Page 134 of The Prince and the Ice King

The words were almost chiding, as if to say,I told you I’d be right, but Jack didn’t mind. Itwasenough, and he was glad to have been proven wrong.

He might not have a bed, but he did have his bath, and once they had grown tired of their sticky embrace with lazy kisses having passed between them, he coaxed Reardon to get up so they could clean themselves and soak.

“Are we going to while away the rest of the day here?” Reardon asked.

“For a bit.” Jack no longer needed to keep Reardon faced away from him, but he still held him against his chest, arms wrapped around him from behind. “Then we can rejoin the others in their merriment.”

“And if they ask where we got off to?”

“We’ll tell the truth,” Jack said, grinning when Reardon turned to him with a wry expression. “We were consummating our engagement.”

Reardon

Reardon knew the road ahead would not be without its challenges. Finally returning home afforded him many a dark, wary, or disgusted look from his people, some even daring to spit at the feet of his horse.But those were the minority, for most cheered to see their prince alive with no disaster following in his wake.

He did, however, have a king riding beside him, whose white hair despite a young face made whispers spread quickly. Once they reached the palace, it was clear that everyone knew their prince had returned with the Ice King.

Let them stare and whisper and wonder, Reardon thought. All he cared about was seeing his father.

He leapt from his horse and rushed to meet him, embracing his father tightly on the palace steps. Master Wells was there amid the court physicians, for Henry did appear weak, however revitalized.

“It will take some days yet for the poison to fully leave me, but I am well, my beautiful boy, all because you are a sweet, stubborn prince who refused to admit defeat.”

Reardon laughed, because he couldn’t deny that he had made it this far largely due to stubbornness. “Father, this is King John of the Sapphire Kingdom,” Reardon introduced when Jack dismounted and came to join them. Henry bowed, as did Jack, but Reardon did not mean for this meeting to be formal. “He is also Jack, my betrothed.”

Henry looked startled, though not dissenting as Reardon feared. “That is… truly what you want, my son?”

“It is. I will accept my responsibilities as king, but I also have a responsibility to our neighbors, to our people shunned and wrongly called witch or banished, and to my love and all the friends I made. Don’t think too terribly of me for being selfish that I want a love as potent as what you had with Mother.”

“Never,” Henry said with a weak but caring smile. His hand quivered slightly as he reached for Reardon’s face. “I missed her so much, I didn’t think of what my mourning cost. I fought for nothing but the voices of the loudest, forgetting that those without a voice need their king too. Now that you are home, I can rest easy.

“I am guessing you both have much to tell me. Come. Let us leave prying eyes and ears to themselves.”

Not once did Henry rebuke Reardon when he explained all that had transpired and what he wanted for the future. It was only the three of them in Henry’s private rooms, with Jack having been welcomed in like any neighboring king should be.

“This is your kingdom, Reardon,” Henry said, “and I know your mother would be proud of what you wish to do with it. I only wish I had been brave enough to do more myself, but know how proud I am as well that you will be a far better king than I ever was, no matter who is by your side or how you fight for what you believe in.”

It was all Reardon had hoped to hear, and he grasped Jack’s hand as they sat before his father united. “That warms me greatly, but I was hoping you would continue to be King-Regent when I spend time in the Sapphire Kingdom, as Jack’s sister will be Queen-Regent when we are here.”

“If you so wish it,” Henry answered with a smile.

“Should the time come when you no longer want that title, we will let the people decide who will be regent and who might one day succeed us. It is all going to be very different, and some might speak against us, fight or rally, even simply leave. I am no longer going to fear that. This is my kingdom—ours—” Reardon squeezed Jack’s hand. “—and we’re going to make it a better one.”

The surrealness of having Jack with him in Emerald, human and vibrant, was almost like a dream, seeing him speaking with Henry and getting along easily, or showing him around the city to many stares that eventually became excitement.

Elves and half-elves were no longer hiding themselves, and many, after a time, came up to Jack to ask the truth of his story and his castle. Those that heard it looked relieved to know that no one undeserving had died since the first sacrifice was sent to Jack’s door. Reardon was even able to watch the lost soldier who Liam had zapped from existence reunite with his mother, though Reardon wished the younger soldier that Lombard killed could have had the same homecoming.

It was a start, despite the less hospitable glares and whispers that followed them, and nothing would change that Reardon and Jack’s kingdoms were going to be joined with the marriage of king and king.

Once, Reardon thought he’d loathe his future royal wedding. Now it filled him with joy, penning invitations to send throughout Emerald, in Sapphire, the Mystic Valley, and other lands beyond, for all were welcome if they chose to celebrate the joining of the two Gemstone Kingdoms.

Reardon and Jack didn’t stay in Emerald long, however, for Reardon wanted their wedding in the castle where they met.

“Shall we go, my little prince?” Jack asked the morning they planned to depart. Henry and many others would traverse to Sapphire for the wedding, but for now, it was a small party setting out.

David, the castle guard, had insisted on being Reardon’s personal escort, though this time his Robert would be joining them.

Wells was joining the caravan as well, partly to meet Liam and trade alchemy secrets, but also to see Barclay and apologize to him in person.

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