right down to the way we made love by the fire. I
remembered our crest on the wall in the room we were in, and it’s been engraved
in my mind ever since. I had Lukas make the ring for you.”
“Lukas
made this?” I cried, gazing down at the ring. “It’s beautiful. I just wish I
could tell him so.”
Brayden
lifted my chin with his finger and grazed my lips with his thumb. “He was a
very talented man and a good friend of mine. I will miss him. I know it’s not
customary to exchange rings, but I wanted you to know that I am serious about
us and about our court. We have so much to learn from each other, and by giving
you this I am ready. I know you are not yet, and I am fine waiting for as long
as you need me to, but I have faith in us. I’ve never believed in anything as
much as I believe in you.”
Staring
at the man in front of me, I couldn’t believe he was the same Brayden. Our time
has been short together, but all along we both knew that we were the ones for
each other. Deep down I knew I was ready to bond with him, except with
everything going on I knew it wasn’t the right time.
Kissing
me gently on the lips, he whispered silently in my mind, “Do you think you will ever love me the way I love you?”
I
stifled a gasp and let him deepen the kiss. He said he loved me. Tears sprang
into my eyes as I melted in his arms, lying back against the bed. He covered my
body with his while melding his tongue with mine, tasting me and claiming me,
never taking his gaze away.
“I
need to hear you say it, Brayden,” I murmured tenderly.
He
wiped away the tears in my eyes and whispered across my lips, “I love you,
angel. No matter what happens and what challenges we face, I will always be
there with you. In your mind, body, and soul, you will never be alone.”
We stared at each other,
him holding onto me as we lay together on the bed, and I knew without a doubt
that I had fallen for him. The times he pissed me off and the times I thought
he didn’t care no longer mattered because I knew he did care … all along he
felt the same way about me that I had of him.
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