Mistra was hard at work,

  exhausted but diligently reading when a blast of cold air smashed

  against the side of the castle, causing the stone to moan and a cold

  draft to seep through any crack in the stone it could find. I had

  been near sleep, drowsing in bed watching my consort and longing for

  her to finally give in and go to the bed for the night.

  “What was that?” she said

  in a hushed tone, seemingly wide awake now.

  “An early winter gale?” I

  suggested, though I knew it would have to be very early and even so,

  they typically did not blow hard enough to be noticeable inside.

  “Extend your magic.” Her

  voice was barely above a whisper now and she was on her feet, face

  looking more serious than I had ever seen it before.

  Panicked, I sought my core and

  released my magical senses, in an instant I could feel that the magic

  of the castle suddenly felt foreign and wrong. I expanded my aura

  around the room and went searching the hallways and stairwells for a

  source, but it didn’t feel stronger in any particular area, the

  atmosphere of the whole castle had somehow changed. The castle itself

  and area around it had always radiated a sense of ownership and

  belonging for me, like it would bend to my will if asked, but now it

  felt closed off and cold, resistant to any attempts I was making to

  connect with it.

  “Something is very wrong,”

  I said, rising to my feet and getting dressed as quickly as I could.

  I didn’t know where I was going or what I was planning to do, but a

  sense of urgency had consumed my body.

  There was a loud knock once

  upon our chamber door, then it was open, Feros stepped into the room

  and seemed relieved to find us both on our feet and anxious.

  “Gather everything you

  possibly care about,” he instructed in hushed, serious tones, “I

  would prioritize people over objects, the faster we leave the

  better.”

  “Leave?” The hair on my

  neck was prickling now from either the cold or the foreign magic,

  perhaps both.

  “Oh yes,” he said with a

  laugh that lacked mirth, “I don’t think you’ll want to stay

  around and fight to stay. Perhaps if you could convince me to stay

  then we could defend a bit, but we are ultimately over our heads

  now.” He suddenly went quiet and motioned for us to do the same and

  swiveled his head around in different directions as if trying to pick

  some faint sound. “We have half an hour maybe,” he finally said,

  “but I wouldn’t give it more than half that just in case. I

  promise I will explain once we are all safely in the demon realm.”

  Without giving me chance to question any more he bolted out the door,

  I assume to start gathering his own important items.

  “I have to take my book,”

  Mistra said, panic rising in her voice, “I can’t leave it behind

  in case something happens to it.”

  I picked up the servant bell

  kept on the vanity and rang it several times in the pattern used for

  urgent matters. Within moments a harried and tired looking older

  woman entered the room. She seemed to be unaware that anything

  strange was happening, though she had unseasonably bundled up in an

  over sized shawl.

  “I need you to find the two

  strongest people in the castle and have them rush to this room, they

  need to move something immediately to the basement with no questions

  asked.”

  The woman’s eyes flitted

  between the two of us, her face dropping as she realized that

  something was seriously wrong. I could see she wanted to inquire

  about what was happening, but then decide against testing my patience

  when I was already stressed and instead bowed deeply and scurried

  down the hallway to do as she was bid.

  While we waited on the

  servants to come take the book, we each took a bag that typically

  held odds and ends that didn’t seem to have a proper place in any

  other drawer or on a shelf, emptied them, then went about refilling

  them with sentimental items. I managed to get much of Evonia’s old

  jewelry along with my own chosen pieces and other odds and ends such

  as letters or journals I thought might come in handy later to fit in

  the bag and have it be reasonable light enough in case I had to run.

  As time was progressing, the

  foreign magic felt like it was growing stronger, pushing forcefully

  against my own and filling me with the instinct to flee,.I was

  prudent enough to know that whatever was behind the magical force was

  something I could not hope to stand up against in a fight.

  Our help arrived just after we

  agreed that we had everything else we truly cared about. The woman

  who was the head of kitchen arrived, her arms toned from helping lug

  around large volumes of flour, potatoes, and other heavy items daily,

  the other servant I recognized as the smith, he arms nearly half

  again hers from hours of daily work with his hammer. If I got to see

  the servant who fetched them again, I would commend her on her quick

  and accurate thinking of who best to send. Both looked concerned and

  confused, though not nearly concerned enough.

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  “My consort needs this book

  moved to the basement immediately,” I instructed, pointing to the

  unmistakable tome. “There is no time for you to question the why or

  what’s happening, simply follow Mistra and keep your mouth shut

  unless necessary. Comply with her commands like you would for me.”

  The pair looked uneasily

  between themselves, but quickly moved over to the book and began

  figuring out the best way for them both to get a grip to carry it.

