As our carriage pulled through the Summer Court gates, the king and I peered out the window and waved as we passed by. People looked surprised to see us, which meant that Prince Haze hadn’t told them of our arrival and never expected us to actually come inside.
My memories of Marcelle were few and far between but he wasn’t a stupid man. Did he really think the winter king would just leave without a fuss?
No. He’d expected Lucien to bring a storm of snow and probably drench the town in coldness, further adding votes to his cause.
“Marcelle wanted you to lose your temper,” I said.
“Yes,” Lucien agreed. “And I would have gladly given him the storm he desired had you not stopped me.”
“Covering Summer Court in frost would have added votes to the separation,” I added, and Lucien sat quietly with that. Sticking my head out the window, I waved to some small children.
A little girl with flowers ran alongside the carriage and looked up at me. “It’s Princess Madelynn! Make the wind come!” she yelled.
Children often begged royalty for displays of power, and this time I decided to oblige her. Pulling on a fraction of my power, I called the wind past her, causing her little blond curls to fly about her face. She squealed in delight and suddenly there was a coldness in the air as snowflakes fell into my wind, causing a mild flurry.
The little girl laughed even louder, throwing her arms into the air as the snow whipped around her. “It’s snowing!” she squealed to the shop owners as they came out of their stores to see what the fuss was about.
I glanced at Lucien to find that he was watching me. I wasn’t sure exactly how to interpret his gaze, but it looked a lot like how my father gazed at my mother when she did something especially adorable. As a royal of Fall Court, I had very little contact with men, so I wasn’t sure how to read Lucien’s advances. In my school days, I had managed to sneak behind the library a few times and kiss Dayne Hall, my boyfriend at the time, but I was a young teenager then. Now I was a woman… and this felt different.
One by one, the shop owners began to glare at the passing carriage, and I stopped my wind power. Lucien did the same, ceasing the light snow he had conjured.
“The little girl liked it,” I told him, trying to find the lightness in the situation.
Lucien nodded.
The shops gave way to empty fields, and then we came upon a cemetery. I’d been to Summer Court as a little girl and then again at Midsummer Festival when I was thirteen, right before the Great Freeze. I didn’t remember the cemetery being here but—
I sucked in a breath when I read the sign.
Lost to the Ice But Never Forgotten. Next to it was the year of the Freeze. The one Lucien caused to encompass the entire realm.
I looked at Lucien, praying he didn’t see it, but he was staring at the small granite stones with such a profound sadness I wanted to cry. His chest silently heaved as his eyes darted around the graveyard and his face went slack.
He’s counting them, I thought. Counting the people he killed.
“Stay here,” Lucien barked, his voice cracking. Then he leapt out of the moving carriage. It screeched to a halt, kicking up dust as Piper and I shared a concerned look.
“What’s he doing?” Piper asked.
I shrugged, leaning forward to peer out the curtain. As the dust settled, I saw Lucien’s tall form passing by the gravestones. As he approached each one, he pulled out his hand and touched the top of the stone, mumbling something under his breath.
“Is he making peace?” Piper murmured.
A tear lined my eye and I nodded. “I think so.”
When he reached the last stone, he knelt because it was a small one. A child—no, a baby. When he touched this stone, an icicle formed in his palm and took the shape of a rose, which he laid at the base of the rock slab.
I couldn’t watch any longer but I also couldn’t look away. It was gut wrenching. I felt sick. I could practically feel his grief. The wind picked up, rushing past the carriage and slamming into Lucien as I fought to control my anguish. He clearly regretted his actions. And I’d clearly misjudged this king.
Lucien turned to look at the carriage and I wiped away the stray tear that had fallen onto my cheek and dropped my power over the wind, taking in a deep calming breath.
A few moments later, he stepped back inside and sat before me. Pulling the curtain shut, he didn’t utter a single word. He just closed his eyes, like he wanted to shut the world away and just be lost in darkness and silence.
I glanced at Piper, unsure what to do, but she sat glued to her knitting, head down and pretending to be a fly on the wall like any decent chaperone would.
I didn’t know Lucien that well yet. Did he want silence? Should I try to grasp his hand in comfort?
If only he would explain to everyone why he lost control of his powers and caused the Freeze all those years ago… it would help people to understand, for me to understand. But I knew now was not the time to bring that up.
“Why did the slice of bread get sent home from school?” I asked, and the king’s eyes popped open, searching for me like a drowning man looked for a floatation ring. I needed to pull him out of this mood before he met the Summer prince, and if there was one thing I was good at, it was stupid jokes. I’d learned hundreds of them from my father. We spent hours in front of the fireplace thinking them up as a family.
