Kiss Of Snow (Royal Hearts #2)

Chapter 1 Lily

ONE

LILY

Heavy was the head that wore the crown, but I had no choice but to bear the weight.

I’d been groomed to be queen of Talador from the moment I was born.

They’d even named me after my grandmother, Queen Lily, a wise and just monarch.

I’d always known my fate was to rule. I just never expected the day to come so quickly.

Father had been buried three months ago, and soon I would be crowned in his place. I’d delayed the moment as long as I could to give myself some time to grieve, but the kingdom needed a leader, and the day was fast approaching.

In a few weeks, I would be queen.

I took off the silver crown and set it down on my dresser.

My fingers trembled slightly as I pushed my dark brown hair back into the elaborate style my lady’s maid had fashioned, something she seemed to think befitted the new ruler of Talador.

I suspected its main purpose was to conceal my pointed ears, the only tell-tale sign of the forbidden fae blood in my veins.

I didn’t recognize my face as it looked back at me from the mirror.

It was paler than usual, almost translucent, as if I could see every thought, every feeling, every worry.

The room seemed to close in, the air thick and heavy, and heat suffused me.

I glanced out of the window with its thick glass panes at the frosted scene outside.

Air. I needed air.

I drew my thickest cloak from the wardrobe, the blue one with the ruby red trim, and threw it over my shoulders before tying the ribbon in a bow at my neck. There was something comforting about the weight, as though it helped to hold me together before anxiety fractured me apart.

My head ached, throbbing in time with every step I took toward the door. A draft crept through the wide gap at the bottom, and I pictured Keane waiting just outside, against the same wall where he stood every day to guard me.

As I left my bedroom, he fell silently into step behind me. He didn’t ask where I was going, but then, he never did. Always mere steps behind me. Always quiet and steadfast. I drew confidence from his presence as I walked through the corridors of Winton Castle.

My castle. Even though I kept expecting to hear my father’s voice booming through the building as he decreed something new or berated an unfortunate servant or one of my sisters. In the past that would have been Rose, but she was gone now too.

I hadn’t seen any of my sisters all morning—not even Iris, who usually bounced along in a bright dress clashing with her vivid red hair. I suspected they were all keeping busy or were still asleep. I woke early these days.

Keane and I walked through the white stone corridors of the castle. I didn’t know where I wanted to go—just that the castle suddenly felt too small and confining.

I automatically pulled my hood up over my head as we left the castle grounds and walked into the forest, where the ground between the trees was mostly snow-free and dry.

The snow couldn’t always permeate the thick evergreen trees that rose above us as their fresh scent permeated the air.

I breathed in deeply, glad of the familiarity.

This forest had been here before I was born and it would remain long after I died.

My anxiety calmed a little, and I focused on the soft sounds of the forest, the twigs snapping under foot and the usual crackling noises the snow made as it shifted on the branches. But the snow also muted things, preserving me in a world alone.

Well, alone aside from Keane, my constant companion and tireless protector. He’d been raised his whole life for his role as Captain of the Guard, inheriting it from his father just as I inherited my new role from mine.

“Keane?” My voice was quiet yet strangely loud in the forest.

“Yes, Your Majesty?” he asked in his low, serious voice.

I shook my head as I continued walking. “We’ve known each other a long time, Keane. Away from the castle, may I just be Lily?”

“I…” He hesitated. Even his footsteps halted before he quickened his stride to catch up with me.

I yearned to be something other than Your Majesty, but I didn’t want Keane to feel uncomfortable at my request. Perhaps I’d been too forward. I waved a hand. “Ignore me. I’m simply feeling anxious. About the coronation, about the future.”

He remained quiet, but it was his thinking quiet, the one he used when he was considering something. I could tell that even with him behind me.

“I’m not sure I’ll make a good queen.” There. I’d voiced it. In the loneliness of the forest, to the one man I trusted with my safety above all others.

He scoffed quietly. Probably under his breath, but I heard him. “You shouldn’t worry about that. I can’t imagine a better queen for Talador than you.”

