Page 32 of Heart of Fire (Royal Ice Dragons #3)

HANNA

“Should we fly?” Branok asked me.

It was an open question, asked with the perfectly neutral tone which Branok had always mastered. I knew how judgmental he felt about how I’d hidden my gifts, but he wouldn’t interfere.

If I wanted him to keep up my ruse, if I wanted him to carry Dare and me, he would offer me a baleful look, then shift and lower himself to the ground.

He was being difficult, and I felt embarrassed by him in front of Dare, but I loved him so utterly. Feeling torn between the two of them was a strange, fresh kind of misery.

“Dare and I can both fly ourselves,” I said. “Unless you think there are spies keeping watch on the skies and counting dragons.”

“They should be, but I’m not sure they’re that clever. We’ll get away from any eyes before we fly.” Branok had no commentary on the fact that Dare knew what was once my secret.

Or that Dare was a dragon himself.

Though surely, that had to make him feel Dare was a little more worthy.

To Dare, quietly, I told him, “He has a twin brother, Lynx. Lynx absolutely despises Kaelan.”

Dare nodded, some of his tension dissipating just slightly. Mocking Kaelan always has that effect for him. “Is there any particular reason?”

Branok called back over his shoulder, “We were not impressed by his treatment of Hanna.”

“Bran,” I said warningly.

“We are still trying to keep your presence on the Isle a secret, I take it?”

“If the queen will allow it.” I was under no illusion that I could control my sister. Though, she would probably say the same about me.

“She’s overseeing a noble’s crowning. We’ll meet her there.”

“Reminding them that they will have neither a crown nor a head to wear it on if their loyalty fails?”

“She doesn’t like it,” Branok said, as Honor’s reluctant feelings toward killing were a constant source of irritation to him. Honor’s morality was inconvenient for him.

At the outskirts of the city, we shifted and flew. The marriage bond was clearly still leaking some of our feelings to each other, because I could feel a ripple of admiration from Dare when I flew. It made my heart swell.

Flying across the Isle made my heart even lighter. It was all so beautiful. The Ice Kingdom was beautiful too, of course: the lights dancing in the sky at night, the spires of the ice castles, the endless plains of blue and white. I’d been to the northern part of the Isle, closest to the Ice Kingdom, and I had been awed by its beauty at the time, but the Ice Kingdom itself was so vast. The punishing, surreal nature of the landscape was a part of its beauty, no matter how terrifying it was.

But this was home. There were enormous, ancient forests, separating the cities. Colorful flowers bloomed across massive fields, growing wild and free.

We crossed over a city, where stone streets crisscrossed lush gardens and bridges passed over deep blue rivers. We didn’t have to hide the fact we were here, and it felt restful.

When I was with my family, it felt as if I could never be in real danger. Perhaps that was part of what made life feel carefree in its own way before, what made chasing safety for Honor and my niblings feel like the only thing that mattered. I always knew they would come and help if I needed them.

But it was now that I was on another continent that I needed them, and I wondered what Honor would say when I asked for her help defeating Edric. There was no order of dragons in the Ice Kingdom. With all the forces of Honor’s dragons, couldn’t we melt Edric’s world around him?

Dare threw a glance at me, and I wondered if he’d gotten the gist of what I was thinking. Kaelan hadn’t asked for their help. But he was proud. What if I asked? What if I came back leading an army so that he didn’t have to fear the allies that might turn on him?

We landed just past the city on the outskirts of an enormous castle.

“How minor is this noble, exactly?” I asked Branok once I’d turned back. I felt as if I should be able to place the house from all my studies.

“The family has made their wealth mining, but the mines are miles away,” Branok said offhandedly.

Dare stiffened, but no one else noticed.

He spent so much of his life living among the nobles, but he still felt like an outsider.

I’d spent much of my life living as a princess, and somehow I still managed to feel like an outsider too.

“When I saw the dragons, I was hoping it was you,” Zehr stepped out of the shadows.

Dare whirled, his blades coming to his hands.

Zehr raised his brows. “Hanna, who is your friend?”

The last word was cut off slightly. He had moved into the shadows, and then he was behind Dare, beside me. Dare pivoted again to face him, as Zehr threw his arm around my shoulders, looking relaxed and amused. He wore a gold crown instead of the bone crown he had always favored, and his tailored jacket and trousers were white and gold.

“This is Dare. He is a friend, as evidenced by his drive to protect me. Please don’t embarrass me. Speaking of embarrassing,” I frowned at his outfit. “Why is the kingdom’s beloved monster dressed like a Solstice wreath?”

