Page 133 of Of Rime and Ruin
“Nahla!” he cries out. “Wait!”
I strain my ears for a second set of footsteps, the light patter of a thin ghost of a male.
Tears roll down my cheeks, and I swipe them away. There was a better way to tame his inner Beast. I could have used my magic. Helped him train. Helped him learn to control himself. It could have been painless. Therapeutic. Fuckingromantic.
Betrayal punches my gut. Aethan waswith mewhen the murders occurred. He’s fucking innocent, but he took the blame and let Lucas have his way. How deep are the healer’s hooks?
“Sunfish, please! I’m sorry!” Aethan’s voice bellows, rattling through the hall.
I take the icy plunge.
The current sucks me down, down, down. My scales skim the ice as I gain momentum, slipping into darkness faster than I expected. I pump my tail to slow my descent, but it’s useless. The water whooshes and churns. Propelled through the tunnel, I careen along its path, slamming into the ice at every turn. My shoulders jostle and bruise. I bite my tongue to tamper my screams.
I trusted Lucas, and I trusted the king. Who else was part of their plot? Deirdre? Perrin? Sure, let’s capture a beast-tamer who can expose the weakness of a gentle creature we all needlessly hate, then use her as bait to get rid of him. I can picture them now, chuckling over hot chocolates as they plan the Beast’s demise. And I swam right into the snare.
How could I be so naïve? Fuck, it’s all soobviousin hindsight. Is everything I thought I knew about this kingdom a lie?
I should never have come here. It’s my fault the Beast is gone and Aethan is a shell of himself. I fucked everything up, like I always do. If I had listened to Winona and married that prince...Gods, she was right about me. My powers are useless, and mymeddling only brings trouble. Someone should nail my fins to the floor, or better yet lock me in…Ice.
I shake my head to clear the thought before Aethan’s face can appear.
With a final twist, the tunnel ends abruptly, and I spiral head over tail in a cloud of bubbles. A few kicks of my tail and I stabilize. The bubbles settle, clearing the view of my surroundings.
I’m in a bedroom, of sorts. Walls of ice form a small dome. Shelves are carved in the far wall, littered with the knickknacks of a hatchling. Small stone toys lay scattered across the floor. A hammock hangs in the corner, the knotted ropes aged and frayed. Glacierweed grows from cracks in the floor.
On the desk perches a painted image of the former Frost Prince—short, white hair sprouts from a younger version of Aethan’s face, his piercing blue eyes playful. He has a tail, just like mine. Dark blue with a feathered fin. No claws. No horns. He looks happy. The surface is scratched, marring the image where his smile should be.
Not just any bedroom. His. When Aethan was still a guppy.
Scales rise on my neck. I must be in the old royal city.
Above me, I spot the tunnel I came from. Deep claw marks gouge the ceiling, scarring the ice with evidence of the clawbeast. Is this how he’s been getting in and out of the castle, all this time?
I brush my thumb over little Aethan’s face. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper as my throat tightens. “You deserve better.”
Memory pierces the moment: Ramona’s retreating form, diving into the deep without me. My sister’s scowling face, as I imagine she’d looked when the news reached her that day. Her voice, forming the words that echoed through my head as I left my world behind:Deserter. Traitor. Disappointment.
My eyes prickle with salt. I’m a deserter. Not an adventurer, as Keen said. Not a queen, as my sister wanted. Not even a way-maker, as I dreamed I’d be. When the tides get rough, I don’t stay for the fight. I fucking leave, like the coward I am.
Princess Nahlani of the Brine, Deserter Extraordinaire.
This is what I do.
As I tilt the image, Aethan’s eyes shift, and his playful gaze turns pleading.Like he needs me.
With a gasp, I drop the image, and it sinks to the floor face-down. Then I kick my tail and slip through the doorway, following the path to the center of the abandoned city. As I enter the central chamber, recognition dawns. This is where Aethan took me to make love that night. If I follow the tunnel to my right, I’d find the library.
My chest tightens, and I turn the other way, following the wide channel out of the city. I squeeze my eyes closed as I pass the pikewhale statues that guard the entrance, relying on scent and current to lead me into the open water of the Rime. Aethan said I’m free to leave, and I should have gone sooner. I let myself become too attached.
With a burst of magic, I send out a signal. My Voice ripples away from me, spreading through the water as it carries a simple message for Ramona:Come find me. A few fish stir as the spell passes over them. They stiffen in attention, turning toward the open sea.
At the murky edge of my vision, the glaciers converge. A dark chasm cuts through the rock, lined with iron spikes, and beyond it, open ocean. It’s the one place Aethan never wanted me to go. The final rule, and I’m about to break it.
I’m leaving him behind.
Regret sinks in my stomach like a rock as I fight my instincts to flee. What am I doing? I can’tleavehim. Aethan, the grumpy, royal pain in my ass who stole my entire heart—what if heneeds me? I was so afraid of what Lucas might do, I didn’t stop to consider his safety. I should turn back and punch that motherfucker Lucas in the face.
From the distant waters, a faint chirping melody floats to me. I squint, and my heart lifts as I spot the pod of glosswhales racing toward me. Their slick gray bodies cut through the water, and their chirps grow louder as they approach. Their minds glow with the thrill of a chase, inviting me to play.
