Page 39 of Ties of Frost

“Parties you never attended,” he said with a dramatic sigh. Then his eyes widened. “Wait, did you report us?”

I couldn’t help my snicker. “No. It felt unsporting to take such an easy victory, and you were always caught and ended up in trouble anyway.”

I found myself smiling. If there was anything good about the heartbond, it was that I was sure neither of us could fool it. The bond showed me Kyrundar’s true emotions as surely as it revealed feelings to him I would never have shared.

The heartbond said he had told the truth.

Had I been so caught up in my own pride and fear of how others perceived me that I’d never realized even Kyrundar’s competition had been an offer of friendship? Was I so terrible at accepting help that I alone had poisoned our friendship?

If Kyrundar could apologize, surely I could. “I misjudged you. I have treated you poorly, believing the worst of you instead of respecting you as a brother-in-arms, and I am sorry.”

“Apology accepted, even if I’m unsure I deserve it.” He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled, looking more sheepish than I’d ever seen him. “So…is that an agreement to share the shelter?”

I shuffled back a step. “I’d rather sleep out here. Wyveri like open skies.”

“You don’t sleep in houses in the Wyveri Islands?”

I winced at the stupidity of my excuse. “Of course we do—but in stone houses on the hills and cliffs. It’s different.”

Kyrundar opened his mouth, then closed it. “I’m sorry. I thought it was like sharing a room in a Haven, but I’ve made you uncomfortable. Do…you want your own snow shelter? I can make you one—”

“No, it’s fine.” I held up my hands to stop his protests. “Maybe some other time.”

“All right.” He blew out a breath. “I am sorry. Syl has told me many times I need to get better at reading women.”

I choked on a laugh. “You? The seductive rengir who enchants women like a snake charmer hypnotizes a serpent?”

Kyrundar’s jaw went slack, and something about the wounded look in his eyes silenced me. “I don’t… That is, I don’t mean to… No, this is ridiculous. You said something like this before, but where are you coming up with thisslander? When have I ever seduced or even flirted with someone?”

I faltered. “Women are always flirting with you. Like Samina—”

“That isn’t the same thing!” He flung his arms wide. “I can’t control—wait, Samina was flirting with me?”

“Are you blind?” I tried not to let it bother me that Kyrundar appeared tantalized by Samina’s interest. “Women practically throw themselves at you.”

He shook his head. “I have admirers, yes. In honesty there are times I enjoy their attentions. However, I don’t purposefully flirt back, and I do my best not give any lady a false impression. I certainly have neverseducedanyone. I’ve never even kissed a woman!”

We stared at each other, the red creeping over Kyrundar’s cheeks mirroring the heat in my own face.

“In hindsight,” he continued, “I suppose Samina has been trying to get my attention for a while. If I’ve encouraged her, it was unintentional.”

Unwilling to accept that once again, my mental image of Kyrundar was completely skewed, I crossed my arms. “So of all these women who admire and flirt with you, you’ve never wanted one of them?”

“No. Not seriously.”

“Why not?”

“They’re not—” Kyrundar cut himself off with a click of his teeth. His eyebrows knit together. Even though I wasn’t trying to sense the bond, a mixture of confusion and shock rippled from him.

“Not what?”

His lips parted as he searched for words. “They’re not who I want.”

The unspoken implication hung in the air, more terrifying than any monster I’d ever faced.

Finally, Kyrundar stepped back, his expression shuttering. “Good night, Zidra.”

He retreated into his shelter, leaving me with an unwanted fluttering in my chest and the lonely call of an owl in the dark.

---