Cold Hands, Warm Heart

SEVEN

"Wait, Khorshid. Take this." The tall, dark-haired beauty stopped. I could see the panic gleaming in her eyes as I handed her my necklace.

"What? Why?"

"It's topaz. It will keep you warm—all nobles have one in Eira. It's a gift for housing me. I hid it in my boot when those men robbed my carriage, but I want you to have it." I wanted the stone's warmth to protect her tonight.

Khorshid looked at it and then me. "Are, are you certain?"

"Without a doubt." I leaned forward and kissed her, savoring the taste of her. I clasped the bourbon-colored stone around her neck. "Remember, my proposition is still open."

"We will discuss it when I return. Keep Ezri calm."

I stared as she dashed out of the house. Emptiness flooded through me, and I held myself from calling her back to me. I hate that she's gone. I hate it with a burning passion.

I took my spot beside Ezri and asked, "Ezri, is Khorshid's mother going to be all right?"

"I'm not sure, Gwyneira," Ezri whispered back, eyeing the woman as she slept. "I hope with everything I am that she will be."

I, too, rested my gaze on Khorshid's mother, studying her grey-streaked, black hair in the darkness. I sat with Ezri through the night, jumping at every sound and hoping it was Khorshid. Every so often, Ezri would wake the ill woman and check on her, but the woman grew weaker as the night drew on. My heart didn't slow one bit.

As dawn peeked through the window, the door downstairs burst open. "Stay here," I told Ezri before racing out of the room.

Khorshid's dad met me in the hall, staggering a bit, and the smell of whiskey and cigars accompanying him. I frowned as the sound of boots thumped below us. The familiar white and ice-blue uniforms greeted me—my family crest on their armor.

The palace guards found me. And I loathed the sight of them.

"Your Highness!" one of my father's guards, William, exclaimed, surprise in his voice.

"Sir William," I forced myself to respond. "You have found me."

"Your Majesty, we found the princess!"

My father dashed into the room, sweeping me into a hug. "What are you doing in this town?" my father asked, cupping my face. "Oh, we've been looking everywhere for you. Did these people hurt you?"

"My-my coachman got lost. I-I met this girl, and she helped me. It wasn't a kidnapping, father."

"Come, Gwyneira, let us get out of here."

"Wait, we have to wait for the girl to return. She is fetching a doctor for her ill mother."

"No, Gwyneira. We must get you back to the palace immediately. We have the reward—we'll give it to a guard for him to give to her."

A guard walked into the room with Khorshid's dad under arrest. "Father, what's happening?"

My father took me by the elbow, guiding me outside. "Come along, Gwyneira."

Before I knew it, there was the crack of a whip, and the carriage jolted forward. Wait, Khorshid! "Please, father. Let us wait for the girl to return. I want to say my goodbyes."

"No, Gwyneira. I want you home with haste."

"Please—"

"No," he cut me off, his sharpness cutting into me. "No."

I flinched back. What is wrong with my father? He has never raised his voice at me before.

My father moved on, but I couldn't bring myself to speak. I listened in silence while he spoke. My father explained that finding me was a complete accident. He was traveling down here on account of rumors of treason. Khorshid's father, Hereward, was planning to overthrow my father, along with a substantial amount of this town.