Page 80 of On Silver Winds
“I’m not sure I like your implication, Your Majesty,” she said, lip twisting. “I’ll have you know, I am a paradigm of regal poise, and ladylike manner, and what-have-you.”
“You’re a rogue,” Kai said dryly.
“Arogue?” She echoed gleefully. She turned her whole body to him, walking sideways to peer up at his face; whatever she found there sent a wicked smile along the curve of her lips. “My, I’ve really got under your skin, haven’t I?”
He declined to answer, finding himself glad for the cool air on his suddenly hot neck.
Ahead of them, Iseult picked up speed, kicking up powdered clouds of snow and running full tilt toward a solid figure standing still among the crowd. The young man grinned and dropped to his knees in the snow, arms held wide to catch the Princess and swing her up in his arms. Kai faltered a half-step; his blood seemed to pick up speed, thundering through his veins and making his muscles seize at the sight of that grey cloak draped around the man’s armoured shoulders; the uniform of the Gard. He drew himself taller and unclasped his hands behind his back, holding them loose and ready; for what, he did not know. He only knew that he did not ever want to find himself ill-prepared in the face of the Queen’s Gard again. But Adeline called out merrily, and the man turned a bright, open face toward them. Kai exhaled. He recognised him, vaguely; it was Adeline’s friend, Gerard. His cloak was the soft, dove grey of the Eisalaan Gard, not the unforgiving iron that collared the throats of Captain Doran’s men.
Gerard shifted Iseult to the side, like a mother balancing an oversized babe on one hip. As Adeline came toward him, he turned his cheek in wordless invitation, and she reached up to grab his neck and plant a swift kiss on his face. As easy as that.
Meanwhile, Kai could barely hold her gaze half the time, and the other half, when he did look her in the eye, it was far from easy. He forced himself to look away now, jaw tightening as he stared out over the cold surface of the lake, smooth as the blue glass of Avette’s lost pendant.
“Oh, and you’ve brought afriend.”
The Gard whispered something Kai didn’t hear, but he looked back just in time to see Gerard dodge an elbow to the ribs from Adeline. Iseult giggled into her hand.
Gerard’s grin was impish, but he composed himself as he set Iseult down and turned to Kai in a smooth bow.
“Merry Mid-Winter, your Majesty.”
Kai folded his hands behind his back once more. If there was a greeting to be made, he wasn’t sure what it was. Mid-Winter wasn’t a festival Eisalaan observed before the Frost. He could only imagine it stemmed from the summer festival of Glasfeil, but somehow it seemed inappropriate to wish an Eisalaanianmany weeks of greenand goldin the depths of yet another Winter.
“And to you,” he returned instead, with a small nod.
“The King is coming ice skating with us, Ger!” Iseult whispered excitedly, tugging at the young Gard’s cloak.
Gerard cocked a fair brow, but didn’t make whatever comment was poised on his tongue.
“Well let’s get a move on, shall we?”
Without another word, Ger took off at a sprint and Iseult tore after him, shrieking something aboutrotten cheats. Adeline shook her head fondly, and fell into step beside Kai once more.
“I’m honestly not sure which of them is more excited,” she said, eyes soft and warm as she watched them race ahead. “It’s Izzy’s favourite time of year. I’m so glad she’s home.”
“She would have liked it before the Frost, I think,” said Kai. He immediately wished he hadn’t. Perhaps that old storybook had thrown him more than he realised. He’d always been careful not to discuss the Eisalaan he knew unless asked outright. After all, he was committed to his future here, no longer living in the past – that was what the Beira family wanted to believe. But now Adeline turned to him and her eyes lit with interest, her body swaying slightly closer so that her arm brushed his. And just like that, without deciding to, he heard himself go on.
“We’d be celebrating Glasfeil today, and the woods would be thick with wildflowers. You could taste them on the air. It used to make Ceri sneeze uncontrollably. It’s a shame she’ll never see that.”
Adeline nodded. “Ceri having a sneezing fit.”
He raised a brow, and she laughed. Mother drown him, he could have lived on the sound for another six hundred years.
“Eisalaan in bloom,” he clarified.
They crossed the treeline once more, and Kai reached out to hold a particularly thorny tree branch out of Adeline’s way. She braced her hand on his arm as she passed under the branch – and then left it there as they walked on.
“I bet it was beautiful.”
He nodded, unsure what his voice would do if he tried to speak. He was a grown man, and a King at that, flushing head to toe because a pretty girl had her hand on his arm.
“Glasfeil is a summer festival, isn’t it?”
Kai nodded, then cleared his throat and forced out a quiet; “Yes.”
“I’ve only ever had one real summer. My father took me to Dhalias, where he grew up. There were flowers everywhere there, too.Everywhere. They’re known for it, as much as Eisalaan is known for snow and frost.”
She paused, and looked up at the overlapping bare branches over their heads, eyes alight as though she saw something else entirely.
