Page 80 of Frost Bound

Neve could hardly believe his luck.

While his council had sided with him on his choice of taking a human bride, it had been reluctant. Dealing with assassins and dimedons was nothing compared to the tangled web of court politics that awaited him. He grimaced. A lot could change in a month.

Despite how much he hated the little games of court, he couldn’t wait to get home. The Mirror Bridge gleamed just ahead of them, reflecting the sunset. Dahlia gasped, leaning forward on Cessa’s neck, her bottom pressing once again against hissorav.

He stifled his groan, fingers flexing on her hips.

The last three days had been miserable. With the gentle rocking of therukhalcoupled with her plushsaloesbody, he couldn’t help but react to thevalles. No matter how much he reminded himself that he didn’t find Dahlia attractive in the least, hissoravonly understood friction and heat.

It was bloody uncomfortable.

“What is that?” she murmured. “It’sbeautiful.”

The warriors within earshot chuckled at her excitement, and Neve even smiled through his discomfort and irritation.

Eyri nudged hisrukhalcloser. “It’s the Mirror Bridge.”

“Is it made of glass?”

“It looks that way, but it is made of something far sturdier. It is constructed of reflective crystal from the Olek Mountains to the east,” Neve answered, pulling thevallesback between his legs. “Sit back before you fall.”

She snorted, and then slapped a hand over her mouth. He glanced down at Dahlia in surprise. She avoided his gaze and whipped her face forward.

“What was that sound?” he whispered in her ear, smirking that she thought to hide from him. “Was something I said amusing?”

“Only the fact that you presume to order me around.”

“I am your lord and king.”

She twisted, her nose almost touching his own. They shared a breath, and he found himself staring at her lips. What was so confounding about them? He inhaled her spicy ginger scent and leaned the smallest bit closer.

“You are my captor, my lord.”

He blinked. “I suppose I am.” Like the evilvalloshe was… he liked the idea of being her captor.

“No apology?”

“No.”

She hummed, faced forward, and Neve exhaled slowly. What was it about thissaloesthat intrigued him? One moment he wanted to throttle her, and the next he wanted to bathe in the glow of her smile…

Even with her flat teeth, they’d unfortunately began to grow on him.

They reached the top of the slope and he watched Dahlia’s jaw drop. Cessa’s hooves clacked against the crystal bridge, and he paused when they reached the middle.

“I have no words,” she whispered reverently.

Neve straightened and stared toward the west, to the Glace Palace. He knew what Dahlia saw.

A large lake covered with a sheet of thick white ice. Majestic black mountains around the western and northern edge of the lake, blanketed in pure white snow. And nestled proudly along the water’s edge stood the Glace Palace, the sprawling city around it carved into the mountains like a half-moon.

The palace shot up to the sky like shards of unforgiving ice. The sunset washed over the glass, stone, and crystal, making the palace seem like it was on fire. Sharp spires jutted from the mountains like proud sentinels. Sloping roads cascaded down to water’s edges, looping in different directions, elegant in their design. Frosted pine trees hid homes and taverns, only their winking lanterns visible.

This was his home.

“What do you think?” He held his breath. He didn’t know why her answer mattered to him so much, but it did.

“It’s like a fairy tale. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

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