Gathering Frost (Once Upon A Curse Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

she sits there now, invisible.
    "My sweet Jade."
    The voice comes from behind me, slithering across the floor, sliding up my back so it wraps me in a tight cocoon. I am trapped in the notes, stuck in my spot as her words pull me under, suck me in, drown me in magic.
    My heart grows colder, smaller, sinking with heaviness until it is lost in a vast sea. The chill extends down my arms, along my spine, to the tips of my toes. My eyes go wide.
    Queen Deirdre.
    As if controlled by another power, my feet begin to turn.
     
     

 
     

     
     
    "Your Majesty."
    Even though it comes from my lips, that voice is unrecognizable. Quiet. Meek. Subservient. Not the voice of the girl who defied the commander by riding into the city at midnight. Not the girl who is the best in her training class. Not the girl who has a knife strapped to her thigh, just in case.
    The steel presses into my skin, cold, sharp, and I try to hold onto its touch lest I drift away in the power of the queen standing before me. It is my anchor to the heart she controls.
    My knees bend into a curtsy and a smile plasters my lips, womanly, like a lady of the court and not a soldier.
    "Your Majesty," the commander echoes, bending at his waist into a deep bow.
    The queen waits, watches, with hands clasped in front of her hips. As always, red drapes across her narrow frame. Dark, deep, and in stark contrast to her ivory skin.  Rubies decorate the crown nestled in her elaborately braided hair, popping against the icy blonde, alive in the candlelight.
    Though I try to look away, my eyes are drawn to hers. An electric shock pricks my chest as her aquamarine irises grab hold, latching on, stilling me, freezing me in place. The dryness starts to burn, to itch, but I cannot blink.
    "Welcome," she says and the bond is broken. My lids move rapidly, wetting my eyes, soothing them, and my gaze drifts to the safety of the floor.
    "Did you tell her why she was summoned, Commander Alburn?"
    The queen's shoes click as she walks farther into the room. My pulse slows to match their steady melodic pace. The effects of being in her presence are starting to wear off—or maybe she is just releasing me, giving my system a break.
    "No, Your Majesty. But Jade has news of her own that I feel is pertinent to share first, if Your Majesty will allow it."
    She stops walking toward the throne, turning back to us with one brow raised in interest, a small grin on her lips, as though excited by the turn of events.
    My throat has gone dry.
    I swallow.
    "Do tell."
    The commander steps forward, mouth opening to respond, but she silences him with one flick of her gaze.
    "Jade, if it is your news, please share it."
    "I…" A cough travels up my neck, followed by a deep breath that shakes my limbs. Stop, I command, yelling at my body. This is not who I am. And I don’t believe it is who the queen wishes me to be either.
    I steel my veins, turning my body into a knife. The demure girl falls away—I throw her away, out the window, letting that mask break into a thousand tiny pieces as it crashes into the city below.
    "I believe I saw Prince Asher in the ruins last night, Your Majesty."
    Her brow rises higher, arching into a sharp point. "Continue."
    "One of the mines exploded, and I went to investigate. When I arrived, I found a group of men waiting there. I believe they set the mine off on purpose to see how the Black Hearts would respond. Immediately, I recognized Prince Asher from the paintings we have all studied. When I tried to charge, I felt the building shift beneath my feet and needed to flee in safety. By the time I returned, the group had vanished, Your Majesty."
    My fingers do not spasm. My lips do not dry. I do not even blink as the lie comes smoothly to my lips. Repeating the story a second time is even easier, even more natural. Part of me almost believes it is the truth, and that my other memory is but a dream, a mirage I made up, a falsehood my mind conceived.
    The queen taps her fingers