The Kingdom of Light

Chapter 16

Clynthia was calm, her breathing pleasantly quiet while I brushed her down. She could do the same thing music did—she could soothe me. Her brown eyes were attentive, but not in a way that made me think she was scared or startled. It felt more like she could sense what I was feeling.

“Sorry,” I mumbled against her, “I’m not supposed to dump all my problems on you,” I told her as the brush moved through her fine mane. “You’re just so easy to talk to.”

She was probably the most beautiful horse I had ever laid eyes on. Her white base made her look almost like something out of a fairytale—like she was my prince on a white horse—but the gray spots made her real, made her a living creature standing right in front of me.

Her mane shimmered in the light, the colors dancing around her. The soft white, blending with silver and almost stardust-like shimmer, looked absolutely stunning.

“What do you think about all of this?” As if I expected her to answer, I paused for a moment. “Honestly,” I began, raising my brows, “I’m pretty sure I could be really happy here. I’m sure my life would be good, filled with love.” I explained as my fingers slid through her mane. A sigh slipped from my lips. “But what if everything I’ve experienced here… is just one big lie?”

My gut kept trying to keep my head clear, trying to make sure I didn’t fall too hard for Nicolais, but my heart begged me to jump every single time I saw him. Every time he looked at me, I wanted to say f**k it and just give in to him completely.

“I also kinda feel like my body is just screaming for him, and if I just spread my legs and got it over with, maybe I’d be able to think more clearly.”

She snorted at me, as if she was telling me to watch my language. Which made me laugh. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were such a refined lady,” I scratched under her ear, “I’ll behave.”

It was getting harder and harder to ignore my feelings—feelings that had grown in just a few days, feelings I didn’t think were even possible to have so quickly. Every time I saw Nicolais, my heart beat faster, my thoughts blurred, and everything became tangled.

Everything he did—his movements, his looks, his words, the things he did for me—it all felt like it was done for my sake. He felt like the dream man, the one who was supposed to pick me back up, the one who was supposed to fix me. Should I let him?

“Do you think I can trust my heart?” I whispered it to her, like I wanted to be certain no one else heard our conversation—my endless monologue finally spilling out, finally seeing the light of day after looping around and around in my mind.

She didn’t respond—obviously—and honestly, I don’t even know what I expected to happen. Did I think the horse would start talking to me? Give me a cultured reply?

“Of course you can’t tell me that,” I sighed and set the brush aside. I pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before closing the door to her stall and leaving her behind. “Thanks for today, Clynthia, it was nice.” I couldn’t help but give her a small wave.

**

“There you are!” Sicca trotted over to me, dressed in his usual outfit: the white tunic and the dark pants, his hair braided today. “The dance instructor is here,” he informed me before placing his hand in the middle of my back to guide me to wherever I was supposed to be.

“The dance instructor?” was all I managed to ask before he led me further in.

We ended up in the grand ballroom Nicolais had shown me earlier, and in the middle of the floor stood a neat, well-groomed man. He was tall and slender—at least by elven standards—still muscular enough in my eyes. His hair was a deep red, and his eyes shone with a blood-red color. He wore a sky-blue tunic and pants made of some kind of stretchy fabric, and he was barefoot.

As we approached him, he bowed to us in an elegant, lengthy motion. “It is my honor to teach the future Queen of the Kingdom of Summer the art of dance.”

I sent Sicca a pointed look—a look that clearly said, don’t you dare leave me with this. He just smiled at me, as if he was enjoying the fact that he absolutely was leaving me here.

Because of that stupid argument about that f*****g ice cream.

Sicca informed the dance instructor that he had an hour and a half to teach me the basics, and then we could continue another time. He introduced himself as Saltator, which was some kind of stage name.

At first, he just had me move around the room—asked me to dance the way I thought one would dance. He walked behind me, sighing dramatically, which only made me even more impossible to deal with.

Then just show me how to do it, for god’s sake!

He taught me to keep my arms up. He taught me that I was supposed to follow the man and let him make the decisions. He taught me to follow the rhythm. But he also pissed me off—provoked and scolded me.

Eventually, though, he started praising me, told me I was a star lighting up the night sky, and that I would shine the brightest on the evening of the Summer Solstice.

When I finally escaped the dance instructor’s claws, I was so hungry I felt like I could eat all the food in the entire world. I fantasized about roasted meat, about potatoes—my thoughts drifted to whether I should take the red wine sauce or the other good sauce, the one with mushrooms and that taste of onion, pepper, and cream. With my shoes in hand, I rushed through the hall toward the dining room. The doors opened for me as always, and the first thing I saw was Sicca. One shoe slid into my left hand, and everything in me screamed to throw it at his head—but I had asked for a dance instructor myself.

Instead, he smiled smugly at me as he said, “Well, have you become a little dancing mouse now?”

I dropped the shoes by my chair with a sigh before meeting his ice-cold gaze, which still had warmth underneath. “Shut up.” My eyes found Nicolais’, and I sent him a loving smile that he quickly returned, even though he looked surprised about the interaction Sicca and I had just had. “If I’d known dancing was so sexist, I would’ve never tried it.”

Sicca was nearly dying of laughter. “I figured it’d be right up your alley.”

With my plate in hand, I walked up and down the buffet table, picking the dishes I wanted. I shot Sicca a glare—he had really tricked me this time. “I’m sure you’ll love it with the right partner,” Nicolais offered with a confident smile.

“That’s probably true,” I smiled back at him before sitting down with my full plate. “Did your sister dance?”

“Oh yes,” Sicca answered with a grin, “she was just as feisty as you.”

“Is she coming to the Summer Solstice?”

He shook his head. “No, my family will never leave the Kingdom of Winter.”

“Then we’ll just have to visit them at some point,” I smiled at him. I really wanted to meet his sister.

“I found a new book for you,” Nicolais interrupted. My gaze shifted to him, and I saw a new expression—one I hadn’t seen before. Jealousy. Was he jealous of my conversation with Sicca? “It’s right there,” he said, pointing beside my plate, where a sky-blue book lay quiet and waiting. “It’s fiction.”

“Thank you so much,” I smiled at him as I picked up the book. “What’s it about?”

“It’s a fairytale,” he explained, “I figured you might like that.”

“If there are pictures in it,” Sicca mumbled from my left.

I couldn’t hold back anymore—I grabbed one of my shoes and chucked it at him. Luckily for Sicca, he had quick reflexes and managed to duck before the shoe smacked him right in the face.

“Luna,” Nicolais sighed, as if he was disappointed in my behavior.

“Sorry,” I replied quickly before sitting properly in my chair again. I cleared my throat and smiled at him once more. “I’m looking forward to reading it.”

He smiled back, happy to have my attention again. “I was hoping we could spend the day in the library tomorrow?”

I nodded in response. It certainly couldn’t hurt to spend the day with him—spend the day being close to him, smiling at each other, looking at each other, flirting with each other.

Be careful.