“No, I mean—I know you said your dad’s doing it now to appease the people in Easter who think he isn’t a good enough leader, but was it really something your father decided he wanted to do, or did my dad force his hand?”
Iris looks out at the ice. Her dad is skating. Smiling.
“Why are you asking?” The question is dense with reservation. Not wanting to talk about it? Or not wanting to talk withmeabout it?
“Dad told me some things that have started clarifying a lot,” I say. “And I never stopped to wonder what you’re actually getting out of this alliance. All the benefits my dad’s talked about are purely for Christmas, with Easter as an afterthought.”
“Well, I at least get your sparkling company.” She tries for a smile.
I hold her gaze, eyebrows lifting, and she blinks in surprise.
“All right.” She adjusts, shoulders leveling. “My father does want to appease our court. He wants the notoriety Christmas has. And more joy, of course. That’s what it’s all about, right?” But she sighs. “He doesn’t talk about this union with Christmas like it’s a partnership anymore. I think he likes that someone is telling him what to do and making decisions that at leastlooklike they’ll benefit us so he doesn’t have to think about how he’s ruling Easter by himself.”
“He isn’t ruling Easter by himself,” I say with a pointed look at her.
She shrugs. “I do what I can. And Lily… well, you know what Lily’s like.”
Lily puts on a persona as flawless as Iris’s, but she’s five thousand times more controlling. She’d get fixated on the small details that only affected her—a boyfriend who ruined her birthday—rather than anything bigger—said boyfriend ruining her birthday because hebankrupted a country.
“She wants what’s best,” Iris continues, “but she doesn’t have the resolve that your father does. So they agree with whatever he says, and so far, the decisions he’s made soothe the naysayers in our court. It’s not that your dadforcedus into an alliance. It’s just that it never occurred to my father that we could rule Easter on our own.”
I arch forward, arms braced on the bench, one knee bouncing. “So we aren’t… blackmailing you into this engagement?”
She tips her head, studying me. “You really think so little of yourself?”
I grin, because that isn’t what I was getting at, and my genuine amusement smooths her concern. “I’m gonna keep it real with you, Lentora. I’m way out of your league.”
She laughs, like a deep, full-belly seal-bark of a laugh.
I drop my mouth open. “Ouch, Peep. You could’ve laughed a little less demonically.”
Dad isn’t keeping her here with blackmail, then. It’s only a little relieving, but I blow out a breath anyway.
She leans her head on my shoulder and tucks her arm through mine. We sit like that for a moment, watching skaters whirl by, listening to Christmas songs vibrate the cold air.
A few photographers catch pictures of us. The only satisfying thought I can drudge up is that it’ll mollify Dad for a bit.Princess Iris and Prince Nicholas cuddle at ice skating event.
Ahead of us, Kris got dragged into a conversation with some courtiers on the ice.
Hex is at the railing of the rink a few yards down, back in his normal boots and studying the poses and methods of the people skating by him, still trying to work it out. But his fingers twitch absently at his side, and his gaze darts to the edge of the crowd and back twice as I watch.
A gaggle of kids is laughing and bouncing up and down, batting at what looks like three little birds that dart in and out of their group. I squint—not birds. Tiny reindeer. Tiny reindeerghosts,but at first glance, they could almost be made of snow.
My eyes go back to Hex, a smile leaping across my lips.
He must feel me watching him, because he looks over. He notes Iris’s head on my shoulder and his focus snaps away, redness forming a curl from his jaw up to his temple.
“I think we’re making him jealous,” Iris tells me.
I stiffen. I can’t help it.
She peels away with a smile.
“I have no idea who you’re talking about,” I say defiantly.
My god,ishe jealous?
“Uh-huh.” She kicks the ground below the bench. “Thanks for being concerned about me. Thanks for just listening.”
