The Snow Queen's Captive by Jill Myles

answer to.”
    She pressed her lips together, still silent.
    “Do not tell me, then,” he said. “I will harbor my own suspicions. But tell me this: what will happen to me at the end of the month?”
    “If it’s up to me?”
    “Yes.”
    “I’ll let you go. You can go home.”
    He looked surprised. “You’d just let me leave?”
    “That’s right.”
    His brows furrowed. “You make it sound as if I’m a guest instead of your prisoner.”
    She wanted to tell him that none of this was her idea, but she forced herself to press her lips closed, keeping her secrets.
    “Very well, then,” Kai said, wiggling his toes. He gave her a scrutinizing look. “You will keep me as a companion for this month, and then you will let me go. Why?”
    She shrugged. “Maybe I needed a friend.”
    He stared at her for so long that her cheeks felt heated with a flush. “A friend,” he said flatly.
    Now she felt stupid. “Whatever you may think of me, it’s true. All I want from you is a friend.”
    “I see.” He thought for a moment, and then gestured at the furs he sat on. “If we are to be friends, I want clothing. And boots.”
    “If I knew how to get those, you’d have them already.” She gave him a wry smile. “I’m not exactly sure who is in charge of shopping around here.”
    “You have servants, remember?”
    Right, so she did. “I’ll put them right on that.” Just as soon as she figured out how.
     
    ~~ * * * ~~
     
    When Kai went to bed that night in the snow queen’s chambers, his mind was troubled. Well, no, that wasn’t quite right. His mind was always troubled when it came to her, but now he was simply confused.
    She wasn’t the same person as before.
    Oh, she’d danced around the subject and given him vague answers, but what she hadn’t admitted to had told him plenty. Look, Kai, I wish I could, but I can’t, okay? I just can’t. Please trust me. I don’t like this any more than you do.
    She — Charlotte, he had to think of her as Charlotte – made it sound like she was not here of her own choosing. More games? He didn’t know. But when she’d said she wanted a friend…he’d believed her.
    Maybe she’d be true to her word and release him at the end of the month, like she promised. He considered her words. Maybe I wanted a friend.
    Very well, then. He’d give her a friend. Bees flock to honey because it is sweet, the old saying went. He’d get further with her if it seemed like he was playing along with whatever her new game was. If it was a game at all. He hadn’t missed the sheer disappointment on her face when she’d caught him escaping, but she looked sincere when she said she hadn’t blamed him.
    Kai didn’t know what to make of her.
    Even now, he lay alone in her bed, wrapped in the blankets. He held his breath, listening to the stillness. Tonight, as every night, he heard the muffled sound of weeping.
    So she was a different woman, and she cried every night. And she couldn’t tell him anything about who she was or why she was wearing the same face as the snow queen.
    One thing was certain, though; she was no happier to be here than he was.

Chapter Five
     
    Something stirred Kai out of sleep. He remained still, his breathing even, as he assessed the situation. His fingers twitched, desperate for his hunting knife, but the snow queen had shattered it moments before she’d captured him.
    His ears pricked as he caught the low sound of murmuring voices. Was that Charlotte? Who was she talking to? Her servants? But…why in the middle of the night?
    Carefully, he sat up in the icy nest, wrapping the furs around his body. The low sound of voices continued, so he tucked a smaller fur around his hips, forming a kilt, and tiptoed through the room, looking for the sound of the voices.
    He went down another hallway before the voices started again.
    “But, I don’t want to be the snow queen,” he heard Charlotte saying. “I’m just a normal woman. I’m not the bad