He smiled thinly at me as I approached, and I wished I’d had another glass of wine before making my way over.
“Hey,” I said when I reached him.
“Hey,” he replied, and then I realized in terror that I couldn’t think of anything more to say. I’d thought as far as saying hey, and now I was trapped in an awful moment where I could only stare at him.
“The wedding was great,” I blurted out suddenly, because it was something to say.
“It was.” He nodded, then motioned to me. “You looked beautiful.”
I lowered my eyes. “You don’t have to say that.”
“I know.” He paused. “I wanted to.”
“Well, thanks.” I offered him a small smile.
I wasn’t sure if I should tell him he looked good too, because he definitely did. His dark hair was just slightly disheveled, as if he couldn’t completely tame it. He was clean shaven, which he rarely was, and his tan skin looked so smooth. The vest he wore over his dress shirt was fitted perfectly across his broad shoulders, and the first few buttons of his shirt were undone, showing off just enough flesh to make me crazy.
“So, listen,” Ridley said, filling the awkward silence that had fallen between us. “I’ve been looking for the right time to talk to you since you got back, and now seems as good as any.”
“Yeah?” I asked, lifting my eyes to meet his.
“I ended things with Juni.”
My heart skipped a beat, and I hoped I didn’t look as excited as I felt.
“It wasn’t fair to her,” he elaborated. “The way I was treating her. Juni is fantastic, and I did like her. But the truth is, I didn’t like her enough.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” I said, just to say something.
He took a deep breath. “And there’s no point in dancing around things anymore. I have feelings for you, Bryn, very strong feelings, and I think you feel the same way.”
“I … you know … I…” I was too stunned to properly form a sentence, and I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to say.
Of course I had feelings for Ridley, and while part of me was thrilled to hear he felt the same way, nothing had changed. He was still my boss, the Överste, actually, which meant that we would both be in serious trouble if we were to get involved.
So what could I say to him? That I loved him, but it didn’t matter because we couldn’t be together? What would even be the point of admitting how I felt?
Through my shock and confusion, I realized something in the room had changed. Everyone had stopped dancing, and as I looked around the room the musicians stopped playing. Ilsa had been singing “Why Don’t You Do Right?” but just stopped mid-word.
Most of the light in the room came from fairy lights and candles, but someone flipped on the overhead light, blinding everyone. I lifted up my arm to shield my face, and I finally saw the reason for the change.
Reid Kasten, King Evert’s personal guard, stood at the entrance.
“Sorry to interrupt the festivities,” Reid announced, speaking loudly and clearly. “The King sent me here to retrieve Bryn Aven.”
I glanced over at Ridley, as if he would have some insight as to what this was about, but he shook his head.
“I’m right here.” I stepped onto the dance floor so Reid could more easily see me.
“The King wants to see you immediately.”
“What’s this about?” Ridley asked, stepping up behind me, and Reid regarded him with derision. “I’m the Överste. If something’s going on, I should go.”
“The King didn’t say what it was concerning,” Reid said, showing Ridley a bit more respect. “He tasked me with returning with Bryn Aven.”
Ridley looked as if he wanted to say more, so I held up my hand to stop him. “It’s okay.”
I cast Tilda an apologetic smile, since any summons had intruded on her celebration, and she pursed her lips in worry as Reid escorted me away from the dance floor and toward the palace.
THIRTY-SEVEN
lush
The walk to the palace had been cold. I’d put on boots out of necessity, but I hadn’t changed out of my light bridesmaid dress, and I’d only grabbed a violet cloak to keep out the chill. Since I didn’t know what was going on, I didn’t want to waste any more time than I had to.
When we arrived at the palace, I slipped off my boots and cloak by the door. I expected Reid to lead me to the meeting room, but he took a different turn. Instead of going left toward the east wing of the palace where public affairs took place, he went right, taking me toward the private quarters.
“Where are we going?” I asked him.