“Bread doesn’t go to school,” Lucien said flatly, but there was some relief in his voice.
I rolled my eyes. “Play along. It’s a joke. Why did the slice of bread get sent home from school?”
Lucien smirked. “He got in a fight with butter?”
I burst out into laughter, not expecting that reply, and my laugh made the corners of Lucien’s mouth turn up. “No. He was feeling crumby.”
Lucien shook his head. “That was really bad.”
I nodded. “I have hundreds. Want to hear more?”
“Maker no. Please, never again,” he said, but he was smiling.
“What do you call a potato with spectacles?” I asked.
Lucien covered his ears. “Make it stop.”
I leaned forward, pulling one of his hands from his head. “A spec-tater.”
Lucien groaned at the joke, but then we both realized at the same time that we were in super close proximity. I swallowed hard as I put a hand on his chest to push myself backwards and was met with rock hard muscle.
He caught my wrist as I tried to leave and looked me right in the eyes. “You’re good for me, Madelynn Windstrong.”
My breath hitched at the romantic sentiment and then the cart jerked to a stop.
I fell back into the seat, his hand yanking from mine.
You’re good for me.
It was so sweet and also so sad, like he hadn’t had a good person in his life in a long time.
The curtain pulled back suddenly and there was a lady’s maid standing before us. She wore the yellow and orange uniform of Summer and curtsied deeply to me. “Greetings, Princess Madelynn. Prince Haze has given you the west wing guest quarters inside the palace for your stay.”
I smiled and nodded to her as Piper started to gather our things.
The maid then looked at Lucien. “King Thorne…” She forced a tight smile. “Prince Haze has allocated his guest house, off palace property for you. You may join us for dinner.”
“Oh may I?” Lucien growled, but I reached out and stroked the top of his hand. Off palace property was a slap in the face, but if Prince Haze was planning on separating the courts it was best not to make a fuss before the vote. Maybe a nice dinner would smooth things over.
“Lucien, darling…” I looked to my betrothed. “…why don’t you get settled in and I’ll see you for dinner.”
His eyes went half lidded. “Alright, but only because you called me darling.”
That caused me to smile. I couldn’t help the flush of my cheeks as my face grew hot. This man was a charmer, and so far he only used these powers on me and not any of the other women in the vicinity, so I had to admit I quite liked it.
“Thank you,” I whispered, and then stepped out of the carriage. When Piper disembarked, the carriage pulled away, taking Lucien away from the palace and to a small guest house in the distance, beyond the maze of beautiful gardens.
Piper helped the servants gather my bags just as I was staring out onto the rich gold and yellow flower garden.
“Princess Madelynn,” a familiar but deeper-than-I-remembered voice called behind me. I turned to see Marcelle Haze, prince and lead royal of the Summer Court. He looked handsome in a gold silk tunic. His blond hair was cropped short, showing the tips of his pointed ears. “I haven’t seen you since you were… thirteen?” His eyes roamed slowly over my entire body. “You… grew up.” His voice dropped an octave and nervousness flushed through me. If Lucien had been here for that introduction, it would be snowing right now.
“I did. And I got engaged.” I held up my hand, reminding him of his place.
He pursed his lips and stepped forward to inspect the ring Lucien had given me. “I didn’t know you were open to suitors or I would have thrown my offer at your father as well.”
“Marcelle,” I warned, my tone cutting.
Every year or so from age six to thirteen, my family would come here with Sheera and her parents for Summer Solstice. Marcelle and his little brother Mateo would play with Sheera and I the entire week we were here. But his father became somewhat of an extremist, saying that Fall and Summer shouldn’t be mixing, and stopped inviting us. It was clear that in his father’s mind, Summer and Spring were one unit and Fall and Winter were another.
“Besides, your father would roll over in his grave if you married anyone from Fall Court,” I teased.
Marcelle grinned. “True, but you would be worth it.”
“Stop,” I snapped, more harshly this time, and he held up his hands in defense.
“I’m glad to see you. No matter the circumstances.” He glared in the distance at Lucien’s retreating carriage and I frowned.
“Suggesting separation from Thorngate, Marcelle? Come on. That’s not right. Surely there can be another arrangement to please you.” I was going to take advantage of this friendly banter while I could.
Marcelle’s eyes cut to mine. “I must go after what is best for my people, and yes that means separation from Winter and the madman that rules it.”
