Page 108 of Fated to the Frost King

Then his expression shuttered, and the telltale muscle clenched in his jaw.

“I won the war,” he said darkly. “And it only cost me my kingdom.”

Chapter 36

Everly

Ileft Draven’s room when the uncomfortable silence stretched on for too long after our ill-fated exchange, though I reluctantly ushered his wolves into his suites when I returned to mine. I liked to think they looked at least a little sad to leave me.

Then I returned to my bed and willed my mind to conjure any other sound besides Draven’s voice, low and gravelly, calling me a torment.

Or worse, the resignation that had emanated from his soul when he spoke of the battlefield.

I tossed and turned for another hour, seeing monsters and corpses every time I closed my eyes, until finally, I gave up on sleep. I sat up, picking up the journal from where it rested next to Batty on the pillow next to mine.

Starfire, Day Seventy-Three

The author always did that, gave the date but not the year. Gave titles but not names. Not anonymous, exactly, because she didn’t shy away from acknowledging that she was Queen. More…guarded against history than anyone in her current time.

It was strange.

I asked the king if my dress was too tight over my belly today, and he said no a little too quickly to remember that my ring would warn me of a lie. So the next time I asked him, I held it against his face.

I won’t pretend I didn’t enjoy watching him pale a little when his choices were to make the ring vibrate again or tell me that I looked like one of the sea cows in the Spring Court.

It was all in good fun until I asked him if our family was in danger, and he said no again.

That time I didn’t taunt him with his response. It was a stupid question, anyway. I knew as well as he did that the threats were closing in.

I flipped the page, scanning a few more entries, but they had gone back to daily gossip. No mention of the threats, or the rings. Still, the part about the lies was fascinating. I didn’t know who she was or how her reign had ended, but she had given me more information on the bond than any other book in this palace.

Including the fact that Draven had been telling the truth when he said he had never lied to me.

Wan rays of sunlight poked through the window, so I rose to let Batty take a morning fly. Mirelda came in just as I opened the window, a bit earlier than she normally did.

Nevara had promised me my frost-blasted portrait could wait until after breakfast today, so there was no reason for my maid to be here when dawn had just barely broken.

I turned toward my maid, raising my eyebrows and trying not to feel on edge. The last time Mirelda had come early was the day I had gone to the mages.

She didn’t look tense today, though. If anything, she looked…pleased about something. Which also made me suspicious.

“His Majesty wishes for you to join him for breakfast in the sunroom, so that the people might be comforted by the strength of your union,” she informed me with a small smile.

Batty trilled in annoyance, and I blinked. We had never eaten breakfast together unless it was in an uneasy silence in a shared room on our short-lived journey of horror.

“Wishes or commands?” I clarified, mostly to distract myself with teasing Mirelda, since I had never heard Dravenwishfor anything.

She pursed her lips in confirmation. I actually did need to talk to him when we were not in his bed twelve seconds after waking up to memories of corpses, so I didn’t argue. It had nothing to do with the pull of his mana, dragging me in like a forcefield.

Besides, the peopledidneed comfort. Even the horrible Lady Thessara had exclaimed loudly, many times, that she wouldn’t be caught dead in the courtyard after all the monsters.

Though a small part of me wished she would be caught dead in the courtyard, mostly I empathized with her fear.

These aren’t really your people, I reminded myself.

Being Queen still didn’t feel real or permanent. Somewhere deep inside, I knew the day would come when the ice would crack beneath my feet and I would be lost in the churning depths below.

I felt it the way I felt Draven’s mana crackling against my skin, intrinsic and unavoidable. Nevertheless, I waited for him in our shared foyer an hour later, with my wolf and my skathryn. I hadn’t wanted to risk him coming into my rooms today when the marriage bond was already so desperate for our proximity.

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