We got out of Summer Court before the sun had even risen. Things going down with Marcelle last night were not good, so if there were a true rebellion we could be in trouble. I’d barely slept, replaying that kiss over and over in my head. It was like we’d been made for each other, fitting together perfectly, our tongues dancing to the same song. Piper kept asking me to describe the kiss and swooning as she fell back on the couch clutching her romance novel.
“You’re Elowyn,” she would say, and we would start to giggle.
Now we rode for Winter Court. It would be nearly a full day’s journey having to cross through the corner of Spring Court and then into Winter to parade through town. Lucien took turns sitting in the carriage with me for a few hours while I read, and then riding on horseback with his soldiers for a bit while I talked to Piper.
When we were nearly to the Winter Court border, the smell of smoke filtered through the carriage and I popped my head out to see a fire in the distance.
Our little caravan had stopped, and Lucien was speaking with his soldiers.
“Could be a trap to lure us over there,” his lead guardsman said.
I slipped out of the caravan and stepped onto the highest stair, looking at the flames touching the top of the building. It was a farmhouse and it was on fire.
“Are we in Spring?” I asked, noticing the beautiful flowers and damp earth.
Lucien turned back to me. “Yes, so either that fae doesn’t have much power to make it rain, or it’s a trick.”
“You can freeze people where they stand and I can pull the breath from their lungs. What are we waiting for, let’s go offer help. If it’s a trick, we kill them,” I said plainly.
Lucien looked to his lead guard with a raised eyebrow and then at me. “Have I mentioned how much I love your secretly violent nature?”
I scoffed. “I’m not violent!”
Lucien kicked his horse lightly and it turned around, coming to my side. “Well then, Princess, let’s go see what we can do to help or hurt these people.”
Well, when he put it like that, it did sound violent. I merely meant that if it were a trick, we could easily overpower the bandits.
I lowered myself onto his horse, sitting sidesaddle and then slipping my arms around his waist. I tried not to focus on the hard muscle beneath my fingers or the fresh pine smell of his hair. I really tried not to remember the way he tasted, like mint and honey.
Piper cleared her throat behind us. I turned and she was staring at Lucien’s lead guard. “I’d like to accompany,” she said.
The guard looked to Lucien, who nodded once.
Piper protected my modesty like it was the last piece of chocolate cake. And the piece now had Lucien’s name on it. The very thought caused a blush to climb up my cheeks and distracted me from the task at hand. By the time my thoughts were back with the smoke, we’d reached the fire.
“Oh Hades!” I cursed when I saw a single old fae who looked about seventy winters aged. He had a bucket and was scooping it into the horse trough and trying to put out the fire that lapped up the side of his house. I could see now he’d had a burn pit off to the side, trying to burn some trash, and it had gotten out of hand.
Without thinking, I jumped off the horse and landed hard on the balls of my feet. A stinging sensation rang up the backs of my heels but I ignored it.
Throwing my arms out, I pulled the air from the fire, causing the flames to half in size. Lucien was right behind me, pulling clouds from the sky over our little area and then the temperature dropped.
It was at this moment that the man realized he was not alone. He turned to look at us and Piper ran to him. “Is anyone in the house?” she asked frantically.
The man stared at us in shock. “No, my wife went to town. My trash burn pit got out of control.”
“Keep him warm!” Lucien snapped, and then white fluff dumped from the sky. Lucien couldn’t make it rain like a Spring fae could, but he could extract the rain from the clouds and freeze it. Piper grasped the old man’s shoulders and pulled him away from the flurry as I stepped closer to Lucien. Using my power, I guided the large chunks of falling snow onto the flames. They cracked and snapped as they hit the hot fire, but the amount Lucien was dumping was overwhelming the blaze. Together we worked without saying a word and put out the fire on the side of the man’s house. Afterward, I glanced over at Lucien and he was watching me keenly.
“You and I work well together,” I murmured, and his entire face lifted into a devastatingly handsome smile.
“We do,” he agreed.
I couldn’t help but match his grin. Being around this man made me happy. I never would have thought that a few days ago.
“I’m going to go inside and blow any smoke out,” I told him.
He nodded. “I’ll come.”
I knew it was for protection, which was sweet, but it should have been clear to him now that I could take care of myself.
Stepping inside, I coughed when I was met with a large plume of thick smoke. Sucking the wind through the cracked open window at the kitchen, I blew all the smoke out the front door in a matter of minutes. When we were done, Lucien and I stepped inside to assess the damage.
The wall was miraculously still standing, with only the inside corner of the dining room burnt and open to the outside.
“With light repairs, he and his wife can remain here,” I said.