“The King’s parlor,” Reid replied in a clipped tone, so I decided against pressing him further.
I’d only been in the private wing twice before, both for training purposes when I was still in tracker school, so it had been a while. Here the floors changed from cold, gray stone to pearlescent tile, purportedly brought in from Italy. Sheetrock covered the stone walls, painted ivory with faint silver flourishes to give it an added elegance. Instead of kerosene lamps, the halls were lit with bright dome lights.
Before we reached the room, I could hear Queen Mina. Her laughter carried through the closed door, and it sounded as if she’d affected the British accent again.
Reid knocked on the door and waited for us to be granted entrance, and I tried to figure out what exactly was happening. None of this made sense or was even remotely close to how things were usually done.
“Come in!” King Evert shouted, without checking to see who we were or what we wanted.
For his part, Reid continued to act as if it were business as usual. He opened the door for me then stood next to it inside the room and announced my arrival. But I barely registered it because I was too busy trying to make sense of the scene before me.
The King’s parlor was smaller than I’d expected. It only had room for a love seat, a sofa, and two sitting chairs—all of them high-backed tufted seats in a cream color. Above them hung a small but bright chandelier.
The walls were covered in wallpaper with alternating vertical bands of white and silver. On the wall opposite the door was a carved marble fireplace with a painting of Evert and Mina on their wedding day hanging it above it. To the left and pressed against the wall was an elegant bar made of mirrors with white baroque details.
The King lounged in the chair closest to the fireplace, one leg draped over the arm. The sleeves of his gray shirt were rolled up, and several buttons were undone. His black bangs hung over his forehead, and he had a highball glass in his hand, half full of a dark liquid.
Next to the fireplace, the Queen stood, still laughing as I entered the room. Her hair hung down in loose curls, and she wore a simple gown of pristine white. Even though she looked more relaxed than I usually saw her, she still wore gaudy diamond earrings, and the heavy necklace that lay on her collarbone was encrusted with sapphires. I presumed the wineglass on the mantel directly beside her to be hers.
But the big surprise was the man standing next to the bar, pouring himself another drink. His back was to me, but his broad shoulders and blond hair were unmistakable. His sharkskin jacket was discarded on the sofa, and the sleeves of his white dress shirt had been pushed up.
Prince Kennet seemed to be having some kind of weird party with Mina and Evert.
“Oh, Bryn!” Mina exclaimed when she saw me. “You look so lovely!”
Kennet turned around to look at me and smiled appreciatively, but I didn’t have time for that.
“Thank you, my Queen,” I replied politely. “I was called away from a wedding to—”
“Doesn’t she look lovely?” Mina asked Evert, interrupting me.
Evert narrowed his eyes, as if needing to get a better look at me, and I stood up straighter and repressed an irritated groan. “Yeah, yeah, she does,” he slurred.
“The Skojare good looks help with that,” Kennet said with a wink, making Mina erupt in laughter again.
“If you won’t be needi
ng me for anything more, shall I wait in the hall, sire?” Reid asked, and I didn’t blame him.
The King and Queen were drunk, or at the very least buzzed, both of them bordering on obnoxious.
“Yes, of course.” Evert waved Reid off, and the guard bowed before exiting the room and closing the door behind him.
“Your Highness, you summoned me?” I asked, trying to find out what exactly I was doing there in the first place.
“That was all my idea, I’m afraid,” Kennet admitted. With drink in hand, he effortlessly climbed over the back of the love seat and sat down, extending his legs out on it.
“Oh yes, Prince Kennet came all the way here from Storvatten to thank us personally for our help in sorting out their troubles,” Mina explained, and as she spoke, her hand went absently to her lavish necklace. “He wanted to extend his gratitude and strengthen the friendship between our tribes.”
“As I understand it, the troubles are still being sorted out,” I said carefully. “Storvatten is in great turmoil without a leader.”
