Aria's POV
"Don't scream," the woman said.
Too late. I screamed.
The carriage jerked to a stop so hard I flew forward. The woman caught me with one hand—just one hand—and pushed me back into my seat like I weighed nothing.
"I said don't scream." Her voice was calm, almost bored. "You'll hurt the horses."
I pressed myself against the carriage wall, my heart trying to escape through my ribs. "Who are you? What do you want?"
The woman pulled back her hood.
I stopped breathing.
She was old—ancient, maybe—but her eyes were young and sharp as broken glass. Her hair was pure white, twisted into braids that moved even though there was no wind. And on her forehead, glowing faintly in the darkness, was a mark that looked like a crescent moon.
"My name is Mira," she said. "And I'm here to make sure you don't die."
"Die?" My voice came out as a squeak. "The messenger said I'm teaching the prince to smile. Nobody said anything about dying!"
Mira laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound. "Child, six Companions of Joy have been sent to the Frozen Prince in the last year. Do you know how many came back?"
My stomach twisted. "How many?"
"None." She leaned forward, and I smelled something strange—like lightning before a storm. "Three left screaming after one day. Two lasted a week before they ran. And the last one..." She paused. "Well. They found her body in the frozen lake."
The carriage suddenly felt too small. Too cold.
"You're lying," I whispered. "You have to be lying. The treaty is sacred. The prince wouldn't—"
"The prince didn't kill her." Mira's eyes gleamed. "But someone in that palace did. And they'll try to kill you too."
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. This was wrong. Everything was wrong.
"Why?" I managed to ask. "Why would anyone kill companions?"
"Because a prince who learns to smile is a prince who becomes dangerous." Mira's voice dropped lower. "Right now, Prince Kael is broken. Controllable. Useful to certain people who want to keep him that way. But if you succeed—if you actually make him smile, make him feel again—he'll wake up. He'll see the truth. And the people who killed his family will lose everything."
The words hit me like ice water.
"His family was murdered?"
"Seven years ago. His parents, his brother, his sister—all dead in one night." Mira's face was grim. "And the killers are still in the palace, walking around free, pretending to be loyal. They've kept Kael frozen with grief so he won't look for them."
I thought of Finn's face as the carriage pulled away. Thought of the village counting on me. Thought of how I'd promised to come back.
"I can't do this," I said. "I'm nobody. I'm just a girl who bakes bread. I can't fight murderers. I can't—"
"You're not nobody." Mira grabbed my wrist, and her hand was burning hot. "Look at me, Aria Sunfield."
I looked.
Her eyes weren't just sharp—they were glowing. Actually glowing with silver light.
"You are the last daughter of the Lightbringer bloodline," she said. "Your mother hid you in that village. She died protecting your secret. And now it's time to wake up."
"Lightbringer?" I tried to pull away, but her grip was iron. "I don't know what that means!"
"It means you have magic in your blood. Magic that can heal hearts, break curses, bring joy where there's only darkness." Mira's voice was urgent now. "It means you're the only person in the kingdom who can actually save that prince. But it also means you're in more danger than you can imagine."
The carriage started moving again, faster this time.
"The people who killed Kael's family—they've been searching for Lightbringers for years," Mira continued. "They thought they got rid of all of them. But they missed you. And when they realize what you are..." She didn't finish the sentence.
My head was spinning. Magic? Bloodlines? This was insane.
"I don't have magic," I said desperately. "I can't do anything special. I just—"
"You make people smile even when they have nothing to smile about," Mira interrupted. "Plants grow better where you walk. Children stop crying when you hold them. You think that's normal?"
I opened my mouth. Closed it.
I'd never thought about it before. But now that she said it...
There was that time the baker's dead rose bush bloomed after I touched it. And how Finn's cough always got better when I sat with him. And the way the village children always found me when they were sad, like I was a magnet for broken hearts.
"No," I whispered. "That's just... that's just luck."
