Page 109 of Fated to the Frost King

He emerged exactly on time, flanked by his wolves, and dressed in a deep blue coat with silver accents the exact shade of my gown.

We really were going for a whole unity thing today, then.

His winterswept hair was combed into place, no longer having the audacity to fall onto his brow, and there wasn’t a single trace of his nightmares on his sculpted features.

His gaze swept over me, assessing me in a single glance that hummed along my skin. Or maybe that was his power. It hummed in the air with a feeling I couldn’t decipher.

Batty fluttered at my side, each beat of her wings raining snow flurries onto Lumen’s head. Draven raised his eyebrows, but said nothing as he offered me his arm.

I took it, trying not to feel the swells of disloyalty low in my gut as I warred with all the versions of him vying for dominance in my soul. He was warm, even through the sleeve of his coat. Cold in every other way.

His voice was clipped when he finally spoke. “Eryx told me about the villagers.”

Batty hissed at him from my shoulder, and I shared her sentiments.

“Well, short of locking them out and watching them freeze to death in the snow, there was nowhere else for them to go.” I regretted the words as soon as they left my lips, careless in my defensiveness.

Of course, Draven didn’t flinch, or give any indication that I had thrown his mind back to a frozen battlefield. Not that he ever would.

I cleared my throat, continuing in a more even tone.

“I planned on finding them places in the local villages, so they can start rebuilding their lives. I’m just waiting to hear back from the soldiers.”

He nodded. “Yes, he mentioned that, too. It…wasn’t a criticism. You handled the situation as well as could be expected.”

His lips twisted like it had physically pained him to admit that. It took me a heartbeat too late to realize that he was paying me a compliment, or at the very least, giving his approval.

I didn’t know what to do with that. It was a far cry from every interaction we had held about my title thus far, where he was so very fond of telling me how useless I was.

I let out a low scoff of disbelief, only half mocking when I asked, “Are you saying…that I havequalities worthy of my title?”

Did he remember the words spat in my face the night after the first court dinner?

He glared down at me. “No. I wouldn’t go that far. Just–”

He never got to qualify his denial, since we were both distracted by a pulsing vibration. From my ring, directly against his bicep. His body tensed, and he fixed his gaze resolutely ahead, footsteps never faltering.

“I see,” I said drily, while Lumen barked out what sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

A bit of unwanted pride surged in my chest. Only weeks ago I would have rather died than live up to his particular expectations for a ruler, and I hadn’t forgotten his cruelty. Even he knew what kind of fae he was.

I am not the hero.He had said the words without a single trace of shame.

But it was hard to be trapped in someone’s nightmares, then wake up and call them a monster.

Still, I wondered what it said about me that I didn’t quite hate him anymore.

And what my family would say if they saw me here, walking arm in arm with their executioner.

Nevara didn’t come for me after breakfast.

Never once in the entirety of the time I had known her, had she failed to show up where she said she would be.

I waited in my rooms for an extra hour after Draven walked me back, pacing the floors and watching the sun rise in the sky. Anxiety clawed at my chest.

I hadn’t been fazed when she wasn’t at breakfast. Draven and I had eaten at a table set for two, visible to the ladies and lords, but not subjected to them. It wasn’t a formal meal, and Nevara spent plenty of time avoiding the court. I hadn’t questioned her absence.

But she was never late. So finally, I decided to go to her.

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