The sapphire light of the Glacial Crown was beautiful, but to a thief, it was a nuisance. It was too bright, too constant, and far too easy for Arkon's elite guards to track a copper-haired girl and a silver-haired Emperor.
Vera stood at the edge of the upper terrace, her emerald eyes scanning the spiraling paths that led down into the Crystal Bazaar. Behind them, four Northern mages in bone-white robes stood like statues, their eyes glowing with a faint blue light that signaled a tracking spell.
"They're annoying," Vera whispered, her nose scrunching.
Kassian, who was currently leaning against a railing of frost-glass, looked at the guards and then back at Vera. He looked younger, his skin glowing with a health he hadn't possessed in years. The Northern cold was the perfect antidote to his sun-curse, turning his orange veins into lines of shimmering mercury.
