33. Revi
Revi was freezing. He was drifting in a glacial expanse, a chill that bit down into his marrow, but despite the lack of heat, something about the cold thrilled him and also gave a deep sense of peace that he had almost forgotten the feeling of. That cold meant he could rest. That cold meant all was right with the world.
Soft, warm lips pressed against his own. The peace he felt was joined by a sense of exhilaration. His eyes flicked open.
Leaning over him, her face filling his vision and spreading fire in his chest, was Kienna. At the sight of him, her teary face erupted into a quavering smile.
“It worked,” she said. “It worked! You’re alive.” And then she burst into tears, burying her head in his chest. His hands came up of their own accord to stroke her hair.
He had hands. He had hands because he’d broken the curse, but hadn’t he returned to a beast? To fight the...
“The zruyeds?“ he blurted out, jerking upright and looking around wildly.
“Peace, cousin,” Enlo said. He knelt a pace away, pure relief in his own expression. He raised a hand to allay Revi’s panic. “They’re gone.”
The initial panic faded as the fight came back to Revi. Yes, he’d destroyed most of them, but he had been so weak he’d been almost overcome. He would have been if not for... He looked at Enlo.
“You saved my life.”
What would have been a moment of good-natured gloating from his cousin any other time was instead filled with a grimace. Enlo averted his eyes.
“Yes, well”—he kept his tone light, but his wary, guilt-ridden expression was utterly unlike him—“it was the least I could do for trying to murder you.”
A soft hiss escaped Kienna’s lips. Revi found her fingers and squeezed.
“It’s safe to say you’re done trying to murder me,” he said. “You have no need to now. The curse is broken, and the throne is yours.”
“I don’t want the throne.” Enlo’s voice was barely more than a whisper. “I don’t deserve the throne.”
“I meant everything I said, Enlo. I think you’ll be an admirable leader.”
Enlo shook his head. “No. I mean, yes.” A hint of his usual smirk ghosted across his face for a flicker of a moment. “I would be a good leader.” He swallowed and met Revi’s gaze. “But you are already a great one. For your claims of not caring about the Court as much as I do, you made the choice that you believed would protect it the most, at the cost of your own life—just like you always have—and that action was what saved us. I don’t deserve your throne, Revi, and I’ve never truly wanted it.” He inclined his head to Revi. “So please, let me give it back.”
“Are you sure, cousin?” Revi asked softly.
Enlo smiled. “I’m certain. Don’t worry, I won’t change my mind and try murdering you again in six months.”
“That would be inconvenient,” Revi agreed. He opened his mouth, then hesitated. A part of him wanted to refuse his cousin, to reject the throne.
Enlo seemed to sense this. “You fear they don’t love you. But I would argue that the quiet loyalty you get from them is far stronger than anything my charm and wit has earned me.”
“I have done nothing to earn it,” Revi whispered.
“I think they would disagree.” Enlo gestured behind Revi.
He turned. Their small staff who had stayed at the castle was hurrying up the garden path. They stopped at the sight of Revi, their eyes lighting up before giving him deep bows from where they stood.
“Be the prince they need,” Enlo said. “I know you can. Besides, you won’t be alone. You have a beautiful wife with an excellent sense of character. She chose you over me, after all.”
Revi glanced at Kienna, who blushed deeply but met his gaze.
“Wife?” he said stupidly.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted. “I’m sorry—it was the only way to save you. If you don’t... you don’t want me, I... I...” She stammered to a stop, her cheeks flushing even further.
He squeezed the hand he still held. “Hold that thought. I have something I must attend to first.” He turned back to Enlo and gave him a nod.
Enlo didn’t wait for him to change his mind again. “Em Enloras krestolla presnyv y pocheska vannost tu Reviam.”
As the last syllable left Enlo’s mouth, a surge of icy energy pulsed through Revi. He sucked in a breath. He felt ready to take on a hundred enemies, which was not how he had felt the last time he’d held this magic.
“How long was I out?” he muttered.
Enlo grimaced. “A few days.”
Revi nodded. “A few days would be enough time to replenish the magic with the curse broken.”
Enlo stood and gave Revi a deep bow. “To your health, Your Highness. I’ll leave you two to discuss things.” His tone was teasing, but there was something in his eyes that Revi didn’t like.
“I’ll come find you soon,” he promised.
Enlo didn’t respond, only inclined his head and turned toward the castle. Only when the crunch of his footsteps faded under the sound of the winter breeze around them did Revi draw in a breath and look at his bride.
His bride. Hope rose unbidden to suffuse his entire being.
