Chapter 7

J ack howled with laughter and wiped tears of mirth from his eyes as we walked down to the lake. “He thought Kodiak was your son?”

“Don’t laugh!” I said, shoving at his shoulder. “I was so embarrassed! What am I going to do now?”

“What did he say when you said that you meant a dog?”

I dragged a hand down my face. “Octavius interrupted us, then Prince Stephen was with other women for the rest of the feast so I couldn’t find time to correct him. He thinks I was talking about some cute little boy who misses his mommy!” I swung the ice skates that Jack had given to me. From where he’d unearthed them, I had no idea, but at least I had managed to change out of the overly tight pink gown from Trista back into my original dress. “I just need to find the will quickly so I can go back home and never have the shame of facing him again. Until I correct him, he’ll think that I’m a struggling single mother who was widowed at a young age or something. What if he sends me away and I don’t have time to find the will?”

“But what if your touching story moved him so much that he picks you?” Jack’s roguish smile still played about his lips.

“Ugh, don’t wish that on me,” I groaned, covering my eyes with a hand. “I have no interest in Stephen. He is very kind, but…there’s just no connection between us.”

Jack’s smile faded slightly. “Maybe on your end. I’m beginning to think that the prince may feel differently. He certainly looked happiest when he came back from his walk with you. I’m sorry I couldn’t get Octavius to give you lodging for tonight. I tried my absolute best, but he was insistent that one more night with your stepfamily wouldn’t kill you, and I didn’t want to tell him that you weren’t sleeping there. I already have my room set up for you.”

“I can’t thank you enough.”

A servant came into sight, gathering up firewood, and Jack and I went silent as we passed. Even if it wasn’t technically a crime for a non-mage to give an ice skating lesson to a mage, sneaking off together would still look very suspicious to anyone who wasn’t aware of our perfectly platonic arrangement. “Jack, what if he thinks I’m leading him on? I can’t do that; that must be an imprisonable crime.”

“Stephen isn’t that cold-hearted,” Jack protested. “He wouldn’t throw some girl into the dungeon for?—”

“For toying with his affections and leading him on even if she has no interest in him?” I stared up at the full moon. “I’m a fraud.”

“Do you think he expects any less?”

My expression grew even more horrified. “I don’t want him to think so poorly of me!”

“No, you misunderstood me. I only meant…girls have been flocking to him for years, all intent on winning the pr ince’s affection. All of them would happily lead him on if they thought it would advance their own position.”

“So I’m just like Vanessa,” I groaned. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Did you ask him about the school or your father’s will?”

My shoulders sagged. “No. I was just trying to get to know him a little bit. I worried that if I asked for too much right away he would just send me away, and I still haven’t found anything yet.”

Jack nodded sagely. “It was probably a wise move. One of Stephen’s biggest concerns going into this was that people would come just to take advantage of his power and position.” He threw out his hands to balance as he slid over an icy spot then regained his balance. “We’re nearly to the lake. But I meant to tell you before, since the next ball isn’t until tomorrow evening, I’ll have time in the morning to go over to the records room and help you search.”

“I thought it was off-limits.”

“Not to me.”

Trees coated in a heavy layer of snow stood around the lake. The trail we’d been following sloped down, and Jack turned back to give me a hand as I slid over some of the ice that had formed on the path. Boulders were scattered around, and I brushed the snow off one to sit and do up my skates, cinching the laces tightly. Once they were sufficiently tied, I scooped a large rock from the ground and threw it out onto the lake. It skittered across the surface without any cracks appearing, and my confidence that the ice was thick enough grew.

Jack had fastened his own straps well and stood without any wobble in his stance. Each breath was visible in the crisp night air, and I blew out a puff of air purely for the joy of seeing the steam swirl in front of me.

“Have you ever skated before?” I glided out onto the ice, the familiar scraping sound of pushing off bringing back memories of the hundreds of hours I had spent on the ice with my mother as a child. My blades cut over the ice, and the noise became continual and hypnotic. I hadn’t heard it in so long. Mother had always claimed that ice skating sounded like thin fabric tearing, and that the noise made her anxious that her clothing had torn somehow. In contrast, I loved the soft whisper of the ice, the way it sounded almost like it was calling to me. I came to a stop after marking a circle and held my hands out to Jack, inviting him to join me.

