Page 4 of This Frozen Heart

“I am aware. I occupied this wagon before you did, after all. Now . . .” Kay calmly points at himself. “Kay.” Then he gestures at me.

Does he seriously expect me to exchange pleasantries— let alone myname?“I heard you the first time. Your Gaelic is flawless. However, I didn’t come here to make conversation.”

The wagon comes to an abrupt stop as the clamor of screams and sword fighting fill the surroundings.

Still, Kay studies me calmly, folding his hands in his lap. “Then may I ask, ma’am, why youdidcome here?”

Shaking my head, I push away from the wall and move to the back of the wagon. Pulling apart the covering, I take in the chaos surrounding us.

Our wagon has halted because the driver has jumped on the back of Wolf, who is howling at the other wagon passenger. He stares up at her in horror, his weapon apparently lost somewhere in the snow.

It’s good of his friend to be there for him. Wolf knows our creed, but she does sometimes get carried away. And we really need Smalls with the crossbow covering our tails and not wrestling Wolf away from poor decisions.

Beyond them, Prince is leading two more men toward the trap he set in advance, his long blond hair flowing behind him. Biggs, meanwhile, climbs up the second wagon only for his tinyframe to be kicked off by the woman, who hasn’t budged from her place.

“That woman is my sister.”

Startling, I turn to find Kay standing just behind me. Why did I turn my back on him? Touched in the head as he seems, he still wears enemy colors.

But Kay’s face remains even, his tone like one mentioning a friend of a friend rather than close kin. “She is with child. Please let her pass.”

“What?” I turn to better face him.

“I know authority when I see it. Just as I am the captain of these men, you are the leader of those rebels. Please let my sister pass. I assure you that she can be quite cantankerous and would not make a pleasant prisoner.”

“Well, few would be.”

“I would be . . . for you.”

“Are you surrendering?” Because surely, he’s notflirtingin this moment of peril while wearing a deadpan expression.

“In her stead.” He nods toward the woman who is whipping the reins of the horses tied to her wagon. “She needs to join her husband in the fortress. They’re having a boy.”

“A boy? How do you know?”

A second soldier jumps on Wolf’s back, but they still look like I’ll need to intervene in a moment.

“The old elf’s tale. If the baby is a girl, she steals her mother’s beauty. But if the babe is a boy, he makes her lovelier.”

The wagon dashes past us, and I get a better view of Kay’s sister. “Are you sure that it’s not a girl?”

“No, this is an improvement to my sister’s previous countenance.”

“Uh-huh . . .” I step out of the wagon to signal to Smalls as he aims his crossbow. “Let her pass.”

Confused, Smalls lowers his bow. Then his eyes widen at me.

I glance behind me to see Kay has followed, and he has a sword pointed at my back.

Chapter Three

Gerta

Kay casually sheathes the sword he had aimed in my direction without a word from me.

“I’m so pleased we could resolve this peacefully,” Kay says in a monotone tone not equipped for expressing pleasure. “I shall now surrender on my sister’s behalf and call for a full retreat for the rest of my men. I do not wish to lose anyone my first mission; that is poor form.”

Crossing my arms, I frown at him, since I now know better than to look away. “What makes you think I’ll let them go?”

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