Page 49 of The Prince and the Ice King

“Your kingdom’s folly ends tonight

and you will live until it’s right

for you are cold and full of wanting

like molten gold

that burns without warmth

and stinging power made for haunting

the invisible that you forgot.

“Be what you are and have neglected

until you find your way.

See what you should be in your mourning

before you rule again someday.”

“I felt it then,” Jack said, “though I couldn’t describe it as anything more than a chill and tingle down my spine. She turned to my friends, as she sent her own people away, and said, ‘If you protect him and believe in him, you will see this curse through. When his heart melts and he is a true king, then the spell will be broken.’

“She warned me that a return to my father’s ways was not the answer. All power or no power is never the answer.”

“Balance.” Reardon nodded thoughtfully.

“There are things to be learned from all ways and all people. There is no single answer to how to rule well. I don’t claim that how this castle runs now is best, but it is ours.

“When the Fairy Queen left that night, Josie, the others, and I soon found ourselves alone, but we didn’t believe anything would come of her words—until dawn, when we began to change.”

“And all the people she asked to seek refuge?”

“Every last one of them accepted her offer and left.”

“Then came the story of the fletcher?”

“Yes, though we had some years alone first. I suppose you could say that Oliver gave us a project, and we decided to stop wallowing in our solitude.”

With the story at its end, a reaction Jack had not anticipated burst onto Reardon’s face.

He smiled.

“This is such wonderful news.”

“What?”

“The curse,” Reardon said, serious but full of energy. “It’s only meant to be temporary. It has stipulations. It can be broken!”

“Don’t you understand? I allowed my subjects to starve and die while I rejoiced in my wealth and position.”

“I do understand. You and Oliver were very much the same. Do you hold it against him, the rich man’s son he once was?”

Jack wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

“The only thing I don’t understand is why the curse still stands. Clearly, you have lived up to your end of what the Fairy Queen requested.”

“You aren’t listening,” Jack bit out sharply.

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