Even with my magic? Father had banned all fae magic in Talador, including what I’d inherited from my mother.

Fellina was my father’s first queen and only love, but she was also a powerful fae mage.

After she’d died, he’d married many more women, but Mother was the queen I most aspired to be like.

I wanted to be a good leader to my people.

I just wasn’t ready. Not yet.

“I miss Father.” These were also quiet words, because in many ways I had no reason at all to miss him.

With each new wife, and each year he passed on the throne, he’d grown harsher and colder.

I’d worried over my fae magic, and especially Rose’s magic as she defied him by attempting to train herself.

Thankfully, she had married King Raith, known as the Fae King, and in Ilidan she could practice her magic freely.

But Father’s death had left me with the responsibility of Iris, and who knew how her mother’s fae magic would manifest in my youngest sister?

“I can understand that.” Keane spoke with no judgment, but it wasn’t the careful control a lot of the other staff had when they replied to me, and I was grateful for the honesty that shone through in our conversations. “You only get one father, and I’m sorry yours has been taken away.”

I took a deep breath, inhaling the icy air so it froze the sob trapped inside. I missed Father, but I wouldn’t cry for him today.

“We still don’t know how he got sick and succumbed so quickly.” I turned to face Keane and took in his dark gold hair and chiseled jaw. With his towering height and broad shoulders, I couldn’t ignore how striking he looked in the blue and white armor of my kingdom. My queendom now, I supposed.

But his dark blue eyes weren’t on me.

“Lily!” My name tore from his lips, his tone urgent. “Get behind me!”

My gaze snapped to the collection of black figures running in our direction. Bandits? They seemed a long way from the nearest road, but anything was possible. As they drew closer, Keane thrust his arm toward me as though he could shield me, while reaching for his ever-present sword at his hip.

I hesitated. My fae magic. I could use it now, without fear of repercussions from my father and his laws forbidding it. Would I be fast enough to stop them? I knew a few runes, but I hadn’t practiced like Rose had. If something I did backfired, I could end up hurting all of us.

One of the figures darted toward me, a gleaming sword held out in front of him, and he aimed it for my chest. Keane shoved me behind him, and I stumbled then regained my balance.

He slashed at the man with his sword, only for us to watch the bandit disappear in a swirl of black smoke that drifted away in the breeze-less air.

More men surrounded us, with swords that sliced through the air.

We were vastly outnumbered, but Keane dodged and swirled, protecting me with his every breath, while I stood there feeling helpless.

As Keane attacked, every single one of them dissipated in the same way, leaving a faint smell of bitter herbs behind.

But then one of them managed to break between Keane’s defenses and slashed at me.

I darted away just in time so he only sliced through my cloak, shredding it immediately.

It seemed the attackers could hurt us, even though they disappeared when we touched them.

Keane stopped the man by throwing a knife into his forehead, saving me from another attack.

After Keane defeated the last one, he turned to me. “I don’t know what that was, but I do know we need to get you home.”

I nodded, the shock of it all momentarily stealing my words.

He didn’t walk behind me this time. We stepped quickly through the forest with Keane holding my arm to steady me and keep me close, while he looked all around us for more attackers.

His watchfulness reassured me, but worry also began to gnaw in my gut.

What had those men been? Apparitions of some sort, possibly illusion magic, but from where?

From who? Had I been targeted specifically, or were we just unlucky enough to be walking in the forest at the exact moment someone unleashed a spell? I found that last one hard to believe.

“Are you well?” As usual, Keane was composed, and he sounded genuine without being overly concerned we’d faced a possible attack. “I’m sorry if I was too rough back there.”

I glanced at him, but his face was the same as always. Impassive and unreadable. His gentle grip around my upper arm felt nothing but reassuring.

“No, you weren’t too rough,” I assured him. “You were protecting me—as always, and I thank you for it. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.”

“Me either.” His jaw tightened, and he quickened our pace back to the castle.