  Mistra put a stray piece of paper in the book to mark her place, then

  helped them close the heavy cover and stepped back for them to start

  lifting. I picked up both our bags and moved over to hand hers to

  her.

  “Get to the basement and

  wait for me,” I instructed. Her eyes were wide and she looked as if

  she might complain about going without me. “There’s no time to

  argue, there’s something I need to check on and then I will be

  joining you, but if for any reason I don’t show up and Feros says

  it’s time to leave, do it.”

  Her eyes welled up, but she

  nodded. I leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, then

  pulled away and placed one also on the tip of her nose. “I will be

  fine,” I assured, then I turned and left the room before any tears

  of hers might start my own.

  The hallways of the castle

  were eerily calm, though alarmingly cold and with each passing moment

  it grew even colder, by the time I made it to Mari’s chambers my

  breath was beginning to crystallize in the air. Before I could push

  open the door, Mari came rushing out, a large bag on each shoulder.

  “Yes yes, I’m fine,” she

  said tersely, “you shouldn’t have worried for me and just gotten

  yourself out. Feros has already been by.”

  “Had I not at least checked

  on you I would have never heard the end of it,” I called back as I

  raced further down the hallway. Just around the corner was Tiffany’s

  room and I had a feeling she would be none the wiser about what was

  happening.

  “What’s going on?” the

  princess said sleepily after bolting upright in bed.

  “We need to leave, now,” I

  commanded, offering her my hand.

  “Are we being invaded?”

  She stumbled to her feet, trying to stuff her feet into a pair of

  slippers but missing entirely in her panic.

  “No questions, just go,” I

  commanded. I could sense something was drawing noticeably closer and

  our breaths were now solid white.

  “But my things,” she

  protested and swung her head around the room, trying to pick out what

  to take.

  “You came here with nothing,

  it doesn’t matter if you leave with nothing.”

  Not giving her a chance to

  protest any further, I firmly grabbed her arm and dragged her to the

  door, her slippers only half way on her feet, falling off before

  making it to the door.

  “But-”

  “No!” I snarled.

  There was no more protest, but

  whimpers of pain and complaint about the death grip I maintained on

  her arm. I didn’t want the girl losing her wits and deciding to get

  loose and run back for anything, or if anything alarming happened,

  her collapsing to the ground and making me lose time to pick her up.

  The steps to the basement were

  growing a coat of frost making it dangerous to fly down them with any

  real speed, but I couldn’t risk slowing down. At about half way

  down the steps, Tiffany let out a cry as her feet slipped out from

  beneath her, but I was able to keep hold of her arm and drag her the

  rest of the way and only gave her a fraction of a section to get her

  feet again before I ran at top speed towards the ritual room. Tiffany

  and I just made it through the door as the room tilted and shifted

  with magic, the ritual to cross the barrier complete.

  The princess collapsed like a

  sack of potatoes onto the ground as she fainted from the overwhelming

  presence of magic and I let her thump to the moss coated ground of

  the demon castle. The two servants who had been carrying the book

  collapsed as well, causing Mistra to gasp in alarm as her valuable

  book toppled with them. She gave it a quick glance to assure it was

  safe, then raced across the room to me and threw her arms around me.

  “I’m so glad you made it,”

  she said softly, her breath deliciously warm against my freezing ear.

  Feros let out an audible

  groan, then leaned forward and began to take great handfuls of the

  moss that made up the symbol on the floor and ripped them violently

  from the floor.

  “Alice, help me,” he

  commanded. It seemed his valuable item had been the girl.

  Looking at all who made it,

  there was only myself, Tiffany, Mari, Alice, Busby, the two servants,

  Mistra, and the fiend.

  “Quickly,” he hissed.

  Alice sprung into action,

  seemingly largely unaffected by the change in realm and began to

  mirror him, ripping up large chunks of moss. They didn’t stop until

  the symbol was entirely gone and all the moss around the area had

  been destroyed as well to a point where you could no longer tell

  where the symbol had been. All that remained was an empty patch of

  dirt in the center of the room.

  Feros let out a held breath

  and stood up straight. “We are safe, for now.”

  “What’s happening?” I

  demanded to know.

  “It seems that our little

  Alice isn’t good at following direct orders,” he grumbled,

  casting a withering glance at the girl. She nodded her head and kept

  her eyes trained on the ground in shame. “Your court is now being

  inhabited by the Winter Fae and I’m not sure how exactly to convey

  just how tremendous of a problem that is.”

  Mari’s face paled to a

  worrying shade of gray and she dropped her bags at her feet. “The

  Winter Fae?” she murmured. “I had heard of their existence, but

  surely something so… terrible could not really exist.”

  Feros

  nodded to her seriously and turned to me. “This is not what you

  want to hear, but this might very well be the end of the House Yser.”