AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The tea kettle begins yelling at me reminding me I was in the middle of doing something before I once again began thinking about him. When I reach for the kettle, I notice my hands are thawed out. “Damn it,” I curse before pouring my tea. What I need to be worried about is why, when I think of him, my body turns into an inferno. I mean, none of this happened to me before I met him and as much as I tell myself it is unrelated and would have happened anyway eventually, I can’t help wondering if it is really connected to him somehow.
Tea in hand, I sit on the couch and pull out my laptop. I give a silent thanks so that no one can see what I am typing in because normal people would think I am crazy. As it is, no one in my kingdom knows about the special powers I have, such as putting out fires with a swing of mind or shooting ice from my fingers. It’s not something I share with anyone. The only people who know are my family.
Initially, it was terrifying. At ten, when it started happening, I felt like an outcast. A monster. My parents had the royal physician come to the house numerous times a week, trying to figure out what was going on. Then, one day, Goober, my parent's advisor, came to them with some ancient scroll telling them this is something that happened every so many hundred years to an ancestor, and it is a gift from them. A gift. I wouldn’t call it that.
I spent years indoors trying to figure out how to control not the power but myself. I had to retrain my brain not to touch others, not to get angry, and not to lash out. Yep, loads of fun. Finally, when I was fifteen, I got the hang of it, and I was allowed to leave the palace and perform my royal duties as the next in line for the throne, and so far, I have managed to do alright.
What is happening now is something different altogether. I type in heat curse into the search engine, and even the internet laughs at me with cartoon images. “Great.” I continue looking up articles, and that is when I see it- glaringly bold in all of its proclamations.
King Leyland and Queen Isis of Wintergreen are proud to announce the engagement of their son, heir to the throne, Prince Frost to Princess Lavender Windemere of Springlandia.
Suddenly, I am in the bathroom using the toilet to hold myself up while what little I did eat comes back up. Over and over I wretch a bundle of feelings I didn’t realize I had or ignored into the porcelain bowl. How did I not see this coming? Of course, he is getting married. That is part of our duty. Hell, isn’t that why I ran, to avoid this happening to me? He has no choice. A tiny voice in my head whispers. Sure he does. You chose to leave. It's true I did, but for a man, it is different, isn’t it?
Once it has passed and I have brushed my teeth, I begin thinking of what I am going to do. I have to get away from here from him. I rush out of the room and into the bedroom, shoving things into my suitcase. I grab everything I determine to be vital and walk into the kitchen.
I put non-perishable things in my purse. I turn to check and see the books he had brought me. A profound sadness washes over me when I think of leaving those behind. I start shuffling them, trying to decide which ones to bring, and something hits the ground.
I pick up the book, and a page falls open. Apparently, he brought a copy of the history of Wintergreen. The page that is opened mentions a woman, an apothecary, as we call them now. Some call them witches, others psychics. According to this, she lives on the outskirts of this country, hours from here, hidden in the woods, in solitude. Only those she chooses to reveal herself to are welcome at her cottage, except the King and Queen, of course.
“Yes. That is who I need to go see.” With my mind made up, I continue to shove what I have in the living room in my suitcase. Remembering I left the bracelet Little Rose gave me on the bedroom side table, I walk toward the room, and the front door opens.
“Elise, what’s going on? Why are you packing?” Of course, I couldn’t leave without one more heart-piercing.
CHAPTERFOUR
FROST
“Elise, what’s going on? Why are you packing?” I am unable to keep the panic from my voice as I watch as she shoves her shit into her bag. My blood pressure rises as I imagine my life without her. I need to stop her from leaving. It should be insane that I want and need her so much when I’ve just met her, but somehow it’s not. At least to me.
“I’m leaving.” Her matter-of-fact tone of voice gives me pause.
“Where are you going?” I demand, frantic.
“Anywhere but here,” she says.
“But why? I don’t understand. Earlier…”
“Where does your fiancée think you are, Frost?” Her anger is palpable. She’s not looking me in the eyes, and I desperately want her to. I could look into those icy blue eyes all day.
“I don’t have a fiancée, Elise.” I don’t know what I have to do to convince her, but I’ll do it. Even I’ll admit that the press was damning, but it’s not true even if my parents have announced it to the world. I’ve barely spoken two words to the woman, and I’ve never been alone with her before. It hardly counts.
“Don’t make this any worse by lying. I saw it online.”
“And you believe everything you read online? Every shred of gossip about you is true just because it’s online?”
“No, of course not, but…”
“But nothing. I’m not engaged. Not yet, anyway.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she demands. I want to tell her that I have every intention of marrying as soon as humanly possible.
“Nothing but…” I begin, but she cuts me off.
“But what? We barely know each other. We don’t owe each other anything. I’ve got to go. Now.”
She continues into the bedroom before coming back out to finish shoving stuff into her bag. She moves past me, toward the door. Without thinking, I grab her arm and pull her toward me. The flash of that scorches my hand. My eyes move from where my hand is wrapped around her arm up to her eyes. There is a fire blazing behind them.
I pull her into my arms, and before I can think about it, I kiss her. Not the slight brushing of lips from earlier, but a soul searing kiss. My first, and for some reason I know it’s her first kiss too. We gasp at the same time, and I take the opportunity to slide my tongue against hers. Softly at first, but when she moans, I pull her even closer to me, my hands reaching for her slight waist. The temperature in the room rises to a tropical level, but I ignore it. I am lost in her, literally losing track of time.
