Frost Kisses (Bitter Frost #4: Frost Series) (10 page)

I love you.

Kian’s voice said into my mind.

I love you, too
, mine responded back.

We could have kept staring into each other’s eyes for however long, but we have lost valuable travel time from Wort’s surprise attack.

“Bree,” Kian said.

“What,” I said, snuggled up against his chest.

“We must make our way back to the Summer Palace immediately!”

“Can’t we spend a few more seconds here…wherever we are? Where are we?” I looked around. This was not the leafy red territory, scented with nutmeg and cinnamon, of the Autumn lands. Instead the lands here were bright and airy – the blooming and blossoming of spring was all around us.

“I know this place,” said Kian. “I used to come here as a boy. It is a long way from the Summer Palace – but it is a way I can recall!” He took my hand. “Come with me!”

And together, without our horse now, we sprinted onwards.

Chapter 10

W
e looked around as we ran. This was the heart of the Spring lands, a place I had visited most rarely of all in my sojourns around Feyland. Here there were many waterfalls and springs – crystal clear and sparkling like rare gems. The flowers here grew in multitudes – many fields filled with sprigs of purple lavender and pathways bordered by bright, pert daisies. There were roses, too – bushes red and white and pink – and among the leaves I could see the buzzing of ladybirds and the hopping to and fro of tiny rabbits, who twitched their noses at us as we passed. This place was full of life, as the Summer Court was, and yet the life was not as ripe, not as fecund as it seemed in the gardens of the Summer Court. Rather, everything here seemed new and exciting: everything was just beginning. The rabbits were newborns – the flowers had just bloomed. A sense of peace washed over me with the scent of the apple blossoms.

“It's so beautiful here,” I said, looking around. “I don't believe I've ever seen a place like this before.”

“I know it well,” said Kian. “In my boyhood, before the war, my mother used to take me and Shasta here to play. We had a palace here – only it wasn't big and cold like the palace we lived in. It was a beautiful place: a wooden house with bowers of blossoms running all up and down the house, so much so that you couldn't even see the frame. Shasta used to clamber down the trellis to run wild through the night – she was always the mischievous one. She didn't have the responsibilities of being a future ruler...” He laughed. “But regardless, it was a wonderful time. The palace was destroyed in the war, of course. But this place hasn't seen as much war-damage as the rest of Feyland. It's largely been left behind – technically under Winter control, but most fairies who live here don't identify as Winter or Summer or anything in between: they live peacefully away from trouble.”

Could it be, I wondered? Was there anywhere in Feyland free of the ravages of war? If there was such a place, I thought, the Spring lands sounded like it.

“There's been a big battle over Blossom Valley,” Kian said. “That's the heart of Spring Country, and it's war-torn. But these are the Bloom Hills, and nobody bothered with them – probably because they're so remote. They're of no strategic importance.”

“But this place…it’s so beautiful!” I inhaled another breath full of the sweet floral scent.

Before Kian could answer, we were interrupted by a low growl from behind us.

“What the...” Kian and I turned around, only to see an enormous black wolf – the size of a bear – snarling at us with bared teeth.

“Stand back!” I cried. This must be one of the werewolves of Feyland – no ordinary wolf could be this large. And as far as I knew, all the werewolves were under Logan's command; he was their leader, and the captain of the Wolf Guard that had made an alliance with the Summer Court when we were engaged. “Stand down!” I cried. “By the order of the Summer Queen.”

This didn't seem to have much of an effect. The black wolf continued to snarl – its savagery apparently not tempered by my royal command.

“Figures we had to find the defector,” I muttered, raising my sword in defense.

Yet before the wolf could pounce another wolf leaped from the shadows – a wolf, slightly larger than the black one, with a smooth grey pelt the color of silver. This second wolf attacked the first one, baring its ivory-colored teeth with a ferocious look that made it clear that he meant business. As the black wolf continued to snarl, turning his attack on this new rival, the grey wolf sank its teeth into the black wolf's leg. With a yelp of pain, the black wolf backed off, and limped as fast as he could into the forest.

The grey wolf turned around and was staring at me, his eyes the color of grass and honey. Kian's hand flew to the dagger, and my hand stayed his. This wolf I would have recognized anywhere. My heart leaped as the wolf and I stepped forward toward each other.

Before I could reach him, the grey wolf transformed into the handsome young man I knew – the same familiar honey-brown hair, the same soulful dark eyes, which remained fixed upon me. “Breena...” he whispered, his voice throaty and hoarse. “I thought you were dead...” His voice trailed off. “What are you...” He rushed towards me, and before Kian or I could protest I was in his arms, held tight. I smelled that familiar woodland scent upon him – the smell that I associated most with home, with safety, with the woods of Gregory that we had both wandered together, growing up. Logan brought my face up to meet his. He searched my face, unable to believe I was back, in his arms. “How I've missed you....Breena.” His lips met mine in a passionate kiss of longing and despair. “I thought you’d die. It was the most horrible day in my life. I don’t understand. Why are you here? What happened?”

As he held me in his arms, rocking me back and forth, I swallowed back my tears. I loved him, my dear friend, but how could I tell him our engagement was brought on by a spell, by Wort, and that the Pixies planned my death, that I was now part of Kian, of the Winter Fey. He still thought we were engaged, that we would marry. How could I break his heart and tell him that it was Kian who truly had my love?