Lucien was looking at some pictures on the wall. “I’ll see to it that Duke Barrett provides the necessary help for him.”
I stepped over to him, reaching out to touch one of the pictures. In one stood the old man and who I assumed to be his wife, but they looked thirty years younger. She was holding a small purple flower and he held a shovel. They were both grinning as they stood in an open field.
“They look happy,” I observed.
Lucien inclined his head to me. “Love will do that to people.”
“Reminds me of my parents.” I smiled. “My father is obsessed with my mother. It’s adorable and sickening.”
Lucien laughed. “They sound lucky to me.”
“What was your parents’ marriage like?” I wondered aloud. I knew that when his mother died, his father, who was king at the time, had rightfully taken it hard. He abdicated and no one had seen or heard from him since. Lucien had been the public head of the Thorne household since then.
A shadow crossed over his face, his eyes growing stormy. “We should head outside and make sure the old man is okay.”
He stepped away from me and I deflated a little. Lucien had so many touchy topics, I felt like I was constantly dancing around them. Still, he was opening up to me little by little, so I wasn’t going to push him.
Two things were off the conversation table, the cause of the Great Freeze and his parents.
I stepped outside, following after Lucien, and took in the scene before me.
“Bless you, King Thorne.” The man was weeping as he clung to Lucien’s arm.
Lucien looked uncomfortable with this display of emotion, unsure what to do, so he just stood there rigidly. I wanted to laugh at the sight. It was sweet and comical. But I didn’t think Lucien would appreciate that much.
“Let’s get you inside and warm,” I told the old man, pulling him away from Lucien, who looked relieved.
Piper and I got the old man settled inside, and Lucien sent one of his guards to Spring Court with word to send help for the old man and his wife.
Once we all settled back into the carriage, I felt good about what we’d done.
ONLY A FEW HOURS LATER, a chill rushed through the carriage. I realized then that we were in Winter Court. Lucien appeared suddenly with two fur cloaks, handing one to Piper and then another to me. Mine was white rabbit fur and Piper’s was a reddish brown, probably fox.
“Gifts from me to you,” he said casually, like it wasn’t a sweet and thoughtful thing that had my heart racing.
Piper looked at me in shock. The king did not usually get expensive gifts for ladies in waiting. But because Piper was important to me, he’d made her important to him.
“This is very sweet,” I told him, slipping it over my shoulders. The warmth immediately enveloped me and I relaxed. Truth be told, I loved winter. Snow was magical, as was sledding and all of the other fun things you could do. Did I like it year-round? I supposed we would see.
When the clapping started, I realized we’d already entered the gates.
Pulling back the curtain, I opened the window and reached out to the people. They were smiling joyously, grasping my hand and running alongside the carriage.
“Our future queen!” the children shouted as they ran, and a light snow began to fall. I looked across the carriage at Lucien, who was watching me with a smile.
Something fluttered in my chest, and I realized that I had so wrongly judged this man. He was kind, intelligent, protective and… flawed. But weren’t we all? He had a temper, but never with me. There was a line in my favorite romance novel that said, He only had eyes for me. Oh how I’d longed to be that girl when I’d first read that line.
And now, as I looked across at Lucien peering at me, I thought that maybe I was.
I returned his smile and reached out to grasp his hand. He took mine and we interlaced our fingers under the carriage window so that no one saw. With our free hands, we waved to his people who packed the street so thickly that we could barely get through.
It was by far the greatest reception we’d had. He was a beloved king in his own realm.
The fake rumors to make him feared didn’t hold up here, I thought.
When we finally reached the Winter palace, I looked up at the stone structure—my new home. It was bigger than I remembered. As a little girl I’d come here with my parents and some other royals a few times, but I never really remembered Lucien. He always stayed out of sight or with the other realms’ princes, who were now kings.
The massive white stone looked as if it were carved from ice, and I shivered a little at the chill in the air.
When we stepped out of the carriage, Lucien looked at the palace with a haunted expression. I frowned, wondering why returning home would cause him to look that way. Didn’t he love it here? Was it memories of his mother?
My teeth started to chatter and Lucien shook himself. “Let’s get you inside by the fire,” he said, placing a hand on my lower back and waving to his people as we passed. The snow was falling in clumps now and I wondered if it was because Lucien was anxious. Winter didn’t always need to be frigid and snowy, but this realm was greatly tied to his emotions, and I wondered now what had him on edge.
Piper pulled her fur coat around her as Lucien’s lead servant bowed deeply to us both. “Your Highness, welcome home,” he said and then looked to me. “Princess Madelynn, we are all overjoyed at the announcement of your betrothal.”
