Page 46 of The Frost Touched Queen

I don’t even care why he does right now. All I care about is that his hatred is making my life a million times more difficult than it has to be.

I have to find a way to tumble the protective walls he keeps built up around him down, so that I may get the answers I seek.

If Anya were here, her counsel would be to seduce the dark king, but unlike her, I have no real experience in doing such things. I’ve grown up too sheltered to have acquired such female expertise. And besides, can a man who has sworn to loathe me for his entire life be seduced by the object of his hatred?

Doubtful.

So instead, I give in to my defeat and eat my dinner in total silence, hoping that between now and dessert, I’ll come up with a plan that will work in my favor.

Unfortunately for me, Levi has a different idea in mind.

After we’re both finished with our meal, he gets up and walks toward me, stretching his hand out for me to take.

“After dinner, I always feel better to take a walk before retiring to bed. Would you like to accompany me?”

I’m so taken aback by his unexpected proposal that all I do is nod.

He takes my hand and pulls me out of my seat before retrieving my long cloak.

“It will be warmer as we get closer to the east, but as it stands, tonight is well below zero degrees. I wouldn’t want you to catch a death from the cold.”

“Wouldn’t you, though?” I arch a suspicious brow.

“If death is in your destiny, I doubt very much it will be caused by a simple chill. Can the queen of winter even freeze as us mere mortals do?”

“I don’t mind the cold,” I answer honestly, since his tone is less hostile than it was when he came in. “It comforts me. Reminds me of home.”

“Are you homesick already?” he teases, a playful glint in his green eyes.

I let him put my coat on me and offer a nonchalant shrug.

“I haven’t had time to be homesick.”

I’ve been too busy wondering why you wanted to dethrone me.

Wondering why you hate me.

“Understandable,” he says, his voice slicing through my somber thoughts. “It hasn’t even been a week, but it’s normal that you’re not homesick yet. However, as the months trail by, I’m sure you’ll end up yearning for the familiarity of home,” he adds, grabbing my arm and hooking it with his, leading me out of the tent.

“You sound like you have experience on the matter,” I reply, letting him take the lead as we walk amongst the camp.

“I’m a soldier, Kat. I have been for most of my adult life. I’ve spent more time on distant shores and foreign lands than I have in my own kingdom. So yes, I’m quite the expert when it comes to longing for the place you call home.”

“Hmm. So what you’re telling me is that it will only get worse from here?”

“So much worse, Kat.” He chuckles softly.

My immediate reaction is to demand that he not call me by that name again, but this is the first time I’ve seen Levi even looking a fraction of his old self. I don’t have the will to chastise him for it.

At least, not right now.

“As the days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months, you’ll miss home that much more. But there is something that I must warn you of,” he cautions seriously.

“And what is that?”

“When you do finally manage to go home, you’ll find that it too has changed. That it isn’t how you left it. You’ll find it smaller somehow, find certain aspects of it obsolete and outdated. But your home is not at fault as to this new way you’re perceiving it. It didn’t change. You did.”

I find myself hanging on to his every word. The scent of food over open fires and soldiers laughing as they dine around us are nothing but background noise to Levi’s cautionary tale. I’m pulled back to a time when we were children and Levi seemed to know all things. Wise beyond his years, he would make it a point to share his learned experiences with us, so that we learned from his mistakes as well as be inspired to go on the same adventures he had.

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