Page 10 of Heart of Fire (Royal Ice Dragons #3)

HANNA

I emerged from the forest onto the long slope that led down to the village, which seemed clustered on the edge of the massive pit as if it might tumble in. Now I could see the tunnels that led away into the mine from the center, and the tiny figures that looked like ants from here that went in and out.

Would Dare be happy to see me? Probably. Would he admit it? Probably not.

Still, a part of me felt so excited that it seemed impossible he wouldn’t feel the same.

I didn’t know where Edric had spies, or if Dare had to change his face. I trusted I would know him when I found him, though.

I looped my enchantment over my face, changing how I looked as I entered the outskirts of the village.

When I entered the village, it was full of children dressed grubbily but warmly, running up and down the streets. The ice and snow that made the kingdom gleam was churned with mud here, leaving messy-looking streets.

Maybe it was just the parts of the kingdom I’d seen so far that gleamed, but that wasn’t the real Ice Kingdom—at least, not the most important part of it. How many nobles were there? How vast was the army of peasants?

Though, from what Kaelan said, they weren’t much of an army. Not yet. They were unarmed, they didn’t believe that they had magic—since the nobles had spread the belief that no one did without being noble-born—and many of them didn’t even want change. The kings on their thrones were too remote from their lives to matter.

I felt hard stares as people passed. It was a small, insular village; they would notice a newcomer.

“Excuse me.” I stopped a woman wearing a man’s coat and a fatigued expression. I settled on the same excuse that I’d once used with Kaelan. “I’m looking for my husband. He came to the mines a while ago, seeking work?—”

“I’ve given up on mine, but good luck to you.” She pointed down the road. “If he’s not at his shift, he might be at one of those three pubs.”

“When does work end?”

She gave me a strange look. “The mines never close. There’s a day shift and a night shift.”

Given how little day there was in the Ice Kingdom during winter, I couldn’t imagine how miserable it was to never see that sliver of daylight.

“Thank you,” I said.

“I wouldn’t thank me until you find him and decide if you still like him,” she said, moving on.

I made my way into the first pub. It was crowded, and unfriendly seeming faces swiveled toward me. I looked around for Dare, blinking to try to improve my vision in the dim light. I could use my magic to sharpen my night perception, but I didn’t want to give myself away in any respect.

“Can I help you, miss?” A burly man leaned on the bar with one arm; his other sleeve was tied up just below his shoulder.

“I’m looking for my husband, he would’ve just gotten here recently.” Dare would’ve changed his face, so describing him was difficult. I held my hand up to mark his height. “Tall. Handsome. Arrogant.”

He might’ve changed his face, but he wouldn’t give up his height or make himself ugly. And there were things about Dare he couldn’t change.

“No idea.”

He didn’t sound convincing to me, but I nodded.

As I headed out of the pub, two men glanced at each other and followed after me.

I made my way into the next pub unnoticed. I headed straight for the corner, to sink into a table in the shadows.

Laughter came up in a wave from a knot of people across the room. Someone moved, and I caught a glimpse of the man at their center.

Dark hair. Magnetic smile. Unfamiliar face.

But he had a familiar presence.

Dare was here, and he was holding court.

The only reason Dare hadn’t seen me as I entered was because there was such a crowd of rough-looking men and women around him. I hunched over, cupping my hand over my cheek, even though I was disguised too. I didn’t want him to see me yet.

“Something bad’s going to happen down there soon,” one of the men said. “And Kustav isn’t doing anything to prevent a cave-in.”

“I understand,” Dare said.

“But it’s the way we feed our families,” another said. “I don’t want to see the mines just shut down?—”

“Does Prince Kaelan have food for us?”

“The hell with that, why would we even trust Prince Kaelan when Lord Kustav is on his side?” The man stared at Dare. “Why would you even be here if you’re on the Prince’s side?”

That was a striking question. It curled into my gut like a stone falling into deep water.

I wanted to hear more.

A pretty girl in rough clothes and a short haircut sat too close to Dare. She reached out to put her hand on his shoulder, just as he leaned forward to speak to someone. Her touch missed him, as she said, “I’m sure Dare’s got a plan.”

Her tone was reverent. Gods. As if he weren’t arrogant enough.

I was sure he did have a plan, and part of me really needed to know just what it was.

The pub door opened and closed again. I groaned silently, hoping I could hide. I needed to hear what Dare was saying to them now.

“Hey there, miss.”

One of the men who had gotten up when I left the pub leaned over the table, smiling at me.

I stared up at him and didn’t return the smile.

“You’re new in town.”

“I am. And I’m looking for my husband.”

He didn’t seem deterred; he flashed me a smile that I did not find charming. “Not looking for a better husband?”

“Afraid not.”

“And just who are you?” He frowned slightly as if he didn’t appreciate being rejected, and I felt the subtle shift, the prickle of warning that women feel around certain kinds of men.

A tall shadow fell across us both.

I glanced up at Dare, not sure if I wanted him to have overheard he was my husband now so he could play along, or if I would prefer he had not.

“She’s my wife,” Dare said. “That’s all you need to know.”

My heart fluttered in my chest looking up at him, with his hair rakishly disheveled above the sharp planes of his face.

“Is that so?”

“It is.” Dare was staring at the men, and I expected the kind of conflict that so often rose between my men and whoever dared to look at me too hard.

But the men backed off.

He held out his hand to me. “Come on, love. Let’s get you home.”

I rose gracefully, feeling as if the entire pub were looking at us.

He’d never called me an endearment before. It had rolled off his tongue so easily.

He led me to the outskirts of town, his boots crunching through the snow ahead of me. He was tense, and I was curious how he’d react once it was just the two of us. Was this a setup for the story he was telling the neighborhood? Was he really angry at me?

