Chapter 27 Ban #2
“Who?” Odette interrupts.
“That’s the Mad Queen’s name,” I grumble.
“Right. The Mad Queen and Lancelot reboarded the ship they arrived on. Why would they leave behind the banners?”
“Davina saw us,” I point out, nodding to Zarev. “Seeing me would be one thing, but Zarev doesn’t come up this way. I don’t know if Queenie will recall, but she did see you when we were beneath the lake, Odette.”
“She could be worried about what that means,” Odette agrees, shrugging beneath all the layers she’s wearing. “But would she care? She thrives on chaos. If we’re trying to band together, doesn’t that give the impression we’re worried she’s winning?”
“She is winning,” Zarev grumbles tiredly. “We have to find a way to cut her off before she can do more damage.”
“First we need to get to the palace,” Neve replies, folding her arms over her chest. “I need new clothes, and Odette too. My dresses won’t keep you warm, but I’m sure we have some uniforms that are fur-lined and will do the job. It’ll be easier for you to move in too.”
Odette throws up her hands, the sleeve of the tunic Zarev gave her covering her hands. “Thank the Gods. I can’t get anything done this way.”
“Assuming there are troops,” Neve goes on, her brows drawing together, “we should keep to the shadows. Go to my room first and make a stop in one of the servants’ quarters for Odette, maybe the kitchens for supplies.
I want to see the damage on the streets and ensure there aren’t survivors suffering down there.
If we don’t see any soldiers, we can move even faster. But food and clothing first.”
“And then?” I ask.
“Then,” she agrees, lifting her chin to match my stare, “we go to the library. It will have more resources than my father’s old study. It should have records of some of the things that don’t make sense, like a map for instance. We can make a plan. Perhaps there will be something on Davina as well.”
“Why would the Mad Queen be in your records?” Zarev asks with a frown.
“Because,” Neve says, gripping his arm before she points to the kingdom, intent on going back, “she was once my mother’s best friend.”
~~~
After determining there are guards stationed here, Zarev left with Odette in search of something warmer. The plan is to meet at the end of the hall in thirty minutes.
Neve’s already pulling things out of her closet, looking for something to replace her shredded dress. “You can go, too. I think I can manage to dress myself.”
I plop down on her bed, reaching over my shoulder to ice over the lock to her room. We’re not going to be interrupted anytime soon. “Perhaps. But I want to look at your back.”
“It’s fine, Ban. I’m not in any pain, and it doesn’t feel like I’m bleeding. Whatever you did seems to have worked.”
“No, whatever I did just put a bandage on it for now. You need a real healer.” Guilt rolls through me as I lick my lips. “You need someone like Rapunzel.”
“Who?” She throws another jewel-encrusted gown over her shoulder, the bodice seeming to have frozen crystals along the top. It’s pretty, but useless for anyone who isn’t planning to sit around all day.
“Rapunzel. She’s Zarev’s…” I’m not entirely sure what to call her. “Princess.”
Neve shoots me a look, pulling out the simplest gown I’ve seen so far.
It’s dark blue with light blue details that seem to outline the shape of the body.
There are no crystals, but the material is still too rich for her to pass as anything less than nobility.
As much as servants' clothes might work better, I know why she’s avoiding them; the material will be too thick.
It’s meant to fight off the cold, not to accept it like the mages we are.
She’ll roast in that, so some of her dresses will have to do.
She gives me a wicked grin as she throws the dress over the top of the folding screen in her room before tugging my shirt off and tossing it at me.
I catch the material as she ducks behind it, keeping her back turned away so I can’t make out anything. Sighing I pull the shirt on and stand. “Sure you don’t want help?”
“It’s mostly shredded, Ban,” she says sweetly from the other side of the screen. I grit my teeth, walking to one side of the barrier. She’s going to kill me this way, and she damn well seems to know it.
“I need to look at your spine, make sure the ice is helping you heal properly. Healing isn’t something I have much practice in.”
“I see.” Neve pushes the screen a little, the thin wood making it easy to slide across the ice. My brows lift when she looks at me, the dress pressed to the front of her body and nothing more. “Okay then, ice mage, take a look. Tell me if it’s as bad as you think it is.”
She spins around, her short bob-length hair skimming the top of her shoulders and highlighting the spot where I ice-fused her spine back together.