I smiled warmly at him and thanked him as he ushered us inside. The warmth of a fire rushed at me and I sighed in relief as I slipped out of my now snow-covered shoes and walked over to the gigantic drawing room hearth. The stone chimney rose up over three stories high and made for a beautiful conversation piece. While Piper and I warmed our hands, Lucien gave orders to his staff to have my things brought to my wing of the house and for dinner to be heated. It had been a long, cold day, and when I heard him say the words “meat stew,” my mouth watered.
After giving the instructions, Lucien came to join us at the fire. He was watching me nervously. “Do you like the palace? You can redecorate if you want. These are all things my mother picked out and—”
“It’s beautiful,” I told him with a smile.
It was. Silver, gold, gray and white. It was like Winter Solstice Festival year-round. I wouldn’t mind eventually bringing in some color, but it was nicely done. The highbacked chairs looked to be carved from oak and stained a rich black.
“Is this her?” a deep, gravelly voice slurred from behind me, and I startled a little.
Spinning, I gazed upon a tall man with an overgrown beard. He wore a simple white tunic with stains along the front, and he clutched a bottle of wine. For a second I thought he was a vagrant, until Lucien stiffened beside me.
“Father, I told you I would get you when we were ready for dinner.” Lucien’s voice held a high-pitched tone full of anxiety.
Father? This was the old King Thorne? My heart hammered in my chest as he shuffled forward, bumping into the chair as he tried to make his way to me.
He was clearly drunk.
Looking me up and down, he nodded. “Not bad.” Then he looked at Lucien. “And she agreed to marry your sorry arse?”
I gasped a little and glanced at Lucien, but he was devoid of all emotion.
“She did,” he said flatly.
The old king stared at me and squinted. “He’s worthless. Couldn’t even save his own mother.”
My mouth popped open in shock. I expected Lucien to tear across the room, to maybe even grab his father by the throat. I waited for it to start snowing, anything to show he was mad, but Lucien’s shoulders just slumped and his head hung.
I looked at Piper, unsure what to do. She shrugged, eyes wide. If it were anyone else I would give them a piece of my mind, but this was his father, the former king.
I decided then to treat him as I would a child who misbehaved. When Libby wanted attention, she sometimes did naughty things. If you ignored her, she stopped.
Slipping my hand into Lucien’s, I looked up at him. “I hear you have a wonderful library. Would you show me?”
His father started to mumble something else but I pulled Lucien away from him, Piper trailing far behind us now. We traversed the halls until we reached a set of double doors.
Lucien opened them, and the collective intake of breath that Piper and I took then did no justice to the space. It was two stories high, floor-to-ceiling with shelves, three rolling ladders, and over a thousand books at least!
Piper gravitated towards one book as Lucien turned to face me.
“I’m sorry about my father… I should have told you. I was going to but…” He trailed off.
I gave him a sweet smile. “It’s okay.”
I wouldn’t lie. Seeing the old king in such a state had been a shock, but who didn’t have that one embarrassing family member? I was hoping his cruelness to Lucien was a one-time thing I had just witnessed and would not continue. Wine and moonshine did horrible things to men who couldn’t control their lust of it. What his father had just said out there was proof.
“You know you’re not at fault for your mother’s death, right? You couldn’t have saved her. You’re not a healing elf,” I said suddenly, wondering if he believed his father.
He sighed, looking distant and withdrawn. “I don’t know anything about that anymore. He’s said it so many times, I’m starting to wonder if it’s true.”
My heart dropped into my stomach then and I reached for him, but he backed away. “I should consult with my staff. I’ve been away a while. I’ll see you at dinner?”
Unshed tears were lining my eyes, and Lucien’s form blurred, so I just nodded and he left me in the library. I blinked rapidly to clear my vision, and Piper ran to my side.
“Did you hear that?” I asked her. She looked distraught, so I thought maybe she had.
She nodded, staring at the closed door. “Do you think that’s why he doesn’t drink?”
I gasped. Yes, it all made sense. Lucien didn’t have the problem, his father did, and probably in an effort to not have an issue himself, Lucien widely stayed away from wine and mead.
“It’s just proof that you don’t really know what a person is going through in their private life and we shouldn’t be quick to judge them based on rumors,” Piper said.
I nodded, slinging my arm around her shoulders. “You’re too wise for your years, Piper. Too wise indeed.”
She smiled and we exited the library to go in search of my rooms… in the place I would soon be calling home. It was overwhelming and exciting all at once. Mostly because now that I had kissed Lucien, I was one hundred percent sure that I wanted to marry him. I couldn’t imagine not ever kissing those lips again. Who said that arranged marriages couldn’t also become love marriages?
