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“I feel better than I have in days.”

“Good.”

“You should have woken me, though. I could have been tutoring you all this time.”

I released him and cocked my head. “Do you actually have winter magic, though? After what you learned, do you think it might be something else? Just elemental magic?”

He smirked. “Ah, you want to beeven morespecial, huh?”

“No!” I swatted at him. Stars, it felt so good for us to be back here, to tease and banter about. “I only meant that, if you’re not an Aaberg, would you have it?”

“Before the unification, the Vagles were wintermonarchs in their own right, so they have that power. Also, they married into the Falk line, the strongest of all the winter families, long, long ago.” His eyebrows raised. “Is that a problem for you?”

Of course. All the noble families had intermarried at one point. With the sweeping news Vale had shared the night before, I’d forgotten that.

“How long ago?”

His eyebrows screwed together as he calculated the blood ties between our families. “I’m certain it has been thousands of turns since a union between a Vagle and a Falk. And I don’t believe they’ve ever allied with House Skau through marriage.”

“Then we’re good.” I took his hand. I couldn’t be unrealistic, and I wanted him too badly, anyway. And for the first time since we’d met, I might actually keep him—as long as nothing horrible happened.

“Very good.” He grinned at me, and the look of happiness stopped my heart.

Thank the Fates I didn’t have to pretend like I no longer wanted him, when in truth, I was certain that I was falling for him. I was also thankful that there didn’t seem to be lingering awkwardness between us.

“Would you like a lesson?” he asked.

“Definitely. Teach me how to use icicles like your fath—the king did. And can you teach me how to control wind like you do?”

He nodded. “Show me from the beginning.”

I replicated what I’d done, the good and the bad, because I wanted him to see it all. He noted that I hadtrouble controlling the elements with delicacy, which was true. It was much easier to hurl an icicle than it was to hold one steady, hovering in the air. Or target something precisely.

Once I finished, missing the tree that time, I turned. “Tips?”

“I think you’d do well to work inside the forest,” he said. “More surrounded by snow. Enveloped in winter.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Winter is all around.”

“Try it. If your aim doesn’t improve, we can try something else.”

I had nothing to lose, so we trudged through the drifts into the woods. The moment we stepped into the trees; snow began to fall.

“Working in a storm might help too. Also, I have one more idea.” He held out his hand. “I will direct you. I think that’s all you need. Then practice controlling more and more power over time.”

I took his hand, marveling again at how perfectly we fit.

“I’m going to use those smaller icicles.” I gestured to those dripping from a tree branch. “And hit the tree with the knob that looks like an orc’s face. Right on the knob.”

Vale laughed. “Very well. First, experience this.”

Warmth flooded me. Vale’s magic.

If there was any doubt in my mind that I possessed a purer form of winter magic than him, in that moment, it would have vanished. Vale was strong, no doubt about it, but the feel of his magic was warmer, less harsh, and more wieldable. Which he made clear when he used his ownpower to grab onto mine and control it. I sucked in a breath, made to fight back, and barely stopped myself, but from the way he watched me, Vale understood.

“Let me. I’m showing you.”

“I know. Sorry, it’s instinctual.”