Page 22 of Heart of Fire (Royal Ice Dragons #3)

HANNA

Dare and I slipped out of the temple. We ran through the streets until we had put enough distance between us and the temple spires, so it wasn’t obvious what we had just done.

When he threaded his fingers through mine, I glanced up at him. Dare gave me a smile that seemed almost shy.

I smiled up at him, looking forward to escaping back into that simple little cottage. I knew we’d have to endure Kustav’s test, and I imagined us having to double back and stand in the courtyard outside the temple while he rode his horse back and forth, studying all of us as if he were choosing from a market stall.

“We can’t let Kustav continue,” I told Dare.

He shook his head. “The only way to fix things is to get Kaelan on that throne. We put the wards up for the village, and we’re working on a way to protect the miners from those toxins. But we can’t get distracted. If we die trying to change small things, we will never get the chance to wipe the real evils off the map.”

“So you do still have faith in Kaelan.”

“Did Greia really get in your head and make you think I’d betray him?”

“I thought you hated him sometimes.”

“Don’t you?”

His blunt honesty startled a laugh from me. “Yes. But I love him anyway. I take your point.”

Dare always looked slightly uncomfortable when I threw around the word love . I didn’t know why these men were so reluctant to name what they felt for each other, what already made them a family. What would make us a family.

It occurred to me then that Dare and I had married without most of the things that preceded a wedding. Like telling each other that we loved each other.

Screaming ripped through the air ahead.

I was running before Dare was, but he quickly caught up with me.

Just as we reached the courtyard where Kustav was pushing townspeople, guards came out from the side streets. They pushed us apart, seizing my arms. I saw Dare strain forward, fighting to get to me, before he overcame the impulse.

“My Lord! We captured the ones you were looking for!” one guard called, his voice so loud in my ear that I cringed.

He pulled me with him into the churning crowd. I caught Perin’s worried face in the crowd, and Carrie cradling Elsie on her arm and frantically whispering to try to calm the girl.

Lord Kustav’s heavy boots crunched in the snow as he dismounted, his eyes never leaving me. A cruel smile played on his lips as he approached, his gaze raking over me like a physical touch.

“This is the one I want,” he declared, his voice dripping with malice. He circled me slowly, like a predator sizing up its prey. “Oh, the things I’ll do to you. You’re too pretty to be wasted in this village.”

He leaned in close, his breath hot on my ear as he began to whisper, describing acts so vile and depraved that my stomach churned. I lifted my chin, my face impassive.

I knew the commotion behind me was Dare even before I head his voice. “That’s my wife!”

I turned to see him struggling against two burly guards, his face contorted with rage. Lord Kustav merely chuckled, a sound devoid of any real mirth.

“Your wife?” He raised an eyebrow, looking almost amused. “We will see. Lying to your lord has grave ramifications, so I hope for your sake that the bonds reveal your honesty.” His expression hardened as he glanced at his men. “But nothing will save you from a beating for your insolence.”

Two more guards descended upon Dare. The sound of fists meeting flesh filled the air, punctuated by the dull thud of boots connecting with his body. Dare grunted in pain but didn’t cry out.

“Stop it!” I screamed, lunging forward only to be caught by another guard. “Leave him alone!”

Magic surged within me, begging to be released. It would have been so easy to unleash my power, to reduce these men to ashes and this place to cinders.

But the cost would be too high. Our cover blown, the village destroyed, Kaelan’s plans in ruins.

Dare wouldn’t die. I would heal him.

So I watched, helpless and seething, as they beat Dare to his knees. Blood trickled from a cut above his eye, staining the snow beneath him. His breathing was labored, but when he looked up at me, there was a glint in his eye that I recognized.

Impossibly, infuriatingly, he winked at me.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Dare spat blood onto the ground, his voice hoarse but defiant. “I see you’re too weak to hit me yourself.”

Lord Kustav’s face darkened with rage. “You’ll regret that, boy. I’ll make sure of it.” He turned back to me, grabbing my chin roughly. “And you, my dear, will watch him suffer. Unless, of course, you’d like to spare him by begging to suck my cock.”

