Mirrored Snow [novel]

Chapter Twenty Six

"Snowdon?" He grunted in acknowledgement, not even glancing up to watch Lyona enter the cottage and close the door softly behind her. She approached the table cautiously, placing a basket of fresh pastries in front of him, like an offering to a grouchy bear. "Are you okay?"

"Do you care either way?"

A small groan. "Oh get over yourself," she replied, her tone playful. "If one argument with Py sends you on an existential crisis then we are all in trouble. Py argues with everyone – it's just who he is. And realising he can't really be the leader of this group anymore now that you're here has put him in a worse mood than usual. He's struggling to work out where he fits."

"He made it quite clear that he doesn't fit anywhere near me," Snowdon replied.

Lyona responded with a sigh, slumping into the chair opposite him and helping herself to one of the pastries. "He just needs some space. He'll come around eventually. Maybe not until you're celebrating a decade of peaceful rule over the kingdom, but it will happen." She chanced a smile, which Snowdon didn't return. I envied her ease around him, the way she could sit and eat and talk as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"So what's the plan, your highness?"

Snowdon laughed at the title, low and humourless. When she didn't say anything further he looked up, surveying her from beneath his dark lashes. "You really still want to help me?"

"Of course! Just tell me what to do."

"We need to rescue Murphy." I could see the indecision on his face, the worry that, after his argument with Py, this was the wrong course of action to take. But I could also see the guilt and the grief. He would and could not abandon his friend. "I just wish we'd found a route into the palace already," he slumped forwards over maps he'd already looked at a dozen times, as if expecting the route to appear in fae ink.

"Perhaps you just need a fresh perspective," Lyona said. She stood up and swiped the mining blueprint from his hands before he could protest. "You need to eat. I'll take a look while you do."

For a second, Snowdon looked as though he was going to argue, then his expression softened and he instead helped himself to a flaky, knotted pastry.

My stomach felt hot and wrong as I watched them together. Despite everything that was going on, they looked so comfortable in each other's company. Lyona was wandering around the room, pretending to study the map, while really glancing at Snowdon over the top of it, to make sure he was eating enough, with a soft smile on her face. I hadn't seen her smile in so long, but instead of making me happy, it made the acidic sensation in my stomach worse. I'd never wanted to trade places with any one more than I did with Lyona in that moment.

Sunlight streamed through the cottage windows, lighting her red hair so that it glowed like gold. Snowdon was pretending to focus on his food, but was also shooting glances at Lyona whenever her back was turned to him. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to know what he was thinking or not; whether the contents of his mind would make the sensation in my stomach better, or worse.

"Wait!" he said suddenly, letting his half-eaten pastry drop to the table in his haste to get out of his chair and over to Lyona.

"What?" she said, wheeling to face him. She was stood by the window, and I suspected she'd been gazing at the forest outside rather than the ink on the paper.

"Hold it back up to the light again – I thought I saw something." She did as he requested and gasped. I wished I could see what they were looking at, but Snowdon's body was blocking my view. Frustration burnt through my limbs. In the palace, I could always just move to a better vantage point, but here in this cottage, with only one static mirror to base in, it was maddening to feel so cut off.