Chapter 3 #3
I smirked and untied my cloak, dropping it on the ground. Unsheathing my own sword, I stepped into position, the blade singing through the air as it left its scabbard. “I wouldn’t want it any other way, Your Highness.”
We moved like we had a hundred times before, circling each other in the snow, testing, taunting, striking. At first, it was playful, our swords clashing in a rhythm that felt familiar, almost comforting. But then the tension between us shifted, sharpened, and suddenly, it wasn’t a game anymore.
The heat of his body flared as he pressed closer, his movements quick, his strength undeniable.
My breath came faster, not just from the exertion, but from the way his gaze burned into mine—the way his voice rang like a bell in my chest whenever he growled in frustration—but I refused to let him intimidate me.
I countered with equal force, our blades locking together in a screech of steel.
The impact sent a jolt up my arm, and I flinched in pain.
“You’ve gotten slow,” he taunted.
I secretly smiled despite the ache in my shoulder joint.
Finally, a glimpse of the prince I knew.
“Or maybe you’ve gotten predictable,” I shot back, twisting my blade free and stepping around him in a fluid motion.
He spun to meet me, his sword flashing as he aimed a downward strike.
I raised my blade to block, the impact reverberating through my bones.
“Where were you?” I demanded, sliding my sword down his with a quick thrust, forcing him back a step.
“Patrolling the Isogrim borders,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Bullshit.” I struck again, forcing him to parry. “Then why not send a missive?”
He deflected my blade. “The soldiers I was with were lost in the storm.”
My chest tightened. I’d trained with those soldiers. But still, that was not a reasonable excuse. “You could’ve sent one of your ice messenger doves, Jack. A sign. Something to let me know you were alive. Have you any idea how worried I was?”
He faltered, his blade lowering slightly. “Syl…” The way he said my name, soft and apologetic, almost undid me.
I lowered my blade as well. “What happened out there, Jack? Why did Lord Kaelvan’s accusation of there being a mole within the council rattle you so much?”
His jaw tightened. “It’s better if you don’t know some things, Syl.”
My brows pinched. “You know who the mole is.” Anger surged within me, my grip tightening on the hilt of my sword. I swung so fast, it caught him off guard and he stumbled back.
He recovered quickly, lunging at me with unnatural speed.
I barely had time to parry, our swords clanging violently as he pressed forward.
His strength forced me back a step, then another, until his blade twisted mine away.
He moved too close, our limbs tangling in a web of arms and legs.
I lashed out with my elbow, but he caught my arm, and the momentum carried us both to the ground.
I landed on top of him, my sword pressed to his throat, the sharp edge kissing his skin.
For a heartbeat, we both froze. The world narrowed to the rise and fall of his chest beneath my hand, the heat of his body bleeding through the layers of my uniform.
“As captain of the guard,” I seethed, my voice trembling with anger, “you don’t think that’s something I should know? ”
His throat worked beneath the blade, his gaze flicking to the weapon before returning to mine. There was no fear in his eyes, only a maddening calm. “About that…” he murmured. “I know I fucked up. I should’ve been here for your promotion.”
I pressed the blade closer, though we both knew it would take far more to pierce his royal fae skin. Asshole. “You don’t get to change the subject.”
But then, with a quick, effortless motion, he rolled us. My blade was knocked from my hand, and his weight pressed me into the snow, his sword now at my throat. The cold bite of the steel seeped into my flesh. “I don’t want to fight with you, Syl.”
“You should’ve thought of that before you decided to keep me in the dark.” My voice cracked, a restrained sob catching in my throat. “Before you decided not to be here when I…”
His gaze softened, understanding running like a current in the depths of his eyes. He flung his sword aside, leaning closer until his breath ghosted over my lips. For a moment, I thought he might kiss me, and the thought sent a shockwave of thrill and anxiety through me.
His proximity, the sheer size of him, the weight of his muscles… Goddess, his scent, a mix of frost and cedar… All of it was overwhelming. But then his mother’s confession echoed in my mind, reminding me why she’d sent me after him. To be his keeper. His whore.
I bucked my hips and pushed against his granite-like chest, trying to knock him off me, but he grabbed my hands and pinned them back against the snow. “For Skadi’s sake, Sylvi, stop fighting me.”
