Page 15

Chapter Fifteen

V al stood next to Harm at the very edge of the boundary line between the Goblin Court and the Court of Stone, a stark line where colorful leaves turned into bare trees and a blanket of snow. A stream wound beside them, gurgling merrily on the Goblin Court side while it was frozen solid in the Court of Stone.

Harm was gawking first at the Winter Court ahead of them, then at the Fall Court behind them. “This is just so strange. No matter how many times we do it, I’ll still never get used to stepping over a border.”

Far less strange than the edgy, wrong feeling still plaguing Val. Perhaps it had been Harm’s courage facing the grain sprites. Maybe it was falling into his arms during their training session the evening before. But it was as if Val didn’t fit in her own skin anymore, and she wasn’t sure what to do about it.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her thick, fur-lined coat. “Bundle up. ”

If her words came out a little short, well, it was Harm’s own fault for being just so annoyingly nice and good that it did things to her insides.

Harm dug into his own magical pocket, pulling out a winter coat, gloves, scarf, and hat. He pulled the things on quickly, not fazed by her grumpiness.

Val busied herself pulling on her gloves, then adjusting her hat. “Ready?”

With a grin, Harm plunged into the Court of Stone ahead of her, his boots sinking into snow that was nearly knee-deep on him.

Daisy plowed into the snow, bounding through it before she plunged her face into a snowbank.

“She doesn’t seem bothered by the cold.” Harm waved to the frolicking dog.

“No.” Val trundled into the Court of Stone. A wall of cold slapped her face, stealing her breath for a moment. Daisy might not be bothered by the cold, but Val couldn’t wait until they could leave this court.

No, not they . She would be turning Harm over to his new dragon master and leaving this court alone. Except for Daisy, of course.

Why did that ache so much? As if she didn’t want to do it? This was her job. Her mission. Between the cord and the bargain, neither of them had much of a choice.

She trudged through the snow, headed for the mountains. This was going to be one cold, long walk. Worse, she didn’t even know which mountain in the Court of Stone belonged to Golbet. She’d have to find the nearest dragon and ask for directions.

Walking briskly at her side, Harm was digging into his magical pocket again. When he pulled his hands out, a grin spread across his face. “Yes! Looks like that mouse woman must have really liked the Tulpenland cheese. She included ice skates in my pocket.”

“Ice skates?” Val took in the two sets of what looked like silver blades attached to leather soles, just with straps instead of the boot part.

“Yes. We have these in Tulpenland. I grew up skating on the canals.” Harm’s grin was that wide, enthusiastic one that used to itch at her and now…

Now it was far too endearing.

“This will be so much faster and more fun than walking.” Harm hurried a few feet away to the edge of the frozen stream and sat on a rock. Setting the skates aside, he held one ice skate to the bottom of his boot and buckled it in place.

“I don’t know how to ice skate.” She tromped through the snow and paused at his side, staring down at the second set of skates.

“Really?” Harm barely paused in buckling on his skate.

“I was born a summer fae, and I usually try to minimize the amount of time I spend in Winter Courts while on missions.” Val wiggled her fingers in her gloves. The cold already nipped at her nose and worked through her clothing.

Harm pushed to his feet on the ice, moving like he had been born on skates. He spun to face her, sticking within their ten feet limit. “Come on. Surely you of all people aren’t scared of ice skating.”

“I’m not scared.” Val stated the words, but she nudged the second set of skates with the toe of her boot. She was in no hurry to try them on.

“You taught me to fight with a knife. I can teach you to ice skate.” Harm held his arms out to her. “Besides, ice skating involves sharp, shiny blades strapped to your boots. Surely that’s something that appeals to you.”

When he put it that way…Val sighed and perched on the rock, reaching for one of the skates. “Fine. Just give me a moment.”

She strapped the skates on as tightly as she could. She didn’t want them coming off. Once done, she planted her feet on the ice and tried to stand. The blades slid on the ice, threatening to take her feet right out from under her.

Harm skated closer and took her hands. “I have you. Try to stand now.”

Gripping his hands, Val levered herself upright. She bit down on a shriek as her feet slipped. Only Harm’s firm grasp on her hands kept her from falling on her rear on the ice.

“It’s all right. I have you.” Harm somehow remained firm on his feet. “Gather your feet beneath you. I know you have good balance. Stand lightly, like you’re about to start a fight.”

Val scrambled for a few seconds, her weight hanging from her grip on Harm. She finally managed to get her feet under her, shifting her weight so that she balanced more solidly on the far-too-thin blades.

She could do this. She just had to get her balance right .

Tentatively, she straightened up from her crouch and eased one of her feet forward.

