“Yes,” I answered with a nod.
Across the room, Stefan cleared his throat subtly. I knew what he was reminding me of. Do not sink too fast into this when we had no idea if Kyle had a connection to my brother.
If he did, he was a fantastic liar. And I would end up heartbroken. As much as I wanted to solve both of my problems at the same time, I thought better of it. Despite his admission, I could not bring up the marriage issue.
I licked my lips, buckling down into what I’d come here for. “I am thrilled to hear that you hope to pursue a relationship further, but I am afraid that is not what I’m here about.”
His features pinched. “Oh?”
I lowered my gaze to the floor, our fingers intertwining as I sought support from him. Support that I didn’t know if I’d have.
“I have an issue I think you can help with, but it’s not exactly…” I sighed, struggling to explain without scaring him off. “Normal.”
He let out a breath, a grin tugging at his mouth. “You’re kind of talking to the king of crazy.”
Then his face sobered, eyes widening. “Oh—that wasn’t, like, a weird pun because you’re royalty.”
I giggled, glancing up at him before kissing his cheek. “I do like you so very much.”
Color rose in his face.
“And I do appreciate your open-mindedness. The situation is rather difficult. My father is…in a tenuous position.”
Kyle’s eyebrows furrowed. “Isn’t he…dead?”
I fluttered my eyelashes, realizing that this situation made little sense to an outsider. “No. He is not, but he is…in limbo.”
Kyle narrowed his eyes as he tried to make sense of it.
“He was shot, likely at the hands of my brother, but that is beside the point.”
“Oh, Nattie, I’m so sorry,” he answered, pulling me closer into an embrace.
“Thank you. But that’s not all of it.” I stepped back, my eyes searching his face. “The bullet is lodged close to his spine. He should have died, but…”
Kyle slid his head forward, his features questioning.
“A close family friend–a physician–froze him.” I allowed the words to sink, waiting to gauge his response.
“Froze him?” Kyle questioned.
“Cryogenically. But…he died, and now, we can’t bring Papa back.” Tears stung my eyes as the direness of my circumstances set in when I dared speak it aloud.
“Someonecryogenically frozeyour dad?!”
I snapped my gaze up to him, one tear burning its way down my cheek. I’d shocked him, just as I feared I would the moment he found out the sort of lives we led here in Belvaria.
“I mean…that’s not how I meant that to come out. I’m just…a little surprised. I mean, I didn’t think we were there yettechnology-wise, but…that’s amazing. Incredible, actually.” He rubbed his chin, his features turning pensive as Nadia quietly slipped into the room.
“Well, as I said, not so incredible because we have no idea how the process works or how to reverse it. We need your help. Desperately. I have no desire to be queen yet, and if we cannot revive Papa…Nikolai will have him declared dead.”
“Yeah, that could present a problem. Although, I think you’ll make a pretty awesome queen.”
Except I wouldn’t be queen if Nikolai had his way. And I couldn’t address that issue just yet. It was too soon. I didn’t want a marriage based out of necessity.
“Thank you, but I would very much prefer to have my father back.”
Kyle studied me for a moment. “And…you think I can help?”
