Winter's Bride - Candace Wondrak Page 0,9

cold.

When I thought that, of course, it made sense that Morana should be the one. If there was ever a girl who could warm his icy insides, it was her. But then, I wondered about all of the other brides, what had happened to them—could I stand it if the same thing happened to Morana? There was a reason those girls never returned to their homes.

For the first time in a long time, for the first time in recent memory, I did not know what to do. I could not go to my brother without telling him everything, but I could not simply stand aside and let this happen. I needed to step in. I needed…

I needed her to see me.

Once I decided I needed Morana to see me, to see my form and know my face, a face that had been long forgotten by mortal men and women, it was simply a waiting game. The messenger had power, as did the magical beast they rode, but he could not teleport them back to the castle. Such power was beyond him, so they would have to make the journey by horseback, which would give me plenty of time to wait for the perfect moment to reveal myself to her.

The perfect moment… I’d know it when I saw it.

As it turned out, the perfect moment was a week into the journey, when the messenger had found a nice spring off the beaten path. They’d left the main roads a few days ago, traversing the wilderness on their own, avoiding any possible human villages and human riders on the main roads. The messenger and his horse could ride well into the night with nary a rest; it was Morana who complained, who kept telling him she could not ride all night, that she needed sleep.

The messenger did not always listen to her. He sometimes ignored her—a little too easily, which riled me up as I watched from the distance—but today he acquiesced. I was fairly certain he only stopped for the night because she was being vehement about stopping near the river they rode near and bathing, along with washing her dress.

She still wore the white thing, though its lengths had gotten a bit dirty with the journey. It was a dress I’d never seen her in before that day at the choosing, but even so, Morana looked remarkably beautiful in it. She would make a gorgeous bride, I knew, and it was yet another reason I could not stand back and let them go to my brother without letting her see me, first.

I’d found her years ago. I’d kept watch over her, giving her my favor all these years. I kept her body warm at night with my fire, even in the cold winter months. The last thing I wanted to do was step aside and allow my brother to take her without seeing… without knowing whether or not she felt the same. If Morana felt as connected to me as I did to her.

I knew it was possible I was blowing everything out of proportion, that I had been, quite frankly, obsessing over her for years, much more so than any other human I’d granted my favor to, but I had to know. One way or the other, I just had to know.

The messenger let his horse graze the nearby area, while he used his magic to lure in a rabbit, which he then got to work on after killing it. He never ate, never slept; he wasn’t quite human, even though his appearance beneath that armor would say he was. Morana needed food, though, and he was entrusted with bringing her to Abner intact and whole.

Morana was never truly out of his sight, though he did afford her some privacy once she glared at him and started to take off her dress and her boots. Clutching the dress, she went to the river’s side, choosing a smooth-flowing area to try to rinse off the bottom of the dress, get the dirt out of its fabric.

I wanted to tell her it didn’t matter, that she would get a whole new wardrobe at the castle, but I didn’t. I let her work on the dress as the sun began to set, as my brother’s messenger began to cook the rabbit a little ways off.

I didn’t say a word. I stood behind her, watching her in silence. She wore her underthings, so she wasn’t completely nude yet. I… I should reveal myself