CHAPTER 25 – DANCE PARTNERS

She woke to the sun rays streaming through the window. "I can see you are awake." She wasn't on his chest anymore as he was standing close to the bed, dressed up in his royal attire. "Sleepyhead." He laughed and sat on the edge, watching her. She scoffed at him. "What is the time?" "Late." He answered and pushed a tray to her. "I bought breakfast." He watched her expression and her face satisfied him. She looked happy. And these days, he yearned to see it. "Thank you." He nodded. "Will you come for the dance practice?" "What dance practice?" He gave her a look. "The grand ball is in six days. The dance instructor will be here, to teach the dance steps and whatnot. You will make it, right?" She nodded. "And the ball?" She nodded too. He smiled. "Enjoy your meal." He said and vanished leaving the image of his smile in his wake. The images of last night came back to her, making her dizzy. Jack Frost cane to her room, fed her, made pink clouds for her, had a pillow/snow fight together, and then slept… with her head on his chest. She squeezed and closed her face, kicking her legs and ruffling her hair. She wished last night would never end. No, she wished ever night would be like last night. She would never get tired of hearing him laugh like that. She would never get tired of him smiling just for her. She would never get tired of laying on his chest. She would never get tired of having him feed her. She would never get tired of listening to his heartbeat. She looked at the tray and squealed again. He had such a crazy effect on her. All she wanted to do was lie down and fantasize about him. She ran her hands on the edge of the tray where he had put his hands when he was pushing it to her and smiled. She wanted him. She was falling harder every minute that passed by, and she hated falling, but she loved the person she was falling for.

Jack Frost watched his reflection in the mirror. This look was good on him. He looked satisfied and happy and didn't have the usual scowl he had come to assume was part of his facial structure. Althaia...was something else. He pictured her expression when he hit her with the snow, and he couldn't help but laugh. He was seeing her differently, in a new light, in a way he had never seen any other woman. He couldn't deny that he wanted to be close to her, and he allowed her freely to invade his thoughts, and he didn't even try to get her out, cause he wanted her there. He smiled to himself. Strange. How would he want someone in his head? This wasn’t the effect her words were having on him, that much, he knew. He remembered the first time Rhea had proposed to him. He had told her to never say it again and locked her in her room for two days when she kept resisting. He laughed at the thought. Another lady was the first daughter of his general commander. She had come half clad, her cleavage on show, leaned in front of his plate, gave him smiles that gave him nightmares that night, traced her fingers on his shoulder and by the time she started tapping on his foot and tracing her foot on his leg, he'd had enough. Threw her out of the palace, threatened to strip her father of his title and to make her Rhea's hand maiden if she ever did it again. Sure to say, she never came back. Or maybe she did, but he didn’t see her. No woman had ever confessed to him crying. No woman had scolded him for making her fall for him. No woman had so blatantly walked out on him. No woman had made him want to follow her. No woman's tears had ever caused him so much pain. No woman's smile made him so addicted. He shook his head. He wanted to see more of Althaia. That much he knew.

The dance instructor was sitting on a chair, watching as Rhea descended, since she was the first person to arrive the dance hall. Soon, Althaia descended too, stretching to see if Jack Frost was there, but she figured he had to make a royal entrance. He was the king and a god, and the only other person who held both positions was Zeus, king of the gods. She came down and stood next to Rhea, and the seam stress took their measurements. The dance instructor only waited patiently. The dance hall was a massive hall that could take thousands of people. It had three massive ice chandeliers, with two stairs leading to it. One from the front, and if you navigated from there, you'd arrive in the kitchen, storeroom, and dining hall. Farther down that path was the staircase leading to the east wing. The other from the side, was directly from the west wing. It had a massive door leading to the outside, the door of ice. On the west. "His majesty is arriving the dance hall." Jack Frost never used such announcements when it was only he and his family, but when there was a visitor, he did. A woman had once fainted at his foot when he had come to her unexpectedly. The announcement was to make them ready, because as Leon said, “your presence is just as cold, charming and daunting as a snowstorm, hurricane and a volcanic eruption.” Jack Frost didn’t get it then, but once that woman fainted, he began to understand. The dance instructor stood and bowed, and he gave her a curt nod as he sat, his eyes filtering everyone out, except Althaia. she gave him a shy smile and he smiled back, making no effort to hide it. "My lord. You are going to partner with Rhea as always. Bring a..." "No." Jack Frost said, not taking his eye away from Althaia. "That is my dance partner. For the dance practice and the ball."