Page 57 of Frost Bound

“I have to be,” he gritted out. “I can’t afford to think any other way.”

His cousin gave him a pitying look which made Neve bristle. He didn’t need anyone feeling sorry for him. He was the bloodyreillovof Loriia.

They fell into silence as the group pressed on toward the Seed in the distance. The tree grew larger the closer they got, the snowy lands around them bathed in the sun’s fading light. The snow sparkled like a thousand gems, and he couldn’t help but glance back at thesaloes.

She’d pushed back her hood and was staring at the winter countryside, her lips slightly parted as if in awe. A thread of pride wound around his chest, and he sat a little taller. If his kingdom awed him every time he saw it, what must it be like for a human who’d never been to Loriia?

In fact, as far as he knew, only twosaloeshad visited the Seed in their history. It was something that they guarded fiercely. A holy place. The beginning of life for their kingdoms. Or so the stories went.

A rattling cough broke the peaceful silence, and he winced.

“Her cough has gotten worse today,” Eyri commented in Loriian. “I asked her about it and all she said was that the cold air stings her lungs.” His cousin frowned. “Does that sound right to you?”

Neve shrugged. “I don’t know much about the human body, only that they have one heart opposed to our two. And that most do not like the cold.”

“Well, our princess has seemed to weather our cold quite well.”

He arched a brow. “Our princess?”

Eyri had the decency to look bashful. “You know what I mean.”

Neve smiled at how his cousin squirmed on hisrukhal. It was so easy to tease him at times. “I was just jesting.”

“You don’t do that much anymore.”

That wiped the smile from his face. “The burden of responsibilities are heavy upon my shoulders.” He didn’t have time for frivolities. His carefree youthful past was well over.

“That doesn’t mean you have to destroy yourself for your kingdom. It’s okay to take a moment for yourself. To be yourself. No one is expecting you to be your father.”

His heart pinched at the blunt but genuine advice. “I know,” he rasped. “It’s hard not to give my all when our kingdom demands it.”

Eyri nodded. “Now you will have a wife too.”

Aniliave.A wife.

“Indeed.” But for how long? He hadn’t sussed out the reason the Asterans had given their only child to their enemy.

She coughed again, the sound wet. Maybe she had weak lungs? If so, she was not long for life; he’d help her go quickly and painlessly. He wasn’t a monster.

He rubbed at his chest when it twinged uncomfortably.

He dropped his hand, and his expression hardened.

And if she was a spy … she’d be executed as a traitor.

Either way, his wife wouldn’t be long for this life.

The roarof the river grew louder as they approached the life-giving waters. Neve stared at the crystal-clear aquamarine water, vapor rising into the air as shadows from branches of the Seed cast wicked-looking claws across the river and snowy banks. He clicked softly and Cessa stopped just before the river’s sloping southern bank. He lifted his hand and waved to his people, who lined the northern bank, awaiting their king and his new bride.

They cheered, holding up their flickering lanterns. A symbol that his people would always be his guiding light.

He glanced to the west, noting the old stone bridge that led to the city. Dark green pine garlands dotted with pink flowers of thevestrellayetrees decorated the sides of the bridge, along with large lanterns.

The road that would always lead home.

Neve dismounted Cessa and nodded to his Haunts. He pulled his regalia off, leaving him shirtless. Next, he pulled off his boots and socks, shoving everything into his bag and pulling out his fursillovia—the ornamentalcaern’yecover—one that he’d share with hisloviayeonce they’d been bound by crossing the waterstogether. Lastly, he slid on the embroidered jerkin cuffs hismommarhad stitched for hispovvar.

A lump formed in his throat, and heat pressed to the back of his eyes.