Page 8 of Of Snow and Sapphire

“Am not,” she shot back, shaking her shoulders out to loosen her body, which had become more tense with each passing day.

“You’ve been standing there for ten minutes and haven’t thrown a single dagger.”

“I’m warming up.”

“We live in the Snow Court. There’s no such thing.”

She gave him the middle finger, unpleased with his horrible humor. Not wanting to give him another reason to make another joke, she threw a small dagger at the target. It hit off-center to the outermost ring on the right side.

Zimyn raised his brows. She tried again, once more hitting off-center. She cursed under her breath, throwing another hastily in anger, which completely missed and clanged to the floor. She could feel the eyes of other guards on her now, their own training paused and intrigue piqued. She took a deep breath and didn’t allow herself to make a scene.

“Let’s hope if you face anyone in the Undertaking that they show mercy on you and purposefully run in front of the knives.”

“And you can do better?” A stupid question that she regretted as soon as it left her mouth. He knew it, too.

“Is that a challenge?”

“No.”

He shrugged, sheathing his sword and slowly stretching his arms as he made his way over, his scales shining in the afternoon light. He extended his hand, and Ludelle placed a knife into it. Their hands barely brushed, yet a shock of desire sparked through her.

Without even sparing the target a glance, keeping his attention zeroed on Ludelle, he threw the dagger. Neither of them broke eye contact as the room around them blurred into a blue haze. His musky pine scent filled her nostrils while his icy blue eyes captivated her. All of it was so consuming that she forgot what they were even doing.

Her body inched forward, a pull that she couldn’t resist. Why did they always find themselves in these scalding situations?

“Bullseye,” he whispered in her ear. Being a foot taller than her, he needed to bend down considerably.

“You didn’t even look.”

“I didn’t need to look. I always hit the target.” He shrugged. “I’m just that good.”

“Too bad all that skill will go to waste,” she muttered, now focusing on the target instead of him. Beside her, he stiffened.

“What does that mean?”

“It means…”

Someone cleared their throat. “I didn’t realize training required exchanging secrets.”

Both of them stepped quickly away from the other. A blast of cold ran through her with Zimyn no longer near. The rest of the room was pointedly not paying attention to them. Grunts and slashes of swords echoed in the room, but Balvan stood expectantly behind them, expression grim.

“You have an early morning tomorrow, Queen Ludelle,” Balvan said. “It would be in your best interest to get an early rest.”

She nodded, still trying to get her bearings again. Zimyn had started cleaning up the area, aggressively removing the daggers from the target and putting them away. He didn’t look her way again. She wanted to reach out to him, to take his strong hands in hers, and show him exactly where he should be aiming. But such unproductive thoughts would get her nowhere.

In fact, she needed to stop allowing herself to even think of his hands on her. It would never be. She would never get to experience his weight over hers as he thrusted into her, never feel his hot mouth on her core. Worst of all, he would no longer be hers to command.

She headed toward the exit, her fighting leathers chafing her bristling skin. She couldn’t wait to get the blasted things off. “Thank you for your concern, Balvan, but I can take care of myself.”

Balvan led her out towards the courtyard—giving them privacy—as he said, “Can you? You two were breaths away from ruining everything. Who will want to marry you once you’ve sullied yourself with a low born, like him?”

“Who would not want to marry the Queen?” she challenged.

“You think you have more power than you do, but until you have shown the people that you can replenish the Court, you are nothing more than a caged animal being watched.” He glared back through the archway at Zimyn, who was still distracting himself with the equipment. “This childhood crush cannot be your future. ”

“Where are you taking me?” Ludelle whispered in the quiet night, her parents and grandmother asleep already and only a few guards scattered the premises.

“It's a surprise,” Zimyn had said with an airiness to his voice.

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