Chapter 8 Ban #2
Instinctively, I don’t want to trust her kindness. Why should the princess choose to give me food in a long line of starving citizens? She watches me think it over, her gaze darting to the line of people waiting outside the throne room doors.
It must click for her, and she takes the dish from the guard. “Guards. Get enough to feed everyone while they wait. They came all this way. Why don’t we offer food for their long journey?”
The guard hesitates, looking between the two of us then the line of close to a hundred other people. “Princess Neve–”
“I know there’s enough,” she says, her brows furrowing. “We are preparing a banquet later for the nobles. Surely we can give bread of all things to the travelers who seek an audience with the King and Queen?”
He looks behind him helplessly, probably for the cowardly captain who sent him with the bread. “I’m not certain King Andor–”
“King Andor can take it up with me if he likes,” she replies briskly, standing as she lifts her chin.
It doesn’t matter that she’s smaller than the guard; she’s more fierce.
“I’m supposed to learn how to rule this land.
I’ll start by not starving the people begging for help.
Tell the cooks to bring enough for everyone waiting.
If it cuts into the excess for the nobility later, so be it. ”
I’m mildly impressed as the guard gives in, bows, and scurries off. She turns, holding the fluffy roll out to me, and winces. “Apologies, this one is a little squished now.”
I take it anyway, my stomach begging me to devour it in one bite. Instead I rip off a chunk, staring at her as she watches, like she’s waiting to see that she’s helped.
A smile splits her face, and she remains crouched beside me as she continues to chatter. I can hear people behind us as the guards begin distributing food. I’ve never seen anything like this in the palace.
Her bright eyes meet mine again. “Don’t worry, we’re going to make it right. My parents want to change their ways from what I hear. The Snow Queen is going to bring a new life to the Frostlands. Just wait and see. And the King is excited to usher in a new age.”
I stay quiet, letting the princess talker.
She isn’t as rigid and formal as her parents appear to be.
From the way she’s struck up a conversation, I think she might be lonely.
Why else would she want to talk to me about royal affairs while we wait in the line for help?
For all I know, she should be in the throne room herself.
“Don’t tell anyone,” she whispers, dropping her voice.
Her bright white teeth nibble her bottom lip, and I can’t remember a time that I saw either the King or Queen hesitate like this.
“But Lady Hartsell is going to help Mother. She’s marrying the King of Diamonds soon.
It’s all anyone can talk about. Have you heard about that? ”
This girl really wants to just be a normal girl, gossiping about royal affairs and talking to a peer. It would be touching if my situation weren’t so dire.
As I take another bite, she continues. I don’t think it matters much whether I reply or not.
“The King of Diamonds, he’s in Wonderland.
That’s where Lady Hartsell is now, though she’s supposed to be a Frostlands citizen.
Can you imagine a Frostlands noblewoman marrying into the Wonderland Royal Family? The Sandman will have such a fit.”
“Sandman?” I ask, choking down another bite. Her eyes widen at my voice before she turns to the guard lingering at her shoulder. “Water would be good too! Please!”
A glass appears before the princess almost out of thin air, and I take it before she can think twice. It’s a welcome coolness to my aching throat, and unlike the bread, I have no problem finishing it in one go.
She gives me another beaming smile once I’m finished. “The Sandman is the King of Diamonds’ twin. Born second, he’s first in line for the throne after His Royal Highness.”
“Princess Neve!”
Sighing, she turns as she rises, pushing that long braid over her shoulder. I stand, too, towering over her by more than a foot, and bow when I spot who is searching for her.
“It was lovely to speak with you,” she hisses, nodding to me. “Oh! I didn’t get your name.”
I hesitate, licking my dry lips. Telling her could turn against me later. “It’s Ban.”
She smiles, stepping away before she heads toward the King. “I hope our paths cross again someday, Ban.”
In the chaos of everything that’s happened, I doubt she ever put the pieces together of a beggar and the man who became known as Jack Frost, the moniker I carry up here for everyone who doesn’t know my name.
I was just one peasant in a long line of many, but for those few minutes, when the princess looked right at me, it felt like I really mattered.
Neve groans in her sleep, and I imagine her fight-or-flight instinct is kicking in. Fear will make her instinctively want to wake up, and it’s best if that happens within the palace. People need to know that the real queen has returned, and her mother needs to be unable to hide the truth.
When I lift Neve into my arms, I’m surprised to find she’s heavier than I expected. Her arms have a slight bulge to them, revealing a bicep, and I acknowledge that the Queen was fit and muscular before her frozen sleep took over. It’s amazing the muscle mass withstood such a long curse.
In the shadows, I hurry us down the mountain. My magical reserves scream at me to stop and rest, but there will be time for that soon. Neve is awake, and the past is going to be set free.
The kingdom has no barriers that can keep out Death, and I slip inside without a struggle. There are some spirits lingering here, far fewer than there were on the outskirts of town, where I need to do some work.
I wait until the guards sweep through, Neve trying to shift in my grip. Once I’m sure the coast is clear and I can set her within the palace walls without fear, I step out of the shadows to lay her on the cold stone.
She groans again, eyes fluttering almost open. My lips tilt up into a smirk, taking in the opulent palace she’s been absent from for a century.
“Okay, Your Majesty. I brought you back to the palace. Now it’s up to you to remind the Frostlands why you are the true queen.”
As though she somehow hears me, her eyes snap open and she sits up carefully. I’m back in the shadows like an illusion before she can say a word.
Neve struggles to her feet, taking in where she is as the next patrol sweeps through. The two guards freeze down the hallway from us, only seeing one person.
And she’s the most important person in the land.
They exchange a look before one takes off, and the other rushes toward her, hands held up. The other’s cries echo through the vaulted ceilings of the palace, making Neve’s shoulders droop at his words. “Alert the Dowager Queen! The long-lost Ice Queen has returned!”