Page 47 of This Frozen Heart

“I’m efficient.” Kay tugs off his uniform before carefully folding it and placing it at the bottom of the wardrobe.

“Well, congratulations, but you’ll have to decline. My clan and I have come to rescue you.”

Kay scowls at me like I said I wanted to stab him again. “I am in no need of rescuing. I went with the Snow Queen of my own volition.”

“You went to the Snow Queen under duress. It was you or me, and you sacrificed yourself.” My words catch in my throat, and I realize with horror I’m on the verge of crying. Which is foolish, because I knew to expect this behavior— worse even.

“Yet you seek to nullify my sacrifice? I clearly wasted my life on the wrong person.”

I wince. It feels like the Kay who gave himself for me— the one who almost kissed me— is dead and gone. It’s his bitter corpse that I speak to now.

The Kay who sacrificed himself for me freed me, though, so I won’t stop until I’ve returned the favor. Releasing the bed, I carefully step forward. “You’re only talking like this because your heart is frozen. But I know how to heal it.”

Kay turns to me as I reach him, tugging off his shirt in the process. My gaze falls on the snowflake mark, glistening like ice in his veins, and my throat goes dry.

“Well?” Kay demands. “How do you think you can ‘heal’ me?”

I lick my chapped lips, drawing Kay’s gaze there. One would think that after two almost-kisses, such a discussion wouldn’t be so awkward. Instead, it feels twice as uncomfortable. Especially since the man doesn’t seem to feel the cold on his bare skin somehow. “Um, well . . .”

“Spit it out, lassie.”

My gaze drops. “True love’s kiss.”

Kay is silent for a long moment, and I dare to glance back up.

He throws his head back and guffaws—guffaws.I’m not sure I’ve ever heard the man laugh before. It’s not as pleasant as I imagined it would sound when Kay finally laughed. Of course, that might be because it’s directed atme.

“I’m serious,” I whisper.

Kay stops laughing so suddenly I wonder how much of it was real to begin with or forced for social conventions. “Well, I will not be doingthat, since I am going to be betrothed tonight.”

I stagger backward. “You’re going to bewhat?!”

“To the Queen.” Kay casually tugs on a fresh undershirt, this one with a deeper cut to display his mark like the other man’s outfit. “That’s my promotion. King consort.”

“No. Absolutely not.” I charge forward, jamming my finger on Kay’s shoulder. “You are running away withme.”

“No, ma’am, I am not.” Kay turns to take a deep blue waistcoat from the wardrobe.

I grasp his wrist and try to tug him away. “You’re not yourself. I won’t let you make such a wretched decision while under that witch’s influence.”

“She’s not a witch; she’s my future wife.” Kay pulls free of my grip.

“She froze your heart!”

“But not my mind. I’m fully capable of making my own decisions.” Instead of grabbing the waistcoat, he reaches for black fur breeches.

I turn my back to him, trying to sort out my next steps. His bitterness was expected, but I didn’t anticipate so much resistance.

“And what’s this about you thinking we share ‘true love’?”

A tremble moves through me with the coldness that he says words that should be precious. But I straighten my spine. “You sacrificed yourself for me. And I climbed this mountain despite my fear to save you.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you are my enemy. Just one I’ve treated with civility.”

The chill of his words seeps into my very soul. To hear him deny so easily what I was growing tobelieve . . . What hope is there to save him without the cure? How am I supposed to climb back down this mountain knowing what fate I’ve left him to? “What about your father? Do you really intend to never see him again?”

“I intend to prove myself to him.” Kay strides past me, buttoning the deep blue waistcoat. “Youhave stollen my chance to become a commander. So, I shall become a king instead.”

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