Shadows on Snow: A Flipped Fairy Tale (Flipped Fairy Tales) Read Free

warmth to raging fire in my gut, and I gasped, backing away with a mumbled apology.
    His eyebrows drew down, confused. “Are you all right?”
    “Yes, Your Highness.” I gulped, relieved I’d finally found my tongue. I needed to get a hold of myself, or risk giving everything away.
    He tilted his head to the side. “You’re new since I left. What’s your name?”
    My name… it had been so long since any had asked, I wasn’t even sure anymore. “I… Rae, Sire.”
    “And how long have you been in my mother’s service?”
    “Half a year now, Sire.”
    “Where are you from?”
    “Not from anywhere, My Lord. I traveled with family until I got on here.”
    “And how do you find it?”
    I shifted, uneasy. I was running out of half-truths and I didn’t know if I could lie to him. Actually, I was sure I couldn’t lie to him.
    He leaned up against a post and cocked his head to one side, studying me. “You don’t want to tell me the truth, but I hope you will. Are you mistreated?”
    I shrugged. “Not as bad as most places, not as well as some. I keep my head down and my work done, Sire.”
    “You’re very good with horses, I see.”
    I swallowed past my nerves. “Animals are kind by nature, Highness. I show them the same as they give to me.”
    The upward curve of his lips grew wider and he straightened, beckoning me to follow him. Still hesitant, I kept my distance at three paces behind. He stopped in front of his mount and rested a hand on Remy’s neck.
    “He’s very particular about the direction his coat lays when groomed. Did you know this?”
    In shifting my focus to the horse, it was easier to speak freely, and I stepped closer. “I wasn’t told as such, no, Your Highness. But animals speak more loudly in their silence than most men do with thousands of words.” I set my hand against the steed’s mane, fingering the thick strands of black hair that fell against his rich chocolate coat. “It was easy to hear him.”
    “It’s a rare thing to find another person who knows this,” he said. When I looked up, he regarded me with a thoughtful expression, and I again found myself sucked into his gaze. “I’d very much like if you’d continue to see to him personally. He didn’t take well to the new stablemaster.”
    I grimaced, but held my tongue. As often as I could, I took on extra duties to keep Master Grey from the animals. He had a rough hand and spooked the horses whenever he was near. Animals had a deeper sense of the true nature of people, and, from what I’d witnessed, they weren’t wrong in their judgments of him.
    “How would you like a promotion?”
    I stiffened. Promotions garnered attention, and that was the last thing I wanted. “I ask for nothing, Sire.”
    “True,” he said as he came up beside me. “But I value hard work and intelligence. I’m in need of a set of trustworthy hands now that I’m home.”
    My heart raced as he stopped no more than a step away. If he came any closer… “Can you be so sure I’m what you say? I—”
    “You’ve met with Remy’s approval,” he interrupted. “And I trust his opinion far more than most men I know. If you were not these things, I dare say you wouldn’t be able to get so close to him. Now, my question. Would you consider a position as my personal page?”
    Spirits be blessed, I wasn’t sure what to say. If this came to pass, there would be no more hiding in plain sight for me. Worse, the wrong people might learn my secret.
    Trembling slightly, I shook my head. “While it is His Highness’s right to choose my fate, I would ask to remain as I am. But if it is not my choice, I will do as you command.”
    His warm, strong hand rested on my shoulder, sending a spike of tingling heat through me once more, and it was all I could do not to run. “I wouldn’t force it on you, have no concern.” He lifted his hand and left me with a reassuring pat. “I’m disappointed, but I understand your hesitation to involve yourself any