“Get off me, Jack,” I hissed, my voice trembling with more than just anger.
“I will, but only if you promise to stop fighting me for one fucking second. Can’t you see I’m trying to apologize.”
“If this is your idea of an apology, then you have some serious people skills to learn. Get off me, Jack. I’m not going to ask you again.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he released my wrists and pushed himself up. He stretched out a hand to help me to my feet, but I ignored it, scowling as I stood on my own. “You’re an insufferable prick sometimes, you know that?” I muttered, brushing the snow from my coat.
“And you’ll never stop being my little trega,” he replied, his voice tinged with something almost playful.
His little brat… I tried not to dwell on how the possessive way in which he’d uttered those words made my insides clench.
But when I met his eyes, those blasted crushing blue eyes, the longing in them made my heart squeeze.
I resumed to patting snow off my uniform, mostly to distract myself from looking directly at him.
“That’s only because you can be positively infuriating. ”
He took a step closer, and closer still, his chest nearly grazing my breasts. “Syl, look at me.”
Crossing my arms to keep some distance, I reluctantly tipped my chin up. “What?”
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers feathering over the tender pointy end and sending a shiver running down my neck. “I’m truly sorry for not letting you know where I was, or that I was okay. But mostly, I’m sorry for not being here for your promotion.”
“Today was my official first day, so you didn’t really miss much. Not that any of it matters, anyway,” I muttered, turning away.
He reached for my elbow. “What do you mean?”
I regretted it the moment I said it, but it was too late now. It wasn’t the time to bring up his mother, but then again, if not now, then when? But first… “Are you finally going to tell me where you actually were these last seven days?”
“You’re not going to let this go?”
Different tactic then. “Your mother promoted me to captain so I could be your keeper. There, now you offer me a truth.”
He stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned back on his heels. “Syl. We’ve not played that game since we were fifteen. Is this really the time?”
“It’s not a game, Jack. Truth. We promised… Anytime. Anywhere.”
“Fair enough, but you can’t just drop that bomb on me and expect me not to ask follow-up questions.”
“You can ask all the follow-up questions you want, but first you need to offer me a truth. Where were you?”
He spun away from me, fingers running crazily through his hair.
“My initial intention wasn’t to go on a scouting mission—not for the crown at least. That was a ruse, and please don’t ask me what my original plan was, Sylvi, because…
telling you the truth of that plan would put you and your family in too much danger. ”
As if my family and I weren’t already in too much danger. The queen had literally threatened me tonight. And he had another thing coming if he thought I wasn’t going to try to sniff out whatever else he was hiding, but right now I needed to get what I could, even if it was merely crumbs.
“When the storm hit, we got lost and then separated. I was able to ride it out, but the rest… When the snow cleared, it was evident they’d succumbed to the freezing temperatures.
It wasn’t until then that I realized we’d ended up near the Isogrim border.
The reports don’t lie, Syl. The hatching grounds were abandoned.
No eggs, no hrímling. And no mated pairs.
It’s as if the hrímdreki simply vanished. ”
“Is that why you were wielding tonight? Were you trying to recreate one?”
“The threat from the Ice Giants is real. They are amassing a large army—larger than anything we’ve ever seen—and I don’t know if we stand a chance without the dreki, not when their arsenal is comprised of magical beasts of their own.
But right now, I was trying to invoke Kallah, not trying to recreate one, yet somehow, it’s like my magic took over, and before I knew it, the beast was before me, except this time, it was different.
It wasn’t like other times I’ve created creatures where I could see through their eyes.
This time, it was as if I was the beast.”
“You were calling to their god. Maybe that was his answer. Maybe he was trying to say you were on the right path.”
“Whatever it was, I still don’t know where the dreki went, Syl. The Isogrim…I don’t think they are our only threat. Something…” He palmed the back of his neck. “Something awoke in the Wildlands. Something dark.”
“Maybe we need to talk to the queen. If what you’re saying about this darkness and the kingdom being in danger is true, then we need to secure Isenheim now and alert the provinces immediately. We need to—”
“Syl, the only way to truly protect Skadgard against what’s coming is to accept the—”
“Don’t tell me you are actually considering that betrothal.”