Felix’s chest presses against my back as we resume our journey, his earlier actions still echoing through my mind. He treated me with kindness and took away my pain without punishing me for inconveniencing his soldiers and delaying the journey. I’m unsure what to make of him. My every instinct is telling me to fear him, to not lower my guard, and my intuition has never failed me. The sooner I figure out why he unsettles me so, the better. After all, the most powerful man in the world does not marry an unknown princess from a kingdom that’s useless to him for no reason. The quicker I find out why he married me, the more indispensable I can make myself, and the safer I’ll be.Felix wraps his hand around my waist, and I gasp in surprise. His touch is intimate, and it startles me. Ever since he healed my wounds, he’s kept as much distance as our positions allow us, keeping his hands on the reins.“Look,” he says, leaning in. His lips brush over my ear, and a shiver runs down my spine. His breath is so warm and so in contrast with the cold air around us. “Look closely.”I stare ahead, curious as to what I’m supposed to be seeing. We’ve been riding through the woods for hours now, following a nonexistent path that the horses seem familiar with. I tense when the forest gets thicker, the small path we were on disappearing into lines and lines of trees that absolutely won’t let us pass, yet Sirocco keeps going straight ahead, straight into the trees.Felix’s grip on me tightens, and I feel his gaze on me, but I can’t look away from our impending doom. Just as I’m certain we’re about to crash into the trees, they part.“Fates,” I whisper as a wide path reveals itself in front of us, the trees locking us back in from behind. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, nature allowing us to pass through like that.“Welcome to Eldiria,” he says. “Welcome home.”noveldramaHome. It’s strange, but no one has ever said those words to me before. Not once. “Eldiria,” I repeat. It’s the name of his vast empire, but initially, it was just this. A small country surrounded by thick woods, cutting it off from most of the rest of the world.The temperature drops rapidly within a matter of minutes, until the roads are covered with snow and ice, daylight fading as we ride deeper into Eldiria. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I shiver, and Felix brushes his hands over my shoulders. Warmth rushes through me, and I sigh in relief even as I begin to wonder where he’s channeling the heat from. If he truly is an alchemist, as the books claim, there must be a heat source he’s using. Magic crystals, perhaps? Surely it can’t be his own body heat he’s giving me?Snow starts to fall around us and the trees thin until a beautiful white palace lies before us. As we get closer, I realize that the entire staff must have come out to welcome us. “They’re here for you,” Felix tells me.There must be hundreds of people standing in the cold, all of them looking happy and hopeful, waving as we ride past them. I force myself to smile back and wave as best as I can. This I can do. I’m used to being a princess, a member of royalty.“Ready?”I nod, even though I’m not. I’m scared of what lies ahead of me. Althea was never a place I loved, but I can’t help but feel like things are only about to get worse in Eldiria.Felix gets off the horse, but this time he doesn’t grab my hand. He reaches for me and wraps his hands around my waist, lifting me off with ease until he’s carrying me in his arms, a show for his people no doubt. His body feels strong against mine, his chest wide and his steps purposeful. He’s hidden behind his cape once more, and it makes it easier to pretend that he’s just a man, and that this is just a moment of pretense between newlyweds.Cheers erupt around us, and my cheeks heat until they’re blazing. I’m stiff in his embrace, yet I force myself to smile as Felix gently carries me toward the entrance, my body pressed against his.This is what I’d imagined it’d be like with Nathaniel. He’d carry me, and all of Althea would celebrate us. It’d be the start of a new chapter, one where he and I would officially be a family of our own. Instead, I’m in the arms of the most feared man in the world, forcing a smile onto my face for his people.Felix takes his time walking toward the palace, and I take the opportunity not just to study his people but also to study the exterior of the palace. It isn’t white, as I initially assumed. It’s covered in snow.Felix’s entire body appears to relax as we enter the palace, and his shoulders sag, almost as though in relief. He holds me a little tighter as he carries me to the staircase, and I squirm. “You can put me down now,” I whisper, but he shakes his head, his hood swaying a little.“Let the staff have a show. They deserve it.”I glance at the people around us, each of them smiling with happiness and hope. It’s the hope that surprises me. Their gazes are filled with longing and expectation, and I need to find out why. Silence engulfs us as we reach the top floor, which is devoid of members of staff. “This is my floor,” he tells me. “Ours.”Ours. The thought of that doesn’t scare me as much as it did yesterday, but I’m still worried. I can’t help but think of Nathaniel and everything I wanted to share with him. Instead, I’m being carried into what appears to be Felix’s bedroom, the room surprisingly similar to the one in the tent.“What is on your mind?” he asks as he puts me down, and I look up in surprise, instantly feeling guilty. “I have not seen you make that expression before.”He’s been watching me that closely? “Oh, it’s nothing. I was just thinking of home,” I admit.He looks at me as he pushes back his hood and undoes his cloak, then lets it fall to the floor. My eyes widen when it rises back up all by itself, flying over to a hook by the entrance. “The boy,” he says, his voice soft despite the edge to it.I freeze and try my best to face him, and not to let my fear show. He knows about Nathaniel? Felix takes a step closer to me, and I take a step back, until I’m pressed against one of the bedposts. He places his gloved finger underneath my chin and tips my head up, forcing me to face him.Earlier today I thought his eyes made him look somewhat human. In this moment, they just highlight how inhuman the rest of him looks. The veins on his skin are thick, dark, and throbbing, as though they have a life of their own, making it impossible to determine what his face truly looks like underneath.“I will not permit you to so much as think about that boy. If you dare pine after him or hang on to any hopes of ever being with him, I’ll kill him myself and I will make you watch. Leave the past where it belongs, Arabella.”I shudder and try to move away from him, pressing myself against the wood harder. He tightens his grip on my chin, his eyes roaming over my face as though he’s trying to make sure I heard him.“They were right,” I whisper. “You are a monster.”He takes a step back, and I can just about make out a warped smile on his face. “I never pretended to be anything else.”