18. Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Eighteen
Gerta
“ Y ou may kiss me.”
I stare at Kay in shock at both his audacity and his generosity for saying such a thing. I am not sure which reaction I should give in to, so I stare stupidly instead. “But . . . what ?”
“We shall never cross paths again if the Three Heavens shine upon you.” One hand abandons mine to caress the side of my face, the warmth of his touch combating the chill of the wind.
Would his kiss also warm my frozen lips?
“I already know I will regret crossing paths with you again more than I have regretted anything else from my birth until now,” Kay murmurs, his expression actually softening from his usual countenance. Then his thumb caresses my mouth, sending shivers that have nothing to do with the cold down my spine. “But not as much, I fear, as you would regret walking away from this moment without a farewell kiss.”
“Is that so? You think I would regret that very much?”
“Indeed. I only wish to be considerate of your feelings.” Kay presses his temple to mine, and it almost hides his small smile from my view. “I have no such feelings of my own as the ice king, after all.”
And now that he is the one promoting such an activity, I feel as though I ought to oppose him. Not because I wish to, but because one of us needs to be wise. “But we are not betrothed . . .”
“It is quite scandalous, but who shall ever know?”
Kay’s hand on mine abandons it to stretch around my waist and draw me closer to him so that we once again share body heat. Though it is hardly as effective as when we shared the same blanket . . .
“I should warn you, though,” Kay murmurs as he leans close to my ear, “that should your paths become so cursed as to cross with mine again . . . and you grant me another kiss in a second lapse of judgement . . . well, at that point, I will have no choice but to consider us betrothed. But for now, in this moment, you are free to do as you please with no consequences.”
I arch my brows. “That sounds like a dangerous promise from Constantinium’s most dedicated captain.”
“Well, no consequences except potentially falling irrevocably in love with me, that is.”
My stomach swirls. I didn’t even know that Kay could flirt, and now it seems to be his most lethal weapon. But I’ve always been very impressed by dangerous weapons . . .
I place my hands on Kay’s stomach and then daringly let them climb his torso so I can wrap them around his neck. It is the most flirtatious I have ever been, but I do not like the thought of being unarmed in this new game. “That sounds like a hefty consequence.”
“One to be braved only by the most hardened of Gaelic warriors, to be sure.”
Biting my lip in a vain attempt to halt a smile, I draw Kay’s attention to my mouth. And with just his gaze alone, I think I hear a choir from the Third Heaven singing. A thrill of danger flows through me like a heady ale, and I move closer so that only our layers of leathers and furs are between us with no room for the winter .
Kay’s gaze slides past me. Then he’s suddenly spinning me around so that we stand in each other’s previous positions.
“Gerta,” he whispers, his tone mournful instead of warm like before, “I think I shall always regret you.”
I stand on my tiptoes, ready to move on from words to actions, but then Kay dips me with far more drama than I expected from a Constantinium Captain. More unexpected, though, is the fact that he doesn’t move with me, keeping his rigid position— until suddenly the left side of his chest is beaming in the sunlight.
“Kay?”
His fingers loosen, and then I fall backward into the wet, cold snow.
From this angle, I see what I could not before. The sunlight beams not from his chest, but off the ice crystal protruding from it.
A scream freezes in my throat.
Kay sways on his feet but turns before crashing to his knees.
Now I can see that the ice entered him from behind, and the ends of it still protrude from his back. I can also see the Snow Queen floating just beyond him, a cruel smile on her lips.
“What a pleasant surprise,” she murmurs from her lofty height, the sun gleaming off her gown just as much as it does from the ice crystal that is protruding from Kay. However, there is significantly less of that ice crystal now. Is it melting? Can he be saved?
“I thought I had to settle for the girl, but instead I get the petty one.”
“No . . .” I turn back to Kay just as the ice finishes melting . . . inside of him. Through the tear in his garments, I can see his wound has closed up, but it now bears a scar in the shape of a snowflake. “No! ”
“The debt has been repaid, girl,” the Snow Queen assures me, barely glancing at me before turning her smug smile toward Kay’s crumpled form. “What an act of chivalry. I can already tell you aren’t like my other servants.”
Scrambling to my feet, I come to stand between Kay and the Snow Queen. “You can’t take him! He belongs to Constantinium more than Gaelia now.”
Knocking her fluffy blonde hair from shoulders that are exposed to the elements due to the cut of her gown, the Snow Queen sniffs. “I care not for your petty border wars. My power puts me above such things, though I understand how you might be confused, as devoid of magic as you are.” Her piercing blue gaze slides past me to Kay. “This one, on the other hand, is quite the prize. I sense the Healer Bloodline flowing through you, boy.”
I turn back to Kay, suddenly filled with desperate hope. Mayhap his Healer Bloodline can prevent the Snow Queen’s magic from freezing his heart just as much as it can protect against the cold killing him.
Kay’s shoulders are lowered with pain, and his hands grasp his knees that are half-buried in the snow. Worst of all, though, is the change that has come over his face. What has always been placid is now twisted into a scowl. And eyes that once betrayed no emotion no longer resemble the clear sky because of the bitterness shining through them.
“Kay?” I whisper.
Those ice-cold eyes lock on mine, and his scowl deepens. “This was all part of your plan, wasn’t it?”
“My— my plan ?”
“To make me fall for you so I’d sacrifice myself in your place.”
I stare at him, trying to make sense of the strange dichotomy of him confessing feelings for me with such an icy tone. “No! I would never. I wanted us both to be free. ”
The Snow Queen chuckles behind me. “That was never going to happen. One of you had to pay, and this is where the lots have fallen.”
Whirling around, I clench my fists. “Thaw his heart! Let him go!”
Throwing her head back, the Snow Queen full-on laughs, the wind echoing the sound in the most horrifying way. Then, in one moment, all mirth is gone, and she’s staring coldly down at me. “Even if I wanted to, it is beyond my power to grant your request. My magic allows me to freeze, not release. Not to worry, though; the life I offer is not cruel. The cold shall no longer touch his skin, and ice shall become a beautiful comfort to him.”
“What?”
The Snow Queen ignores me, as does Kay, who is now on his feet and trying to walk past me.
I grasp his hand desperately.
Kay glances back at me, his cold gaze nearly as painful as the Snow Queen’s ice spike looked to be.
Then, despite his warm words earlier, he yanks his hand free of both his glove and my hold like I am repulsive to him.
“In fact,” the Snow Queen adds, “ice will be the only thing that holds any beauty to him.”
“ What ?” I turn back to her.
She winks. “Not to worry. I live in an ice palace. There will be plenty of beauty for him to enjoy as he serves his beloved queen, the true sovereign of Gaelia.” The Snow Queen turns from me to hold out her hand to Kay.
“No!” I scream, launching myself at him and grabbing his hand. “You can’t go with her!”
He glances back at me, looking at me as one might a rat in the food stores. “Why not? You’re the one who drove me to this, enemy of mine. I should never have let my guard down around you. ”
With that announcement, he wrenches his hand free of mine and places it in the Snow Queen’s waiting one.
She yanks him into the air with her. Then, with a gust of wind that knocks me back, they both sail toward the First Heaven, toward Schneekonigin Mountain.
Once again sitting in the snow, I stare helplessly after them as my heart throbs like it is what took the Snow Queen’s curse, not the captain who called himself my enemy. Not the man who set me free only to enslave himself for me. Not the boy who almost kissed me.
Kay . . .