Where her skin tore apart, we used more bandages and ice to stitch her back together, because I didn’t know what else to do.
Now there’s a strange network of blue lines, akin to a spiderweb, across her skin, like the frost is now a permanent part of her.
The frost almost looks like cracks, but when I smooth my palm over the spots and earn a gasp from Neve, there are no rough edges, no scarring left behind to prove that I saved her life.
Neve shudders, and I know it’s not from the cold.
She’s bare all the way down, taking a step toward me as I study her.
I had Odette help me bandage up the base of her spine, too, down to the tailbone, where the spine was still connected but the vertebrae twisted.
It took time to realign everything, and the only saving grace was Neve being unconscious, unaware of the pain.
There was so much more blood when we were finished.
Now, I can see where the cracked, frosty skin gives way to her pale complexion, each cheek of her ass begging for my attention when I’m supposed to be confirming that she isn’t going to die.
“You don’t have to look so hard, ice mage,” Neve interrupts, her voice breathier than moments ago. “You’ve seen it all before.”
Groaning, my arm slides around her stomach and draws her closer. “This is very different, Neve. You aren’t in the middle of dying.”
She cocks her head to one side but doesn’t turn to me. “And when I was sleeping?”
Frowning, I step closer, pulling her flush against my front.
She gasps as her bare ass presses against me, and I lean down to speak into her ear.
“I thought you hated me back then, little Queen. If there’s something I plan on doing to you, I want you awake.
Where’s the fun in anything if I can’t see how you react? ”
Neve’s head snaps back when I drag my other hand up her leg, another shudder working its way through her as she bumps into my shoulder. There’s no sign that she’s in pain at all. “We have a little time.”
“A little?” I chuckle against her skin, turning to place a lingering kiss on the side of her throat. “I need a lot more than a little time with you.”
She squirms against me, dropping the shredded dress in front of her, and all my self-control goes out the window.
“I think we can make it work, just this once, ice mage.” Leaning back, she wraps a piece of my hair around her hand and tugs.
“I waited for part of a day, but if we keep waiting, I worry we’ll never find a moment to be together. ”
She rocks back into me, and my eyes roll. “Fuck me, Neve. You know exactly what you’re doing to me.”
“I know exactly what I want you to do to me,” she challenges.
“One day,” I growl against her skin, skimming my hand up to drag across her nipple. She gasps, jumping against me, and I rock my hips into hers. “I said one day to let me take care of you. Can’t you give me that?”
She pushes my hands off, spinning around to glare at me.
I rake my gaze over her breasts, one nipple hard from my tease, and smooth, pale skin that is unmarked in contrast to her back.
There’s dark hair between her legs that matches her short bob, and she presses her hands against my chest to push me back.
“I’ll be sure to tell you if you do something that hurts, mage. ”
I step back, and she follows, until I can see her back in the mirror. It’s a pretty picture, but I can’t focus on much aside from the frost I left behind in her skin. “My ice healed the breaks in your spine. We shouldn't challenge the healing. I’ve never repaired a body before.”
“Great,” she hisses, peering up at me. “I'll get to be your first something. You can be mine.”
I glare down at her, wondering why she has to push me all the time. Grabbing her again, I pull her squirming body toward me, clamping one hand down on her hip. “You play a dangerous game, Neve.”
“Give me something to be afraid of, and maybe I'll stop,” she challenges, rocking her body into mine again. There’s a fire in her blue eyes that won’t stop burning, and the more she tests me, the less willing I am to hold back.
The room’s secure, and if it gets bad in the palace, Zarev can handle some guards for a little while…
“I don’t need your fear to know you want me, Neve.” My free hand grips her chin tightly, forcing her gaze up to mine again. I get right in her face, her hand fisting around the sleeve of my shirt. My gaze drops to her lips, and with it, the last shred of control that I can manage. “Fuck it.”
After dragging her to me, I slam my lips over hers. Neve moans into my mouth, her hands fisting my hair, and I keep my hands carefully off her back just in case. I back up, pulling her with me until my spine hits the hall.
Her kisses are messy, desperate. I’m not in the mood to slow down when she’s trying to climb me like a tree. Her hips keep bouncing into mine, making my cock ache at her actions, and I’m pretty sure she’s using me.