Page 100 of The Alien's Cruel Starfrost Domain

“I’ve always found boldness serves well in these times.” I guide Uanna past him before he can respond.

She leans closer, her breath frosting against my ear. “You’re enjoying this.”

“Shouldn’t I?” I pause to acknowledge another courtier’s greeting. “It’s not every day one hosts such an...explosive gathering.”

Her fingers dig into my arm. “Careful, darling. Someone might think you’re plotting something.”

“Would I do that?”

“You’re plotting something right now.” She keeps her smile perfectly fixed. “I just haven’t figured out what.”

Before I can respond, she spots one of her closer allies. “Oh, there’s Lady Madrille. You don’t mind if I...?”

“Of course not.” I lift her hand from my arm and brush my lips across her knuckles. “Don’t stray too far.”

Her eyes narrow at the warning in my tone, but she glides away with perfect grace. I note how the crowd subtly shifts around her. Everyone wondering what her presence at my side might mean.

I make my way toward the dais, exchanging brief greetings as I go. The crop taps against my leg with each step, a drumbeat reminder of what’s to come.

Soon. Very soon.

That’s when I feel it—the weight of her gaze on me. I don’t need to look up to know Lara watches from the gallery above the balcony. Her presence pulls at me like a lodestone, warm and vital among all this ice.

Maintaining my carefully controlled expression, I lift my gaze to where she hides in the shadows. Even in the dim light, I can make out the gleam of her golden-red curls, the way she leans forward slightly as if drawn despite herself.

Does she sense what’s coming? Some part of me hopes she does. Hopes that tonight will finally be the night her power manifests—that the horror of what’s about to happen will shock her into her true nature.

Or perhaps I simply want her to understand why I must do this. Why I’ve orchestrated this entire evening, knowing it will end in blood and pain.

I mount the dais steps, turning to survey my gathered guests. So many plots and schemes, so many careful plans, all about to end.

And not a moment too soon. Even as I watch, the ballroom’s perfect frost layer begins to thin, patches of floor showing through where hundreds of dancing feet have worn away ice that should instantly replenish itself.

The Icecaix guests pretend not to notice, but they can’t hide their discomfort as the temperature creeps above its customarysub-zero chill.

Near one wall, one of the footmen attempts to reinforce the cooling spell. Frost spreads from his feet, but doesn’t go far before petering out.

The effort leaves him pale and shaking.

“Perhaps we could open some windows,” one of the young men near the dais suggests. The desperate edge in his voice betrays the truth no one wants to admit: even the Icecaix’s most basic ability—to maintain cold—is deserting them.

A drop of water falls from the ceiling, striking a countess’s elegant coiffure. The lady pretends not to notice as it slides down her neck, but her smile becomes fixed, brittle.

It’s time to reinstate Trasq’s magic.

Past time.

My gaze drifts up again, seeking out Lara. Even from across the ballroom, I can sense her. The Caixlights reflect off her skin differently than they do other humans—a subtle luminescence that speaks to her heritage. To anyone else, she appears ordinary. A servant girl watching the festivities from the shadows.

But I know better.

Her scent reaches me even here—distinct from the press of Icecaix bodies surrounding me. Different from humans, too. Most humans smell of earth and iron, mortality made flesh. But Lara’s scent carries winter frost and summer stars, the legacy of her doubly royal Caix bloodline.

The bloodline only she and her sister, as the last remaining direct descendants of King Caix, carry.

I watch her watching me, and for a moment I allow myself to imagine a different future. One where I could tell her the truth. Where her power could bloom naturally, not be torn from her in sacrifice.

But such dreams are dangerous. I have chosen my path. Tonight will set events in motion that cannot be undone.

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