“That’s all been sorted out.” Evert waved his hand again, nearly spilling his drink as he did. “The Prince is the King.”
I shot a look at Kennet, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. When I’d left Storvatten, Lisbet had all but guaranteed that she would be appointed the ruler in Mikko’s absence. She had assured me that she would do everything in her power to get the position in order to ensure her and Linnea’s safety.
So how exactly had Kennet gotten the title? There was a chance the Skojare in charge of making the decision had thought it would be best if they stuck with the Biâelse bloodline and overruled Marksinna Lisbet.
But as Kennet barely stifled his smirk, I couldn’t help but suspect he’d fought Lisbet for the title.
“Acting monarch,” Kennet corrected him, which meant he had all the power but not the official title of King. “And only until my brother is exonerated.”
I stared at Kennet evenly. “What if your brother isn’t exonerated?”
“That would only be if he is actually guilty of everything he’s accused of, and if he is, he shouldn’t be the King.” Kennet sat up straighter. “It is still a terrible mess in Storvatten, you’re right, but we’re on the right path to figuring everything out and making it a safer place.
“And that,” he said, lifting up his glass, “is all thanks to you and the Kanin. So here’s to you.”
Mina hurried to grab her glass off the mantel and raised it in a toast. “Skål!”
“Skål!” Evert shouted, then proceeded to drunkenly spill his drink all over himself.
Mina looked at her husband with pity as he tried to wipe the alcohol off his shirt. “Oh, Evert, my love. Let me help you.” She rushed over, using the length of her dress to help dry him off.
“I don’t even know how that happened.” He shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t … I think I’m drunk.”
“I think you are, too, my King,” Mina said with a bit of a laugh and smiled up at him. “Why don’t we get you up to bed and into something dry?”
He reached out, stroking her face in a moment of tenderness that I hadn’t even known the King was capable of. “You’re so patient and beautiful. What did I ever do to deserve you?”
“All the right things,” she assured him, and then she stood up. “I’m sorry, but I hope you can excuse us both.”
“Yes, of course.” I bowed slightly.
“I’m sure Bryn and I can entertain ourselves in your absence,” Kennet said, wagging his eyebrows at me.
THIRTY-EIGHT
idyll
The very moment the King and Queen left us alone, Kennet leapt up from the sofa and bolted toward me. I had hardly a second to react before his arm was around me and his lips were on mine, but I put my hand on his chest and pushed him back.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, looking up into his startled blue eyes.
“Kissing you. Isn’t it obvious?” he asked like a guy who was used to taking what he wanted without any protests.
I pulled myself from his arm and stepped back from him. “I already told you. We’re only friends.”
“You’re saying you don’t want to kiss me, then?” Kennet asked with raised eyebrows. I turned away, walking toward the love seat. “Why not? You should at least offer me a reason.”
For one thing, I didn’t trust him. Not that I ever really had, but now with his new appointment as ruler of the Skojare and his bizarre drunken celebration with the King and Queen, I trusted him even less.
There was also the business of Ridley confessing his feelings for me, and the fact that I felt the same way, with the chance that something might be possible in the future—even the distant future. I didn’t want to muck it up by fooling around with a Prince, especially a Prince who was now acting as a King.
But the biggest reason was that I simply didn’t feel that way about Kennet. I liked him well enough, and he had been a good friend to me in Storvatten. But that didn’t mean I wanted to make out with him.
Not to mention all the other huge reasons why it was a bad idea: I could be demoted, fired, or even banished, and the risk of that was very high in Doldastam, since we actually had a functioning guard that would be able to catch us in the act.
“Well, you’re King, for one thing.” I turned to face him, offering the reason that seemed least likely to offend him. “Do you really wanna blow it all by messing around with some Kanin girl?”
“Technically, you’re not really Kanin,” Kennet corrected me, moving closer. “And you’re even technically royalty, since both your parents are. It’d be worth the risk.”
I stepped back from him. “You don’t even like me that much.”
