The frozen wind caught me in the face, stole my breath. I would check on Honey. That way, if they asked—
Something darkened the road. Even squinting, I couldn’t see clearly against the snow flurries. The shadow seemed to split, and most of it pulled away, but a sliver remained, growing closer until I could finally make out a form.
“Astra?” I covered my face with my sleeve, coughing against the sharp air.
“Commanding the storms now, Beauty?” Unlike me, she was smart enough to wear furs, and I could barely see her face below her hood.
“Was that a carriage?”
Callista had told me Astra was no longer as reluctant to work, but she was sewing for a wealthy client indeed if they were willing to ferry her by carriage in a storm.
She ducked into the house, and since the cold had reached my bones and iced out the foolishness, I followed. Astra and Callista took up conversation, allowing me to slip into our bedroom to breathe. That was enough.
I looked at the ring on my thumb. Slowly, I turned it, feeling the smooth gold glide across my skin.
Once.
Twice.
Would I go only to come back?
I stopped.
At dinner, Callista announced my promise to stay through the celebration.
Astra frowned at me but said nothing. I could not tell her mind.
Rob was clearer. “If this beast is so kind, surely he’d allow you to remain with your family.”
It was the problem with my story. I focused my attention on my stew.
But my brother wasn’t done.
“What demands has he made of you exactly?” he pressed. “What could he possibly want from a peasant girl?”
I heard the suspicion in his tone and the sparks of waiting rage.
“Beast isn’t like that,” I said firmly.
“Even though he threatened Father?”
“No, he ... he’s prince of the castle, Rob. He has duties. Enforcing law. Punishing theft. He doesn’twantto do them.”
Callista frowned. “Are you certain you’re not imagining this beast to be better than it is?”
“I’ve been accused of imagining a great many things over the years,” I said heatedly.
She took the barb for what it was and lowered her eyes.
“I believe you,” Astra said.
I blinked. “What?”
She shrugged. “If I were in a castle full of enchantments that met my every whim, I wouldn’t leave either, even if no one was keeping me there.”
It was like she’d asked to see my hand, then sliced me across the palm.
“I’m only curious”—she went on—“what made you return now?”
