Page 26 of The Prince and the Ice King

Reardon wasn’t sure what he and Shayla could find for alchemy components while the ground was frozen with patches of snow. That’s what she was mostly foraging for, she’d said—components. Reardon’s knowledge of alchemy was focused more on the mixing and application after ingredients were gathered. Barclay would know better what could be found in wintertime.

“You realize this is an enchanted castle, right? That includes the surrounding grounds,” Shayla said, smirking as she looked at Reardon’s furrowed brow.

“Are you saying the plants here can withstand winter?”

“Some, and several things grow here that normally wouldn’t be found together. But a few useful items—rosemary, thyme, mint—they always thrive in winter.” She knelt a few yards from the line of trees, and indeed, several varieties of plants were clustered around their feet, green and lush and overlapping out of the snow. She began picking them with adept precision, taking string from her bag and bundling like plants together before filling the bag with her spoils.

After watching her a few moments, Reardon mimicked her efforts, and she smirked once more, inspecting his work with an approving nod.

“A prince who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. Who knew?”

She worked twice as fast as Reardon, however, and occasionally she’d toss a plant aside that didn’t look quite right to her eyes or tell Reardon to lighten or fatten a bundle before completing it. She’d obviously done this many times before.

“Violets.” Reardon pointed behind her, closer to the trees. “They’re good for sore throats, aren’t they? Would Liam want those too?”

“Knowledgeable, are you? They’re on the list. Though not for sore throats. They can be manipulated for other purposes. You won’t see anyone from the castle getting ill, but we can be injured or killed.”

Enchanted indeed, Reardon thought, though he mostly cared that he was continuing to learn about the castle, its curse, and its people.

They were essentially immortal as long as they didn’t get hurt, and Reardon would be too while he stayed here.

“Barclay said you knew alchemy, but I didn’t realize how much,” Shayla said. “That’s rare around here. Most of the occupants are magic users. I have basic knowledge. Otherwise, it’s mostly Caitlin as our healer, and Liam with his enhancements and experiments. He’s a good wizard, but he’s blown up his lab a time or two as if a storm blew through it—pun intended.” She smiled fondly, like she knew him well.

“A true education involves rough hands and calculated risk,” Reardon said with a smile of his own, looking at his dirt-smeared hands, wet from the snow. “My mother used to tell me that.” The memory of it brought a soft warmth to his chest. He’d grown beyond feeling a constant ache at the loss of her, but he still missed her every day.

“I remember when the Emerald King announced her birth,” Shayla said absently, causing him to snap his attention to her, because he kept forgetting how much older everyone in the castle was compared to him. “So that’s where all thatredcame from.” She reached out to muss his auburn hair, her hands wet and dirty too, yet the touch felt more playful than razzing.

“She must have grown up well, considering you’re not so bad a bastard,” she continued, returning to her work. “It was her father, you know, who decided three strikes as a thief was enough to call for one’s hands. Only a plea to be sacrifice could stay the butcher’s blade. I took my chances.”

The thief who almost lost her hands because she was starving, Reardon recalled the Ice King saying. He hadn’t known his grandfather. That king died before he was born.

“I’m sorry,” Reardon said solemnly. “That’s awful. They don’t do that anymore. But then, thieves might still be chosen as sacrifice if they get enough voices raised against them. My mother did away with many barbaric practices, but she never dared change the larger laws.

“Iwill when I am king. I have to. Especially after meeting all of you.”

“That’s rather noble.” Shayla slowed the pace of her foraging. “I’d think you were all fluff, but you don’t seem the type to be made for lying. Maybe you really aren’t so bad.”

“I’m still sorry.”

“I’m not. Ending up here was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Barclay had said the same, and while immortality, food, shelter, and a caring monarch were reason enough to warrant such a response, Reardon had the feeling that there was something more.

Soon they had gathered everything they could from around their feet, and Reardon went to the edge of the wood to pick the violets, while Shayla headed farther down the clearing to shave off bark from a specific patch of trees with one of her blades.

He hadn’t noticed initially, but she was armed with twin daggers almost as long as short swords, as well as a hunting knife at her ankle. Reardon felt the loss of his own dagger then, and the sword he might have brought along if this outing had been planned, but he’d left his weapons belt in his room, knowing he’d be seeing the king.

It was in that moment, wondering about his promise to Nigel to steal his dagger back and glancing at Shayla using her hunting knife to chip away bark, that he heard the first growl.

Reardon tensed, because that was no mere wild dog, judging by the resonance, although that would have been bad enough. Turning his head to look deeper into the wood, lush and dark despite the early morning sun, he saw a pair of eyes glowing and the measured steps forward of something larger with a snarling maw.

“Shadow beast….”

“Wolf,” Shayla corrected, her voice coming steadily from his right. “If shadow beasts exist, they stick to the Dark Kingdom. Now, back away slowly and don’t lose eye contact. Whatever you do, don’t turn your back on him.”

Reardon knew that, but his instincts still told him to do the opposite andrun.

Steeling himself with even breaths, he stood upright and began a slow shift backward into the clearing, keeping his eyes on the wolf—adirewolf, or at least it had been once, he realized as it materialized more clearly. Its size was impressive, but it looked emaciated.

---