Page 41 of The Winter Prince

She’d find a way,somehow. She’d get truth from Revi. He wouldn’t tell her about the Court’s curse if history was anything to go by, but if she asked him about her father, surely he’d give something away. She just needed something to verify Enlo’s story—or prove it false.

How she hoped it was false on all counts.

She opened her eyes to Enlo’s keen gaze pinned on her. She stepped back and rubbed her arms. “Make the preparations. I’ll find you tomorrow.”

If he noticed that she hadn’t actually sworn her hand to him, he didn’t press the issue. Instead, he beamed at her, taking her hands in his. She forced herself not to rip them away.

“Together we will save the Winter Court, Kienna.”

She shared a smile with him, even as her heart twisted in her chest.

Chapter 26

Revi

Reviwassickofhis healers. They’d let Enlo visit, and his steward, but only for brief spurts—the bare essentials to keep the Court functioning, they said.

Revi didn’t want to see Enlo, and his steward was too busy following his orders to exchange pleasantries.

Pleasantries weren’t what he wanted, anyway.

He wanted to see Kienna. He craved her smile, her gentle touch. He’d barely managed to visit her a few nights before; dreamwalking took more finesse than he had in him in his current state, and that dream had left him too drained to repeat since.

So it was to his complete delight when her voice clashed—quietly—with his healers outside his door shortly after he woke.

He pushed himself to his feet, easing himself off his bed with a pained huff. He made his way to the door and nudged it open.

The two healers and Kienna turned to him, their argument lost at the sight of him on his feet.

“She may enter,” he growled in Elyri.

“Your Highness, you really need—”

“A visitor to entertain me so I don’t die from boredom.” He turned a glare on the healers. “Go find yourself breakfast. Lady Kienna and I will be fine for an hour.”

They paled at his wolfish ire and bowed deeply, fleeing without another word.

He resisted the urge to sag against the wall. If one glanced back and saw, they’d overrule him, prince or not.

Instead, he turned, leaving the door open for Kienna. “Come sit,” he said in Kasmian Common, unsure how much of the Elyri exchange she’d understood.

He returned to his bed on unsteady legs, climbing up and dropping heavily. He was stronger than he’d been, but definitely nowhere near his full strength.

“You’re awake.” Kienna forewent the chair by the bed, instead settling beside him. Her hands moved toward him, but she stopped herself short of touching him. He wished she hadn’t. “No one would let me see you while you were healing. I was so worried.”

Her words twisted something in him. The idea of this beautiful, kind woman worrying about him was almost more than he could bear.

“I apologize,” he said after a moment, “for the way I lost my temper in the forest. I was not myself.”

She shook her head wildly, making her hair sway around her face. “I’msorry. I should have kept my word.”

He grunted. She should have, but he had already made his thoughts on that clear, so he said nothing else. And he’d never explained the dangers of venturing beyond the walls to her. He had only himself to blame for that, like so many other things.

“How are you feeling?” Her hands inched toward him again, finally daring to rest on his fur; it made him want to lean into her and rumble in pleasure.

“I’m healing.”

“Good. That’s... that’s good.” She smiled, but there was something about her expression that seemed anything but good.

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