Page 130 of Frost Like Night
Theron showed me this painting. One of my first glimpses of Winter.
“I can have it hung in your room if you wish.”
I nestle my cheek against Mather, breathing in time with him.
Theron is all right. He has to be.
Banners drape from the ballroom’s ceiling—eight different colors with eight different symbols. The theme carries throughout the room, from the vases filled with eight flowers, one of each color, to the clusters of food on eight trays, one delicacy from each kingdom.
I dig my fingers into the indigo sleeve of Mather’s coat as we descend the staircase. Hollis and Trace, a few paces behind us, scan the room with the practiced air of security.
“It’s beautiful,” I say.
One corner of Mather’s mouth lifts and he glances at me, his eyes trailing down my pleated ivory dress. He swings in front of me at the bottom of the staircase and loops his fingers through the straps of my chakram’s holster. The leather shows a pattern of snowflakes, a far more ceremonial holster than what I’m used to—but the chakram it holds is worthy of such beauty. Polished wood makes up the curving handle, and the blade itself is etched with the bare branches of Winterian trees. A gift from Caspar and Nikoletta, one I haven’t been able to bring myself to throw.Having it is a reminder of what I am, a warrior queen, just like the locket I still wear.
But I like not having to use it. I like that my weapon is purely decorative.
Mather presses his lips to my forehead. “You’rebeautiful,” he says into my skin.
We’re distracted by a high-pitched squeal I know all too well. I turn in time to see a small black-and-scarlet blur tumble out of the crowd.
“Shazi!” I cry, and bend to intercept her.
Nikoletta emerges from the crowd and smiles her apology as she disentangles Shazi from me. “She isn’t yet four and I’ve already given up on corralling her.”
Behind us, Trace leans in to ask Mather a question, which pulls his attention away from the look Nikoletta suddenly gives me.
“Have you spoken with him?”
The change in topic lances through me and I involuntarily straighten.
Nikoletta reads that as my answer and juts her chin toward the glass doors. “He’s in the golden forest. Past the maze.” She reaches out to clasp my hand. “I know he wants to see you.”
I nod, but one question makes me lean closer to her. “Is he all right?”
The grief on Nikoletta’s face doesn’t wane. “As much as we all are.”
She leaves to find Caspar, and I head for the glass doors, linking my arm through Mather’s as I pass. He stumbles alongside me, leaving Trace and Hollis with a confused yelp.
But he sees the look on my face, notes the approaching doors.
“Are you sure you’re ready?” In his voice is nothing but warmth and support and everything that I love about him.
I draw my lips into a smile. “Ready for anything.”
The golden forest appears, as Nikoletta said, at the end of the hedge maze. Dusk has fallen by this time, coating the area in the hazy gray of night, lit only by lanterns that glow along the path.
Mather stops next to me. “What is this?” he whispers.
Ahead of us, golden maple saplings stand in perfect rows over arching grassy mounds. Small gold leaves clink from their thin branches, each tree no taller than I am, dozens of them swaying within a waist-high stone fence that keeps them separated from the rest of the garden.
I step up to the iron gate, my fingers looping through the sculpted metal. Mather waits beside me, willing to follow me wherever I need him to go.
I press my hand to his chest. “Wait for me here?”
He bows his head. “Always, my queen.”
I kiss him quickly and enter the forest.