“I don’t know if Enlo told you,” he said quietly, “but the curse on our Court—we thought it had to be broken by marriage.”
Kienna nodded. “When he came to my dream, pretending to be dream-you, he did. But you managed it without me.” She paused. “What… what was the curse, exactly?”
The words flowed over Revi’s lips almost unbidden. “‘Summer shall rule in Winter’s land, while beast confines the heart of man, until the strongest of the weak a lifelong devotion does speak, and restores a Heart of Winter.’ We thought the strongest of the weak meant a human—but apparently the leader of a group of weakened Elyri sufficed.”
“And Enlo is a Heart of Winter,” Kienna supplied, “because he’s your… cousin?”
“Yes. It broke when I passed him my throne. Gave up my future to him—my life, too, because the vestiges of magic tied to the throne were all that were keeping me alive after”—Revi grimaced and glanced at the bush beside him—“he destroyed my roses and thereby my personal magic. I’m surprised I lasted as long as I did on the small ripples coming from this.” He stroked a finger down the bush’s nearest branch, and it gave a sad little shiver of magic in response.
“We didn’t talk much before I... woke you up.” She bit her lip, seeming embarrassed by her own word choice. Or, rather, probably the words she hadn’t said. “Why did that work?”
“In an Elyri marriage, you aren’t just promising to stay together, to love each other. You are linking your very souls, giving your spouse access to all your days, your magic, your life force. Linking it to mine was enough for my own life to latch onto it and pull back from the brink.”
Kienna grimaced.
Revi looked away. She’d saved him, but that didn’t mean she wanted him. She hardly even knew him. “I’m sorry. There’s no way to undo it.”
“I don’t—“ Kienna stopped, and then something crossed over her expression. It solidified. “I don’t want to undo it. I didn’t marry you just to save you. I do love you.“ She looked up at him from under her lashes, that sudden resolve morphing into something shy, uncertain. “I understand if you don’t feel the same way, but...”
Revi chuckled, though he felt little humor. “There’s that phrase again. My feelings were never the problem here, Kienna. I’ve been besotted with you since the day you arrived. The day you stared me down—a beast who could rip you to shreds—despite the fear I could smell on you.“ She made a face. Revi laughed. “Yes, I could smell your fear. I could hear your heartbeat, and the fact that you were so afraid and yet so brave captivated me so much that I told my charming, handsome cousin to stay away from you because I was afraid that if you met him, you’d never look twice at me. You had no reason to look twice at me. What woman could fall in love with a beast?“ He drew his hand back and ran it through his hair to give it something else to do.
“Well, you do have rather poor manners sometimes.” Her mouth twitched up in a teasing smile. “What with the way you eat, and with the fact that we’re still sitting in the snow, which has definitely soaked through all of my skirt layers at this point.”
Revi glanced down, chagrined, but her teasing smile caught him. She reached out gently and wrapped her fingers back around his.
“But your heart is good,” she said. “You never were cruel or purposely tried to frighten me. You acted like a man, a good man, not a beast. Zoya sometimes told me stories of your heroics, how you saved and helped your people. And in my dreams...“ At this point she blushed, her gaze flitting across his chest and back up to his eyes. “You were only ever the gentleman. I was blind for not realizing that my dream prince was you sooner.”
“The fangs could be a bit misleading,” he muttered, and she laughed. He loved the way her laugh lit up her face.
“A bit,” she agreed.
“I’ll still have those occasionally,” he said. “I’ve always been able to shapeshift into any animal I wanted.”
“Like a rabbit?” she asked teasingly. He made a face and cleared his throat, which only caused her to laugh again.
“It was only with the curse that I was trapped in animal forms, a beast to reflect my inner self, according to the Summer Queen.”
“It was a good representation of your protective nature,” Kienna said. “Teeth and claws, and also warm and cuddly.”
He grinned and, made bolder by her words, pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and pressing her against his chest. She squeaked at the sudden movement before nuzzling closer, burying her head and sliding her arms around his waist.
“I take it this means you want me to stay?” she asked, a note of hesitation still lingering in her voice.
“Not only do I want you to stay,” Revi said, “I want to redo those vows when I’m actually awake for them.”
“What if that upsets the magic somehow?”
“Your magic is sealed. All that is left is vowing my own life to you and sealing it with another kiss. I especially look forward to that part.” He used one hand to tilt her face up to look at his. “I love you. And yes, I want you to stay, to be my Winter Princess or my Winter Queen forever.”
Her eyes shone. “My heart is already yours, my Winter Prince.”