My Frozen Ever After (My… Ever After)
Chapter 1
Don’t be such a wet icicle. It won’t be that bad. You can do this. Just pull on your big girl panties and go—
My stubborn feet didn’t obey.
I stared at the candy store in front of me, my hands clenched around the rolled-up paper in my hand. I could do this. Tara’s my best friend. She’ll understand. She had never judged me before, why would she start now?
Besides, after what happened two months ago with the prince and his candy cane dick, she owed me one.
Taking a deep breath, I tried push the sounds of the people in town out of my mind. [1] Tara’s engagement to the prince might have made the townspeople more accepting of us witches. It didn’t keep them from staring at my icy blue hair and equally bright blue eyes.
I needed a haircut, but I didn’t think that was their problem. My bob had grown out some, now brushing the top of my shoulders. It wasn’t unusual for women to have all kinds of hairstyles nowadays, but the icy blue color of my hair set me apart from normal.
The women looked at me with either envy or wariness, shuffling their children away from where I stood.
The men weren’t much better. Even if they wanted to fuck me, letting their eyes linger a bit too long on my leggings and form-fitting tunic, their mouths whispered behind cupped hands. No doubt spreading more rumors about me, either because of my connection to Tara or my grandmother, the great self-proclaimed Ice Queen.
Yeah, yeah. Get your fill of the ice witch. But nooo keep your distance. Scurry back to your little homes, cozy up to your boring wives, and whining children, daydreaming of the days you might actually grow the balls enough to talk to the witch one day.
Pathetic.
I shifted in my boots, forcing myself to straighten my back, I shoved the paper back into my pocket and walk into Tara’s candy store with my head held up high. I had nothing to worry about. It was just a little summons, not the end of my career.
Right. If I kept telling myself that, maybe it would be true.
The guards eyeballed me curiously. Their gold-plated armor shone in the light of the sun as they waited to see what I was going to do. The judgment in their eyes made me throw a lopsided grin at them.
“Hello, gentlemen.” I stopped beside one of them. “Nice day to stand around and do nothing, isn’t it?”
The presence of the two palace guards meant that the Crown Prince William was inside the store. If they were trying to protect the prince, they were doing a shitty job of it. Their presence alone screamed the prince was right here, come and get him.
“Miss Bianca,” the guard to the left greeted with a nod of his head. “A pleasure to see you as always.” The sarcasm in his voice only made my lips hitch up higher.
“What can I say?” I shrugged my shoulder. “I’m really just a people person at heart.”
Flat out lie, that one.
There was a reason I lived up in the Vanilla Mountains, away from everyone and everything. A person was smart, but people as a whole were down right stupid. Mob mentality reigns supreme, especially in Candiopolis. They might enjoy the rare commodity of a witch here or there, but as a whole, they wouldn’t hesitate to turn on me if the mood struck them.
No, it was better to be away from them all and work on my research. My little pet project took up a lot of my time, and I’d much rather be holed up in my ice-covered home than pretend to be one of them any day of the week.
“Are you going in or are you just going to stand here all day?” the guard to the right of the door asked with an impatient growl.
“Honestly, not sure yet. Trying to decide if it’s worth it.” I tapped a finger against my chin, my nails painted a darker blue color today.
“Worth what?” Guard on the left asked, his armor squeaking as he shifted in place.
“The sugary temptation that’s going to go straight to my ass, of course.” I shook my head with a long sigh. “Seriously, it’s like you’ve never met a woman before.”
“Not any women like you,” the guard on the right grumbled.
I cocked my hip to the side and patted his metal shoulder. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Keep watch, boys. This is going to get interesting.”
The bell above the door dinged as I stepped into the store. I let the door close behind me and just stood there with my eyes closed, inhaling the smell of the sweet chocolate and sugar candy creations. Pure heaven. How Tara could stand around all day in this place without feeding her face every second was beyond me.
A yowl to my left made me finally open my eyes. Jax, a black cat and Tara’s familiar, crept out behind one of the long wooden shelves that lined up and down the store. Each shelf contained different clear containers of treats, ranging from bits of chocolate of all types and flavors to chewy taffy to hard candies.
I plucked a pink dick-shaped sucker out of a jar and popped it into my mouth before bending down to pet Jax on the head. “How’s the most perfect kitty in the world?” I cooed as I scratched him under the chin.
Jax’s tail flicked from one side to the other while he purred under my petting. “Better since we moved away from the Candy Forest. There are much juicer mice here for me to chase than the random field mouse outside of town.”
I stroked my fingers down his back, my other hand playing with the stick of the sucker in my mouth. [2] “I can imagine that you have all kinds of company now. Find any lucky queens to mate with yet?”
