Page 22 of Fated to the Frost King

Had she been orphaned? Abandoned?

Forced out from her family?

No, no, no.I was not sympathizing with a bat who was probably just too stupid to find its own kind. I walked decisively toward the window, setting her on the sill and prodding her tiny back with my finger.

“Go on, now. You might not be able to find your family, but I’m sure they can find you. Just go…wait on the rooftop or something. Hang out and squeak a bit.”

The skathryn gave a dramatic shiver, turning on its clawed little feet to face me and crawling clumsily in my direction.

I shook my head, considering whether I had misjudged its ability to manipulate. Surely they shouldn’t be so sensitive to the cold. They were creatures born of winter.

“No, no. You’re not staying. Things here are difficult enough.” I opened the window wider and gestured. “Go on. Shoo.”

It dropped its head, letting out a high pitched keen before it scrambled off the balcony’s edge and disappeared into a gust of wind. I hadn’t even taken the breath for a sigh of relief before it looped back through the open window like a tiny, winged boomerang and latched onto my shoulder.

I pursed my lips, glaring daggers at the bat.

She stared back, unbothered.

Another slow sigh escaped me. “Is everything in this shards-damned palace determined to make my life complicated?”

The baby ice bat gave a soft, contented chirp and tucked herself against my neck, which was decidedly unwelcome and uncomforting. Even if she was weirdly warm for a flying, venomous rodent, and even if I was stuck in this palace with no friends or allies…

Shards damn it all to every hell.

I left the window open for a long moment, waiting to see if the creature would change her mind.

She didn’t. And…I couldn’t bring myself to actually make her leave.

Maybe her family would find her, but maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe they weren’t even looking.

I couldn’t leave her to fend for herself in a freezing kingdom full of monsters. Not when I knew all too well what that was like.

Chapter 9

Everly

There was no time to hide the skathryn before Mirelda intruded.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure she was smart enough to stay hidden anyway, but it was a moot point when Mirelda swept into the room on the heels of her curt knock. I closed my hands over the miniscule creature, fully aware of how suspicious I appeared.

Mirelda didn’t notice at first. She was busy looking critically at my hair, then my dress. My entire person, really.

“You’ll need to wear something more formal for dinner. The king’s orders.”

Gauzier and flimsier, she meant. Facing the king was already enough to rack my body with shivers, as much as I despised his effect on me. And he could shove his orders somewhere even darker than his rotting heart.

I knew it was unwise to anger him, but I wouldn’t give myself away by freezing my ass off.

“Until the king can keep his temper under wraps, I have every intention of being prepared for the rogue ice storm.” It was the best excuse I could manage, and not untrue.

Even the average fae weren’t completely impervious to the sensation of cold. They just weren’t as affected by it as I was.

Mirelda opened her mouth to argue, but a small squeak cut her off.

Shards blasted hells. I knew I shouldn’t have let the thing stay. My maid’s hawklike gaze flitted to my closed hands.

“What is that?” she demanded.

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