Page 59 of Fated to the Frost King

“No, of course not,” I bit out. “You just move your pieces across the board while the rest of us fumble blindly in the dark.”

Her face hardened. The serene expression she wore for the people was gone, replaced by a look of warning.

“Perhaps your ancestors should have thought of that before they cursed mine. Mana always demands a sacrifice, after all.” Her voice was colder than I had ever heard it directed at me, her words carrying a double meaning I didn’t want to consider.

I didn’t respond. Not to her rebuke and not to her reminder of why we were here to begin with. A beat of silence passed before she spoke again.

“If you suspected her, why not just ask me instead of risking the prying eyes of the court?”

The question hung in the air like a noose waiting to wrap around my neck. I stared into the bottle of Shivermark Gin.

“I would have procured a vow of silence from them, had it been necessary,” I finally told her.

Of course she heard what I didn’t say. Or maybe she Saw it. Who the hells knew?

Her lips parted in disbelief, eyes pinching in a rare display of hurt. A twinge of guilt lanced through me, but I allowed the gin to chase it away. Well, the gin, and the reminder that she had happily led my entire kingdom to ruin.

“Are you truly so swept up in seeing shadows everywhere that you would take that risk rather than trust your oldest friend. Shards, youronlyfriend.”

Most days I would agree with her, but she had left me no choice when she damned all of Winter with her games.

Her face twisted like she had heard the thought. Or foretold it.

She had a white knuckle grip on her staff, and less of a hold on her anger than she usually mustered. Good. That made two of us.

“Do you honestly expect me to believe you didn’t know?” I demanded, tipping the bottle back once more and relishing the crisp herbal bite of the gin. “Expect me to believe that you didn’tSee? Shards, Nevara, even I knew something was wrong with herfrom the first moment I laid eyes on her in the Throne Room. And I am not the oneblessedwith True Sight.”

“Right now, the only thing ISeeis that you’re not fit for company,” she snapped, turning to leave. “So allow me to return to my tower and count the many ways I have beenblessedwith a delightful array of visions and a long life of servitude to your illustrious Majesty.”

“Is that why you decided to end the royal line?” I called after her retreating form, ice crackling up the walls as the temperature dropped more with each passing second.

She spun back toward me. Her staff glowed a brilliant shade of pink, her hair fanning out around her as if swept up in an invisible windstorm.

“If you want someone to blame for this predicament, feel free to find a mirror or curse the Shard Mother herself, but don’t you dare come for me when all I’ve ever done is try to save you from yourself.”

I flinched at the reminder of the Frost Grave Battle—my predicament, indeed.

It was rare for her to throw that in my face so directly, and some distant part of me registered that perhaps I deserved it. As she said, mana always came to collect its due.

I was the one who had upset the balance of the Winter Court. I was the reason the mana demanded payment.

“Is that what this was, then?” I demanded more quietly, taking another sip of gin. “You saving me? Pray tell what salvation is to be had in a Hollow bride.”

“More than is to be found in that bottle,” she bit back.

I glared at her, and she glared right back.

I had never exercised my hold over her. That was how my ancestors had found themselves on the other side of resentful Visionaries who spoke in riddles and led them to an early grave.

Besides, she was right. Shewasmy only friend, the only person who didn’t answer to me. Except when it came to revealing her visions. If I asked, she was bound to tell me. It was a line I had never crossed.

But I was tempted now.

Several heartbeats passed between us until finally, she shook her head.

“Too noble to demand, and too proud to ask. For all you worry that Everly is your punishment, Draven, I don’t think she could punish you quite as much as you punish yourself.”

Hearing Nevara call her Everly with a hint of fondness did nothing for my aggravation.

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