Page 12

CHAPTER 12

Seraphine

I spent the night struggling to turn pages with my toes. I must have cursed this curse a hundred times, so thankful Korven was sleeping soundly instead of watching his old childhood friend attempt to pinch pages of his books with her newly solid, forever frozen feet.

Goddess be, he’d remembered more of our few days together than I would have guessed. It was nothing to ponder further, I reminded myself again, focusing on the events of the book I’d been reading for a few hours. According to the clock at his bedside, he’d slept longer than the previous night and dawn would soon arrive.

I rose from the floor, returning to the fire which glowed as mere embers. I didn’t trust myself to lift more logs to keep it going and worried they’d all tumble to the floor, waking him and furthering my embarrassment.

What I really needed to do was focus. If my body was going to solidify bit by bit, it must be because we were getting closer to finding this person who could love me most. I wondered, sitting before the dying light, if my body back at the castle was slowly fading. I wondered if my feet had disappeared under the gargantuan dress I still wore. I wondered what rumors had spread now about the royal wedding being called off due to the princess’s curse. I wondered if Korven’s wings were still warm.

As if summoned by the thought, his eyes blinked. I just so happened to be staring stupidly at his face. His dark lashes fluttered open and he smiled. I caught it before I turned away, focusing back on the fire.

Without a word, he rose and stretched his arms and wings, before shuffling to the pile of wood, tossing more onto the embers and stoking the flames until the logs lit. I quietly watched his movements, attempting that focus again and failing miserably.

How did he remember so much of those few weeks when we were mere children? He was a young Ravenfae Prince and I’d been no more than a wild little human girl, living under the protection of the Forestfae. Maybe it was simply that you always remember your first kiss and we’d shared ours below that sycamore tree the last time we’d met.

“Did you read this?” he broke in the silence, holding up my favorite book of those scattered across the floor.

I nodded.

“And…” He glanced down at my feet propped up at the fire’s hearth. “You turned the pages with your toes?”

I scrunched my nose, nodding again.

His chest held in his laugher, but he struggled to keep the blooming grin from his face.

“Resourceful, huh?” I said playfully.

He chuckled. “You surprise me more and more, Seraphine.”

“How so?” I asked, rising to stand.

“I didn’t know much about you when I flew here to deliver your curse. And who you are is not what I expected.” He pulled the spindle he had used to bestow the curse out of his pocket, and then pulled a wrapped bundle from his bag.

I sighed. “I hesitate to ask what you expect—what are you doing?” I cut myself off, curious when he pulled a tuft of wool from the wrapped brown paper. He sat on his bed, pulling at the mess of fibers until a long strand emerged.

He kept his eyes on his work, murmuring, “Spinning.”

“Oh,” I replied, still confused.

He hooked the strand onto his spindle, bending the sharp end I’d pricked my finger on so that it curled. He attached the long string of wool and began to spin, twisting the fibers so it wound around the shaft, creating a cop of yarn. I watched in nothing short of bemusement. The last thing I expected the very handsome, very grown up Ravenfae Prince of my childhood to do was spin wool into yarn.

“You were saying,” he prodded, keeping an eye on his work.

“Yes, I…I don’t remember what I was saying.”

“You’re surprised to see me use this spindle for actual spinning.”

“Well…yes. I am surprised by that.”

“So we both are surprising each other.”

I could hear the smirk in his voice and I joined him, with a flirtatious, “I wonder what other surprises await.”

His deep brown eyes slid slowly to my face, and he paused in his work. My cheeks suddenly burned. I’d flirted with plenty of men and fae before. This was different. The others had meant little more than flesh seeking pleasure. But this gaze I found myself more than wanting.

“Yes,” he whispered, “I wonder.”

I urged myself to speak, to change the subject and move on. I considered racing out of the room, suddenly afraid of what my heart did when he looked my way. Goddessdamn him, why did he look at me like that?

He cleared his throat, moving on for me. “We need to be back at the Burrow in an hour. We have another long day ahead of us.”

“Alright,” I said softly, returning to the fire to bask my toes in the heat.

We did have a long day ahead of us. And whatever it would bring, something comforting settled in my heart, knowing I’d still return to this room when the day was over.