Winter's Bride - Candace Wondrak Page 0,55

it, only to decide against approaching her in the end.

“And how would you know what she wants?” I asked, sounding much more bitter than I anticipated. That girl… I’d been under the impression there was no contest between Abner and I, but the facts were hard to ignore. Morana hadn’t leaped to be at my side, to become my bride instead of his, and right after we were together, she’d left the bed and wandered to his throne room.

She truly was caught in the middle of us, wasn’t she?

“I might not have known her for as long as you,” Abner said, ignoring the bitterness laced in my tone, “but I like to think I’ve come to know her very well.” The way he spoke, how he stood and held himself—he hardly looked like the Winter I knew, the brother I’d grown accustomed to after all these years.

His change had to be due to Morana, and a part of me hated that I wanted her, too. If there was one sad soul who should find his happiness, it was my brother, and yet here I was, trying to take his would-be bride. It wasn’t right.

But, again, I could not fight the way I felt about her. To lay it all down, to give her up completely, even if it was for my brother and his well-being… I couldn’t do it. There was no telling that he wouldn’t end up freezing her, too.

“Then you know she is torn between us,” I said. “No amount of time we give her will change that.”

Abner stared at me, his silver eyes flashing sorrow as he looked away, nodding once. “I know. I thought allowing her to stay would make her decision easier, but I believe it’s only made it more difficult.” He frowned at himself, his chest rising and falling with a single sigh. “I suppose you should’ve just taken her after all. It would’ve made things easier on all of us.”

I wanted to agree with him, but I knew I would never forgive myself if I forced Morana to do something she didn’t want to do. It was a long while as we stood there in silence, neither one of us speaking. Truthfully, I didn’t know what to say, and I doubted any words could make this situation better.

Finally, I said, “Perhaps we should go to her, see where her mind is at.”

My brother was slow in meeting my stare, and he nodded once. “Let us end this, once and for all.”

I gave him a smile, but it was not a wide one, and together we turned, exiting the hall and coming upon the long throne room once more. Morana hadn’t moved a muscle, still staring at the throne, looking almost ethereal with the moonlight shining through the windows behind the throne. We stopped when we stood less than fifteen feet from her.

Morana didn’t turn around, but she did speak: “I knew you two would find me eventually.”

“One of us will always find you,” Abner spoke in a whisper. His response caused Morana to turn around and look at us, a hopeful yet sorrowful expression on her beautiful face.

She fiddled with the dress she wore, stepping away from the throne, her feet bringing her to us. “I’ve been given a choice that is beyond my wildest of dreams,” Morana stated, her voice trembling somewhat, as if she was nervous. “It’s a choice I never thought I’d have to make, honestly.”

I said nothing, and it was hard to keep myself from sweeping her up in my arms and cooing into her ear, telling her everything would be okay. For it would. No matter what happened here, no matter what came of all this… even if she decided to stay with my brother, we would all be fine. I would just visit her often to keep the fire alive in her soul.

No, I could not force her to come with me. I was not a man who would ever do something like that to the woman he loved.

And I did. Love her, I meant. I loved her with the intensity only a god could carry.

“I’m at a crossroads,” Morana said, glancing between us, “stuck between Winter and Summer. Both call to me, both make me feel alive, both make me want more—so much more. How can I choose between two halves of my heart?”

I could not take my eyes off her. So, it was true; she did have feelings for my brother, even after what he