Page 36 of The Frost Touched Queen

Gods.

I let out an exaggerated exhale and count to ten in an attempt to simmer my temper since Anya is not at fault for my nonsensical reaction.

“Stand, Anya. I’m not cross with you. Just the situation I find myself in,” I explain evenly.

If I wasn’t her queen, I would apologize for my brutish ways toward her. However, that is exactly who I am, so to even say the word sorry would be a show of weakness on my part. And as it stands, my enemies have already listed plenty of those against me. I shall not be reminded of how many more they have yet to uncover.

On shaky knees, Anya stands before me, her expression grief-stricken that she’s offended me. Sometimes I forget that, unlike me, there are men and women whose hearts are easily mangled. I wish I could feel an ounce of that emotion. It would mean that I’m not made of ice, as people are fond of accusing me of being. But alas, my heart stopped beating long ago, and I fear nothing will ever jumpstart it to life again.

“Tell me what you need, Your Majesty. I’ll do it for you. Anything,” Anya begs, needing to do whatever it takes to get back in my good graces.

“As much as I would like to see the scroll for myself, I’m pretty sure Levi has probably already destroyed any proof of it. However, I would give my left arm to know for sure if it was Atlas who sent a rider to him. The gods know he hasn’t made any such attempt in contacting me,” I explain defeatedly.

“There still might be a way,” Inessa interjects, pulling my attention away from a demure Anya and onto her.

“If you have a better suggestion than Anya’s, please be my guest. I’m all ears.”

Inessa hesitates for the briefest of seconds but ends up finding her voice.

“I know it isn’t my place, but I watched you ride with the king. Although he tried his best to hide it, I have no doubt that he’s fond of you. And fondness has a way of corrupting a soul when it’s not nourished. You can use that to your advantage.”

“Fond of me?” I let out a loud laugh. “The man had an army at my border threatening to take my throne, Inessa. How could he possibly be fond of me?”

“The heart works in mysterious ways. Sometimes not even we can decipher all its wants and secret desires until they are right within arm’s reach,” Anya adds softly to her friend’s piece of advice.

I school my features, so my handmaidens don’t see how their words just sent me into a tailspin.

Could it be possible?

Could Levi still harbor feelings for me, even if he refuses to acknowledge them?

I shake those foolish notions away.

“You’re wrong, Inessa. Levi doesn’t care for me. In fact, he would have probably celebrated my defeat by putting my severed head on a spike for all to see.”

Anya cringes at the turn of phrase, while Inessa remains adamant in her convictions.

“That might be true, Your Highness, but it doesn’t make my statement false either. My humble advice is this, my queen, send word to the king that you request his presence for supper. Once he’s wined and dined, ask him outright who the messenger was from.”

“He’ll never willingly offer up such information.” I shake my head.

“He will if he believes that he’s speaking to his future bride,” Inessa insists. “Men are simple creatures, my lady. Give him something he craves, and trust that he will return the favor in kind.”

“And what exactly do you believe King Levi craves?”

“Nothing more than your undivided attention,” Inessa says with a straight face.

“Seduce him, you mean?” I rebuke, going to the root of her advice.

“Plainly speaking, yes,” she confesses.

I think long and hard about her proposal, trying to discover if it holds any merit. My handmaidens have gossiped around me enough through the years to have me believe Inessa might not be all that wrong when it comes to the male sex. Some of them can’t help but be prisoners to their urges and desires.

I’ve heard tales of how devoted duty-bound men were quick to forget whatever vow they swore to their wife and crown, in the hopes that a slender young body would share their company and bed. If that hadn’t been the case, then Anya wouldn’t have been so successful in her mission with Levi’s soldier. Even the most loyal of men have their weakness, their allegiance put to the test just by the way a woman smiles at them with promises of lurid days and even wilder nights.

But this is Levi we are talking about.

Not once in all the time I’ve known him was he easily enamored by a pretty face or a seductive smile. The man is born of steel, groomed to feel nothing—just like me.

---