“That’s it.” Harm slowly skated backwards, his movements both graceful and powerful. “Just glide on the ice.”

Val pushed her other foot forward, feeling the way the blade moved over the ice beneath. As she gained a better sense for the interaction of ice and skate, she found a better rhythm, her movements more sure.

Harm’s grin widened as he continued to skate backward, gripping her hands. “I was right, wasn’t I? This is more fun than trudging through snow, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.” Val probably should let go of his hands. But his mittened hands were warm over hers, his grip steady even as they skated.

And it made her think that she might be in more danger of falling than ever.

Harm shouldn’t let the feel of her hands in his go to his head. Nor dwell too much on that trusting look she’d given him when she put her hands in his.

Still, his heart was soaring, and he tried to tell himself it was because he was on skates again. But if that was all it was, then he would’ve let go of her hands and skated to the full extent the ten-foot rope allowed.

Instead, he kept holding her hands and skating at that slow, easy pace while Val got a sense of the ice.

He shouldn’t confuse this thing between them. She was only with him because of a magical cord and a mission to deliver him to his destination. Once they arrived at the dragon’s mountain, she would leave, and he’d never see her again.

But maybe it was all right that this wouldn’t last. He could still enjoy this moment, still let himself fall just a little, even knowing how it would end. She’d shown him how to be stronger, more genuine, and he’d leave the Fae Realm the better for it.

Could he leave her better for having known him? Right now, all he wanted to do was make her smile. A true, genuine smile of joy and happiness, not merely one of those tight, smirking smiles. Not that he disliked those smirks either. But he’d seen so very little joy from Val.

Harm picked up the pace of his skating, and Val easily matched him, her grip on his hands loosening as she didn’t need to lean on him as much. Daisy happily loped alongside the river, bounding through snowbanks and sniffing along rabbit trails.

Val released one of his hands and picked up her pace even more. Her brown eyes held the hint of a sparkle, the curve of a smile on her mouth. Not quite the full smile he was hoping to see, but it was enough. “Is that as fast as you can go?”

“Not at all.” Harm spun to face forward and put more power into his glide, shooting across the ice.

Val matched him, and soon the two of them were flying over the ice, the breeze of their passing whipping at their scarves. The cold scoured Harm’s cheeks and nose. He didn’t try to stifle his grin at the exhilaration of the speed. He might have even chuckled under his breath.

Val’s black hair streamed behind her, her smile growing the faster they went.

Dark green spruce trees blurred past, their branches laden with sparkling snow. The craggy mountains grew on either side of the stream, and the shadows of their peaks spread colder patches across the ice.

A valley opened before them, surrounded by the looming peaks all around. The stream ended in a large lake, the ice perfectly smooth and crystalline, bordered by thick stands of evergreens.

Harm and Val raced onto the lake, their skates swishing over the ice. As they neared the far end, Harm tightened his grip on Val’s hand, dug in his skates, and tugged Val toward him.

She spun into his arms and the two of them skidded to a halt, ice shaving in a sparkling wave from their skates.

Harm held her for a moment, her mittened hands on his chest, his on her waist. With all their layers of clothing, he couldn’t feel her warmth. But he savored holding her anyway, especially with the way her eyes were dancing, just the hint of a grin playing along her mouth as if she might just give in to joy.

Harm couldn’t help the way his gaze dropped to her lips. His hands tightened on her, tugging her closer. “Val, I…”

Her head tipped up, her gaze meeting his.

Then her eyes widened, and she shoved away from him with such force that he nearly fell, his heart thunking into his toes. What was…

Val reached for the dagger at her waist. “Dragon!”

Harm whirled, reaching for his sword. As he caught sight of the massive creature landing at the edge of the lake behind him, he froze without drawing his weapon. A sword would do little good.

The yellow-green creature was massive with glinting scales covering its whole body from the tip of its fanged muzzle to the end of its tree-trunk-sized tail. Spikes ran down the center of its back while all four of its legs featured deadly-looking talons. Huge batlike wings beat with such force that trees bent and the wind pushed Harm backward several feet on his skates.

With a crunch of breaking trees and a thump that reverberated into the ice beneath Harm’s skates, the dragon settled onto the ground.

Whining, Daisy shuffled from the bank onto the ice, her belly low to the ground and her tail tucked beneath her butt. She pressed into the back of Val’s legs, still whining.

Harm swallowed and eased closer to Val, though he barely resisted the urge to hide behind her along with Daisy. “That’s…”

“A dragon. Yes.” Val lifted her hand away from her dagger. Her smile had disappeared into a hard, tight look once again.

A dragon. Harm swallowed, his stomach sinking even farther into his toes.

There was no way he was escaping a dragon.