Page 126 of The Frost Touched Queen

He offers me a curt nod and I close the curtain, falling back in my seat.

“What? What is it?” Anya asks, hurriedly going to the window. “OH THE GODS!”

As Anya shrieks in excitement, I lean forward and place my hand on Inessa’s knee.

“We’re not going home, are we?” Inessa asks, so in tune with my inner thoughts.

“No, dear friend, we’re not.”

Her shoulders slump as she lets out an exhale.

“This place better be worth it,” she says, covering my hand with hers.

“Believe me, Inessa. It is.”

As we enter the palace, I’m still in a daze, soaking in all the beautiful scenery around me.

Everything is exotic here.

From the people down to the food that is served on silver platters. To Inessa’s delight, it’s also much cooler, with its marble floors and high ceilings allowing the soft breeze to enter from the various large open floor-to-ceiling arch windows. There are also innumerous servants using what I can only assume are peacock feathered fans, all sprawled around the various divisions of the palace, to ensure the heat is kept at bay. Everything is pristine and immaculately clean, white being the preferred color on the walls, floors, and linens to contrast all the other vibrant ones.

I’m surprised that Teo hasn’t bragged to me about the slice of paradise he calls home. In fact, he doesn’t seem to be paying me any mind whatsoever, his sure steps leading him away from me and down a large open hallway.

Curiosity urges me to follow to see what could possibly be more important than giving me a tour to his palace’s grounds. Teo all but runs outside to a garden filled with a myriad of hibiscus and orchids of every color imaginable. But he doesn’t stop there and proceeds forward, leaving me little time to appreciate their beauty. It’s when the garden gives way to a man-made pond, and a little girl with her nurse feeding the swans that swim in its center.

“Look who’s home!” Teo shouts, falling to his knees, his arms wide open.

The little girl shrieks with glee and runs to him. The instant she slams her tiny body to his, he wraps his arms around her and showers her with butterfly kisses. She laughs happily, and when he stops his kisses to start tickling her, she laughs even harder as she tries to wiggle away from his embrace.

It’s her laugh that is unmistakable, bringing with it all sorts of memories from our misspent youth.

Teo has a child.

A little girl.

“Has my Zara been a good girl while I was away?” he asks her nurse, while never taking his eyes off his beautiful daughter.

“She has, Your Majesty. Missed you terribly, my king,” the nurse replies as she curtsies.

“Is that so? Did you miss me, Zara?” he asks, rubbing the tip of his nose with hers.

“Hmm. Maybe this much,” she teases him, holding her forefinger and thumb to show just a little space in between them.

“Just that, huh?” He pretends to frown.

“Okay, maybe this much.” She laughs when she stretches her arms wide.

“Now, that’s more like it.” He chuckles, rubbing his face in the crook of her neck to tickle her. “Because I missed my little princess to the moon and back.”

The whole sight has me taken aback.

Not because Teo fathered a bastard and legitimized her existence as his and bestowed her a title, but with how doting a father he is to her, showing me a whole other side to him that I never knew could exist. He must have had her quite young since she looks to be around the same age as Elijah. Maybe a year or two older.

And then I remember myself.

I’ve just intruded on a very intimate moment—one that belongs only to the father and daughter. I begin to retrace my steps back in retreat, but my sandals must make a noise, because Zara’s gaze bounces away from her father and onto me.

“Is that her? Is that the Winter Queen?”

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