Page 42 of This Frozen Heart

I straighten my back. “Yes.”

Prince pats both my shoulders. “That sounds like true love to me. All that’s left is the lip-locking.”

“And breakfast!” Smalls calls, causing my stomach to rumble in response.

“Yes, breakfast.” Prince nods. “Eating before kissing. We’ll need our strength.” With that, he wanders away, tugging his hair again.

I move deeper into camp, my limbs as desperate for rest as my stomach is for food. But before I collapse, I can’t help but glance back at the Snow Queen’s mountain.

Kay is up there. That much I know for sure. Whether or not he is my true love, though, remains to be seen.

“Don’t worry, Captain,” I whisper as my heart pounds in a way his can no longer, “I will get us both out of this, free.”

Kay:

“To find a man worthy of my hand,” the Snow Queen announces, like she wasn’t just stroking my face, “I have prepared a contest of skill.”

The men in our group lean forward, looking far too intrigued by her words. The women, however, quickly lose interest and begin casting disinterested expressions. I’m not sure even one of these poor souls is capable of smiling. I certainly don’t feel as though I can— it would exhaust far too much energy.

However, I cannot deny that I do feel something almost like elation at the Snow Queen’s words. My chance to be promoted in the military may be gone, but it would seem that there are ranks here that a man can climb instead.

“Conversation is the skill in question, for I shall not wed a boar.”

I actually feel something other than numbness or annoyance. Conversation may not be my favorite pastime, but it was a skill I was taught during training, both both for negotiation and forging alliances. It is a skill I am more than ready to wield for my advancement.

“The rules of the contest are simple.” The Snow Queen stands and gestures toward what I see now is the second story of the palace, its floor translucent, as it is also made of ice. “Each man shall visit me in my parlor and prove his conversation skills with me in the allotted time. At the end of these meetings, I shall choose the man whose companionship I most enjoyed. Then tonight I shall throw a ball and announce my betrothal.”

With that, the Snow Queen steps down the steps from her throne’s platform, breaking the spell she’s woven over us, even the women.

The Snow Queen gestures to a woman— the one wearing a gown crafted from gray wolffur. “Send the men to me in the order that they pledged their service.”

The woman in gray curtsies. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Bestowing a nod to her, the Snow Queen then turns to the rest of us, the smile banished from her face like it was never there. “Gentlemen, I look forward to our conversations.”

Well, Gerta called me the ice king. I suppose I might as well make it official.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The Enemies

Gerta:

The sky mercifully remains clear as we trek back toward the Snow Queen’s mountain, and so does the road we must cross over. How long do we have before the Imparias realize Kay’s scheme has gone terribly awry and Constantinium swarms us to rescue one of their own?

Hopefully not before we have the opportunity to rescue one of Gaelia’s own.

Wolf leads the way, her steps nimble despite the large pack on her shoulders filled with everything she owns. I follow with my own matching pack. Prince eagerly walks behind me, nearly stepping on my heels several times. Smalls and Biggs bring up the rear.

Without a care in the world, Wolf leads us between two pines arched together. Then she places her foot on the base of the mountain.

There is a strange glimmer before snow melts away. Except, not completely— just enough to reveal a staircase made entirely of snow reaching up higher than I can see.

“What was that?!” I cry.

“The Snow Queen has a Heritage Magic possibly more powerful than the ancestral King of Gaelia.” Wolf leans back smugly,admiring the stairs like she claims the magic for her own. “She can control snow, ice, and wind— the very elements of Gaelia. It even listens to her when she is not present, like these stairs she hid unless someone enters from the secret path.”

Prince glances between the arched pines and the magic stairs, stars in his eyes.

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