Kennet bristled. “Don’t tell me how I feel.” He softened a little. “But I’d like to spend more time with you. You could come back to Storvatten with me.”
“For what?” I shook my head in disbelief. “What are you even doing here?”
“I came here to see you.” Kennet tried to touch my arm, but I pulled back from him.
“Bullshit.” I wasn’t buying any of it.
“I was sent here to help ensure peace between our tribes,” Kennet said wearily. “Without a true King right now, and with such a shitty guard, this would be the perfect time for someone to attack us. So I’m supposed to make sure the Kanin like us, so they can defend us if we need them to, and also so they don’t attack us themselves.”
I eyed him up, still not sure what to believe. “Who sent you?”
“Well, since I’m the acting ruler, I suppose you can say I sent myself.” He offered a small smile. “But everyone, including Marksinna Lisbet, thought it would be a good idea to make nice with you all. I gave Mina that necklace as a gesture of our goodwill.
“I did also think it would be fun to spend more time with you, but apparently I was wrong about that,” he added dryly.
“Sorry.” I relaxed and let my arms fall to my sides, trying not to look as suspicious as I felt. “You just seem a little too cavalier about everything.”
He rolled his eyes and went over to grab his drink from where he’d left it on a small side table. “You’re really great at knowing how I should act and how I should feel, Bryn.”
“How is Mikko?” I asked, switching from one touchy subject to another. I’d dropped the formal titles, since I had no idea if Mikko was even King anymore.
“I don’t know.” Kennet had his back to me as he took a drink, and I watched his shoulders rise and fall with heavy resignation. “He won’t let me see him.”
“Why not?”
“You’d have to ask him that yourself.” He swirled the alcohol in his glass around, watching it. “I do love him. I know a lot of people don’t believe that now, maybe you included, but he is my older brother. I don’t want to see him hurt.”
“I’m sure it’s hard for him,” I said gently, trying to offer Kennet a bit of comfort. “With everything that happened, and now with you being
the King. Mikko is going through a very difficult time.”
“He never even wanted to be King,” Kennet muttered, still staring down at his glass. “I offered to take the crown in his place, but Mikko refused to go against Father’s decree.” He shook his head and took a long drink.
“When I left, Marksinna Lisbet told me she thought she’d be placed as acting monarch,” I told him.
“Did she?” Kennet laughed. “She is one crazy old bat.”
The sharpness of his words startled me, but I quickly recovered and asked, “What do you mean?”
“I’m next in line for the throne.” He looked at me like it should have been obvious. “If anything happens to Mikko, it goes to me. There’s no way that a Marksinna with no ties to our bloodline would ever be in charge, even for a moment.”
“Maybe it was just wishful thinking on her part,” I said. “She was just worried about Linnea’s safety.”
Kennet scoffed. “I can keep the kingdom safe.”
“Her biggest concern—and mine too, really—was continuing to allow Bayle Lundeen to remain in charge of the guard.”
“Then you can both rest at ease,” he smiled at me. “The first thing I did after being appointed was dismiss Bayle.”
“You fired him?” I asked, almost breathless in my relief.
He nodded. “I did, but I think he feared an investigation, so he immediately took off. We have a few guards looking for him, but I’m not sure what a guard like ours will really turn up.”
“So then are the charges against Mikko dropped?” I asked.
Kennet shook his head. “It’s not quite that simple. There’s still evidence against him, and we do have to wait for a trial. I’m sure this will all be sorted out soon.” He walked over to me, probably because I’d softened since our conversation had started.
“Is Linnea holding up okay?” I asked, since I didn’t know what to say to that.
“About as well as you’d imagine.”
“But you’ll keep her safe, won’t you?” I asked, and I tried to play on his pride to ensure that he would do everything in his power to protect her. “As long as you’re the acting King, you wouldn’t let anything happen to her, would you?”
Ice Kissed (The Kanin Chronicles) Page 18
