Read Online Spring Frost by Kailin Gow - Free Book Online Page B

caught sight of Kian looking at us, his face frozen in a frown. First I had offered to give my life for Logan, now it was Logan who was the only one able to save my life – while wrapping his arms around me, no less! And all the while Kian was watching me, aching for me, unable to touch me. I wanted to comfort him, to tell him that I loved him no less.        
     
              But his touch was dangerous, now.
     
              I sighed as we rode faster into the Winter Kingdom. Would our struggles ever be at an end?
     

 
     
    Chapter 9
     
              T he ride back to the Winter Kingdom took longer than we had expected. There were no obstacles in our path, but somehow the stress had taken its toll on all of us, and we could see the first cresting of dawn on the horizon by the time the Winter Court came into view. I sighed as I caught a glimpse of its bright, gleaming spires. The stained glass window – an enormous, flower-shaped structure on the east end of the castle – gleamed with the rising sun, sending patterns of color onto the snow, dancing like rainbows. I gasped at the site. Its beauty cheered me, warmed my heart. My flesh, however, was another story. Logan’s touch had stopped the Freezing, at least temporarily, but I knew in my heart that it was no permanent solution.
     
              “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Shasta breathed softly, looking all around her. “I mean, last time I was here…” Her voice trailed off and her expression tinged with sadness. “Last time I was here it was dark. There was so much destruction, so much death…now at least they have hope. We have hope.” She looked up at Rodney, who squeezed her hand and smiled at her, love in his eyes. “When we left here we didn’t know if the suns would ever shine again on Feyland – and now, look!” She made a motion towards the sky. “Two of them, shining more brightly than ever before.” She turned to me. “We’re all scared of this Sorceress, Breena. Me as much as anyone else. But at the same time…we can’t forget all the good we’ve done. The war between Winter and Summer is over. The suns are restored. Whatever happens, we’ll at least have succeeded in that.”
     
              “Sometimes it seems like the evil’s too great,” admitted Logan. “Like no matter how much we do, no matter how hard we fight – there’s always more to do. I don’t know if we’ll ever get to just…you know…rest.”
     
              Kian and I exchanged glances. We knew as much as anyone did how strong the desire for rest was. Only a few weeks ago I’d dreamed of marrying Kian, of making a life with him. I had agreed to be his bride. But now it seemed that our dream would be put on hold for the foreseeable future. I turned to Shasta and sighed. Surely the same was true for her and Rodney – more true, in fact, since she and Rodney had been together even longer. We were all waiting for the troubles to end – to go home to the people we loved. Me to Kian. Rodney to Shasta. Alistair to Rose. Logan drew in breath sharply and I turned back to him.
     
              Poor Logan , I thought. Even when all this was over, even when we defeated this Sorceress ( if we defeated this sorceress – but I couldn’t dwell on that!), then he’d have nobody to go back to. Part of me wished that I could find someone out there for him, someone for Logan to love who could love him as fully and undividedly as I could not. But Logan’s loyalty made it impossible; I would have his heart no matter what. Even if I didn’t want it.
     
              Or did I want it? I couldn’t deny that the feeling of his arms around me made me tingle, ever so slightly. It was a comfortable, familiar feeling. But having him so close to me only made me more aware of what I could not give him, of what I could never give him. If I loved him at all, I knew – I would have to let him go. Let him find