Chapter One
“Rain? Are youawake?”
Rain cracked open her eyes at the sound of Daric’s deep voice. Her lungs squeezed with joy and relief that he was home safely from his latest trip up and down the slippery Axton Peaks, although she simply mumbled something that sounded likeNowhile her heart settled into a normal beat.
Daric slipped into her room anyway and stretched out beside her on thehigh bed. He was lying down but hardly still. Her prince was a constant explosion of motion, going everywhere as if his heels were on fire.
And he calledherthe storm.
“Happy birthday!” Daric turned onto his side, beaming at her.
“I’m sleeping.” Rain refused to open her eyes enough to do more than watch him through her lashes. The day her adoptive parents had chosen as her birthday was a terribleday. It was the first morning of spring, and another long season ofnothing. “But welcome home,” she said with a budding smile.
“You’re not sleeping. You’re talking to me.”
She huffed, unable to fault his logic. “We’re not children anymore. Youdoknow that it’s highly inappropriate for you to charge into my bedroom like this? Especially at the crack of dawn.”
“The crack of dawn?” Daric scoffed.“That was at least three minutes ago.”
“You’re impossible.” Sighing, Rain resigned herself to facing the day—this day when everyone still hoped she’d do something amazing and wonderful, even though they’d stopped expecting it a long time ago.
At least Daric was back, which made it all more bearable.
She stretched the sleep from her limbs and opened her eyes, allowing herself to really lookat him. Her chest knotted with the usual mix of elation, misery, and longing. His face was weathered from his latest journey, maybe even a little sun-scorched, and his blue eyes stood out with brilliance against his tanned skin. His dark hair had grown, now tumbling over his forehead in a way that made her want to smooth it between her fingers and brush it back. And his smile…
Rain’s pulse spedup again. His smile was the same as always: warm and devastating.
“Did everything go well?” she asked.
Daric nodded. “The last two towns in the dry-belt now have their full supply of ice blocks. I inspected the containers, and they’re all in good shape. It won’t water their fields, but it’ll give the townsfolk what they need to survive the upcoming season.”
Several years ago, Daric had conceivedof a plan to provide extra water for the towns around Leathen with the fewest natural depressions to collect rainwater and snowmelt from the winter. Under his direction, villagers had built huge watertight basins to hold blocks of ice that Daric and a team of soldiers regularly cut from the mountain lakes in winter. Each journey meant a difficult climb into the Axton Peaks, a long week of perilouswork, and a treacherous descent with heavy sleds stacked with ice. While the weather was still cold enough to transport the frozen water, Daric brought it to the towns that needed it the most. There, it was stored and slowly melted as the weather warmed. With rationing, the ice provided enough water for areas hovering on the brink of disaster to survive the inevitably rainless spring whileeveryone waited for summer storms to help refill their water towers.
Daric had yet to lose a man on these dangerous but necessary outings, and Rain knew he’d jumped into holes in the ice more than once to pull someone out. People didn’t die on Daric’s watch, despite the winter elements sometimes doing their best to blow his team from the mountaintops. Rain felt as though she held her breath eachtime he left and only let it out again when he returned.
“Did you just arrive?” she asked.
“Last night,” he answered. “But you’d already gone to bed.”
That explained why he was clean-shaven and looked freshly washed. Polite and civilized were expected of Daric, but Rain enjoyed seeing him come home all bristly and wind-whipped and looking deliciously barbarous in his winter furs. Weapons strappedon. Somehow stronger and wider after each grueling, work-filled expedition. Eyes sparking blue fire from across the room.
She shivered just thinking about it, although with him beside her, she was anything but cold.
Rain sat up and wiggled back against the headboard. Daric did the same and then handed her a small box.
He grinned at her. “I would have offered you a silver necklace to match yourhair, a sapphire ring to match your eyes, or a ruby brooch to match your lips, but Leathen has no riches left, so you’ll have to make do with this.” He tapped the lid of the box, his smile widening.
Rain smiled back, laughing a little. “You make me sound like a crown—silver and rubies and sapphires.”
“Sadly, we don’t have a single crown anymore, either. Besides, they were all gold, and you certainlydon’t have boring yellow hair.”
The mood in the dawn-lit room abruptly soured as they both thought about whodidhave blonde hair—Astraea Nighthall.
“You don’t have to marry her,” Rain murmured, turning the unopened gift over in her hands. She watched the box, unable to look at Daric again yet. The near constant ache in her chest ratcheted up with a vengeance. She’d thought her heart hurt before?Lately, it was in constant pain.
“And do what?” Daric asked bitterly, some of the princely veneer slipping from his voice. “Run away?”
Steeling herself, Rain turned back to him. “Talk to your father. He can’t possibly wish her on you.” Astraea Nighthall was all that was spiteful, vicious, and petty.
