Page 2 of Broken Hearted
Reaching out, I brushed my fingertip along the falling tear on her cheek and froze it. She smiled, and it fell to the ground like a tiny shard of ice. Amara constantly asked me to freeze things. Fruit. Flowers. The annoying birds that chirped early on Sunday mornings. I, of course, ignored that last request, but she loved to see my power on display.
“You be good for Mother and Father, okay?”
She nodded and I gave her one final hug.
I had to leave before I lost my nerve.
I nodded that I was ready to Mother, who was patiently waiting for me to say goodbye to my sisters, and we continued down the hall to the throne room, stopping at the closed doors. My father stood there in his finest black velvet suit and gave my mother a nervous glance.
“Can I say goodbye?” he asked timidly.
Even after four years, he wasn’t sure where things stood with her. She was the queen, and he was no longer the king consort now that they’d divorced. She’d allowed him residence on palace grounds in a guesthouse for the sake of my sisters and me, but it was a constant strain on our family when they were both in the same room.
“Of course. I’m not a monster, Leif,” my mother said defensively.
“I never said you were,” he added.
“Can we not?” I asked.
Always fighting. I’d vowed to never marry, just to avoid such a thing.
My father pulled me in for a hug. “Do what you have to in order to survive and come home,” he whispered to me.
If only he knew. In order to do that, I’d have to slaughter Dawn’s husband or one of the other handsome and seemingly kind men who had been present that night.
They weren’t monsters. They were our mates, whatever that really meant.
It was a good thing the only one I’d truly been attracted to was already engaged. That would make all of this easier.
I hoped.
After my father released me, I took his hand and squeezed it. “I love you,” I told him and pled with my eyes for him to get along with my mother while I was gone.
He must have learned to read minds because he nodded and said, “We’ll be fine.”
With a relieved sigh, I dropped his hand. My mother stepped up next to me, chin held high.
“Ready?” she asked.
I traced my fingers over the blue kyanite faestone dagger at my thigh and nodded.
Would I even use the weapon?
For a wild second, I had a dark thought. What was the heart of one man to save an entire kingdom? Even if he wasn’t a monster, even if he was my mate, if he could save my people, maybe the sacrifice was worth it.
I’m pregnant.Dawn’s words filtered back to me, and my heart pinched.
The princesses of Faerie were marrying the lords of Ethereum.Having children with them. I couldn’t just take one of their lives, not when there appeared to be another way. A way that wouldn’t just delay the curse for a hundred years, but actually destroy it once and for all.
I strengthened my resolve. I’d already made my choice. And that was to trust Dawn.
The doors opened, and the cavernous throne room broke into applause as I smiled and waved, following my mother to the dais. Everyone who was anyone in the Winter Court was here.
My mother’s most cherished advisors and courtiers stood around us, dressed in their finest attire. I nodded to the Honeyworths and then Mr. Thorpe before making my way past the Larkins. I’d grown up around these families, played with their children, and had dinner parties with them. It warmed my heart that they’d all come to wish me well.
We were Winter. We were resilient. We survived above all odds. This would not bring us down.
Suddenly, one of my mother’s messengers ran forward, breaking through the crowd, alarm evident on his face. He was holding a scroll between his fingers.