Did he always move away when another woman tried to touch him?

From the way the women had looked at him in there, I was sure she wasn’t the only one who tried.

Dare led me into a small cottage. It was dark and slightly smoky inside, and Dare turned to face me with his jaw tight as he closed the door.

I smiled at him, unable to help it as relief surged through my chest. I hadn’t believed he was safe, not really. I’d thought perhaps just as we were setting up fake communications for Edric, he could be setting up fake communications for us while he imprisoned Dare. “You’re all right.”

“I’m fine,” he said. “Of course. What are you doing here?”

His words were flat. Not angry. Just emotionless.

All my soaring emotions suddenly seemed as if there was no air left under their wings.

“I came to help you.”

“To help me?” he sounded incredulous.

“You shouldn’t be alone. Jaia and Azora have each other, Kaelan and Thorne have each other?—”

He seemed to choke at the thought, though I wasn’t sure why until he said, “Kaelan and Thorne have you .”

“No, Dare.” I shook my head. “That’s not how it is. You’re not alone.”

“Perhaps I like being alone.”

“I’m sure.” I met his scoff with my own. “That’s why you were pouting the last time I saw you, right before you ran away.”

“You are delusional,” he said, his lips parted in sudden shock. “You think I’m jealous of Thorne and Kaelan?”

I had not intended to get into this fight the second I saw Dare. “Yes.”

“I wish I had your confidence,” he said, with a smirk that seemed to dig a mile’s gulf between us. “I’m not obsessed with you like Kaelan.”

“I’m pretty sure no one does obsession like Kaelan,” I said dryly.

“Why are you here, really?” He glanced past me as if he expected to see Kaelan shouldering his way out the door. “Kaelan wouldn’t have sent you off, did you run away?”

“Run away? As if I’m a child?”

He crossed his arms. “You run away so much, I had to keep you tied to me.”

“You liked it,” I said.

“Well, I’m not doing it now. You need to go back to Kaelan.”

“He agreed with me that I should come and help you.”

“Kaelan agreed with you…” He frowned. “What happened? Were you attacked by Edric’s soldiers? Assassins?”

“He told you?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense. He wouldn’t let you leave his sight unless he thought you’d be safer with me.”

“I told him my plan.”

He scoffed. “Sure you did.”

The sudden feeling I had been manipulated was coming over me, and it made me furious. I was sure Dare saw the moment he convinced me, because a look of satisfaction crossed his face.

“This is no place for you, Princess. You can go back to him. You shouldn’t be here.”

“And yet, I am here.”

“Not for long.”

“I’m here for tonight.” I needed to think and decide what I wanted to do with these ridiculous men.

“You can’t.” He raked his hands through his hair as if he was realizing—slowly—that I could, and that I had to. “Why the hell did you say you were my wife ?”

“I needed a reason to be looking for you.”

“And marriage was the excuse that came to mind?” He was slightly wild eyed.

I smiled at him. “Yes.”

He just stared at me. “I don’t know what to do with you.”

“Feed me,” I suggested, as my stomach growled. “It was a long journey.”

He frowned. “And you’ll have a long journey back.”

“You don’t want me here?” Because you can’t handle how you feel about me ? Or because it would disturb your plans ? And those plans are to help Kaelan … aren’t they ? “Even though I’ll be safer?”

“You won’t be safer. You make me insane. I’ll murder you myself, and I don’t want to save Edric the trouble.”

I grinned.

“It’s not a joke. I’m not joking.”

“Mm.” I sat down on the bed. The room was small, the ceiling so low that Dare had to bend his head. I don’t know why everyone thinks being tall is such a desirable trait; petite people don’t give themselves brain-damage by walking into things all the time. “This is the only bed.”

“I’ll take the floor.”

“Really?” I raised my eyebrows. “What if someone realizes we’re not sleeping in the same bed?”

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror over the bed—a long face, lush lips, brown eyes—and leapt to my feet. I’d almost forgotten I was wearing a different face until I felt the shock of seeing it in the mirror. “Wait…how did you know it was me?”

I whispered a word and let the enchantment fall away.

“Funny,” he said. “First you were afraid someone would see we weren’t sleeping together, and now you’re not worried about showing your real face.”

“Did you prefer the first one?” I asked innocently. My mind reeled over the fact he had recognized me. How?

“Funny.”

“Are you going to get me something to eat? I can tell you want to.”

He stared at me, jaw working. “You are insufferable.”

With that final thought, he turned around and went out. The icy wind swirled into the room before he banged the door shut.

While he was gone, I explored the contents of the room, such as it was. There was no food in the rickety wooden cabinet. A fire in the fireplace grate smoked idly, but it was enough to warm the small room thanks to the insulation of the thick ice walls.

A leather journal sat on one table, alongside his book of letters from Kaelan. I shouldn’t look inside it, I knew, and I wouldn’t have even if there weren’t a spell on it. Almost certainly, I wouldn’t have looked.

He came back in a bit later, carrying a basket over one arm. He removed his wet boots at the door. “There’s nowhere to sit but on the floor. I know it must be terrible for you.”

“Dare. I’ve never been that kind of princess.” He knew that well. I sank to the floor, tucking my legs.

He didn’t look as if he wanted to sit down with me, but he did. He began to unpack jugs of soup and a wrapped-up package of muffins, warm and buttered and so fragrant they made my mouth water.

This wasn’t exactly the reunion I had hoped for. I was hungry, so I ate, but I could feel him watching me.

He pulled a blanket off the bed. “I’m going to sleep.”

“On the floor.” He was unbelievable.

“On the floor.”

“I didn’t know you could be so gallant.”

He scoffed as if the word wasn’t in his vocabulary.