Page 17 of The Midnight Blizzard

“He’s a mage,” the woman retorted, scorn dripping from her tone.

“And you’re being incredibly rude. Shall I hurl insults at you? I can already think of plenty.”

Beryl made a noise like a cat hacking up a hairball and ducked out of sight, straightening only after he had composed his face into an expression of grave solemnity again. The woman’s jaw dropped several inches. “Are you going to let a girl and a mage speak like that to me?” she snapped at Beryl. “Have them thrown out this instant!”

“He hasn’t done anything that would warrant such treatment,” I huffed, taking a step forward. Jack laid a restraining hand on my arm.

The woman’s eyes snapped from me to Jack to Beryl, then she let out a great sniff. “I shall take my business elsewhere. See that it teaches you a lesson!” With that, she stormed out, setting the bell to chiming behind her.

A ringing silence fell as the door thudded closed and we watched her struggle through the snow across the street.

“Well, that was highly uncomfortable,” Beryl said, his beard twitching. “You really need to stop picking fights, Noelle.”

“What was I supposed to do, let her talk about Jack that way?”

Jack wearily shook his head. “I’m used to it.”

“You shouldn’t have to be!”

A long howl came from the back room and my heart swelled. It was Kodiak.

“Kody?” I called, forgetting the frog-legged woman’s rudeness and searching for my dog. There was a frantic scrabbling at the door leading to the house adjoining the shop, accompanied by a young girl’s wild giggling.

“Peggy fell in love with your dog,” Beryl said, going to let Kodiak in. “He’s welcome to visit anytime.”

The second the slightest of cracks opened, Kodiakforced his nose through and exploded toward me in a flash of white fur. The enthusiasm of his greeting nearly bowled me over as he leapt up repeatedly, trying to lick my face and quivering with joy. I dropped to my knees, clutching him and burying my face into his neck. It seemed like I hadn’t seen him in a month.

Jack knelt next to us, one hand bracing my back so Kodiak wouldn’t knock me over, and allowed Kodiak to sniff his hand before patting his head and stroking his back. It took several minutes for Kodiak to unwind enough to finally lie down, still trembling with happiness, then he rolled over to expose his belly, waiting for us to rub it. As elated as I was that I had my dog back, I couldn’t fail to notice that Jack kept his hand on my back, even though Kodiak was calmer, and shockwaves of awareness spread from everywhere Jack touched.

Beryl, it seemed, had noticed as well. He shot a sly wink at Jack. “Things seem to be going veryicely between you two.”

I couldn’t see Jack’s facial expression, but I felt his hand immediately withdraw from my back. “Yes, Kodiak looks much better now,” he said crisply. “Thank you for your help.”

“I’ve never seen a dog pine that much for his owner,” Beryl told us. “Except for the one time I had to patch up Ace for Jack here.” He slapped his friend on the shoulder. “How’s it going with…” He jerked his head at me and waggled his eyebrows at Jack.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jack stated firmly.

“Right.” Beryl knowingly tapped his finger to the side of his nose. “And I’m the Queen of Sorana.”

I pretended not to notice their exchange. It felt moreunfair by the day that Jack and I were unable to have anything more than friendship, even when our connection was undeniable. If it was this obvious to Beryl, who else would suspect?

After thanking Beryl profusely for his help, Jack and I left. Kodiak wouldn’t hold still in the sled, so we let him run beside the other dogs. “How late is the feast supposed to run tonight?” I asked Jack.

“It’ll be early. We’ll have time after for that ice skating lesson if you’re still willing.”

“Of course. You won’t be caught up in work?”

“No. Stephen said specifically that I was to have a break after all the time I put in yesterday.”

“That’s kind of him.”

“He’s a kind person. I think you two will get along well.” Jack’s voice remained calm, but his shoulders grew slightly more rigid. “I recommended that he sit next to you tonight.”

“Oh.” I should have felt flattered, but I felt only disheartened. Perhaps Jack’s feelings for me were not as strong as what I felt for him. Our relationship could only ever be transactional. No wonder he had spurned my flirtations and refused to dance with me the night before. I thought I had made my intentions clear. “I’m not here to marry Prince Stephen, remember? I just need to find the will and get funding for the school. Once we get back, I’ll see if I can ask a different scribe to look. I asked two, but they both said no.”

“All of them will say no,” Jack warned me. “And in order to stay, you’ll need to continually pass each event. They will likely dismiss up to ten girls by tomorrow morning. Stephen likes intelligent humor and archery. You could talk to him about those things.”

I kept quiet. My usual talkativeness drained away as I realized the lengths Jack was going to in order to help me grow closer to the prince. Was he hoping I would end up with Stephen? The castle gates opened to allow the team into the dog yard. Kodiak bounded along beside Cinder, his tail wagging madly.

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