Page 32 of This Frozen Heart

Kay opens his mouth and then closes it when he seems to realize he can’t speak without his breath. He just silently squeezes my hands.

I’m just as incapable of speech, so I can’t ask him what on earth is going on. Surely, he hasn’t developed romantic notions toward me. He’s my captor, and I’m his childhood tormentor. Despite all this, we barely know each other. And even if none of that was true, Kay isn’t the sort of man to catch feelings at all— he doesn’t have any to begin with.

Finally, Kay gasps, sitting up partly as he drinks in the air. Then he looks down at me. “There’s no more handcuff, so . . .” He holds up our entwined hands.

Scowling, I finally find my breath and use it to tug my hand free. I’m unsuccessful against Kay’s firm grip.

He stands, pulling me up with him.

I wince, my entire body aching, but nothing is broken, so I stay on my feet. Kay appears to be in a similar shape,bent partially over. He’ll heal a lot faster than I will, though, which doesn’t seem fair when he’s the one who dropped us.

Kay is unconcerned with that injustice as he glances up at the setting sun. “Oh, good, night is almost upon us.”

“Oh, you like the idea of freezing to death in a Gaelic night, do you?”

“We won’t freeze if we keep moving.”

I prop my unclaimed hand on my hip and glower at him. “You just want an excuse to curl up with me under a blanket again, don’t you?”

Kay stumbles a half a step but keeps plowing on. “With my compass damaged, I need the constellations in order to find our bearings. Unlessyouknow this part of the wilderness?”

Unfortunately, I’ve never ventured to this side of the mountain. It might make sense to walk around it without searching for a path. But it makes more sense to conserve energy, which I already have so little of, since all I’ve eaten recently was a stolen bowl of stew.

“Of course, you don’t.” Kay continues to tug me forward.

“What’sthatsupposed to mean?”

“Only that if you did know the way, you’d be leading me back to your camp.”

I purse my numb lips. “I suppose that’s right . . .”

Kay draws me toward where pine trees begin the sparsest of forests. “Let’s shelter here until nightfall to conserve our strength.”

My entire body aches, so I can’t help but agree with him just this once.

We duck under the shelter of the pine trees until Kay finds a random one and sits against the trunk. He tugs me to come sit down beside him. I twist enough to keep my back to the trunk as well, but he doesn’t release my hand to let me go farther. Notthat I have the energy to run. I don’t even care if this snow I’m sitting on is cold.

For a long moment, we sit in silence, just focusing on our breathing and holding gloved hands. I’m vaguely aware of how strange this all is. Someday, after I escape captivity and make it back to my team— after I return to what I know and this becomes a distant memory— I will likely look back in wonder. This day is not how my life is meant to operate, and everything feels like a dream— a very painful dream.

For now, though, there is no reprieve ahead of me. Yes, I will likely be brought into a warm shelter again and fed, but like the Snow Queen’s cabin, it will come at a cost.

My freedom.

“What do you have planned for me,” I ask, my lips numb, “when you take me back to your base?”

“Ihave no plans with you,” Kay answers. “It is my commanding officer you must answer to. My mission ends the moment I surrender you into his charge.”

I glance down at our entwined hands. My fingers are too numb to pull away from his. I wish they could, though. Holding his hand while he speaks like this makes me feel hollow. “And do you have any inclination of what your commanding officer wants with me, and how he intends to treat me in my captivity?”

Kay stares straight ahead. “I did not ask for the specifics, as that was beyond the scope of my mission. But do not fear; he is a stern man, but just.”

“And does your assessment of my situation change any when you consider that your commanding officer likely expecting a male leader, not a woman?”

His jaw ticks. “You will receive no different treatment, if that is what you fear. As I said, my commanding officer is a just man. Male and female are the same to him under the law.”

“What a relief,” I mutter dryly.

“The sun is gone,” Kay announces, standing and pulling me to my feet. “We must start moving again.”

---