Page 127 of The Prince and the Ice King

“You did this,” Jack seethed.

“I did some of this, and for the part I played in a too long and lasting torture, I beg forgiveness.” She bowed, and whatever smugness had donned her face fell away.

Jack didn’t seem to know how to respond.

“My love,” Reardon tried again, moving to stand beside Jack and taking hold of his hand, “her curse may have been cruel, but she has not been idle watching, laughing at your struggles. She couldn’t do more than watch because of Lombard. She didn’t close off her lands, hidden in the Mystic Valley to mock you. She was a prisoner just as you were.

“And… well….” Reardon glanced down, marveling at their connected skin in the sunlight, though that paled in comparison to being able to look up and see Jack’s face in the day. “Are you really angry to be here now with subjects and friends who are more like family? Are you angry over the lessons you’ve learned and all you have gained?”Like me, he thought, though he already knew that answer.

Jack’s human face, however scarred, his white hair falling in windblown strands across his forehead, was so beautiful to Reardon with sweet resignation and fondness upon it.

“I won’t take back what I did or why.” Mavis drew their attention back to her. “But I swear I would have been kinder had I the chance.” She took another step closer and extended an arm to Jack. “Can you forgive me, Sapphire King?”

Even with so large an audience, all the air seemed to escape Jack in one great sigh for how everything had led to this one exchange between monarchs.

“If it hadn’t been for our curse, my fellows and I wouldn’t have all we do.” Jack looked to Reardon first, tightened his hold on Reardon’s hand, and then returned to the queen. “What say we forgive each other?” he said and reached his free hand to clasp her forearm.

Reardon expected a cheer, but all went silent, because Jack began to glow.

The light lasted only a moment, but when it faded, Mavis pulled her hand away, and Jack stood there, free of all his scars. He noticed immediately, because his outstretched arm was bare outside the cloak.

“You didn’t need to do that,” Jack said, turning his hand in the sunlight. “I—”

“Youdon’t have to play martyr,” Mavis said. “We all carry enough scars. Accept the gift. And try not to flirt with my husband this time.”

Reardon laughed, and as he turned to look where the queen inclined her head, he could see them. A caravan approached from the Mystic Valley, and at its head was her handsome human Prince Consort.

“I’ll try my best,” Jack joked, and then cleared his throat as if to shake away whatever sentiment was cloying there too tightly. “Come! All are welcome here. Let us get inside to be warm and clean and freshly fed. I am sure we all have much to tell each other.”

Reardon was glad to see that the Emerald soldiers didn’t hesitate, perhaps too weary or too stunned by all they had seen to imagine slinking away. It was an easy task to move for the Frozen—no, theSapphirecastle.

As they went in through the gates, and Reardon saw how spacious Jack’s garden looked with no ice sculptures to adorn it, he remembered where Lombard had been standing and wondered if that was where he had fallen, though there was no trace of him save the melted ice.

“What of Lombard?” Reardon asked, turning to Mavis, walking in step beside him and Jack. “He seemed a twisted and cruel man, but all he wanted was what you have.”

“Do you blame me for his corruption?” she asked.

“No, I… I just wonder if all this could have been avoided if he’d gotten what he wanted when he asked.”

“Or perhaps it would have been much worse. All I did was tell him no and look where it brought him.” She gestured to the same cold ground beneath their feet. “If people can take immortality with them, it changes them. Surely, the people here changed, but they could have left their immortality behind and travelled beyond these lands. Choice is key, Reardon. People choose whether they want to be better or worse versions of themselves every day.”

“With the curse gone,” Jack said, as though a sudden weight sunk within him, “this place will no longer keep everyone alive.”

“But children can flourish again,” Mavis said. “Or I could compromise the power here to allow children without anyone losing their immortality, like my own lands. Or, if you’d prefer this place stay untouched by such magic, yet some of your subjects aren’t ready to give immortality up, they are welcome in the Mystic Valley, same as before.”

Reardon saw how the unknown future ahead weighed on Jack, so he pulled in closer to his lover’s side, feeling the firm lines of him through the cloak and how he shivered in the snow.

“I will have to think on it and pose it to my people,” Jack said. “I have lived a long life, but I don’t know if I’m ready forit to be shortened.” He leaned against Reardon in reply. “Many of my subjects from the start of my reign are in your valley, aren’t they?”

“Some. Some moved on to live simpler lives before our lands were locked. Those who stayed might even want to return here.”

Barclay and the rest of the court were ahead of them but had slowed their gait upon nearing the castle doors. Reardon knew they had done so to listen in, because Zephyr would no longer have his ability to spy anywhere he pleased.

Since they had overheard, however, Liam rushed toward them at those words. “Do you know if….” He trailed off, his face pinched with uncertainty, yet still, he tried. “I… had a daughter.”

“Children age in the Mystic Valley until they are grown,” the queen said. “Her mother is gone, not one to live forever, but the girl chose to stay. Quite lovely now, isn’t she?”

Reardon watched Liam turn to look at the arriving caravan pouring into the courtyard, one young woman clearly catching his attention, though she must look so different from when he’d last seen her.

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