The Heart of Ice

Chapter 12

Davina

The castle doors slam shut and my head whips around. Callum, dressed in silver armor with a sword hanging past his side, stares at me through gritted teeth. A few other men garnished in black cloaks stand behind him. "Why hasn't anyone contacted me yet?" he spits, starting for Killian. Everett steps between them, a cheeky smile tugging at his lips. "You look a little angry, Cal. Mind telling us what for?" he questions.

Callum's eyes darted to Beckham, reaching for his sword. Ana places a hand on his while keeping calm eye contact. "Why am I head of The Nav when the things I'm supposed to take care of for you, I don't even hear about from you. Why am I finding out The Fire Kingdom attacked from whispers around town?" he sputters. Killian sighs, beckoning Everett to move. "That's what you're so upset about? I'm sorry, Callum. I was going to tell you. I had a few things to take care of first," the king murmurs, eyeing my frame. I refused to meet his gaze after he did not acknowledge what happened between us yesterday, when I cleaned his wounds. It doesn't take a genius to know he was feeling what I was in the moment.

Cal follows his gaze, sighing. "You put your personal feelings ahead of your duties, Killian. Do you remember anything I taught you when you were a boy?"

"I do," he answers plainly.

I can tell Callum wants to pressure further, but he resists. Instead, he makes his way to Moon and me, pulling something from his cloak pocket. During this, I take note of how his strengthening gaze is much duller than when I last saw him, probably from the incoming war and the responsibilities that come with it. I can only imagine how hard it must be to lead The Nav at a time like this. The best I can do is spare him some trouble.

He hands me a folded sheet of paper, turning to face the group. Beckham stands with Ana, I stand with Moon, and Killian stands next to Everett.

"I know with recent events, the timing of this must feel unbalanced," he starts. I passed the paper to Moon. She passes it to the rest of the group. "But the time has come for us to begin preparations for the kingdom of Ice's ball and-" Callum gestures to me. "Davina's coronation and the royal wedding."

At the mention of my wedding, my entire body seems to freeze. I think it's safe to say that I've officially given up all hope of anything happening between Killian and me. This means I'll be doing the thing I was most terrified of when all of this started: marrying a man I don't love. I know it's probably silly to be afraid of that with everything else going on, not to mention the benefits that come with our marriage, but the only reason I'm scared is because I don't want to end up like my mother, trapped in a loveless relationship. I've seen the toll it's taken on her these past few years, and I can't imagine myself in her shoes. I wanted this to happen, but I didn't want it to happen like this.

Killian catches my gaze and nods towards me. I don't understand why I expected him to say something to me about yesterday. Especially when he's already deemed himself unworthy of love or loving someone. I guess I thought maybe I was getting to him, finally giving the ruthless king a chance to open up to someone. To show them that he's not the monster everyone thinks he is, the monster I know he isn't. At the first sight of feelings, he ran away from me. He didn't return. Sometimes, I wish upon the gods to know what he's been through and to know exactly what troubles him. I wish to know how to stop it. I don't think I'll ever get close enough. Those who ache for a fire always get burned.

"Alright," Everett speaks, breaking the silence. "I don't care what you guys do, but I'm handling the wedding." Callum scoffs, waving a hand at him. "If it were my choice, we wouldn't let you anywhere near the wedding, let alone plan it. It would be a catastrophe." Everett places an offended hand against his chest. "No, it wouldn't! I would plan the best wedding this kingdom has seen in years, which is way better than you could do, Callum."

Callum glances between me and Killian. "Is this who you want to trust with your wedding? His shoes aren't even tied." Beckham steps in, shoving his sword farther into his belt. "Why don't you two work together for once? The last thing we need is your bickering," he starts. "Look at the king. He looks highly stifled."

I look towards Killian, who is already gazing at me. For a moment, the room falls utterly silent. He's been more distant, yet so close since yesterday night. I wish I could peer into his head and find out what he's thinking.

Callum takes the sheet of paper from Everett, a list of things we'll need for the ball, and shoves it back into his cloak pocket. "Well, it's best we get started now, for this could take all day if we let it," he says, starting for the throne room. The six of us follow behind him and his colleagues, keeping a firm distance away from them. When we enter, we're greeted by two thrones at the front of the room, sat up against a wall of windows peering over the tragedy that is my kingdom. "For starters, I would like to address the fact that when we do have the ball, it could be a potential target date for the kingdom of Fire to invade," Callum says, turning towards us. Beckham grunts, gripping Ana's hand in his.

