Frost Bound (Entangled with Trickery #1)

Neve

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Neve

He cracked his eyes open.

The sun hadn’t yet risen and there was a warm body snuggled next to him.

Neve rolled his head to the right and stared down at Dahlia pressed to the right side of his body. She’d healed slower than he’d liked in the last week, but at least the swelling had gone down around her eye, so she had her vision back. The skin beneath her eye was an ugly yellow-green, but the valles had assured him it was normal.

Her assurance had plagued him. How did she know how quickly a black eye healed? It’s not as if she was a street urchin looking for fights. He had a feeling it had something to do with her brute of a father.

Who hurt you?

He rolled his head back to the middle of his pillow and closed his eyes. This was his favorite part of the day. He had always been an early riser, the complete opposite to the valles , not that she knew that. Every day for the past month, he’d pretended to be sleeping when she awoke and slunk away in shame.

He understood her feelings. If you didn’t acknowledge it, then it wasn’t real.

Liar, liar.

Neve’s eyes popped open, and he stared down at his niliave , his hand playing with the tips of her soft rose-gold hair. The bloody fact of it all was that he liked waking up with her in his arms. In sleep, she was soft and pliant—not on guard like she was all the time. Sure, she’d softened since she’d left Florrant, but it wasn’t enough.

He wanted … more.

And yet, how could he take more when he didn’t trust her?

Dahlia hadn’t done anything outright dangerous, but she was always going missing and coming up somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be. She’d made loyal friends all over his castle, servants and highborn alike, but she kept him at a distance…

Except in her sleep.

Even now, her right hand rested over his upper heart as if she were seeking to be closer to him.

She stirred, her lips falling open as she pressed her cold toes against his calf. Neve wrinkled his nose. That was one thing about humans he’d learned rather quickly. Their hands and toes were always cold. At least Dahlia’s were.

He sighed, hoping she didn’t wake soon.

Once his wife was out of bed, it meant he’d have to endure the day.

It was Lumi’s judgment day.

As soon as Neve could leave Dahlia once it was safe for her to sleep, he had gone straight to his sister. She had been laid up in bed with a knee so swollen it looked fake. Lumi hadn’t begged or cried when he told her she was to be locked in her room until judgment could be passed on her behavior.

Lumi had admitted everything to him outright, no embellishments.

His sister had almost killed the reilleve and Dahlia had saved her anyway.

Today, his sister would be punished.

His breath sped up and his hearts began to race. Neve closed his eyes and tried to calm down. Lumi was his closest family member. For her crime, she could be executed or banished. Despite how difficult she was at times, he still loved her.

The fingers on his chest flexed, and the feeling of being watched washed over him. He cracked open his right eye and Dahlia stared up at him, expression sleepy but serious. She didn’t say anything for a long moment, nor did she scuttle away like she normally did.

Instead, she began to hum and then sing.

Neve closed his eyes and listened to her song. His hearts slowed and so did his breathing. The tension fled his body, and he opened his eyes. His niliave stared up at the ceiling, lost to her song. He watched her face as she sang the haunting melody. The last note hovered in the air, and he kept silent for a minute longer, not wanting to break the spell.

“Lovely,” he whispered.

Her attention darted to his face and her cheeks pinked. “My mother used to sing it.”

He had a hard time imagining Allium comforting any child, but he was happy that Dahlia had received that much from her mother at least. She tried to wiggle away, but he settled his right hand around her back and on her hip, keeping her in place.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice a little higher.

“Resting, jaivelle . Lie here and watch the sun rise over the lake with me.”

She huffed, but stayed in place. “I’m sorry for sleeping on you. I promise not to do it again.”

He arched a brow. “Dahlia, let’s stop pretending you haven’t been sneaking away from my side of the bed for the last several fortnights, shall we?”

Her eyes rounded comically, showing more of the white. “You knew?”

Neve grinned. “I’m an early morning riser.”

Her cheeks turned a bright red. She looked up at him sheepishly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. If I had minded, I would have deposited you on the couch.”

The sun crested the mountains behind the palace, the ice and snow shimmering and sparkling outside. The majesty of his kingdom still took his breath away.

“It’s magical,” Dahlia whispered.

He looked down at the valles and couldn’t help but agree. She caught his look and stared. His gaze lazily trailed the slope of her nose, the curve of her cheek, the winged bow of her upper lip. She licked her bottom lip, and heat curled low in his belly.

“Can I touch your face?” he whispered, giving into his longing.

She blinked slowly but nodded. Neve rolled toward her slightly and cupped her face. His palm covered her entire cheek, temple, and ear. He ran his fingers through her wavy hair, tracing a nail along the rounded shell of her ear devoid of any piercings. She shivered, and he paused. What was that? Neve did it again, smiling when goosebumps broke out along her arms. His little niliave had sensitive ears like Loriians.

Next, he sketched her arched brows and along the slope of her nose. He twitched when she inhaled sharply as he brushed his thumb along her bottom lip. Why the devil did he want to bite it? His people didn’t mate with their mouths like saloes . The idea should have disgusted him, but all he wanted was to press his lips against hers. To kiss her.

