Page 20 of Broken Hearted
“I am not,” I said flatly, hoping he didn’t ask any more questions.
The wife took the reins from me and bowed deeply. “Thank you for this kindness, my lady. We shall not easily forget it. We’ll leave the horse at The Winterside Inn’s stables for you, back in Noreum.”
I unslung my pack and looked up at Zane, wondering if this was all okay with him. It was his horse after all, but he was smiling sweetly at me.
“That’s fine,” he told them.
After the man, woman, and child climbed onto the horse and left, Zane looked down at me. “That was incredibly kind of you,” he told me.
I shrugged. “I have my moments. If my little sisters were here we would be at each other’s throats, so it evens out.” I winked.
Talking with Zane was easy. He was incredibly laid-back andwe got along so well. But now I had to share one horse with him and that felt slightly awkward. Why? I had no idea. Was it because I’d sworn off love after my parents’ divorce and now everyone was telling me this guy should be my mate? It wasn’t because of his looks, that was for sure. He was as handsome as they came … and sweet as pie.
But then I had a fleeting thought that I’d rather be trapped on a horse with his brother, and I realized in that moment that was what bothered me about Zane. He looked so much like Adrien. Which made sense, theywerebrothers. Thinking of Adrien caused my heart to race, my stomach to knot, and guilt to worm its way into me. But he was engaged. And Zane probably believed I was his mate.
Why was this all so complicated? I didn’t want to deal with handsome Ethereum lords who may or may not be my mate. I just wanted to do my part in ending this curse and then return home. Was that really too much to ask?
“If we share this horse, are you going to be a gentleman?” I asked him with a mock glare.
He grinned. “Probably.”
I burst out laughing and then he laughed too.
“Of course I will, Isolde,” he said more seriously. “We have all the time in the world to … get to know each other.”
I was grateful he hadn’t said the M word.Mates.I was going to avoid that subject for as long as possible.
After strapping my pack to his horse, he reached out an arm and pulled me up in front of him. He immediately scooched back as far as he could so that we weren’t pressed too tightly againsteach other, which I thought was very sweet, and he even handed me the reins.
“I assume we are not going to expect the horse to swim?” he asked, eyeing the black water in the distance. “It would be a lot for her with both of us on her back.”
I chuckled. “We are not.”
Nudging the horse slightly with my heels, the mare took off, and Zane had to reach out and grasp my shoulders to steady himself for a second before mumbling an apology.
I brought the horse right up to the edge of the black water when she began to whinny.
“Whoa.” I pulled the reins and took in a deep breath.
This was it. The survival of both of our worlds depended on my getting to see these Wise Ones, so that’s what I was going to do.
“Head in that direction,” Zane said, pointing toward the mountain jutting high into the sky in the distance. “That’s where we are headed.”
“Okay. Pull up your hood because it’s about to get cold,” I told Zane.
“Colder than it already is?” he asked.
“Yes.”
I was wearing a thin cloak. As a Winter princess, the cold didn’t bother me like it did others, and I’d discovered that I couldn’t freeze to death. Seraphina and I had got in a huge fight once when I was fifteen and she tried to freeze me with her powers, and I turned out to be impervious to such things.
Once I saw that Zane had bundled himself up, I pulled on my power. It was so easy here, since the climate was so similar to theWinter Court. It wasn’t snowing anymore, but the air was crisp and full of humidity.
Aiming my right hand at the black waters before us, I expelled some of my power and watched as the stirring waters stopped and began to ice over.
Zane gasped behind me as the black water froze, creating intricate snowflake designs in the ice as it continued to grow outward. He’d already seen me display my power at the mine, but I guess this was a little different. This was more—
“Beautiful,” he said, finishing my thought.