"Luckily, The Nav and I were able to convince our neighboring kingdom, the kingdom in the Leaves, to let us borrow a few of their soldiers to patrol the streets at night." I look towards Moon, originally from The Leaves Kingdom, who sends me a slight smile. I wonder what she thinks about all of this, for no one has gotten her opinion on the war. Now, there will be some of her people at the ball who could potentially die if The Fire King decides to strike.

Killian cuts in. "Why didn't you inform me about this before you spoke to them? You do realize this puts their kingdom at risk, right?" he questions. I can hear the anger beginning to rise in his voice. Callum cowers. "Why didn't you inform me that you were going after The Fire Kingdom when they visited?" he starts. "Better yet, why did you wait a whole day to tell me after they arrived, Killian? You do realize people could have died?"

Silence descends upon the group, but that doesn't stop Callum. "Since the ball is only a few days away, I thought we would talk about that first. Does anyone have any ideas?" he questions. Everett glances between everyone before opening his mouth to say, "Why don't we invite the citizens of our kingdom?"

A hand flies to Callum's forehead, and I quickly cut in before he can say anything. "You know what, Everett, that's a great idea. The more the merrier, right, everyone?" I question, searching for only one answer. Killian doesn't spare me a second glance, though, leaving only everyone else to agree. "Yeah, Ev, that's a plan. Did you come up with it yourself?" Beckham questions. Ana slaps his arm, mouthing the words 'enough.'

"In fact, I did. I'm glad you guys agree. This also gives us a chance to address everything going on in the kingdom, you know? The people love reassurance."

"There's something we can agree on, Ev," Callum starts. "One of you needs to give a reassuring speech on everything going on in the kingdom, so that the kingdom does not go up in flames. You know how people can get it." He looks around the throne room, most likely studying to see if this could be a potential location to host the ball.

"We'll have it in here. It's enough space for everyone in the kingdom, and this will be a good chance to remind the citizens that they actually have a king, Killian. When was the last time they saw you? When you were deemed or maybe a few times after?" Cal asks. Killian shrugs. "I'm not sure, but I know I am not really interested in attending this ball. I'll give the speech then leave." Callum glances at me, eyebrows raised, as if he's questioning what's happened between us.

"You must attend the ball, Your Majesty. I'm afraid you are the host."

Killian sighs. "Why can't Davina be the host? She seems like the type to like parties anyway. I'm not attending Cal."

Suddenly, I feel a surge of anger rising under my skin, burning hot. I find myself blurting out faster than I can realize, "How would you know what I like? You don't seem very interested in getting to know me."

Ana and Beckham's gaze snaps to me, along with Everett and Moon. I may be wrong, but I think I've noticed a slight smirk tugging at her lips.

Killian doesn't look at me. He doesn't speak. He doesn't do anything to acknowledge my existence, and I find it bothering me more than I would like. "Are you just not going to speak to me, Your Highness. Yesterday happened, you know. There's no way you can just pretend like it didn't." Everett leans into Moon, disguising his remark as a whisper. "Why didn't anyone tell me about what happened yesterday?"

Moon shrugs. "I don't think any of us knew of what happened yesterday, Ev."

He finally looks at me, and I can feel every sense of strength coursing through my body beginning to cower. I don't speak. Instead, I wait for him. "Nothing happened yesterday, Davina," he starts, walking towards me slowly. "Nothing will ever happen between us or this idea you have of us. I didn't want to marry you in the first place. If it were up to me, you would be on the next carriage home."

Now, Callum is the one stepping between us, both arms raised.

"Oh, really? I can leave now if it's what you want. Trust me, I will choose home over a bratty and stuck up king anyday. Any sane person would." I lied.

Moon and Ana start towards me, pulling me further away from Callum. I don't know why, but there's a sudden and uncontrollable anger coursing through my veins. It's the same feeling I got when I made my first kill in the heart of my kingdom. "Calm down, Vina. You don't want to say something you might regret," Ana suggests, backing away from me. "What about him? Why doesn't anyone ever address him or call him out on his actions?" I question. "Are you all that terrified of him?"

Killian cuts in. "They aren't terrified. They just know where their loyalties lie. It's about time you figure it out too."

I hate him.

I hate him more than anything in this world.

"These people have been nothing but kind to you. So have I. They've cleaned up after your every mess and have taken every insult you've thrown at them," I yell. "And you can't do something as simple as attend the ball?"