Page 12 of Frozen Hearts and Death Magic

His sister was after him in no time, her skates horribly laced. Leah understood that neither Kasim nor the guards wanted to lace them for her, but they could have at least told her they were too loose. The princess glided a little, then fell on her butt, but laughed, and yelled at her brother, “How come you’re doing it so easily?”

He chuckled and approached his sister. “Not hard to guess, is it? What are the blades made of?”

Metal. His skating was not really skating, but magic.

“Cheater!” his sister yelled. Then, in a lower voice, added, “I thought someone was going to teach us.”

Leah felt bad that the twins were getting no help, so she pulled down her hood, walked to the edge of the lake, and addressed the girl. “Come here, let me help you tie your skates. And I’ll put on mine and teach you.”

The princess struggled to get up, but her brother helped her. That was when Leah noticed his eyes—and face. For a moment she felt as if she had no air in her chest, then she quickly looked away. Those were some bright green eyes. The Umbraar prince was better looking than she thought anyone could be. Leah knew that looks didn’t matter—and that she wasn’t supposed to notice him. And yet her heart was beating with twice its usual strength, as if it had awakened from a slumber, intent on getting her attention. She would need to find a way to silence it.

* * *

Naia’s face hurt.The landscape was beautiful, but she hadn’t imagined that the cold air would prickle her skin. But she had always wanted to skate on a frozen lake and wasn’t going to quit just because it was freezing. Which was the point, right? Or there would be no ice.

She couldn’t help noticing that the girl caught a breath when she saw Fel. It was weird to think of her own brother as beautiful, but he did have amazing hair and unique eyes, so perhaps there would be a horde of young princesses after him—if they ignored he was from Umbraar and didn’t mind the fact he was… a little different. Naia felt something cold inside her, fearing that nobody would take Fel seriously as a match. And sure, he wasn’t supposed to find anyone, but still, she’d hate for him to be ignored or perhaps even humiliated.

But at least one girl was flustered and embarrassed, as she gestured for Naia to sit, then tied her skates. But that wasn’t an ordinary girl or servant. The guards seemed to defer to her, and she’d been sitting by the advisor. Her hair was brown with gracious curls, her skin a little lighter than Naia’s, with contrasting blue eyes. Beautiful. Naia glanced back to see if her brother had noticed, but he was fake-skating away from them. Odd.

She turned back to the girl. “Thanks. That’s very kind. I’m Irinaia, from Umbraar. You are…”

The girl paused, then said, “Leah.”

“Princess Leandra?”

The girl’s eyes widened, but then she nodded. “Yes.”

“I’m glad to meet you. You can call me Naia.” She pointed at her twin. “That’s my brother Isofel, or Fel.”

Leah glanced at where he was, then looked down quickly at her own skates, which she proceeded to put on. The guards were far, circling the area around the lake, and even the advisor was now sitting at a distance.

The princess seemed friendly, so Naia decided to ask a question. Perhaps it was blunt, but she didn’t know when she’d have such a chance again. “Do you know why everyone hates us?”

The girl bit her lip. “I… don’t know. I’m sorry.” She truly sounded apologetic.

Naia shrugged. “At least you’re being honest. Most people would say something like: ‘Oh, hate? Of course not. Where did you get that idea?’” She chuckled. “They even turned back, I guess not to be contaminated with evil Umbraar company.”

“Perhaps it wasn’t that.”

“Maybe. I know that some people think my father killed my mother. Do you think that’s true?” It was a weird question, and one she didn’t really believe, and yet… Naia wanted to know more, and this was the way she found to try to dig some of the past.

Leah shook her head. “Of course not. My father was there when you were born and your mother said he never did anything wrong.”

That was a surprise. “Truly?”

The girl’s eyes widened. “You didn’t know that?”

Naia was still trying to process the information. “So your father spoke to my mother?”

“Just a little.” She looked down. “After she… Not when she was alive. You must know she died in childbirth, then he… asked her some questions. He does that in cases where there’s a suspicious death. So you can be certain your father didn’t kill her. I don’t know why some people still insist on this cruel rumor.”

Naia nodded. It probably still had something to do with the fact that her father had eloped with her mother, and that Ironhold had never accepted their wedding—or their children. Yet she knew so little of what had happened, so little about her mother.

Leah said, “I’m truly sorry for your loss.” She then stared at her feet, as if unsure what to do for a moment, but then she got up. “Shall we go? I’m sure you’ll learn in no time.” She had a playful smile. “With no cheating.”

She held Naia’s hands and helped her onto the ice, ignoring Fel, which made sense, since he was also ignoring her.

Naia then remembered her father’s instructions that they should be polite, so she turned to her brother. “Fel! Come here and introduce yourself to the Frostlake princess!”

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