I met his gaze. “I’d rather you just kill us.”

Or rather , try.

He laughed. I stared at him, disgusted that he was yet another vile, entitled man; they would be laughable and pathetic if they weren’t so dangerous. He promised me, “Oh, you certainly will get your wish. But only when I’ve tired of you.”

I caught Dare’s eye again. Despite the blood and bruises, there was a determination in his gaze that steadied me. Whatever happened next, we would face it together. And gods help anyone who stood in our way.

There was angry murmuring from the crowd. It felt as if we were reaching a fever pitch in this village, but even without Dare and me, the scales were tipping steadily toward violence, and either the villagers or the Lord or both would reach bloody consequences before much more time passed.

The lord’s magician stepped forward and began a spell, his magic twining between Dare and me.

“He’s not doing the spell right,” someone muttered, “he’s twisting it.”

I could feel the same thing that the crowd did, I could feel the pull of the bonds between us, and I could feel that he was trying to unravel them. He was trying to undo our marriage bonds to show that Kustav could claim me.

If he succeeded, I would let Kustav take me into his bedroom, and then I would slit his throat. Part of me wanted to give in to that impulse. Dare and I exchanged a look, and I tried to pick up on the strands of the spell that the magician was weaving. I tried to undo them, as the bonds between Dare and me felt like a tangible thing that wrapped around us, and I felt as if one cord snapped.

Dare’s face lifted, his eyes snapping to mine. No . Maybe our marriage was supposed to be a matter of convenience, but I wouldn’t let anyone take that away from us.

I chose Dare. Then and now; I would choose him everyday of my life.

I thought of the words of our wedding bond in my mind as the magician wrapped a string between Dare and me that was supposed to determine if there was any connection between us. I let my magic sweep down the string, making it strong even as the magician tried to destroy it with his magic.

“I love you,” I told Dare. “In want and in plenty…I will always choose you. I will always love you.”

My voice was so fierce that it startled me.

Dare’s voice was raw. “I will always love you. For choosing me…for coming after me…”

An image rose in my mind accompanied by a rush of feeling, as if I were seeing from Dare’s perspective: a woman with a different face entering the pub, and the way he had recognized her by how she carried herself, by her aura and her smile. His protectiveness had flared.

Was that just my imagination?

Or was I beginning to form a mental link with Dare?

I thought back to the way he had comforted me during my panic in the past, the way I always felt so safe when I was with him. Dare’s eyes widened, then softened, as if he could see himself for a moment the same way that I saw him.

The magician tried to break the string with a subtle touch, letting it fall away to nothing. But my magic sang through it, knitting the thread back together as soon as it was broken. The thread blazed gold around us, visible as ever.

Another bit of magic stretched away from us, wispy and ethereal given the distance between Kaelan and me… and fortunately, it was unexamined in the chaos. Everyone was focused on the stubborn, vibrant bond between Dare and me.

The crowd let out a triumphant cheer. And even though my heart had just leapt, seeing how my magic interwove with Dare’s, that sensation was replaced with heaviness.

I wished they hadn’t cheered. On Lord Kustav’s face, there was a frustrated flash of defeat that I knew would spell pain.

“ I won’t let that happen , Hanna ,” Dare thought, and I was shocked to realize that I could hear his voice. The marriage bond was supposed to include the ability to go into each other’s minds, but it had been such a struggle for Kaelan and me. I hadn’t realized that it would happen right away for Dare and me.

I could feel Dare’s resolution and his dread.

The guards grabbed Dare’s arms and tried to pull him to his knees to face Kustav. Kustav stared down at him, his eyes narrow with hatred. “You played a trick on the magic. You married that girl just to spite me.”

“Not just to spite you,” Dare’s voice said in my mind, and I bit back a smile.

“But you all depend on me!” Kustav roared. He seemed to be coming unwound, but that only made him more dangerous. “My magic keeps the mines safe, allowing you to harvest the materials that your king needs and requires from us without harm coming to you. My magic literally keeps the mountain from crushing you, and you repay me with trickery? By stealing what is rightfully mine?”

