Page 36 of Frozen Hearts and Death Magic

His father sighed. “Isofel. You need to face reality. And there are girls in our kingdom, you don’t need to—”

“Regardless.” He didn’t want to hear more of that nonsense. “I’ll have an audience with her mother. All I’m asking is that you don’t stop me.”

“Go. Words don’t teach, do they? You want to experience the pain.”

“Dad,” Naia said. “I saw how Princess Leandra looked at Fel. She’s in love.”

“Oh, love.” His father rolled his eyes. “You kids are so adorable.” He paused. “Wait. When did you last speak to her?”

“At the ball.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

Fel had nothing to hide and decided to tell the truth. “Fine. I went to her room last night.”

“Her room?” There was alarm and fear on his face. “Did you…” He glanced at Naia, probably realizing he couldn’t finish his sentence. “Did you…?”

“No.” Fel grimaced. “What kind of pervert would do that?”

“What did you do in her room, then? Read stories?”

“I proposed. She said yes. Are you against this match?”

His father snorted. “Against it? It’s like being against you being nominated supreme king of Aluria. How can I be against something that has no chance of happening?”

“But you’re not against it.”

“If her parents approve, I approve. Otherwise, don’t elope with her, don’t ruin her life and her children’s lives, especially if you’re under the illusion you love her. You’re young and think love is enough, but love is fickle. They say love is like a flame, and that’s exactly what it is. All it takes to quench it is a tiny gust of wind. Don’t trust it. Don’t put your heart out there, Isofel. People will step on it. Marriage is about trust and respect, it’s not about a fickle flame.”

Fel frowned, tired of hearing the same drivel from his father. “What do you even know about it?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. But children shouldn’t repeat their parents’ mistakes.”

“Was our mother a mistake?” Naia asked, her voice thin.

His father eyed them both. “You two are my joy, my pride, my life. There is no mistake there.”

“Great. Then there’s no mistake to be repeated.” Fel got up and left quickly before he heard any more foolishness and grim warnings.

The funny thing was that Fel had lived under the illusion that the reason his father had defied Ironhold had been love for his mother, one of those romantic stories he usually only found in books, tragic ending and all. And yet more and more his father’s refusal in talking about her seemed to be less out of love and more out of indifference. But then the question was why he had eloped with her. It made no sense.

But Leah, Leah loved Fel. He could see it in the brightness of her eyes, in her smile, her kisses. Beautiful Leah, who’d presented a dead rat for her introduction. She’d said she wasn’t good with words, but that moment had been the only love declaration he needed. She’d been willing to alienate and scare away everyone else, and that meant she didn’t want them. She didn’t want any other suitor. Fel didn’t want anyone else either.

* * *

The first royalmeeting in Leah’s life. Such an amazing moment, and yet her thoughts were partly elsewhere, hoping to hear from Fel, wondering what her mother’s reaction would be.

But it was still early. Any news would likely come after the meeting, when the kings would discuss the future of Aluria. That was what the gathering was really about. Kings could communicate using distance mirrors, but it didn’t work for such a large group at once.

She sat behind her father, like all the heirs who attended the meeting, in a position where she could hear well but not see much, as there were wooden panels separating each king from the others. They could still see everyone, since they were sitting in the front, but the panels hid the heirs behind them.

Fel was probably there too, and she wished she could see him again, wished she could know that her night hadn’t been a dream, that they had really flown together, that they were truly engaged. Private words didn’t carry the same meaning as public words, and she wanted to be sure he had truly meant them.

Perhaps she wanted a confirmation because it was hard to believe it was true, hard to believe that the most powerful and best-looking of all princes wanted to marry her, that one day they’d share a castle, a bedroom. She should really stop thinking about that and focus on the meeting. One day she would be sitting in her father’s place, having to make decisions that would impact thousands of lives.

They started by discussing the mysterious attacks in small villages. All the people and animals had simply died and had no visible wounds. The vegetation was untouched. Four different kings described it the same way. In many cases, these attacks had only been found out days after, when it was too late to do anything. Leah’s father had gone to some of these villages and used his necromancy to contact the dead, but even they didn’t know anything.

More than half the kingdoms thought it was the white fae returning. Some kings disagreed. Someone suggested that it was some kind of poison in the air, some kind of weapon. It made some sense. But who would use it? And why?

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