Kiss of Snow

8

I shouldn’t have used my power. Not while it was still forbidden. But if I hadn’t, would Malren had killed me? Or kidn*pped me and forced me into marriage? I couldn’t decide which fate was worse.

“He’s just in a state of shock.” Keane ushered Caspar from the room. “I have the situation in hand. Go and prepare our least comfortable prison cell for our guest.”

“Yes, Captain.” Caspar’s youthful face filled with eagerness. He sheathed his sword before running down the corridor.

“I think if you try to handcuff him now, you might snap his arms off,” I said to Keane as he walked around Malren, who still stood statue-like in my bedroom.

“I see that,” Kean said, his voice gruff. Then he looked at me, seeming to notice for the first time that I was wearing my nightgown. His eyes lingered on my form for just a second longer than was appropriate, and a rush of heat filled me. He averted his gaze, and I returned to my wardrobe to pull out an old woolen shawl to drape over my shoulders.

“When you can speak again, you will tell me who sent you.” Keane looked Malren up and down as he walked around him once more.

“You don’t think he came on his own?” I hoped he had. If anyone else was behind this, it meant I still wasn’t safe. Lord Malren was an enemy of Rose’s and King Raith’s, but he’d been an ally to my father. It didn’t make much sense that he would try to assassinate me, but who else would it be? “He did suggest marriage instead of death. A most unusual courtship.”

“He intended to marry you?” Keane asked, sounding even more angry. “I suppose he does have a reputation for wanting to be a king. And time is running short, with your aunt…” He stopped as Malren’s eyes began to look interested.

I could hardly even consider marriage right now anyway. Twice today I’d been attacked, and twice today I’d nearly been killed. I pulled the shawl a little tighter still, craving the touch of another person, though there was no one here who could offer me that kind of comfort.

Malren directed his gaze my way and parted his lips. Then he croaked out a noise.

“What was that?” I stepped forward. “Repeat what you just said.”

“Hide,” he croaked. “You must hide.”

“Hide?” Horror washed through me and I glanced at my window, with their drapes parted from where Malren had stolen in. “Hide where? And from whom?”

“Queen Riala.” He became easier to understand as my spell wore off. “She’s after your crown.”

I stepped back, shocked once again, and my hand flew to my throat, where I touched the blood there. “Queen Riala?”

“That’s enough,” Keane snapped. “You can tell your stories after I get you settled in a cell. Plenty of my men like to listen to prisoners.” He tugged Malren’s arm down, making the nobleman cry out at the movement.

“Shall I send Princess Jasmine to tend to you?” Keane looked at me with concern in his eyes.

I waved my hand, dismissing his suggestion. “No, I don’t want to worry my sisters unnecessarily. I’ll leave them to sleep and talk to them tomorrow.”

“As you wish, Your Majesty.” Keane nodded before hauling Malren from my room.

I closed the door quietly behind them and returned to perch on the edge of my bed. Even with my shawl wrapped tight and my fire blazing, shivers overtook me, though not from the cold. I trembled in delayed shock at the night’s events.

It was worse than simply Malren’s attack, though. It was the news he’d brought.

Could Riala really be back after so long?

Six

Keane

T

he next morning, I took my position outside Lily’s room earlier than usual. I wanted to talk with her before she saw her sisters. I needed to get ahead of this and ensure her safety, and right now the castle wasn’t safe. Not if Malren had breached our defenses so easily, even with the help of magic. I cursed as I thought of it.

As it was, he’d done us a favor by highlighting our security issues, but it could have all turned out so differently. I curled my fingers around the hilt of my sword, forcing my anger at the situation through my fingers and into the solid metal.

When I’d replaced Caspar, he’d looked at me with eager eyes, like he was bursting to talk about the previous night. But I’d pressed my finger to my lips. Lily wouldn’t hear us from inside her room, but Caspar didn’t need to know that, and I didn’t need to hear his misplaced excitement over what could have been a national crisis if Lily hadn’t handled everything the way she had.

Regret coursed through me. I’d almost failed to protect her because I hadn’t been by her side. I glanced left and right down the empty corridor then pressed my ear to the wooden door. It hadn’t mattered that Caspar had been right outside yesterday. He’d heard nothing.

I clenched my fist in frustration. These doors were too thick.

As I’d waited many mornings for her before, I stood outside her bedroom door, alternately checking the corridor either side of me and staring at the wall in front. I knew every vein of color and hairline c***k in that stone. Eventually, her door handle squeaked in that familiar way, and the door opened. It didn’t swing open like it usually did first thing. The movement was hesitant, and I looked around before she came into view.

She stopped when she saw me. “Is everything calm this morning? None of my sisters know anything?”

I longed to brush away the purple smudges under her eyes. She must have barely slept. “No, none of the princesses have been informed yet,” I reassured her. “All of the guards know you want to be the first to talk to them. I could not hide it from Princess Dahlia though.”