Ember Frost’s POV

It was just another quiet Saturday morning. The Northern Duke was in the living room with my father, laughing and talking about the old days—the kind of talk that always made them sound like brothers instead of men who’d once gone to war together. Meanwhile, Alina had been asked to join my mother under the pretense of helping her pick out a dress for the graduation ball.

She didn’t seem too eager to go, though. Even she, with all her confidence and craft, knew that ...