Kiss of Snow

12

“And Rose has magic. She’s even learned how to use it.”

I pressed my lips together. I didn’t want to volunteer too much information until I saw where she was going with her thoughts. I looked out of the window. The drop was still on Iris’s side of the coach, and I watched the gray, craggy sides of the mountain as we passed by it. Green creepers and moss clung to the rock, despite the freezing temperatures outside, proof life always found a way.

“Are you pleased she learned to use it?” Iris’s eyes narrowed a little, turning her innocent gaze more toward crafty.

“Rose is in Ilidan with Raith. They’re both powerful wizards, and they need to be powerful for their people.” They’d proven that recently when they’d saved their people and kingdom from a curse of shadows.

Iris seemed to digest the information as she pulled her legs up underneath herself and snuggled farther under her fur blanket. “Don’t you need to be powerful for your people, too?”

I took a quick breath and let it out slowly, trying to buy myself some time. I could see where Iris was leading this conversation, and it was a direction I didn’t want to go. Magic had been banned for so long in Talador that I wasn’t comfortable even discussing it, let alone having the ability myself. Practicing or using that ability was still very much against the laws my father had put into place, and I hadn’t given much thought to what I was going to do about them yet. If I was completely honest with myself, I didn’t want that responsibility.

I tried to change the subject. “Dahlia thinks finding a husband will add to my power—”

Iris scoffed. “You know that’s not what I meant. Your magic. Don’t you want to be as powerful as Rose?”

It had been drilled into me day after day that magic was wrong. What I could do was wrong. I’d frozen Malren and saved my life, but even that had felt wrong.

“I’m not as powerful as Rose.” I didn’t even know if I wanted to find out whether I could be.

“Rose wasn’t this powerful while she lived in Talador either,” Iris said.

“Raith has taught her a lot since she’s lived in Ilidan.” I kept my tone conversational, my hands in my lap.

“Do you know what your affinity is? Do you have two like Rose does?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t studied enough to find out yet.” With Iris, I tried to be careful to only confirm the things she already knew and answer the very precise questions she asked. Too much information at any point led to hundreds more questions.

“I wonder if I’ll have the same affinity as my mother when my powers manifest?”

“Would that worry you?” I tried to probe gently because I couldn’t read her expression. What looked like concealed excitement could have been apprehension.

Iris still had so much to learn, and she was so disadvantaged by the way her life had started and how we lived in Talador now. Maybe I needed to change things for her sake, if for no-one else who lived there. Iris deserved more than we had now.

“I don’t know if I’d want to be an illusion wizard.” Iris wrinkled her delicate, freckled nose.

I reached out and stroked my hand across her red curls, watching them spring back up after my palm had passed over them. “My mother had an affinity for prophecy, but as far as I know, neither Rose nor I share that.”

Iris nodded and yawned, her mouth gaping as she neglected to cover it. Clearly I needed to work on her manners, even if Iris felt she should maybe be practicing her wizardry.

Outside, the sky was darkening to dusk, but I breathed a sigh of relief because the landscape was changing and becoming softer as we rode into one of the valleys between mountains. Forest began to tower over us again, the trees feeling protective, like long-lived guardians.

Keane rode up alongside the window. “We’ll have to stop and make camp for the night, Your Majesty.” Then he spurred his horse on to ride farther down the line of guards with whatever instructions he needed to tell them.

I nudged Iris. “We’re about to stop for the night. Don’t fall asleep here.”

She sat up sharply, hiding a yawn. “I’m not tired!”

When the carriage finally drew to a stop, I was chattering about anything and everything to do with the latest castle gossip in an effort to keep Iris awake. It was working, and it turned out she knew a lot more about the comings and goings of the servants than I’d expected. If I wanted to know anything about my staff in the future, I knew exactly which sister could tell me.

When the coach jerked to a gentle stop, Keane helped us down, and we found ourselves in a small campsite that one of the guards must have ridden ahead to prepare. A small fire burned in the center, and there were several tents. A log sat next to the fire, and I stretched my legs a little before taking a seat on it.

Sometime later, Keane pressed a small clay mug into my hand. “Drink, Your Majesty. This will warm you.”

His fingers brushed mine as I accepted the mug, and a spark darted up my arm. I laughed lightly to conceal my confusion. “Perhaps put a sleeping draught in Iris’s mug. She’s full of energy still.”

Keane gestured behind him to one of the tents. “Princess Iris is already asleep.”

“Thank you, Keane. Will you sit a while?” I sounded very formal as I indicated that the Captain of my guards could join me, but Keane nodded his head and perched at the edge of the log.

I looked at him, and a feeling of comfort filled my chest. His familiarity and steadfastness eased all of my worries away. For this moment, anyway.

Nine

Keane

S

hadows formed between the trees, making the dark impenetrable all the way around our small camp. It provided a false sense of security as we sat in our bubble of light. I’d positioned guards strategically around the perimeter, but this area was generally pretty safe, which was why I’d chosen it for our rest stop.