Andar yelled again and pounded on the ice walls.
Bylur smirked. “And how long will I have before you decide to undermine my efforts?”
I gripped my dagger, bracing for the moment he decided to drop the diplomacy and attack. “I can’t say.”
He pursed his lips. “I’m not opposed to working with you. Would you consider working with a council of the noble lords?”
The icy wall behind him turned red and started radiating heat. Andar was fighting magic with magic. And he was doing it for me. The thought warmed my entire chest.
I lifted my chin. “I don’t negotiate with people who break into my bedroom.”
The red ice melted, thinning enough that I could see Andar’s furious face focused on Bylur, that protective streak making him look even more dangerous than the fae who’d trapped me in my own room.
“Very well,” Bylur said. “I hope we can meet again in conditions you find more conducive to discussions.”
I clenched my jaw and tightened my fingers around my dagger hilt. If only it were a solid bone hilt, wrapped in leather—something my fist could settle around instead of the ice I’d formed with magic.
Bylur did not wait for an answer. He stepped into the shadows of the wall to his right and…
Disappeared.
At the same time, the wall separating Andar from me shattered, bursting into millions of shards of ice. A gale-force wind caught them all in the air and dumped them in a pile where the wall had been.
Andar leapt over them and rushed into the shadows where Bylur had disappeared. When he did not find the shadow-loving prince, Andar strode across the room to me.
He gripped my upper arms, carefully, but securely. “Your Majesty. Are you… hurt?”
I met his anxious gaze and shook my head slowly. “No. He— It was Prince Bylur.”
Andar’s gaze darkened. “Did he threaten you?”
“Not exactly.” I could not lie. The words would not form on my lips. I could either tell Andar the truth or leave him in the dark. And when I saw the concern in his face, I could not leave him worried. “Bylur said he wanted to discuss working with me and a council of nobles to correct the chaos in the kingdom. He claimed we were not enemies, but he also refused to say he would not kill me.”
Andar’s grip tightened on my shoulders—not uncomfortably, but enough that I let my daggers dissolve into the air, and I collapsed against his chest. He’d removed his doublet, but his soft undershirt was warm and comfortable. He wrapped his arms around my back, holding me firmly against him with one hand and rubbing my back with the other. There was a safety in his arms—a safety I’d never felt before.
“I was so worried,” he muttered. “When I felt the extra layer of magic surrounding you and realized I couldn’t reach you. And then I saw him in here. And I told you I’d protect you as long as our paths crossed—”
“I’m fine,” I said, snuggling into him. How long could I get away with this hug? “Bylur seemed more curious about me than anything. I won’t worry about him until after we take care of the humans.”
Andar’s hand froze in the middle of the path it had been tracing across my back, as if I’d reminded him that we did not have a relationship of comforting hugs. Or at least, not a real one. We might have had a pretend relationship that would have encouraged him to embrace me like this if we had an audience.
But here, nobody saw. He didn’t need to perform.
He let go of me, walking closer to the shattered wall. “I’m glad you’re safe. Maybe we should leave the wall down between our rooms so he can’t come back and trap you again.”
The space he put between us hurt more than anything Bylur had done. I missed Andar’s hug, his warmth, and his concern. I shook my head, and he stepped over the broken ice.
“I’ll be fine,” I said. “Get some sleep.” I shot my magic at the crystal shards, swirling them in the air until they reassembled into a solid ice wall.
Then I patched the crystals in the wall around my heart as well.
Chapter 19: Andar
Ifingered the seam on the leather dress and debated turning it back into cloak. Maeva had sent the cloak with us. We couldn’t tell her why it was unnecessary, so I’d just tucked it into our pack when she wasn’t looking. Last night, I’d poured an insane amount of magic into it, transforming it into a gift. It had seemed like a good idea last night, but now I was not sure.
The queen opened her door, ending my opportunity for debate. Her eyes fell to the folded fabric in my hands. “What is that?”
I swallowed and answered her honestly. “A dress. Your fighting leathers will be hot once we cross the chasm.”
