Page 47 of Brighter Than Gold

Callan shook his head, brows tensed. “The Princess they mentioned was Yates, not you.”

If forcing food on myself was difficult before, it was doubly hard now as I thought of Yates. “Callan, we have to do something. He’s going to kill her.”

He flexed his hands nervously. “I know, but we’re on our own. She said there are no sentries nearby. And the palace knows she’s been taken, so it’s about to be a shitstorm out there.”

I stopped chewing. “When exactly did she tell you all this?”

“Earlier, downstairs. I’m actually good at my job.”

“Despite our recent kidnapping…”

Callan glared at me again with a look that suddenly shot ice through my veins. “It was a joke, Callan,” I uttered under my breath.

“If your mouth is empty enough to sass me, then you clearly have enough room to put more food in it.”

His reprimanding caught me off guard, and I turned back to the cold meal.

* * *

When I woke the next morning, I was relieved I hadn’t tucked myself into Callan again as we slept. I was surprised when last night, he had stripped to nothing but thin cotton shorts and told me to ‘shove over’ in the bed. Apparently he was retiring the crestfallen martyr role, as difficult as that was for him.

The new day had me feeling a little less empty than the night before. Sleeping on the knowledge that the little life inside of me was still there, had started to melt my iced-over heart.

“Good morning,” I said in a groggy voice, noticing the general was already awake beside me.

“Morning.” There was a ghost of a smile playing on Callan’s lips.

“What are you smirking about?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit.”

Callan rolled his head over on the pillow to look at me. “You were talking in your sleep.”

Shit. Kas had told me that once. And I’d apparently been saying some rather suggestive things.

“What did I say?” I asked, concerned.

“You were telling me off.” He chuckled. “If I heard right, you used some very colourful language.”

“Oh. In that case I should let you know I wasn’t sleeping,” I said haughtily, and that garnered me a small chuckle.

“Can I ask you something?” he said leaning over.

“All right…”

His mouth opened and closed several times, not knowing how to form his question. I was beginning to get nervous.

“Do you really not feel the cold?”

Ah, he wanted to know aboutthat.I smiled in relief that he was not asking me something more serious.

Northerners were blessed with a unique ability that we depended on to survive; we were not affected by the cold. It’s how we had thrived in the frigid mountain ranges. It’s why the Realm’s army fell so easily to ours in the unhabitable temperatures.

“Well, I can feel it, I know what cold is. It’s just not at all unpleasant for me, and it can’t hurt me like it can you.”

Callan’s eyes traced over my face in wonder. He looked almost childlike, and it was a stark change from the prickish general who was ordering me around last night.

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