Page 42 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
“But we will happily accept this gift, too,” I tell him.
He smiles playfully, looking almost boyish again. “I have a second bottle. Who knows, maybe I will discover my inner romantic.” He pauses. “He is hot, isn’t he? He smells heavenly.”
“When did you find out?” I ask him.
“When we met at the border,” he admits. “I wasn’t sure at first because there was an entire group of people, but once we entered the town at the border… well…”
“I didn’t know you liked guys,” Ita says. “You never said anything.”
He shrugs. “It was never important to me. I like both.”
“Same,” I say.
“Girls for me,” Ita clarifies.
We chuckle. As we make our way down the hill, I can’t help but think how truly privileged I am, to be born into my family and have found these friends. They all accept me the way I am… well… mostly, at least. Werewolves honor the mate bond and the goddess, but being mated to the same gender has not always been welcomed in the past.
To see Tynan embracing the fact he has found his mate, although he is a human man, is truly beautiful to see.
fourteen
Insecurities
*AZADEH*
Sleep doesn’t seem to come to me tonight, which might be because I slept through the entire afternoon, so I decide to get up and walk around the castle for a while. There are still pack members, mainly guards, roaming around. By now, I know that some of the staff live in the castle, and some prefer to live with their families in their own place and just come for work. The royal guards and warriors have their chambers here until they find their mates.
Also, Royan told me that the orphans stay here, too. King Gillean wanted them to have a place where they felt welcome and made sure they could stay close to his family. It’s a beautiful idea, I think. Instead of being shunned and secluded; instead of having more and more baggage added to their trauma, they can stay here in the castle and feel a sense of belonging.
I take my time to discover other areas of the castle. There are some patios with beautiful gardens covered in snow. Unlike the palace in the Everlasting Desert, the gardens aren’t lush and green, but there are wild trees and bushes, stone benches and figurines, beautiful archways and one even has a small frozen pond. It’s there that I can hear two, by now, well-known voices. Kilah sits on one of the benches, her knees pulled up and her chin resting on them, while Endellion leans against a tree next to the bench.
“You are going to catch a cold,” he calls towards her. She doesn’t answer, making him sigh. “Kilah, if you wanted to help,” Endellion says. “Why did you not just ask? Alana would have never rejected your offer.”
“You won’t understand,” Kilah mumbles.
“I won’t understand unless you tell me,” he says.
“It’s just.” She brushes through her hair, and for a moment, she lets go of her stoic façade. Instead, she looks like a normal young woman… less perfect, more vulnerable, but beautiful. “No one is ever going to ask me though, ever. Because I’m the least special and the least likable of us all.”
Endellion blinks at her, clearly confused.
I don’t want to eavesdrop on them, so I decide to step back into the castle when the wind brushes past me. Endellion raises his head, taking a deep breath, before his eyes lock with mine. I smile apologetically, hoping he won’t be mad for having caught me, but he just smiles and gestures towards me to come forward.
“I apologize,” I say quietly. “I couldn’t sleep and just walked by.” I decide to sit down next to Kilah. The moment I’ve taken my place, she lunges at me and throws her arms around my neck. “You aren’t any less special than the others,” I tell her.
“That’s not true,” she sobs. “Alana is the Warrior Princess, and Eibhlin is the one who killed a bear at the age of twelve. Then, there are Endellion, Caelan and Flinn, the super-alphas and miracle triplets, and Nevyn, who has already gotten his wolf.” She sniffs. “I haven’t even gotten my wolf yet.”
“It doesn’t make us special,” Endellion points out. “Just different. Besides, Alana wasn’t born a warrior princess. Dad and Caelan originally hated how she dressed, and that she wanted to become a warrior. It was Mom who put her foot down and told them to accept her the way she is. It was one of Alana’s biggest insecurities.”
Kilah looks at him, shocked. “I didn’t know that.”
“All of us have our insecurities.”
“What’s your insecurity?” Kilah demands to know.
“Being the middle child,” he says promptly. “Calean is stronger and scarier, and Flinn is wittier.”
Kilah stares at him and momentarily forgets about her own worries. “But… you are perfect the way you are.”