“I haven’t skated much,” Jack answered, accepting my hands and allowing me to pull him onto the ice. With the combination of both our weights, the ice let out an ominous cracking. “How do we know it won’t break?”

“We don’t,” I answered with a small smirk. “But luckily, I know this incredible mage who can control ice and snow, and I’m betting that he would be willing to make the ice thicker if we asked really nicely.”

“Oh, so now you’re taking advantage of this poor, innocent mage?”

My grin broadened. “Absolutely I am. Do you think he would be willing to help out a girl so destitute that she was reduced to sleeping with Cinder?”

“I suppose.” Jack’s smile could have lit up the sky as he stooped down and placed his hand against the ice. The opaque, pale blue ice condensed into a thick white, spreading out over the entire lake “There. Now we won’t go swimming tonight.”

“Good.” I tightened my scarf around my throat. “Now, here is how you push off.” I modeled the simplest technique then nodded at him. “Your turn.”

With a sly sparkle in his eye, Jack followed me then flipped around and skated backward in a circle around me.

“You little liar! You said you didn’t have any experience!” I couldn’t suppress the delighted smile that made my eyes crinkle into tiny crescent shapes.

“I said I didn’t have much experience,” he corrected me. “But do you really think an ice mage would never have tried skating?”

“But now I still owe you because I can’t give you much of a lesson.” I watched Jack glide on a single skate, dipping low and executing a complicated spin. Was he trying to show off for me?

“Ah, but I’ve never had a partner while skating,” Jack told me. “No girls were ever willing to skate with a mage, but I have a hunch you might be.”

The idea of Jack holding my waist sent butterflies fluttering all around my stomach, and I felt a wave of shyness, an unusual sensation that wasn’t altogether unpleasant when it was coupled with the mental image of Jack touching me. “Your hunch is correct. Let’s try skating together so I can get a feel for your timing.”

We held left hands, and I directed his right hand around my back to grasp the right side of my waist. Our hips brushed as we lined up side by side. “Just don’t accidentally pull me in front of you,” I instructed him. “I’m sure the ice is thick enough not to break, but it would still hurt a lot.”

Skating with Jack felt more natural than with any other man I’d ever skated with before. It was almost as though I knew what he was thinking as we circled the lake. Without me saying anything, I knew when Jack was planning to spin me or switch positions, and I followed his lead, marveling at his natural talent on the ice.

“How was that?” Jack pulled me to a stop in the middle of the lake. The moon’s silvery glow cast a reflection on the ice’s surface between us and the castle. “Did I pass the first lesson?”

“I can’t believe you fooled me into thinking this was your first time. And you must have had a partner before; you are too natural not to have tried.”

“I had to attend all of Stephen’s dance lessons. I was always given any girl he didn’t want to dance with, and skating shares a lot of similarities with dancing. You follow very well.”

“Do you think you could lift me?” I asked breathlessly, acutely aware of him holding my hands. My heart was nearly about to explode with giddiness, and the idea of him holding me and being strong enough to support me was almost enough to cause me to swoon.

Jack looked at me for a long time, his astonishingly blue eyes even more pronounced in the night, before he quietly answered, “I think I can manage.”

“Try a waist lift first. Hold here”—I pivoted so he was behind me and placed his hands on either side of my waist—“and when we get up to speed, count down when you’re ready so I know when to jump.”

I placed my hands over his, and felt his fingers flex on my sides, sending thrilling bursts rolling all over my body. Devoutly glad that he was behind me and unable to see my face, I bit my lip. At least we could count this as an ice skating lesson so no one would suspect us of a courtship.

Jack pushed off, and we glided across the lake.

“Three…two…one,” Jack counted, and I leapt into the air. Jack kept me suspended for a moment but misjudged the angle when setting me down, and we tumbled down. Trying desperately not to land on me, Jack did an awkward dive roll over where I fell and spun across the ice.

Laughing, I got back up. “I expected to fall much earlier than that.”

“Ow.” Jack rolled his arm and held his shoulder as he got up. “I’m going to feel that tomorrow, aren’t I?”

