He abandoned the door and came to stand before her, eyes sparking. “This isn’t about avoiding you. There’s nothing funny about this situation. We are prisoners here. What if someone is using this opportunity to attack the kingdom?”
She scoffed. “We’re not under attack. Our friends locked us in to give us time alone together. They must have noticed that we need it. That door will not open until we accept the gift andspend the night here. Is that so bad? A night alone with your wife?”
“Of course not,” he barked, but his gaze moved to the window. It had started to snow, and white puffs circled beyond the glass in what was fast becoming a blizzard. They weren’t going anywhere tonight.
Raven frowned at the tension she saw in his shoulders. Her husband had always been the growly sort, but never outwardly hostile. Something deeper was plaguing him tonight, and she needed to find out what. “Gabriel…”
She was interrupted by a resoundingpfsssst,corresponding to the light in the room dimming considerably. Raven turned toward the sound to find that the fire had extinguished itself, although smoke still curled off the logs and a few embers glowed red from the grate. “Weird,” she said. “Plenty of wood left to burn.”
“I’ve got it.” Gabriel stomped to the hearth, drew a deep breath, and blew dragon fire.
CHAPTER 3
Although Gabriel’s efforts were enough to make the bricks inside the fireplace glow red from the heat, the wood refused to catch. Eventually, he ran out of breath and stared at the logs as if they’d betrayed him.
“Was that there before?” Raven pointed at a brass plaque fastened to the hearth.
Gabriel’s lips peeled back from his teeth. “No, it was not.” He moved closer and read the inscription aloud. “To kindle true, speak the truth.”
Raven giggled. “Clever cabin. The fire will ignite only if we speak the truth to one another. A truth from the heart, I presume.” She shivered against a sudden burst of cold that blasted down the chimney and blew back her black hair. “Yes, yes, I believe I have it right. The cabin would like us to share the truths weighing on our hearts.”
“Here’s a truth,” Gabriel snarled. “I hate it here, and I want to go back to the palace.”
Another gust of air powered down the chimney, sending a plume of ash ballooning in Gabriel’s direction, and covering him in soot. He wiped a hand over each eye and then across hismouth and Raven couldn’t hold back her laughter. “You look like a smiley face.”
“Raven!”
“Don’t bark at me, dragon. I’m not responsible.” With a snap of her fingers, she used her magic to clean Gabriel up, sending the ash back into the fireplace.
“Thank you,” Gabriel grumbled.
With a deep breath, Raven said, “I’ll go first. I miss you. You’ve allowed your royal duties to take priority for too long and, I think, it’s caused you to neglect your family. To neglect… me.” A spark flickered but fizzled out just as fast. “There, that’s the type of truth it wants. Now you.”
“I haven’t been neglecting you,” he growled. “I am king. I have responsibilities. The kingdom must come first, same as always.”
Raven frowned. “It doesn’t feel the same as always. It feels like you refuse to allow anyone else to help you. Charlie, Nathaniel, or Marius could and would lend a hand if you asked them, but you seem afraid to give them the reins, even temporarily. It’s almost as if you don’t trust them.”
“I trust them, Raven. And Idoallow them to handle things sometimes. Why, we just had that dinner date at the Silver Sunset. You ordered the roast.”
“That was almost three months ago, and you left during dessert to check in on Charlie. She was fine, by the way.”
“Three months?” He squinted, looking powerfully bewildered.
“We haven’t even… you know… in just as long.” Her gaze flicked to the bed.
“Not true,” he said defensively. “We’ve slept in the same bed every night.”
“Slept being the operative word.” She crossed her arms again.
“Impossible. Perhaps you simply don’t remember.”
She tipped her head, her lips curling with her arched brow.
“I suppose that’s worse,” he mumbled. “It appears I owe you an apology.”
“I don’t need an apology. I need the truth. Quickly, before we freeze to death.” The temperature in the cabin had dropped so abruptly that she shivered and tucked her hands into her armpits.
Gabriel groaned and closed his eyes for what seemed to Raven like a full ten minutes. Although it was probably much shorter. With her lips turning blue, a minute was a very long time. When he opened them again, he looked at the fireplace and said, “I don’t want to hand off my responsibilities to anyone else. I’m afraid of what might happen if I do.”
