Page 40 of Eternally Rare
My kingdom will fall.
The House of Ice and Snow will be worthless.
This secret isn’t only about me, it’s about the elves I rule.
They count on me to be what they need me to be. They are more important than my own happiness. A good leader, a wise leader, puts their citizens before themselves, so no matter how much I want to yell the truth to my dragon, to weep the words that have plagued me for eight hundred years, I cannot.
My responsibilities as Prince of the Ice Elven outweigh the need for love.
“If I truly believe that, then why am I not getting out of bed?” I ask myself, my entire body numb. I am sinking further into the mattress, the cold foam forming to every curve I have, and the blanket wraps me in the comfort I long for from my mates.
I hold the ice-woven comforter around me, wrapping myself in its embrace, and imagining the covers are arms holding me tight.
I am pathetic. Truly.
A knock on the door has me groan in dismay.
“Go away. I do not wish to see anyone.”
Another knock, only this time it bangs harder, shaking the iron bolts.
In a move unlike me, I reach behind my head and snag my pillow, tossing it against the door. “I order you to leave. I am not available for anything. Come back tomorrow. Go to Zyrl if you must. He is in charge for the day.”
The lock on the door breaks, followed by a loud bang that vibrates my aching head.
“Am I? I had no idea,” my brother exclaims.
I turn my face into the pillow. “Zy, please leave. I am not in the mood for your antics.”
“That’s too bad because I brought you a gift.”
I like gifts.
I peek my head over my shoulder to see him standing in the middle of the doorway. Seeing him soaking wet has me sitting up for the first time in hours. His hair is dripping, his robes are clinging to his body, and a puddle grows where he stands.
“What happened to you? Did dragons do this?” I toss the covers from my body, swinging my legs over the edge of the frosted mattress then stand. “I will declare war. I no longer care—”
“—No, brother. Stop. Relax. I am wet from traveling through the portal. I have retrieved one of your wayward mates.”
I look at him longer than necessary without blinking. “What did you do to Rarity? Did you have to tie her up against her will? Zyrl, I will not allow such things to be done to my mate.”
My baby brother wipes his face of water and steps aside, revealing a very wet, very beautiful Rarity. Her skin glistens, andher clothes form to her body, leaving nothing to the imagination. My tongue twists in an adolescent way of not knowing what to say when confronted with something that has my mind unable to think or process.
Her violet eyes steal around the room, glowing vividly from her pale face. Her lips are the color of a pale rose and when she sees me, the last thing I expect her to do is smile.
My breath is taken from my body as I stare at what cannot be real.
“I’ll leave you two alone and I’ll do those duties I am apparently in charge of. Rude, brother. Thank you for the forewarning.”
“Giving a fortnight would be too much,” I manage to push the words from my throat as he shuts the door behind Rarity.
We stand in silence.
Water drips from her clothes, adding to the growing puddle on the floor.
Our breaths collide in clouds we cannot see, meeting eagerly to become one, a secret dance we are not privy to.
She smiles again— well— more of an uncertain smirk that causes her left fang to press against her bottom lip. A faint purple hue appears on her cheeks, a sign that tells me I am the luckiest elf alive if she reacts to me in such a way.