“Probably.” I felt along his shoulder, but it was so padded with thick layers that I wasn’t able to determine anything besides the fact that I was trying to find innocent excuses to touch him, and that he didn’t seem to mind.

A loud snapping came from nearby and we broke apart, both with guilty expressions on our faces. A crowned head was bobbing toward us, barely visible behind the snow-covered shrubbery.

“Come on,” Jack urged, snatching my hand and pulling me to the lake’s edge. We darted for cover, crouching together behind a boulder. Had the newcomer seen us?

Jack peeked over the boulder’s top. “It’s the king,” he breathed. “Don’t move.”

“Why are we hiding?” I whispered.

Jack grimaced. “Um, I missed an important meeting earlier this morning when we went to get Kodiak.”

I grinned wickedly. “So you mean to say that you are already on thin ice with him?”

He chuckled. “No, I was just on thin ice with you, remember?”

“Good thing we fixed that.”

King Wenceslas passed, calling out to someone. After several moments, there was another crunch of snow, and the servant we’d seen gathering firewood before replied to the king. After a short conversation, their footsteps faded away. Jack and I waited for several more minutes until they were gone. It was difficult to remain quiet; each time Jack and I caught the other’s eye, we had to clap our hands up to our mouths to stifle our laughter. Everything seemed funnier with him around. Once we hadn’t seen or heard them for a while, Jack touched my back. “Want to try that lift again?”

“Yes, I do.”

For an hour, we worked on lifts and holds. Each attempt sent exhilarating bursts of energy through me when Jack touched me, and it became increasingly difficult to disguise my attraction to him as simple ice skating instruction.

Eventually, the temperature dropped so much that even with my increased core temperature from skating, shivers rolled over my body and my teeth began chattering. I stripped off my gloves to examine my hands. The full moon’s light illuminated my fingertips, which were slowly turning blue. I blew onto my hands and rubbed them together, trying to warm them up.

“Here,” Jack offered, taking my cold hands into his own warm ones. “My skin never gets cold. Ironic, I know.”

It was true. His palms radiated so much heat that I wanted to hold on to him forever. My numb fingers tingled as they regained feeling.

“Better?” he asked.

“Not yet.” How long would I be able to get away with having him hold my hands?

Jack scrubbed his hands over mine, enfolding them in warmth. His rubbing slowed until we were just holding our hands up, trapped between our chests. If I looked at him, I would be tempted to flirt again, so I continued to stare at our hands.

“Jack?” My voice was so quiet that it was barely audible over the whistling of the wind. “May I ask you something? ”

“Mmhmm.”

“What happened to your parents?”

Other than a slight stiffening to his fingers, Jack didn’t react at all. “Why do you ask?”

“You never talk about them. You said you were raised at the castle, but you’ve never said anything about them or even what your last name is. Even when you were announced that first night, they just called you Jack.”

Jack deflated slightly. “I don’t have a surname. My mother passed away in childbirth, and I never knew my father. Apparently, once he saw that his son was a mage, he blamed me for his wife’s death and wanted nothing to do with me.”

My heart broke into a thousand tiny pieces.

“The king and queen have been very kind,” Jack went on, his thumb tracing along the back of my hand. “They tell everyone I’m almost like an adopted son. My mother was the queen’s personal handmaiden, so once my mother passed away and my father left, the royal family made special exceptions for me. It’s done a lot of good for the mages; we’ve been granted many more freedoms in the last years.”

“Then, you know…” A lump swelled in my throat. “You know what it’s like to be an orphan too.”

Jack tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Noelle…”

“Do you…” I attempted to swallow the lump in my throat. “Do you ever feel lonely?”

His warm fingers flexed around my cold ones. “More often than you know.”

Heat built behind my eyes. Jack knew how I felt. I had refused to talk about my father’s death ever since it had happened simply because I had no one to talk to. Jack had not only known my father, but he had lost his parents as well.

“I really miss my dad,” I whispered, chin trembling.

“I know,” he said, and folded me into a hug. I closed my eyes and burrowed against his side, sighing as I drew comfort from his body heat and shared life experiences. Jack understood me better than anyone. If only he weren’t a mage.