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Everyone returned to their cabins, and we returned to the stone fortress The warainst the rock and immediately surrounded us The bonfire directly underneath the sky was big and bright, and the heat radiated through ht to my skin When Ian had left and it was just the two of us, she regardedat me with the eyes of a mother rather than those of a queen “Are you well?”

I nodded

“It looked like you got her to return willingly”

“Once she realized what else is out there, she knew she wouldn’t make it far”

“Perhaps that stupid girl isn’t so stupid after all What did you encounter?”

“The Teeth”

Her eyes narrowed

“They attacked Ivory first I had to intervene if I wanted her to stay alive Klaus fled”

“Of course he did,” she said “A coward for a king”

“There was a yeti as well…always a yeti”

The corner of her lips tugged in a smile “I’m relieved you returned unharmed” Like always, her hands cupped my cheeks, and she smoothed her thumbs over my cold skin She treated me as a man in the presence of others but treated me as her son in their absence Her warm hands pulled away, the saround

“There’s soated to share”

She stared, her features hardening into her shrewd appearance

“I was outnumbered by Klaus and the Teeth Ivory took the opportunity to flee while I was compromised”

A flash of anger aze

“But she returned…and saved my life”

The anger re to her

“Just thought you should know”

There was no acknowledght And do exactly what her father did to me”

A chill had never crept into h the flesh and blood, but it did now Everything tightened, froaze without reaction, keeping everything contained beneath the surface “I just told you she saved my life”

“She wouldn’t have had to save it if she hadn’t run in the first place”