Page 22 of Frozen Hearts and Death Magic

“They’re pretty. Even so, you could wear a living snake for a necklace and it would be enchanting because of you. Not that anything you’re wearing is odd or weird or ridiculous.” The song then stopped. “That’s it,” he said, then gave her a heart-stopping smile. “I’m looking forward to hearing about this list of yours, where you have my name.”

“What about you? Do you have any list?” That was a bold question, but she had to ask it, and her heart was now definitely wanting to leave her body and run away.

He was serious now, staring at her. “I didn’t. Had no intention. But you see, our tastes match, and now I also have a one-name list. And it’s the best list.” He took her hand and kissed it. “Talk to you later.”

Leah felt as if her legs were wobbly and the floor was moving as she left the ballroom. She could barely believe that he had come straight to her, could barely believe what he’d said, could barely believe the way he’d looked at her.

Before reaching the hallway, her mother grabbed her arm. “Do not do that again.”

Leah trembled. “What?”

“Disappear.”

So her mother hadn’t seen her dancing. Leah exhaled, relieved.

“Don’t be nervous. Tonight will be fine,” her mother said. “Oh,” she pointed at Leah’s chest, “and ignore the nonsense there. You’ll need to choose with your head.”

“I know.” She felt as if her heart growled at her words, which was proof of her insanity; hearts didn’t growl or have wills of their own.

* * *

Although Naia had lovedher dress when she had put it on, by now she wished she could rip out those flashy purple sleeves. Nobody else wore anything even slightly similar to that. She also reconsidered her decision to keep her hair down. All the ladies had intricate buns, braids, or both, and as much as she didn’t want to be like them, it didn’t feel great to stand out like that.

Sure, she should ignore their opinion, but the truth was that by now she wished she had deathbringer magic and could walk into the hollow, disappearing from this ball. At least the men in her family didn’t seem to have noticed anything and wouldn’t feel embarrassed for her looks. Good for them. But then, her father’s ignorance of court fashion was to blame for her situation in the first place.

He was just sitting and scowling, and Fel… Where was he? She scanned the room and found him… dancing in a corner? Naia took a better look and realized his partner was Leah, except that her hair was weird, as if it had a gold, brilliant bird’s nest on the back of her head. Fel didn’t seem to find anything strange about it, though. In fact, they seemed quite at ease with each other. Perhaps it meant nothing. And then perhaps… She glanced at her father to check if he had noticed anything, but he seemed oblivious. He should be the one wearing the puffy sleeves, if he was going to act as if he wasn’t there.

Naia kept scanning the room, realizing that there were probably some other nobles or maybe advisors, as there were a lot more people here than just the royal families. She recognized the Ironhold and Vastfield princes only because they had been among the ones supposed to go ice-skating with them. Considering all that had happened, she was glad they had turned back. Unless they had something to do with that water snake. That was an interesting idea. Interesting and likely nonsensical.

The Ironhold princes stood by a well-dressed older man, likely their king—Naia’s uncle. Not that he had ever tried to communicate with her or Fel. The princes were both tall and broad and had medium brown hair, their skin a little lighter than their father’s. They must have brought a large entourage, as there were four young men around them.

Then Naia’s heart jumped in her chest. It couldn’t be. Perhaps she was seeing things. Among the Ironhold entourage, she saw River. River, a fae, in the Frostlake castle?

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