He chuckled with a nod. “I’ll make sure you have a variety, then, in your wardrobe.”
“Awesome. Thanks again.”
The line moved on, so I followed and picked up a plate. Badru waved over a staff member, said something, and got a nod before the other man rushed off. That was nice. He’d said he would do it, and did it seconds later. My ex had been shit at that. Not that I was interested in someone new.
And why did I immediately start looking for the prince with that thought?
He was standing over on the other side of the table with a man and a woman, the two of them talking animatedly while the prince listened. He’d added a silvery-blue fur-lined coat that went to his ankles on top of his skin-tight body suit from earlier. No staffs, canes, swords, or anything else long and pointy.
Did the prince of the Winter Court get cold? I wanted to find out if he was warm or cool to the touch. Could I make him melt?
Good grief.
“Is there something wrong with the chicken?”
I realized someone was talking to me and blinked myself back into focus. “Sorry, no, I’m sure it’s great.” I speared some meat with a smile, hoping he hadn’t noticed who I was staring at.
It seemed that I was one of the last to get a plate and that whoever had cooked had planned down to the last fried potato because there wasn’t much left after the guy behind me filled his plate. So not a Marie Antoinette level of feast that I’d feared. I liked that.
I didn’t like the fact that the only seat left was to the right of the prince. He sat at the head, lounging in his chair like he didn’t have a care in the world, eyes on me. I gave him a smile and set down my plate to pull my chair out. Should I apologize for earlier? Was I sitting here as a punishment?
But as I sat, I realized he didn’t have a plate. “Did you already eat? There’s hardly anything left.”
Before the last word left my mouth, someone came over and set a covered plate down in front of him. They whisked off the dome, and there was a selection ofeverything that had been available. He smirked at me. Was he showing off?
I picked a strawberry from my plate and tossed it into the air, catching it in my mouth. I smirked at him. And then I chewed and realized with horror that it had not been a strawberry but a raw radish. Too committed to the bit to spit it out now, I chewed, swallowed, and hoped no one could see my eyes watering.
Flurry chuckled. He knew. Of course he did. So since he did, I wiped the tears from my eyes and reached for a tall glass of— Well, okay, that was beer. I wasn’t a big drinker, didn’t know much about beer, but the slight coffee taste made me think of Guinness. So the fae brewed Guinness? Oddly, I wasn’t surprised.
Everyone was eating by now and chatting amongst themselves. Since the prince seemed to be in good spirits, I wanted to keep things nice and thought apologizing for earlier might be for the best.
“Your Highness?”
He looked up from cutting his chicken.
“I’d like to apologize for earlier. I was frustrated—as I’m sure you are—but that’s no reason for me to take it out on you or anyone else. Especially since I don’t know what you’ve all been through. Not really.”
He seemed to study me before he finally nodded. “I am frustrated, but I understand that you only wish to find a way home.”
“Well, I’d also like to help. If I can do something to break the curse or at least make things a bit more bearable while others work on that, I want to try.”
He gave me the tiniest of smiles. “What do you propose? An attempt to breach the barrier?”
Apparently, I could thaw the ice prince after all.
“Could we try that? Is one nearby?”
He shrugged one shoulder and went back to cutting up his chicken. “Less than an hour by horseback would bring us to the barrier with Spring. Our side is still land, but theirs is a deep lake now.”
“I can swim.”
He cocked his head at me. “Not afraid that the curse might try to drown you, too?”
I paused with my fork halfway to my mouth. “Well, I wasn’t…”
He chuckled.
“Do you want get rid of me in any way possible?” I said it teasingly, but I wasn’t sure I meant it that way.
