Shocked by his language, I blurt out, “The snow bees attacked me.”
He’s never sworn in front of me before. I overheard him use that kind of language during his sparring sessions, but he was always careful not to curse around me.
He scoffs. “The flakes cut me, too, but not like that. Gods, you’re hideous. Let me see.”
All the air rushes out of my lungs. If he’d punched me, I would have been less surprised. I’m slow to react when he grabs my chin, not gently, the way he did before, and yanks the curtain aside.
“Shit,” he breathes as the light shafts across my face. It cuts a path across his features, too, highlighting the shiny dot in his iris.
We stand like that until I flinch away.
“What happened to your eye?” I ask him with my back turned.
“My eye is fine,” he says defensively.
“It’s different. There’s a silver speck.”
“Cosmetic. The ice hit me in the eye, and I suppose it turned a spot white the same way it did to your skin. But why did the flakes only cut you, and not me?”
And your father. Your brothers.I wasn’t the only one who suffered an attack. But why would that wild storm attack all of the male members of the royal family, and me?
Why not Kai?
Why not the queen, his mother?
Nothing makes sense—especially my friend’s sudden callousness. “They weren’t snowflakes. They were ice knives, like the ones that killed the trolls in the story.”
Kai scoffs. “Grow up, Gwen. The Snow Queen isn’t real.”
His boots thud on the bare wooden floors. He slams the door hard enough to make it tremble on its hinges.
Nana comes out of the bedroom and says cautiously. “That did not sound like our Kai.”
I give her a beseeching look as tears well in my eyes. Her features blur. Her arms open. I rush into her embrace with a broken sob.
Chapter 4
ONE YEAR LATER
Kai’s AscensionDay and the mysterious deaths of the king and three princes cast a pall over the kingdom that, for me, has never lifted. I walk with my head down with my hair concealing my face. I cling to the shadows whenever I have to leave our garret apartment.
I can’t hide when I’m working in the kitchens. I must secure my hair away from my face in the name of cleanliness and hygiene. I volunteer for the overnight and early morning shifts, the ones no one else wants. I have worked so much that for the past year I have barely seen the sun. My skin has lightened in response to the lack of solar exposure, a side effect I welcome, for the paler my skin is the less noticeable my scars.
I learn to ignore the stares of my colleagues. After a while, most of them get used to my damaged appearance and stop gawking at me. The rest of the castle denizens, however, stop and stare whenever I must leave the kitchens.
Most of all, I go out of my way to avoid Kai.
The arrogant, cruel-tongued prick of a prince I once fancied myself in love with.
Our paths have crossed rarely since that day when his words cut deeper than any knife. His mother must have seen thechange in him, for she has consolidated her power as regent while finding any excuse to send Kai far away from the castle. Her once-warm smile has turned ghostly and brittle on the rare occasions when it appears. Whispers of how he has alienated and insulted each foreign king she asked him to visit, run rampant.
Once, Kai was considered a good match for any princess. Now, Montrace is all but friendless in the world.
Today, he is returning after an extended mission. The entire castle is on edge, swirling with rumors about how he’s been sent home in disgrace. My once-sweet friend has turned hard and bitter. Every word he speaks is hurtful. He delights in his own cruelty.
“Gwen.”
I’m so lost in thought that the knife in my hand slips when my grandmother’s voice startles me. I hiss at the sharp sting.
