Frostbitten Fairy Tales: A Christmas Fairy Tale Collection by Melanie Karsak

Author:Melanie Karsak [Karsak, Melanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Clockpunk Press
Published: 2018-11-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15: Distinctly Feminine Dragons

I woke the next morning feeling tired after a night full of fitful dreams. The sun had just risen over the horizon. My fire had burnt low, and it was terribly cold in the apartment. I pulled my blankets around me. Rubbing my hands together, I knelt by the stove to rekindle the fire. When the work was done, I rose and went to the window. Kai’s flat was still dark. I slipped on my boots, not bothering to lace them, then pulled on my coat. I went to the window and undid the latch. Moving carefully, I crawled out onto the roof.

A wind whipped hard across the London rooftops, carrying with it the terrible chill that had frozen the Thames. I went to Kai’s window. Grabbing the metal handle, the deep chill of the freezing metal biting my hand, I pushed the window open and looked inside.

“Kai?” I called. The flat, which was no larger than my own, could be taken in in one glance. But still, it unnerved and surprised me to find it empty. I slipped inside.

His little garret apartment was a mirror of my own. The only difference was that his grandmother, who had been talented with art, had painted the walls with flowers, birds, and swirling designs. I glanced around the room to find Kai’s small bed was still made.

My hand dancing close to his stove, I felt no heat. I opened the grate and looked inside. There wasn’t even an ember still warm within. The fire had grown cold. Kai had not been home since we’d left yesterday morning.

Panic swept over me, and my heart beat hard. It was unlike Kai to be so impulsive. He was a man whose days ran like a clock. As a girl, I had chided him because he would never dare risky adventures. Kai was serious and thoughtful. Maybe I flattered myself to think he wouldn’t be so callous as to leave me worrying about him like this. Maybe I didn’t fall as high in his esteem as I thought. Was I simply his childhood playmate? A neighbor? A poor orphaned girl for whom he felt sympathy? Maybe now that John had made his intentions clear, Kai didn’t feel like he had to worry about me anymore. The captain was very attractive, and Kai was unattached. Surely he had a right to his dalliances. What business was it of mine anyway? But if it wasn’t my business, why did I feel so miserable?

A tear slipped down my cheek.

The image of Kai lying on the captain’s cot, his shirt undone, and the captain naked, rolled through my mind. My stomach clenched. It seemed unthinkable that Kai had been intimate with another woman.

Another woman?

Other than me.

What?

I lay down on his cot. What a ridiculous notion. I didn’t own Kai. He was like a brother to me. I just wanted the best for him, that was all. I just wanted him to be happy, but getting drunk and rolling around with a lusty ship captain was just so out of character and entirely unacceptable.

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