Page 49 of The Winter Prince

Her eyes widened at the sight of Kienna. “My lady, you’ve come back.”

“Where’s Rev—the prince?” Kienna asked.

Zoya’s face tightened in a way Kienna hated.

“The frostroses.” Zoya stopped at Kienna’s side. Kienna squeezed Zoya’s hands in her own. “It’s good to see you, my lady, but you’d best hurry. Who knows how long before—“ She cut herself off, her eyes tightening further. “To the frostroses, my lady. Hurry.”

Kienna squeezed Zoya’s hands one more time. “My father and some of his men are outside. Please see them inside to warm by a fire and send someone to care for their horses.”

Zoya gave a sharp nod, then Kienna drew her hands away, turned, and ran back outside. She ignored Papa’s questions as she followed a snow-covered but familiar path from the castle doors. She heard Zoya’s calm, sweet tones behind her as she approached Kienna’s father, but then the sound was lost amid her own hard breathing and the crunch of snow under her boots.

She rounded the edge of the castle, then passed the bushes guarding Revi’s garden from view of the castle from this angle. There. The frostrose bush looked nothing like she’d last seen it; even the glistening snow that covered it could not completely hide how mangled and destitute the bush looked.

And on the ground just beside it lay her prince.

His long silver hair, his large broad shoulders. His skin was white as snow, half covered in bandages. His eyes were closed. He looked too still. He looked… dead.

A cry broke from her. She pushed herself faster. She barely registered the man kneeling at his side.

“You returned.” Enlo’s voice came out ragged.

“What’s wrong with him?” She dropped to her knees and cupped his face in her hands.

“A lot,” Enlo said tightly. “He has very little magic. The venomous wounds inflicted by the attack a few days ago have been treated, but he grows weaker by the day. I keep pushing magic into him. But it won’t last forever. He’s...” Enlo swallowed, his gaze dropping to Revi’s face. “He’s dying.”

“No,” Kienna whispered. “No, Revi. You cannot die. I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner. I’m sorry I trusted this stupid man next to you instead of you. I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I wasted your magic for no reason. But I’m here now andyou can’t die.“ His cheeks were cold beneath her fingers; a tear dripped down the tip of her nose and landed on his cheekbone.

“You can’t die,” she repeated. “Because I love you. I came back, and I want to spend my entire life with you. Whether you’re a beast or whether you are my dream prince. I don’t care. Just stay with me. Please.”

Enlo sucked in a breath, looking between Kienna and Revi.

“Say that again,” he said. “Tell him you love him. Use his name. Make your vow again.”

She dragged her distracted gaze up to Enlo. “My vow?”

“You need to bind yourself to him. Maybe—“ His voice broke. “Maybe it will be enough to save him.”

She looked up at him, eyes wide. The cold bit at her cheeks along the lines where tears tracked down. “I’m only human. My words don’t have magic. It won’t do anything.”

“But itmight. If you finish the link between you two, you might be able to save him. Vow your life to him, become his wife. Use his name. Use your name, your true name.”

Kienna looked back down at Revi. She’d do it in a heartbeat. But what if he didn’t want this?

It didn’t matter. Even if he resented her for making such a bond between them, she’d do it. He could hate her; he could send her away. He would be alive to do so, and that was all she cared about. She needed him tolive.

She swallowed. “I’ll do it, but—I don’t know what to say.”

Enlo didn’t smile, but there was a grim hope that settled over his features. “Repeat after me.Em,then your name, then‘a pocheska sukerste tu Reviam.“ He spoke the phrase slowly, pausing after each word to let Kienna repeat him.

“Em Kienna Boden ‘a pocheska sukerste tu Reviam.”

“Now kiss him.”

Kienna’s entire body trembled as she leaned closer to Revi. It might have been cold. It might have been nerves. It might have been shaky hope strangled by terror that this wouldn’t work.

She closed the space between them and gently pressed her lips against Revi’s. They were freezing but soft. She let her eyes shut as something icy zinged between her and Revi where their lips connected them, where her hands rested against his chest.

It shocked up and down her spine, through her limbs, into her heart. She gasped against him, jerking back a few inches.

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