"There's no such thing as luck." Mira released my wrist and sat back. "Only power you don't understand yet. And right now, you need to understand it fast, or you won't survive the week."
The carriage burst through a gate, and suddenly we were moving through a city. Even in the darkness, I could see buildings—tall, cold, silent.
"We're almost at the palace," Mira said. "Listen carefully. Trust no one except me. Don't eat or drink anything unless I've checked it first. And whatever you do, don't let them know what you are. Not yet."
"But the prince—"
"Especially not the prince." Her voice turned hard. "Kael Ashford is dangerous. He's not the sad boy waiting for someone to save him. He's a weapon that's been sharpened by grief and rage. If he thinks you're a threat, he'll destroy you."
I felt sick.
"Then how am I supposed to help him?"
"You'll figure it out." Mira pulled her hood back up. "Or you'll die trying. Those are your only options now."
The carriage stopped.
I heard voices outside. Guards.
"One more thing," Mira whispered, leaning close. "The blood on the messenger's uniform? That was from the last girl who tried to make the prince smile. She insulted him by accident this morning. He threw her out a window."
My whole body went cold.
"She lived," Mira added. "But just barely. That's why they needed you early. The prince is getting worse."
The carriage door opened.
Bright torchlight flooded in, blinding me.
"Miss Sunfield?" A guard's voice, hard and impatient. "Get out. The prince wants to see you now."
I looked at Mira, but she'd somehow vanished—just melted into the shadows like she'd never been there at all.
I was alone.
I stepped out of the carriage on shaking legs.
The palace rose in front of me like a mountain made of ice and stone. Every window was dark. Every door was closed. It looked less like a home and more like a tomb.
"Move," the guard said, pushing my shoulder.
I moved.
They led me through corridors that smelled like frost and old stone. My footsteps echoed too loud. Everything was too quiet.
We stopped at massive double doors.
"The prince is inside," the guard said. "Go in. Don't make him wait."
"What do I—what should I say?" My voice was shaking.
The guard almost smiled. Almost.
"Pray he doesn't speak to you at all."
He pushed the doors open.
And I saw him.
Prince Kael sat behind a desk covered in papers and candles. He didn't look up. His hair was black as midnight, messy like he'd been running his hands through it. Even sitting down, I could tell he was tall. Powerful.
"Come here," he said without looking at me.
I walked forward. Each step felt like walking toward an executioner.
When I was five feet away, he finally looked up.
His eyes were silver.
Not gray. Not blue. Silver. Like moonlight trapped in ice.
They looked right through me.
"So," he said, his voice soft and deadly. "You're the girl they sent to make me smile."
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
He stood up slowly, and I understood why everyone was afraid. He was massive—at least six feet tall, with shoulders that could break down doors. But worse than his size was his face.
He was beautiful.
Terrifyingly beautiful. The kind of beautiful that made you forget how to breathe.
And completely, utterly empty.
He walked around the desk toward me.
"Let me explain something," he said quietly. "I don't smile. I don't laugh. I don't feel joy or hope or any of the useless emotions they sent you here to teach me." He stopped inches away, looking down at me. "And if you try to make me, I will make you regret it. Do you understand?"
I swallowed hard. "Yes, Your Highness."
"Good." He turned away. "You'll stay in the east wing. Don't bother me. Don't speak unless spoken to. And for your own sake, don't fail."
"What happens if I fail?" I asked before I could stop myself.
He looked back at me, and for just a second, something flickered in those silver eyes. Something that might have been pain, or anger, or both.
"Then you'll join the others," he said. "And your village will burn."
He pointed at the door.
I was being dismissed.
I turned to leave, my legs barely working.
"One more thing," the prince said.
I stopped.
"Welcome to the Frost Palace, Aria Sunfield." His voice was like ice cracking. "Try not to die too quickly. It's tiresome cleaning up the blood."
The doors slammed behind me.
And in that moment, standing alone in the cold hallway, I realized something that made my blood freeze.
He'd called me by my name.
But I'd never told him my name.