Zehr knocked his crown back impatiently, trying to adjust it. It sat rakishly on top of his dark-haired head. “We are trying to convince the people that I’m not a monster. Given the development of some new and exciting plague.” He shrugged. “Though, it’s nowhere near as interesting as my Scourge.”

“If you could manage not to sound proud about it,” Damyn said dryly, emerging from the garden. “It might help convince the people they don’t have to be terrified of you, and therefore distrust Honor.”

“I’m not trying to make Honor’s life more difficult,” Zehr began.

“And yet you do,” Damyn said, his face brightening as he saw me. Zehr hugged me first, claiming me, and then Damyn was on me, scooping me off the ground and hugging me so tightly my ribs were squeezed together.

I laughed, feeling light no matter how much worry pressed down on me, right before I saw the look on Dare’s face. Or rather, it was the lack of a look. His face was expressionless. He was watching me closely, his gaze flickering over every interaction with these men in a way I couldn’t quite read.

I was breathless by the time Zehr and Damyn finished hugging me. “I need to talk to Honor. I think she’s in danger.”

“I promise she is in no danger, for the moment, except for possibly being bored to death,” Damyn promised me. “We can hide in her tent and wait for her to return.”

“Which she’ll be doing as soon as she possibly can without snubbing anyone too much,” Zehr promised. “Being queen is a terrible inconvenience for an introvert.”

“Why don’t you go back to the party and look harmless ,” Damyn told Zehr. It was phrased as a question, but there was no question in it.

Dare’s eyes flickered between them. Zehr offered Damyn a jaunty salute and turned and sauntered away.

“ What is their hierarchy ?”

Dare’s face hadn’t moved so I knew he hadn’t spoken out loud. For a heartbeat, I was shocked I’d heard him so clearly. I glanced toward him and saw the moment he realized he’d spoken into my mind.

“ It isn’t like that .” I returned.

Dare’s lips twisted. “ They are male . I’m pretty sure it is like that .”

I’d run here to save my sister’s life, which made it feel painfully ideal to sit in the tent with Branok and Damyn and the man I haven’t yet named as my husband. And yet…how was it so easy to communicate with Dare?

That secret seemed more difficult to blurt out with every moment that passed.

Branok kept glancing at the door. Damyn, pouring all of us drinks, asked, “Why don’t you go find her?”

“She will be very bored without me,” Branok agreed. He ruffled my hair with his hand as he headed for the door, and I frowned up at him. “I’m glad you’ve returned, Hanna.”

“For the moment,” I added with a smile.

Damyn and Branok shared the quickest flash of a look.

When Honor and I began to exchange letters, they might not be the only ones who traded correspondence between the Continent and the Isle.

Kaelan might be plotting with my sister to protect me.

The thought of being trapped here instead of being at the side of my men stole my breath. For the first time during the day, I couldn’t breathe.

Dare reached out and touched my hand.

I felt Damyn’s attention on us. I had learned enough spycraft from them to know just how little they missed.

I pulled back, offering them a smile at the same time, as I realized it was the wrong thing to do. Dare returned my smile, with a small, empty smirk of his own. Nothing in it reached his eyes, and I wished I had grabbed his hand instead.

I needed to tell them that I had married Dare, and yet, I felt ridiculous now that I was home. I’d said and done a great many ridiculous things that these men had smiled at, and Damyn was looking at me with amused warmth, as if this were yet another.

“You didn’t need to insult him,” Honor said distantly, her voice filled with warm exasperation. “If he’s committing treason, I’ll have him killed, but that’s no reason to be impolite.”

“Honor—” Zehr began, raising the tent door with one arm. His dark eyes crinkled at the corners as they met mine. “We have a surprise for you.”

Honor’s lips parted as she saw me, an expression of jubilant joy crossing her face. “You! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming!”

I was already on my feet. “You know how it is. I’m always fleeing one place or another, no time for a letter.”

“I know I gave you the opportunity to send me letters!” Her red hair was up, primly curled beneath a gold crown that was barely any brighter than her own hair. She was smiling when she held her arms out to me. “I so want to scold you for coming back without telling me, but to be honest, I am just so delighted to see your face.”

I rushed to hug her tightly. Not even the knowledge that Dare must be watching me in that fixed but expressionless way he had could dull the excitement of having my sister alive and well in my arms.

“You’re in danger,” I blurted out.

She let out a laugh that I felt through my body. “But aren’t I always?”

“Don’t be glib,” I told her, then turned to appeal to Damyn, who had come in behind her. He wasn’t smiling, but the crinkling of the skin around his icy blue eyes betrayed his delight at this reunion. “Can’t you keep her from being glib?”

“Believe me, I have tried,” Damyn said drily. “With all the resources at my disposal.”