“Your people are fae, same as mine, same as Lucien’s. We’re all one. There is no need to separate—”
“I do not want war with the Nightfall queen!” Marcelle snapped. “I have it on good authority that your betrothed would bring us in a realm-wide war with her. He’s unhinged, as we all know.”
I ignored his unhinged comment and thought about what Lucien had said. “You’re right. He might. And if you separate, you won’t have his protection. The Nightfall queen will come for you last, when you’re weak and alone. Good luck with that, Marcelle.”
I looked to Piper: “I’m tired. I’d like to lie down before dinner.”
“Yes, my lady.” Piper curtsied to me, ever the professional in front of other royals.
I stomped past Marcelle, reining in my emotions so that I didn’t rustle the slightest breeze. I didn’t want him to know how much our conversation bothered me.
Separation from the realm was unheard of! It made our people look weak and divided. All so that Marcelle could push off an eventual war with the Nightfall queen? It was cowardice.
ONCE SETTLED INTO OUR ROOMS, Piper came to sit at the edge of my bed as I angrily brushed out my hair.
“Dividing the fae realm will surely attract the Nightfall queen’s notice,” Piper said.
I growled in frustration. “I know.”
She took the brush from my hand. “You’re going to rip all of your hair out,” she teased, and then started to brush my hair more gently.
I chuckled but couldn’t bring myself to smile. “Everything rides on this dinner with Lucien and Marcelle, doesn’t it?” I asked my closest ally.
She nodded. “If you can show Marcelle that Lucien is a reasonable man, maybe he will think twice about the separation.”
The thing was, I wasn’t sure Lucien was a reasonable man. Reasonable maybe, but also unpredictable and moody.
“He locked the winter king out of his own land. That’s treason right there,” I told Piper.
She nodded, setting the brush down and walking over to face me. Piper barely had any Fall Court powers; she couldn’t rustle the wind and she wasn’t good at gardening. But what she offered in advice and friendship far outweighed her lack of magic. I always cherished her advice, and I knew by the look on her face now that a heavy dose of it was coming.
“If you weren’t here I suspect his snowstorm would have ravaged the town. The king is right, you are good for him,” she said.
I blushed, but was also disturbed that she felt Lucien would have lashed out so easily.
Piper sighed. “I’ve watched the king carefully this entire trip, Madelynn. One thing is clear: he feels a deep remorse for the Great Freeze. It seemed to be an accident, one he doesn’t know how to apologize for.”
I nodded. “I agree, but the other courts don’t see that. They only see his actions, and his lack of apology has allowed hatred for him to fester here for years.”
Piper gave me a small smile, waiting for me to come around to what she was getting at. Her advice was always subtle, almost as if she wanted me to get the idea myself.
“You think I should ask Lucien to apologize to Marcelle tonight for the Great Freeze?” I said in shock.
Piper’s grin grew wider. “I do.”
The thought of asking a powerful king for such a humble act made me want to vomit. Lucien was a grown man, I was not yet his wife. Asking him to become vulnerable in front of an adversary like Marcelle was a big request. But Piper was right. It could pave the way to keeping the fae kingdom together.
“What if Marcelle doesn’t take the apology well? What if he ridicules Lucien?”
Piper lifted her chin high. “Then you stand up for your king and your future husband and show him what having a powerful woman by his side will be like.”
“Sounds like something Elowyn would do,” I told her, remarking about one of our favorite romance novels by L. Ashta. She was a Winter fae who wrote under a pen name. Some of her novels were so steamy it wouldn’t be appropriate to divulge her identity, but her heroines always stood up for their men and bedded them after.
“You like him,” I told Piper. She was a very good judge of character, always telling me who to watch out for.
Piper smirked. “I do. I think he’s misunderstood. He treats you well—in his own way—and I can see already that he adores you.”
Adores me. That made my stomach flip over, and Piper pointed to my face. “This is the tenth time you’ve blushed today!” she accused.
I fell backwards on the bed laughing as she fell beside me.
Heaving a large sigh, I looked over at my best friend. “I’ve never had a man… say these things to me. Pursue me so… aggressively.”
Piper popped up on one elbow and looked down at me with a grin. “You like it?”
I tried to hide the smile but it came out anyway, causing us both to fall into fits of laughter.
“Maybe marrying Lucien won’t be the worst thing on the planet,” I told her.
Piper nodded. “Maybe it will be the best thing that ever happened to you. Like Elowyn and Rush.”
Maybe it would. That thought kept the smile on my face for hours.
