Page 73 of The Princess of Nothing
I nodded. “We will be there. This is Cedric, by the way.”
Lucien didn’t say a word. Instead, he rolled his eyes at us, displeasure in his expression.
“A light faery!” Crawn exclaimed. “I’ve always wanted to meet one. I have questions.”
“Later,” Lucien snapped, his patience growing thinner. “Excuse us, Your Highness.”
The three of them hurried away. Niam wrapped his thick jacket tightly as the snow fell thicker. I turned toward Cedric. “I like Niam. He seems nice.”
Cedric raised his dark blond eyebrows. “I don’t like the other one.”
“Lucien?”
He nodded. “Seems like trouble.”
I scratched the back of my neck. “Yeah, he does a bit.” I breathed in deeply. “Anyway, I wanted to show you the gardens. They’re stunning, especially with all the snow.”
Snowflakes landed on my hair, contrasting the black waves, as we ran outside. Taking the same path Blaise and I did once upon a time, we reached the woods. Fir trees reached out into a forest as far as the eye could see.
“Isn’t it beautiful?”
He didn’t take his eyes off me. “It really is.”
I slapped his arm and blushed pink. We both stood still, appreciating the wintry landscape.
The evergreens melted into shadows in the distance. A lake surrounded the area, and the clarity reminded me of Kiros’s eyes. They were unlike anything I’d ever seen. I wondered how much he was hurting after I left. I felt guilty, but I didn’t altogether like him that much, so it wasn’t overwhelming. Just enough to tug on the corners of my mind now and again.
Cedric grabbed my hand and pulled me into him, placing his other arm around me. “We haven’t had a chance to stop and breathe since this started.”
My worries melted. “I’ve been dying for some time with you.” I walked my fingers up his chest, grinning. “I never thought you’d be interested in me. I mean, I know you were kind of interested at first, but then you learned who I was and—”
The kiss stole my next breath, buckling my knees. He held me up, his fingers dancing up to my hair and getting tangled in my black waves.
“Nothing in the past or future matters, but right now...”
We closed our eyes in unison. I wanted to lose myself in him and forget everything else. The world crumbled away as we kissed by the trees.
When we fell apart, he wore a lopsided grin.
I steadied myself and pulled away. “It feels so free to be away from all the worry and politics. You’re my haven.”
He grinned. “I have always wanted to do this.”
I eyed him as he leaned over, balling snow in his hands.
“The closest I came to seeing snow was when I came to Magaelor in the—”
“Yes,” I said, interrupting him, not wanting to talk about the battle that had brought him and his murderous brother here. I would have to wait to avenge André until after I was back on the throne. Of course, I wasn’t going to tell Cedric that yet. A life for a life. It was the right of anyone in Magaelor. His brother took mine, and in turn, I would end his.
“Careful,” he warned, then threw the snowball at me. It splayed across my dress.
My eyes widened. “You’re going to regret that.” I laughed.I made a snowball and threw it, but he dodged it by flying upward. “No fair!”
He laughed and flew at me, then swept me into his arms. I couldn’t stop smiling, until I saw Blaise staring out of the top castle window at us. The sadness in his features hurt my heart.
