Page 45 of The Prince and the Ice King

The noble prince went on his quest

To become a greater king

Than those before who’d shamed their lands

And bards denied to sing.

He traveled far to learn abroad

How other kings reigned just

But for all he found who’d earned their crowns

Men made beasts ruled thus.

He pitied one such beast

To turn him from his ways

In hopes that tenderness might win

And pierce the heart that strayed.

Hearts made of ice aren’t made for melting

But the prince did burn so bright

That he reached the wayward beastly king

And found him in the night.

Lips and hands and hearts did touch

Knowing pleasures lost before

And the prince did reach the king at last

As the beast became no more.

Jack crumpled the parchment and chucked it across the room, angry at himself for writing something so… juvenile. He was no bard, and he shouldn’t be a dreamer.

There was no end to his curse, least of all through a hapless fairy tale.

Chapter 5

Reardon

Reardon was sore atthe end of another long day, especially after his adventures in the training yard. Now he sluggishly wandered up to bed, Barclay having already retired, as well as Shayla and Nigel, though Reardon had stayed in the banquet hall nursing a cup of mead with Wynn while getting to know Oliver and his wife, Amelia, who he liked too much to be jealous of for having snagged the heart of the handsome fletcher.

Wynn was the castle’s main engineer, but she was a close second, and Reardon was enthralled to hear about everything the pair had invented to make life better here.

The hour was drawing late, however, and he needed rest to be up early for his next audience with the king. Reardon’s wing of the castle was quieter than others, less full, he supposed, with many of the rooms still empty.

As he neared his corridor, he saw Widow Caitlin leaving it, briskly moving in the opposite direction. He still hadn’t spoken to her and wondered where she was off to so late and at such a persistent pace.

He knew little about her and hadn’t thought it right to ask Barclay, like some meddling gossip. He hadn’t even known that her room was down their same hall, though it made sense, with quarters handed out as new offerings came to the castle, and she only having been there ten years.

Surely, more drastic measures were allowed with someone determined to avoid him. He was meant to discover the castle’s secrets, after all, and wanted to befriend and understand everyone he could.

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