Page 25 of The Winter Prince

Kienna’s expression was sorrowful. “I’m so sorry. That must have been such a difficult time.”

“Luckily for me, I have always been good at monstrous things, even bef—” He cut himself off and stiffened. He’d almost admitted the curse to her in full. What was it about this woman that made him want to bare every corner of himself to her?

She was silent a long moment; he waited for her to question his slip, but when she spoke again, she sounded almost frustrated. “You aren’t a beast just because you look like one.”

“I am—and have been—a beast inside and out for years.” The curse just better reflected his true nature.

“Maybe if you acted like one, yes.” Her gaze drilled into him, as if she could will him to believe her. “If you were cruel, manipulative, vicious. But just having fangs and claws doesn’t make you a monster. You are more than what you look like. You are who youchooseto be. And you do what you must to rule your Court. Protecting people, especially at risk to yourself, is the opposite of monstrous.”

He forced himself to relax under her touch, even as his entire being wanted to tense at her words. She’d reached out to him, and her fingers rested, still and small. He didn’t want to frighten her away.

She was so delicate. He had no doubt that in many ways, she was the strongest of her kind, just not in the ways he had ever thought mattered before now.

But here she was, showing kindness to a beast, and it lit within him a cool whisper of hope. If she could be compassionate toward him, perhaps she could be more. If she could be more, perhaps it wasn’t so foolish to think thathecould change his nature and be more too, like she seemed to believe he could be.

It felt like an impossible dream.

It was a dream he wanted anyway. But first, he needed to rid his Court of the curse, or he’d have no time to find out.

“I choose to be who I must for my Court,” he finally said, falling back on a familiar answer. “I’m the only one who can fulfill my role.”

Kienna’s fingers tightened slightly on his fur. “Aren’t you… lonely?”

He considered the question. He’d never had many friends. Just Enlo, really. And now he had her, even if only by dint of trapping her here with a bargain. But that felt too exposing to say. “I am no lonelier than I’ve ever been.”

She made a humming noise.

He tilted his head to better study her. “Are you lonely? Do you… miss your family? Your father?”

“Not lonely. But yes, I miss him.” Her free hand moved to her chest as if she could hold in the ache she hid. The motion opened a similar ache in Revi’s chest. If she felt that pain, it was entirely his doing.

A sharp thought occurred to him that made him want to raise his hackles. “Did you have anyone besides your family?”

Was her heart already claimed?

A small smile flickered with her usual brilliance even as it knifed at Revi’s heart. “Yes, but not what you might expect.” She laughed at his bemusement. “I kept rabbits.”

Revi blinked. The jealousy washed away, only to be replaced by sheepishness. “Rabbits?”

She laughed outright. “For their fur. Well, originally. My mother loved the feel of rabbit fur specifically, so I got them to spin the fiber to make her things. But they’re just lovely creatures. Soft and cuddly and sweet. I go—” She cut off. “I mean, I used to go to their hutches every day to care for them—feed them, comb their fur to collect the fiber, things like that. They were all fairly friendly, but one of them, my favorite—I named her Mushroom. She’s the fluffiest, a lovely silvery grey, and she’d always hop to the door of their enclosure to greet me when I came and bury her nose in the crook of my neck.” Her hand went to her neck absently as she spoke, a melancholic shadow cast over her features.

Revi swallowed. He’d never been so irrationally jealous of a prey animal before.

“And ever since she died, I find they remind me of her.” Her shoulders drew in, and he could hear her swallow, even as her eyes glistened.

She drew her hand back from his coat and stood. “I find I don’t have much appetite tonight.”

Revi rose quickly, bumping into the table. He wasn’t ready for her to leave. “Would you like to walk to the kitchens with me? I smelled some sort of pastry baking earlier.” A lemon cake with vanilla. It sounded completely unappealing to him, but perhaps Kienna liked sour-sweet.

“Oh, no, thank you.” She gave him a small curtsy. She tried to mask the melancholy in her mien with a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Good night.”

“Kienna, wait—”

She ignored him. Her steps made a shuffling whoosh on the stone floor as she hurried from the room, but the sound couldn’t hide her soft sniffling.

Revi wanted to rip his teeth into something. He wanted to comfort her, yet she fled. Because why would she want comfort fromhim? She was mourning the loss of her home, her family, her beloved pets, and it washisfault.

He was the worst kind of monster—no matter what she said to the contrary.

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