From the pocket of my robe, I grab a book. “I’m still a little offended. Earlier, you asked about myboringbooks. Well, my books are anything but boring.”
I open the fae book. It’s a great story, a romantic adventure Farron recommended about a druidic princess and her ranger best friend trying to reclaim their magic. I’d read through half the book last night. But now I turn to page one and start from the beginning.
“The tree was talking to me again,” I say, reading out the first sentence. “It had a faraway voice, delicate as the whisper of wind through the leaves and sharp as the crack of a dry branch.”
I lose myself in the words, and Keldarion doesn’t interrupt or kick me out. After the first chapter, I notice he’s moved slightly, his slitted glowing eyes watching me. And I hope he comes with me into a jungle of adventure, of ancient beasts and old curses, and far from the darkness of his mind.
Ashiverrunsthroughmy entire body, and something wet prods my face. I twist, grumbling sleepily.Why am I so cold?
“Get on,” a commanding, deep voice says.
My eyes flutter open, and I swat out my hands. Softness. Then I’m rolling until I’m surrounded by silky white fur. A soft swaying motion makes my gaze droop. I think we’re moving. The next thing I know, I’m falling into a plush bed.
I know these pillows, these blankets. My bed. Some survival instinct takes over and I scramble to get my ice cube body under the sheets. But I miss the softness. The smell of winter.
With a sleepy hand I reach out and grasp a tuft of white fur, muttering something.
The fur slips from my fingers as I drift into oblivion.
Sun washes over me in the morning and I blink awake. When I swing my feet out of bed, they land in a pile of fluffy snow.
Just how long had the Prince of Winter stayed beside me?
29
Rosalina
I’mhalfwaythroughmylemon tart when I spot a naked girl outside my window.
“Girl!” I give a panicked cry of alarm, lemon filling splattering against the floor as I drop my breakfast. “There’s a naked girl outside!”
Astrid and Marigold both flutter up beside me. I’ve been hiding away in my room, taking my sweet-ass time with breakfast, trying to decide whether it was too awkward to head down to the library today to research.
On one hand, I finally have a real lead I want to investigate. On the other, I don’t know how I can face Farron after how much of him I saw yesterday. What if he thinks I’m a creep?
At least my decision is delayed by this interruption.
“Oh dear.” Marigold sighs, pressing her nose to the glass. “Not again.”
“It’s been so long,” Astrid says. “I hoped he’d stopped for good.”
“Wait, what?” I turn to them. “Having a naked girl at the front door is a regular occurrence?”
“Yes, well, no.” Astrid’s bottom lip trembles. “It used to happen a lot more when the curse first started.”
“No use fretting about it any longer,” Marigold says. “Astrid, inform the master.”
Astrid visibly trembles. “No way. You know how he is when one of these girls shows up.”
“I’ll tell him,” I say. “Keldarion doesn’t scare me.”
Marigold and Astrid look at me like I’m well and truly insane, and maybe I am. But it’s the truth. I’m not afraid of the master of Castletree. At least, not for the same reasons they are.
“Better you stay in your room. These disturbances always put him in a right fuss. The princes will sort it out,” Marigold says. “I’m sure he’ll notice she’s here eventually; he always knows when someone’s in the castle.”
From the angle of my room, I have a perfect view of the bridge that leads from the front door. Something is bundled in the girl’s arms and she’s calling out, but I can’t make out the words.
“I’m not going to let her stand out there naked!” I grab an extra cloak from my wardrobe and take off down the stairs to the castle entrance. Marigold and Astrid chase behind me.