Page 91 of Frost Bound

“You wanted to hurt me?”

Her smile dropped and her bottom lip wobbled. “I wanted you to know you’d made a mistake. To see that I was right.”

Neve shook his head. “Lumi … I didn’twantthis. It was what our kingdom needed. Do you really think I want a wife who can’t speak our language? Who doesn’t understand our culture? Or hides her flinch when I reach for her? One I’ve had to guardmyself against every second of the last month? And now you’ve chained me to her!”

His sister paled. “What do you mean?”

“After you slipped away today, I met with my Haunt, Eira, and Warrin. You know they keep the pulse on our people. Loriians are uneasy with asaloesas their queen. They need to see me accepting her. I could have done that in public only, but now the servants know she’s in my bed. If I send her away now, it will be seen as rejection, and stir uncertainty. Something we cannot afford.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Dahlia is going to kill me!”

Lumi’s fingers curled into fists. “Dahlia?Dahlia?You are calling the human by her name?”

“No.”Only in your mind.“I know you’re not happy she’s here, but our enemies are many. Each decision I make must be calculated without feeling. Thereillevedoesn’t have to be your friend, but you must show her respect. Our bonding has stemmed war with the humans.”

“Fornow,” Lumi huffed.

He crossed the space between them and took his sister’s hands in his own. “You are my flesh and blood. I need your support if we are to come out of this unscathed.”

“You truly believe we are in that much danger?”

“Until I have an heir … yes. Even that can’t fix everything.”

Lumi squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m sorry. I let my anger get the best of me. I will try to be civil to thesaloes.”

Neve pulled her into his arms and hugged her fiercely. “A good start would be not calling hersaloes. Her name is Lady Dahlia.”

His sister pulled back, her nose crinkling. “Why do humans name their offspring after flowers? It’s ridiculous. Don’t they know names have power? Saddling a child with such a name marks them as weak the moment they are born.”

He chuckled. “I don’t know, but once you get to know thereilleve, you might think differently.”

“How so?”

He released his sister and walked to the window of her room that formed the other side of the half-moon. He watched as the waterfall thundered down from the center of the massive cavern, gems glittering.

“She has a banked fire. Every once in a while, it will burn brightly only to be extinguished, replaced by a mask of self-control. It’s as if she’s at war with what she wants to do and what is proper. She’s pragmatic and hardworking. As she healed in the village outside the Seed, she wouldn’t just rest. She helped thenonnaeandnonnaettewith cooking, cleaning, and healing prep. Thereilleveishard. She traveled through conditions that are normal for us but excruciating to her people without complaint. She’s not squeamish or cowardly.”

He turned his back to the window and crossed his arms. “I watched her charge a dimedon with only a slingshot and a dull little dagger. She stitched Flyka’s leg up like a battle surgeon.”

“It sounds as if you like thevalles,” Lumi commented, her nose once against wrinkled.

“Not like, per se. She makes me want to rip my hair out.” He paused. “Dahlia’s sense of duty is as strong as my own. I can respect that.”

“Do you trust her so readily?”

Neve smirked. “Do I trust anyone readily? We may share being duty-bound, but her loyalties are with Astera. She might be my wife and play her part as thereilleve, but if push came to shove, she would oppose and stab me in the back for what she believes. Only time will tell if she has an ulterior agenda.”

“Have you discovered what’s wrong with her?” his sister asked, perching on the arm of a green divan.

“Her legs.” He pursed his lips. “The skin is multihued tans, peaches, and browns. It’s not contagious, and has no effect on her overall health, from what thenonnaegot out of her. She holds a profound sense of shame over it.”

Lumi frowned. “Why? There’s nothing wrong with differences in the body.”

“My thoughts exactly. I believe the queen has made her feel less-than. Plus, the religious order in that kingdom likes to burn people that are considered different. It’s fearmongering, something I believe she’s been trained to believe in.”

“So she’s a bigot?”

“No. What I meant is that I think these beliefs have scarred her, and have been ingrained since she was a child. When she realized I knew about her condition, she panicked and tried to bolt into the snow in just a shift.” Even now, he could feel the way she shook in his arms, and remembered the tears that tracked down her face as she tried to battle the panic.

“Deeply entrenched fear, then.” His sister whistled. “So what you’re saying is, you’ve been saddled with a human wife that by all appearances will not die anytime soon like you’d originally hoped?”

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