Kael’s grin lingered as he brushed snow from his gauntlet. “You should smile more, you know. The frostlight bends when you do.”
“That sounds like a line,” I said dryly.
“It’s an observation. Lines are for mortals who need help being charming.”
“Meaning you don’t?”
“Meaning I was born radiant,” he said solemnly, then ruined it with another grin.
I tried not to laugh. Failed. “Arrogance suits you less than you think.”
“And yet you’re still talking to me.”
“Because it’s either that or talk to the walls.”
“They’re good listeners,” he said, stepping closer. “But they don’t look nearly as lovely when they glare.”
“Lovely?” My voice almost caught on the word.
He tilted his head, considering me with that same effortless boldness. “Lovely, yes. Even when you’re trying to decide whether to run or scold me.”
“I wasn’t going to run.”
“I didn’t say you would. Only that you’re smart enough to know you should.”
“And yet here I am.”
He smiled, slower this time, softer at the edges. “Here you are.”
The quiet stretched between us. I should have stepped back. The castle’s hum deepened, almost expectant, like the air itself was listening. Kael’s eyes flicked briefly toward the frost, then back to me.
“Tell me something, little flame,” he said. The nickname landed differently now—teasing but almost reverent. “Do mortals everregret being brave?”
“Constantly.”
He chuckled, low and warm. “Good. Then you might just survive.”
I folded my arms, mostly to hide the tremor in my fingers. “You fae have a strange idea of comfort.”
“We have a stranger idea of love,” he said quietly, and for a heartbeat the humor was gone. “But that’s a story for another day.”
He took a step back, his breath misting in the air. “Walk with me tomorrow,” he added, voice lighter again. “The gardens are almost pretty this time of year, in a bleak, icy, tragic sort of way.”
“That’s your sales pitch?”
“I’m better in person.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said, though the warmth in my cheeks betrayed me.
“Good,” he said, turning toward the archway. “I like being thought about.”
He left before I could decide whether to be irritated or amused. Probably both.
The courtyard seemed emptier without him. The frost hummed faintly beneath my feet again, echoing his words in a way that made my pulse unsteady.
And for the first time since arriving in this place, I realized that Winter wasn’t the only thing dangerous here.
By the time I reached the corridor again, my breath had stopped misting in the air. Kael’s laughter still clung to the back of my mind like a lingering echo—warm, uninvited, impossible to shake.