Dare had said that Kustav was weak and relied on parlor tricks to bolster his power and prestige. But even if he were getting Baelur’s help, he could get Baelur to take away his magic from these people forever.

“Please,” Dare said, and I could feel through the bond how painful it was for him, how much it physically hurt to use such a desperate tone with Lord Kustav. Especially when the entire village, who had seen him as a hero, was watching.

Did they understand that if he begged and pleaded with the Lord, it was for their sake? I knew that he could take any role and play it, and there was nothing pathetic about doing it as long as it served your larger purpose. But I didn’t think many people saw the world that way.

But Dare and I both did. We had that in common. We were pragmatic.

“I just love her so much,” Dare said. “I had to have her for my own.”

“She should have been mine first,” Kustav raged.

Dare threw himself forward at the lord’s feet. Kustav looked down at him with an expression that I couldn’t read. He was both disgusted and pleased.

“Forgive me, my lord. Love has made me do insane things.”

* * *

DARE

I threw myself onto Kustav’s boots, using the opportunity to slide the tiny talisman I had carried to track him into his clothes. I knew a man like him would go running to his secret armory now that he knew the townsfolk were on the verge of rioting.

But I wasn’t sure if they would riot on my behalf. I could sense the way the crowd had turned, the general disgust rushing over them.

The way my mother had pleaded for my life before she died came back to me, the memory so strong and painful.

“Let go,” Kustav snarled, kicking me in the chest. I fell back on my ass, but it didn’t matter. He was carrying my spell now.

They let Hanna go, and she rushed to me with a cry of distress. I was pretty sure that was feigned. I don’t think my girl minded seeing me knocked around all that much after everything between us.

She fell to her knees beside me, her bright blue eyes seeking mine.

And I was shocked to find I couldn’t meet her eyes.

“You’ll see the price you’ll all pay for your rebellion,” Kustav snarled, turning with a whirl of his cloak and heading away. His men followed him, saying goodbye with a few last blows and cuffs to anyone who got in their way.

I heard boots crunching away over the ice. Slowly. As if the villagers were weary and hopeless.

Everyone left us there in the courtyard, in our shame.

She put her arms around me, but the tightness in my body didn’t relax against her. “We fought off that twisted magic together. Dare, what’s wrong?”

“We lost the power I had for Kaelan’s sake,” I muttered. “The village won’t follow me now.”

I had been the pride they clung to. I’d taken that pride from them today.

“They have to understand.” She sounded so frustrated on my behalf.

I still couldn’t meet her eyes. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, Hanna, it’s that people can be very determined not to understand.”

She tried to help me up. “Let’s get back to the cottage.”

Her arm hooked around my waist, and I felt her slender but sturdy body against mine as she tried to hold me up. I leaned on her strength.

She went on, “I can heal you. We’ll figure out what to do next.”

“There is nothing to do next .”

“Dare, I don’t understand. The festival is about to end soon, and the lord hasn’t chosen anyone to rape, he’s gone back up to his castle to throw his tantrum. This is the best outcome.”

“Of a thousand bad outcomes, this is the best,” I agreed.

I could tell she was getting frustrated. I couldn’t stop thinking about the way I felt watching my mother debase herself to save my life.

I couldn’t be near Hanna. I couldn’t imagine her feeling all the things I had felt toward my mother.

“I’ll be back soon,” I told her. “I just…need space.”

“You need healing,” she told me.

My lips quirked wryly. “We both know where healing is going to lead us, Hanna.”

Her eyes crinkled at the corners. I could tell her gaze was seeking mine, but I turned away.

“It feels like you’re pushing me away,” she said quietly as I walked away. “What did I do, Dare?”

“You didn’t do anything.”

But as I walked away from her, I could feel the echo of her worry and frustration in her mind. She didn’t say it out loud, but I could feel her question.

Will you always be pushing me away to keep space for your ghosts ?