Page 81 of Court of Winter

I sat back on my haunches, my mind reeling. Breaths coming faster, I shook my head in disbelief. “So I didn’t stumble there on my own? But when? When did you move me into the bed? Right before you left that morning?”

His jaw tightened, and he shook his head so slightly it was barely perceptible.

My heart beat harder. “During the middle of the night?”

“During your nightmare, you were thrashing and screaming, begging me not to kill them. I came to you and put you beside me in the bed. I tried to soothe you until you calmed. You were quite distraught, but you never woke. Eventually, you settled back into a deep sleep. I didn’t have the heart to return you to the floor.” He leaned back more on the ground as his giant wings splayed behind him while I processed that kind yet shockingly intimate gesture. “Do you want to talk about your family?”

“What? No,” I replied too quickly. “That would be...weird.”

He abruptly reached forward and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. The second he made contact with my skin, my entire being buzzed with energy.

“I don’t take what I do lightly.” His comment was said so quietly, so genuinely, as though he actually meant it.

Tears threatened to fill my eyes. So much had happened this week. Too much, and now we were talking about my family. I didn’t know how much more I could take, but I forced the tears back. “Do you regret killing them?”

“I regret a lot of things.”

“But what about my family? My parents. My brother. Do you regret killingthem?” I stared at him pleadingly.

“Yes.” His eyes bore into me, the startling blueness of them like millions of twinkling stars. “I’m sorry for every life I’ve taken that wasn’t from a vile murderer or pedophile, and I regret what taking your parents and brother from their lives did to them, you, and your sister.”

More tears filled my eyes. “You do?”

He nodded.

My breath stuttered out of me. Never, not once, in the past season had I ever thought I’d get an apology from him, much less an apology that seemed sincere.

A flash of something coated my insides. Relief, maybe. Or, perhaps even the beginning of forgiveness. But it was all twisted up, all jumbled together as I struggled to keep the tears from falling. I didn’t know what I was feeling, but I knew for the first time in a full season, the constant anger I felt over their deaths lessened.

Before I could process anything further, he stood. “Come. I can see that everything is wearing on you. This week has been difficult, so I propose we take a break.”

Holding his hand out, he reached for me.

Dirt still lined my fingers, but he didn’t seem to care when I slipped my hand into his.

With a tug, he lifted me to my feet. My heart hammered again as his snowy cedar scent hit me while I waited in front of him, only inches from his chest.

He smiled and tucked another stray lock of hair behind my ear.

I couldn’t breathe. He stood so close, and his look was so...

He retreated a step, and some of the heaviness in his expression eased. “Have you ever been to the shores of Kroravee?”

I shook myself out of whatever fog was descending over me. “No, of course not. Prior to meeting you, I’d never left Mervalee.”

Besides, Kroravee Territory had a reputation for being standoffish to fae from all other territories. They were a reclusive lot, preferring to keep to their own. Even though all of the territories had been under one reign since King Novakin united the continent over three hundred winters ago, it was said that Kroravee still held a grudge about it.

The prince raised an eyebrow. “So you haven’t visited Pentlebim or the ice caves? Then I suppose that’s where we’re going.”

His arms closed around me, and then in a whisper of mist and shadows, air and wind, the field vanished.

CHAPTER21

We reappeared in the bustle of a market. Dozens of fae walked and hurried to vendor stalls as they searched for the goods they needed.

I peered around, taking in the stalls that were similar to Firlim’s harvest market but larger. A multitude of interlocking streets zigzagged every which way. Conversation drifted in the air as a cool breeze caressed my cheeks.

“Where are we?”