Lifting his small pink nose in the air, Jax sniffed in disdain. “Unfortunately, no. While the prey is plentiful, the other felines do not trust me enough to allow me near any of them during their heat. Jealous bunch of ninnies.”
I stifled a giggle and patted him on the head. “I get ya. It will take some time, you haven’t been here very long. But I know you’ll win them over. Now, where’s Tara?”
Jax jerked his head toward the back. “In the kitchen. But I’ll warn you, the prince is here. So they’re going to be all…” He shuddered in disgust. “Mushy.”
I laughed and stood, grabbing a handful of suckers and shoving them into my pocket for later. “I figured as much with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum guarding the front, but thanks for the heads up.”
I strode down the aisle and toward the back. The sound of low voices filled my ears as I grew closer. Pushing through the batwing doors, I stepped into the kitchen and searched for the puffy black hair of my best friend.
My eyebrows shot up when I find Tara splayed out on top of the kitchen table with the top of her head facing me. [3] Her eyes were closed and head thrown back, her breasts thrust up toward the sky as she arched her back. A hand the color of the milk chocolate she sold on her shelves twisted in the dark hair of the prince kneeling between her legs. Her black and rainbow trimmed skirt was pushed up just enough for him to get beneath it.
Leaning against the door frame, I dragged the sucker in and out of my mouth, toying with it as I watched my best friend get eaten out by her fiancé. My lips ticked up in amusement as the minutes ticked by, and still, the prince hadn’t brought my bestie to climax.
Then, all of a sudden, her mouth opened in a silent scream, her legs shaking as she squeezed the prince’s head between her thighs.
I released my hold on the sucker’s stem and put my hands together for a slow clap. “Bravo. It only took you forever to get there, but at least you finally got it.”
“Bianca!” Tara jerked up on the table. Her cheeks flushed red as she pushed Prince William’s head away from her. “When did you get here?”
“A few minutes ago. I mean, seriously, I have toys that get me off faster than you just did...and they’re made of ice.” I pulled the sucker from my mouth and pointed it at her with a serious tone. “Just let me know if you need to borrow one, because if you have to wait more than ten minutes to get your o, it surprises me that you ever get anything done.”
Prince William stood from the ground, flour and sugar leftovers clinging to the knees of his breeches. “It’s nice to see you too, Bianca. How’s ice hell?”
I shrugged and grinned wickedly. “Not as much fun as you two are having apparently. What would you have done had I been a customer?”
William tucked his button-up shirt back into the front of his pants, his bulge standing out even without the candy cane curse on him. “My guards were supposed to stop anyone from coming in.”
My grin broadly. “Clearly you weren’t specific enough since I’m here.”
“Clearly,” he said flatly before bending over to kiss Tara on the lips. “I’ve got to get back. I have a meeting with the war counsel at two, and Father wants me to talk to him first.”
Tara grabbed him by the back of the neck and drew him back down for a deeper kiss.
I fake-gagged loudly until they stopped.
William rolled his eyes at me before brushing past. “Good to see you again, Bianca.”
“Bye,” I singsonged, wiggling my fingers at his back.
With the prince no longer distracting her, Tara hopped off the table and smoothed her hands down her dress before fussing with her dark head of curls.
“I’m surprised to see you out and about in town. I thought you would only leave the Vanilla Mountain when, and I quote, ‘Hell freezes over.’”
“Maybe I missed you,” I offered, playing with the stick of my sucker.
“I see you helped yourself.” Tara smiled and shook her head. “If you wanted sweets, you could have just sent me a messenger, I would have been happy to send you some so you wouldn’t have to deal with the rabble.”
My free hand reached into my pocket and clenched the letter there. [4] “You know how it is. Sometimes I get stir crazy. Besides, I wanted to see the new shop.” I pretended to check out the store and kitchen. “It’s quite a bit smaller than what you had back in the Candy Forest.”
Tara busied herself, shifting trays from one cold box to the counter. “Yes, well, at least I don’t have to hunt down my customers. They can come to me. So less room, but more business.”
I smirked. “And it doesn’t hurt that you can just stay with your fiancé any time you want.”
The soft smile that crept up Tara’s face squeezed my heart. “Yeah, there is that.” Her face sobered as she turned on me. “However, this is about you. I know you, B. You wouldn’t come here just to see the shop. In fact, the last time you came to town was to meet the king and queen, so the guards would know you’re not a threat to me or William. You’re practical, not sentimental.”
Fuck, she had me there.
“Fine. Maybe I did want something.” I pulled the rolled-up paper from my pocket and fiddled with it in my hand. “Remember how I said we’d deal with my problems later? Well, it’s later.”
I handed her the paper and watched her read it over. Her face paled with each word she read. When she was done, Tara glanced up at me and then back at the letter at a loss for words.
I winced. “That bad, huh?”