Sacrifice (The Snow Queen #2)(85)

“We didn’t have time for any of that. Spring had arrived,” she argued.

“That’s a flimsy excuse. Why?”

Rakel said nothing.

Farrin sighed. “Do you know how horrifying it was to see you crumple on the battlefield? I swore to protect you with my life; I love you, and you shut me out with an impenetrable ice blockade while you withered and fell. I will live with that memory for the rest of my life. Please, Rakel…why?”

Rakel’s chin trembled before she regained control of her emotions. “I was afraid,” she said in a tiny voice.

Farrin tilted his head. “Of?”

“Being like Tenebris.”

“Oh, princess.” Farrin spoke the title with passionate affection, and Rakel knew he wasn’t calling her a princess of Verglas, but his princess. He engulfed her in another warm, protective hug.

Rakel shut her eyes and leaned into his shoulder. Ever since she had woken up, her head had swum with all the changes—the void where her magic used to be, the minty feeling of it always surrounding her, and the changes among her friends. Nothing was the same. Except for Farrin. She took a shuddering breath and fought her tears. In spite of everything that had happened, Farrin’s eyes were still bright with love, and his embrace felt like the strongest shield in the world.

“I wanted to prove that I wasn’t like him.” Rakel swallowed when a hot tear splashed her cheek. “That I was doing this because I wanted to save people—not because I wanted power.”

“Rakel, you didn’t need to sacrifice yourself to prove you aren’t like Tenebris. You do that just by breathing,” Farrin said.

“But we were so similar,” Rakel argued. She clung to him as if he were her lifeline, but she couldn’t look up to see his expression. “We both had more magic than a person should possess; we both recruited repressed people, and we fought for a cause we deemed worthy.”

Farrin slid one of his hands into her hair. “Being good is a choice; it’s a choice you made when you set out to save a country that scorned you. You might have power—which can often be corrupted—and the praise of men, but from the start, you have held out your hand to help and save.”

“That’s not true,” she protested. “I acted as I did because I hoped people would come to accept me.”

Farrin brushed his fingers along her jaw and tilted her face up so she had to raise her eyes. “Perhaps, but you helped—when, in any of your years in exile, you could have destroyed the entire country,” he whispered. “Your life has just started, Rakel. You are not expected to have all the answers. What is important is that you continue to choose love and goodness.”

Her tears threatened to spill over at the tender love she could see in Farrin’s eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“Don’t do it again.”

“I won’t.”

Farrin leaned over and sealed her vow with a kiss.

This was not the soft, gentle kiss they had exchanged in camp before battling Tenebris, but a passionate declaration of love. He was her anchor, holding her steady as the warmth of their embrace washed over her like a wave and made her body tingle.

As they kissed, Rakel knew she wished to never leave Farrin Graydim again. She had nearly died, and he had waited. She had defeated a monster, and he had protected her during the fight. She had woken up, and he’d been there.

When they finally parted, they stared at each other and breathed deeply—foreheads touching as they recovered.

Farrin dipped in again and stole another couple of soft, insistent kisses until Rakel laughed and pulled away. There was so much she wanted to say—so much she wanted him to know. But how to say it? Shyly, with a pink blush staining her cheeks, Rakel pulled his hand close. “Forever?”

Farrin chuckled—a low, throaty sound that made her stomach jump. He took her hand and held her knuckles to his lips. “Forever. But you’d better be conscious for most of it.”



Rakel crouched next to Kai, who held a crudely forged dagger. The little boy stared wide-eyed at the mirror. “It’s scary,” he whispered.

“I know.” Rakel squeezed his hand. “But I’m here, and so are Farrin, Phile, Bluff, Dryden, and a dozen other magic users. You’re safe.”

Use me…

Rakel shivered as the whispers of the mirror brushed against her skin. When Kai peered up at her, she put on another reassuring smile. “Are you ready?”

Kai nodded and held the dagger out in front of him. “Pierce!” he shouted. He threw it at the mirror, which it bounced off harmlessly, much the way the boulder Dryden had thrown at it had.

Kai’s shoulders drooped with the defeat. “Should I try again?”

Rakel squeezed his hand. “It’s fine, Kai. We just needed to be sure. You can go outside with the rest of the party—follow them back to camp.”

“Okay!” Kai darted forward and grabbed his dagger. He sucked his neck into his shoulders when he neared the mirror, then bolted outside.

Rakel stood, frowning at the mirror as she tugged on her magic.

Technically they were no longer on Verglas land, so she wasn’t sure her magic would come, but it did. It streaked to her side, although it took a while to build up.

Take my power, and you will be above all others.