Reign of Ice (Forever Fae #4)(2)

Kamden clasped my hand and held it to his heart. “Thank you for tending to me, Your Highness. I promise to repay you in any way I can.”

Smiling, I wiped the sweat away from his forehead with one of the other towels. As his eyes fluttered shut, I murmured softly, “No payment necessary, warrior. You healing is all the payment I need.”





I waited for Kamden to fall asleep completely, and when I knew he would be okay, I ran out of the room in search of Meliantha. I had no clue where they would have taken Brayden, but when I finally found her, she was leaning against Kalen looking drawn and pale. The healing must’ve gotten to her and worn her down.

“Ariella,” she whispered, blinking her eyes slowly with a tiny smile on her face. “I did it.”

Kalen held her tighter and lifted her into his arms. “I’m going to take her to lie down. She needs her rest after all she’s done.” His long, black hair hung in his face and his shirt was stained with ungodly amounts of blood; Brayden’s blood.

“Is your brother all right?” I whispered, staring horrifically at the red stains spattered across his shirt.

Kalen nodded and blew out a heavy breath. “He will be, but if he would have been a few minutes later probably not.”

With that, Kalen left with my sister in his arms and disappeared around the corner. The door to the room in front of me was closed, but I knew without a doubt that Brayden was behind it. There was something in me that could sense him every time he was near. Slowly, I opened the door and snuck inside, hoping to not wake him if he was sleeping.

Something in my soul wanted me to see him, to make sure he was all right. The shades were drawn, making the room appear ominous and dark, just like Brayden and his broody ways. He was standoffish at times, but there were also times when I would catch him staring curiously at me. It made me wonder if I wasn’t the only one who had mixed feelings about the other.

Slowly, I approached his frozen form where he lay motionless in the bed. He was cast in shadows, but with my fae sight I could tell—even from this distance—that his eyes were closed. What was I even doing in here? I wondered. If he woke up he would probably tell me to get out.

Blood covered his clothing, which was discarded on the floor, and the primal urge to run to him and take care of him pushed me closer to the bed. I had never really spoken to him before, but I knew without a doubt that there was something happening between us. I could feel it. It wasn’t the usual flirty feelings I got when I joked around with the warriors, but something deeper … something real.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I watched Brayden as he took slow breaths in and out, his chest rising and falling easily with each turn. For the rest of the day and the day after that, I sat with him and watched over him, only leaving every now and again to relieve myself and stretch. Meliantha checked on him occasionally and couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t wake up. He should have already woken up. I sang to him periodically, songs of love and adventure, and most importantly songs of winter and going home, hoping it would bring him back. His lips twitched every once in a while during my songs, and it would always make me falter.

I wanted to kiss those lips, and run my hands through his tousled brown hair to make him wake up so I’d know he was truly all right. I couldn’t rest until I knew he was going to wake up. As I leaned over to touch his lips with my fingers, the door flew open, startling me, and in strode Kalen and Meliantha with smirks on their faces. I immediately pulled back and smiled at them as they approached the bed, ignoring their amused expressions, and put distance between me and the Winter prince.

Kalen’s grin grew bigger as his gaze landed on his brother and I froze in place with his next words. “Well, it’s about time you woke up, little brother,” he teased. “I was starting to think you were pretending so you could keep Ariella all to yourself.”

My breath hitched in my chest. When I summoned the courage to look over at the bed, Brayden’s eyes were indeed wide open, staring daggers at Kalen. Suddenly, he turned those deep brown eyes to me and all I could do was stare back, completely motionless. Oh yeah, I think I’m definitely going to be in trouble, I thought to myself.





The day we found out Sorcha was safe and with my brother, Drake, the whole Spring Court rejoiced in celebration. Kalen put together the best party ever and broke out his reserves of faerie wine, which quickly began to diminish. The sparkly blue liquid glistened in my cup as I downed the first glass, letting it fizzle all the way down into my belly. I poured myself another, and then another. Swaying to the music, I closed my eyes and smiled, thinking about how happy my brother and Sorcha must be now that they were together. He had his princess and soon to be queen in his arms.

As I was about to take another sip of my wine, a set of arms wrapped around my waist and twirled me around, making me spill the whole glass of wine I just poured onto the floor. Kamden’s laugh sounded in my ear along with Zanna’s. Thankfully, none spilled all over the sleeveless midnight blue gown I chose to wear for the occasion.

“Now look what you did,” I grumbled halfheartedly—teasing—as Kamden set me back on my feet. I smacked his arm and placed my hands on my hips. “That was a perfectly good glass of faerie wine, Kam. Now what am I going to do?”

“Uh … pour another glass,” he suggested mockingly. I set my glass down and sighed. It was probably best I didn’t drink more. One glass of faerie wine was potent enough to get anyone drunk, and I was already feeling way more than tipsy as it was.