He and Honor shared a charged, devilish look that would usually make me groan.

“An assassin followed me across the Ice Kingdom and here to the Isle,” I said. “But I think the real conspiracy has been here all along. I believe we are both in danger, Honor. And I would appreciate it if you took it seriously.”

Honor looked as if she were controlling her smile, but she gave me a wide-eyed, chastened face.

Damyn snorted. Apparently, that expression didn’t convince him either.

“Please listen,” I said. “I think this is a concerted attack on both you and on Kaelan, and I can’t bear to lose either of you. I believe the fates of our kingdoms are entwined.”

I found myself feeling ridiculous and na?ve, trying to get through to my older sister. I glanced at Dare, feeling embarrassed that he was seeing me so desperate. His green eyes were intent on me, and my emotions felt as if they were whirling inside me like a storm.

Dare had thought little of me when I first came to the Ice Kingdom. But I hadn’t cared then. The thought of lowering his opinion now burned.

“Hanna. Of course our kingdoms are entwined.” Honor’s voice was tender. She pulled the crown off her head and tossed it onto one of the low sofas before taking my hands in hers. At first, I thought the crown must’ve been too heavy. Then I realized that without it, she looked like she was just my older sister, not the queen. And she knew that. “I love you. And you’ve come to believe that the Ice Kingdom is your kingdom. Of course, that means the fates of our kingdoms are entwined.”

I frowned, realizing I had said just the same thing, but I hadn’t meant to blurt it out that way.

Honor sounded so polished in this moment. She sounded practiced. I didn’t doubt she was sincere, but she had clearly been thinking about how to approach the relationship between our kingdoms.

She had known I would come asking for favors, and she had already made her decision.

A weight pressed down on my chest that made it hard to breathe.

I didn’t want to ask.

“I have much to tell you about,” I said, glancing at Dare.

Zehr’s gaze flickered to Dare, too, a ghost of a smirk crossing his lips.

“I want to hear all about it,” Honor promised, still gripping my hands. Her smile was so bright and kind, but I could feel the eyes of these men on me.

What did my brothers-in-law think? I came here after so little time away, babbling about my kingdom, dragging my own men in my wake, as if I had carefully copied Honor’s life as closely as I could.

Dare was watching me expectantly, as if he were waiting for me to bring up our marriage.

Though he had also been quick to suggest we could dissolve our married status.

Suddenly, all I wanted was to retreat from this room full of people who knew me too well. I felt as vulnerable as an exposed nerve. It was as if the angst of my younger years had suddenly caught up with me, even though I’d thought I had outgrown it.

“I do need to make a visit to the ball,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Would you come along so it’s not so dreadfully boring? Disguised, of course.”

“Of course.”

“We’ll keep your presence on the Isle a secret,” she promised.

“Despite your best attempts,” Branok added.

Dare’s gaze flickered toward Branok, so narrow and knowing that his glance seemed like an insult.

“Indeed. For whatever strategic value that provides you.” Honor sounded amused as she squeezed my hand.

“We’ll tell you everything we know about the House of Restoration,” Branok promised.

“And don’t worry, Hanna.” Damyn’s gaze was kind. “We’ll follow up on your concerns. Thank you for letting us know.”

Dare’s tension was evident in the line of his body as he rose from the couch.

Zehr offered me his arm to escort me in. His smile was mischievous as he asked, “I have wondered how your adventure is going.”

“I’ve never appreciated my bed more,” I responded, and Zehr’s smile widened.

“If you’ll excuse me.” Dare sounded as if he were looking for a fight, not pardon. He held his own arm out, though he looked stiff. I wasn’t sure he particularly wanted to take my hand after I’d pulled away from him and neglected to introduce him as anything but Kaelan’s friend. “I would like to escort Hanna.”

Zehr glanced at me in a way that made it clear he did not care what Dare wanted.

“I’ll allow it,” I told him with a smile.

I’d rather give Dare the opportunity to vent his frustration at me now if he were so inclined. I couldn’t imagine any other reason he’d be so eager to take my arm.

I would humor him in the hopes he would keep his fury quietly under control, because I knew how well my sister’s men would take it if they caught the faintest flare of anger they didn’t consider deserved.

I wouldn’t want them to know much of what happened in the Ice Kingdom. They would never forgive my men.

Dare looked down at me, his handsome face unsmiling, as I folded my hand over his corded forearm.

His thumb traced the curve of my cheekbone. “Masks on.”

“Aren’t they always?” I said, cupping his cheek the same way.

Magic swirled around the two of us as our clothes were remade, until we looked just as if we belonged here.

With our faces enchanted, the two of us made our way out of the tent and across the grass to the garden ballroom.