“And you!” Logan snarled at Kian, his voice booming like the Wolf Prince that he was. “I saw what happened, Kian! I saw what you did! Breena, how could you trust him after what he did to you?” Logan's voice shook with emotion. “I went through hell and back, after I saw what I saw. Saw him –
him –
stabbing you to death, then running off like the coward he was! Some of us Summer Knights went after him, but the Winter Queen cut down anyone who tried. She would do whatever it took to protect that – that faithless piece of trash over there!” He turned his gaze to Kian. “How dare you come back here now after all you've done to Breena, to our Kingdom? I missed a chance to kill you once,
Prince.
I won't miss that chance again!”

He turned away from me and brought his fist square into Kian's jaw. Kian stumbled backwards, his hand instinctively rushing to his dagger, as Logan delivered him a second blow.

“No, stop,” I cried. “Please, Logan, you have to listen to me. Kian didn’t harm me. He didn’t stab me. It was Delano. Delano glamoured as Kian just like Wort's Pixies glamoured as Summer Knights, to start the war over again and pick up the pieces themselves. Delano kidnapped me – that's where I've been...”

Logan stumbled back, disbelief written all over his face. “Is that true?” Logan emitted a low growl. “Because if it isn't, Prince, I'll make sure you pay for what you did with your life! Don't protect him, Breena!”

Kian wiped the silver blood from his mouth with his hand. “It is all true, Wolf,” he said, his voice making clear his disdain. “If you used your head instead of brute violence perhaps you would have spared yourself a pair of grazed knuckles.” His voice grew serious. “You know that I would never harm Breena. I would die before I did such a thing. You know what it is like to love Breena, Logan. Would
you
ever hurt her? No – then why could you ever think that I would?”

“I see.” Logan looked down, then looked Kian up and down warily. I knew what he was thinking – why was I with my old love instead of with him?

“It's Delano's fault, Logan,” I said softly. “Not Kian's.”

“I swear to God, Breena,” said Logan. “I'll kill him.”

“Not if I kill him first,” Kian cut in smoothly.

“He kept me in this tomb made out of ice,” I said. “Luckily I was able to escape. And it was Kian who saved me. The Winter snowflake pendant he gave me gave me immortality: it brought me back when Delano stabbed me. It saved me, Logan. Kian saved me.”

“I see,” said Logan. He extended a reluctant hand to Kian. “In which case, Prince, I suppose I owe you the courtesy of thanks.”

“I suppose,” said Kian, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“I am grateful to you for bringing my fiancé back to me, Prince.” He put his arm around my shoulder and Kian’s mouth twitched very slightly. “Well, this certainly explains why I smelled pixie stink coming from near you Bree. Right where Kian was standing near you during the siege. I was headed your way… but I thought it was just a trick of the senses.”

“Logan,” I said, looking down at the grassy earth at our feet. “I have something to tell you.”

“Breena?” Logan shifted onto one foot, looking slightly nervous. “What is it?”

“Logan, our engagement...”

Logan beamed. “Yes?” He shot a look of pride at Kian, whom I could see quietly seething.

“You remember the banquet at the Great Hall...right?” I swallowed hard and bit my lip. “That night after we defeated Wort.”

“Of course I remember.” Logan fixed me with a distinctively smoldering look.

“That night – oh, God, Logan, I'm so sorry!” I felt the tears gathering again – tears that had been cried all too often in the last few days.

“What are you talking about?” Logan looked around wildly. “Breena, what's wrong?”

“One of Wort's minions – a chambermaid. She knew Wort wanted to destabilize relations between Summer and Winter. She put a love potion in our drink – made us feel something we shouldn't have felt – you and me both...made me forget Kian, forget my promise.”

“A love spell?” Logan laughed. “Breena, what are you talking about? I love you. I've always loved you!”

“But I...” I took a deep breath. “I loved Kian. Or at least, I did before the spell. It confused me, made things different. And then when I broke the spell – Kian broke the spell – and I realized what had happened. I never meant to hurt you, Logan. And Kian didn't either. The only person who's to blame is Wort who did this to us!”

“No,” Logan shook his head. “It can't be. It's real, Breena – what I feel for you is real! It's no different than it's ever been.”

“Please don't say that!” I tripped over my words. “Please, Logan – it's the spell that's talking, just the spell. We were better as friends – we were always friends, my best very dear friend. You were just under the spell too.”

“It. Was. NOT. A Spell!” Logan spoke through gritted teeth.

“Listen – Logan. Kian broke the spell. He proposed – he gave me the Winter snowflake...and its power showed me how I really felt. In my heart I accepted him, breaking the potion's hold over me. It turned me immortal, made me a real, true fairy, with silver blood.”

I took out my dagger and slit my skin on my arm where silver blood oozed. “It gave me Winter magic. All because of the true love I felt for Kian.” I could see the pain clearly on Logan's face. “I'm sorry, Logan. But I can't let that horrible spell keep you trapped!”

“It wasn't horrible to me,” Logan said softly. “It was real...” He took my face in his hands. There were unshed tears in his eyes. “Breena, I didn’t drink the same wine as you. As your Adviser and Head of the Wolf Guards, I couldn’t afford to get drunk.”

I blushed, feeling the full weight of regret. Logan’s feelings for me were real; he was never under a spell like I thought. He thought I loved him enough to marry him. I knew that the spell had seemed to me to be real, too. At the time, I had loved Logan desperately, and the memories of our days and nights together were still vivid in my imagination. But I couldn't let Kian know that. I couldn't even let Logan know that. It would hurt both of them less if I made the situation seem to be clearer than it really was.