A rumble started in his chest, and she placed a hand over his upper heart. He glanced down at it as her fingers flexed. Was she trying to hold him back or urge him closer? The heat of desire grew inside him as his attention moved back to her lips.

He wanted, no needed , to taste her there. Now .

Neve leaned closer, and just before his lips touched her own, she placed her fingertips over his lips. He froze as she stared up at him without a shred of emotion. His chest seized, embarrassment crashing over him. Neve was acting like a youth coming into his first heat.

“I know today won’t be easy for you,” she whispered, her eyes darting across his face. “I’m your friend, Neve.” He closed his eyes, loving the way she said his name. “Trials can make people do things they wouldn’t normally do.”

His eyes snapped open. She thought he was trying to mate her mouth because he was worried about his sister and needed a distraction.

She’s given you an out. Take it.

“You’re right,” he rasped.

He leaned away and flopped onto his back, tossing an arm over his eyes. Qov , he was an idiot. Why in godsteeth would he react in such a way by touching her like that?

Because you want your valles.

The covers rustled and he trapped the snarl in his throat as Dahlia scooted away, leaving his side cold. She cleared her throat, and he lifted his arm to find her sitting cross-legged next to him.

“What, Dahlia?”

She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.” She puffed out her cheeks. “And my friends call me Lia.”

Neve dropped his arm. Lia . He liked the way that sounded. “Of course, Lia .”

“Why do you have so many piercings?” she blurted.

He sat up and scooted backward until his back hit the headboard. “In my culture, piercings represent many things.” He touched the piercing toward the top of his long, tapered ear. “The flesh here is painful to pierce and takes a long time to heal. We can choose to pierce our ears there when we lose our parents, siblings, a mate, or children. It reflects our pain and the time it takes to heal from loss. These are permanent. We never take them out.”

Neve touched the bottom stone. “Some celebrate accomplishments. The stones have different meanings. My largest black diamond is for when I became a warrior.”

Lia nodded and gestured to his chest. “And those?”

“These are reserved for married vallos .”

Her mouth dropped open and she swallowed hard. “Do married women have to get those too?”

He grinned, knowing exactly where her mind went. “No. Some valles choose to pierce their nose as a sign of being married.”

She visibly wilted in relief. “So those are new? Did they hurt?”

“Not as badly as my mourning piercings.”

Her attention returned to his ears. He could see her counting how many he had. Her lips turned downward. “Five?” she croaked.

“Yes. Three siblings and two parents.” Each day he felt their loss. He had turned his emotions off to function. Lumi had raged at the world, drowning in her feelings.

She shuddered, understanding and empathy filling her face. “I’m so sorry. I know how painful that can be.”

He cocked his head and really looked at his little human. Both of her parents were alive, and she was the only heir, and yet he could see that she felt his pain. Who had his valles lost?

“Next question,” he finally said.

Lia nodded. “Do you have pupils like me?”

He smiled. “Yes. If you look close enough, you can see a slight difference in my eyes.”

His niliave popped onto her knees and shuffled closer, leaning in. He widened his eyes and tried not to blink.

“I can see it.” Her attention moved to his ears, but he was eyeing her freckles. Did they serve a purpose? Or were they there just to draw his eyes to her face?

“Can you see better in the dark?”

“Better than you, sei .”

“Can I touch your ear?”

“Sure,” he muttered without thinking. Just how many spots were there? It was like brown sugar had been baked onto her cheeks.

He jerked when she brushed the tip of his ear. Lia flinched and gaped at him.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No,” he drawled, ignoring the heat flaring in his chest at her innocent touches. Just when he thought he’d break, she stopped fondling his ears and sat back with her hands on her knees.

He sighed. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Yes.”

He tapped a claw on her legging-covered legs. “Why do you still cover yourself up? I know you’re still wearing hose underneath your dresses.”

She scowled. “How the blazes would you know that?”

“Because there is always a pair in the basket that the laundry maids collect.”

Dahlia crossed her arms and glanced away toward the windows. “I don’t know.”

“It’s just skin,” he stated bluntly.

She frowned. “No, it’s not. It’s what has separated me from everyone else for years. It’s what has made me undesirable to men, repugnant to my own queen, something to be scoffed at, and put me in danger. It’s made me into a monster, not human.”

“Like me.”

“You’re not a … monster.”

He arched a brow at her. “Am I not? By all accounts, since I look different than you, that makes me flawed.”

Lia pursed her lips and hung her head. “I just want to be free of this curse.”

“You can’t change who you are. But you can learn to accept and love it. That is the only way you will ever be free.”

“And your scars?” she volleyed back. “The ones you refuse to talk about. Are you free from them?”

He ground his back molars. She had a point.

She blew out a breath when he stayed silent. “We should probably get out of bed, no?”

His valles was shutting him out, but it was his fault.

Neve nodded. He’d let it go. And figure out how to talk about his scars somehow.

“I do have one more question for you.”

He eyed her. “What?”

“Will you pierce my ear?”