Felix bends down and picks up a handful of snow, seemingly unaffected when yesterday’s conversation is still running through my mind. He’s been different, distant.“Do you think you can make this ball of ice float? It’s heavier than anything else we’ve tried before, but I’m certain you can do it.”I bite down on my lip and shake my head. “I’m not sure, but I can try.”Felix nods and throws the ball in the air, where it stays. “As you know, I have never taught this to anyone,” he admits. “I was never taught myself. It was intuitive for me, and I suspect it would have been for you, too, had you not been forced to keep your powers suppressed. Give yourself time and grace, Arabella.”He seems unaffected today, but I can’t help but feel like he’s been avoiding me since we got back. Elaine attempted to excuse his behavior by telling me that he’s been reviewing the reports that arrived in our absence. She explained that each time Felix conquers a territory, he leaves its ruler in their seat, offering protection and resources from other territories in return for taxes and trade. Every day, Felix handles a different country’s requests and reports. He’s been so busy that the only time I’ve seen him was in his office. Yet there’s this niggling feeling deep within my heart that tells me he’s avoiding me. It’s odd, because it goes directly against what we agreed upon. It’s stranger still since I thought we got closer throughout the trip.I sigh and bend down, making myself a ball of ice of my own. I squeeze my two gloved hands together. Once I have a ball of ice in my hands, I stare at it, trying my hardest to make it float the way I did with the snow, but nothing happens. I sigh in defeat, and Felix walks up to me. He places his hand on my shoulder and smiles. “Don’t give up so quickly, Arabella. I could feel energy simmering around you. You’re doing something, though it might not show.”I nod and try to focus on the ice in my hand, acutely aware of Felix’s hand on me. At least he’s no longer actively avoiding me. Nothing happens, and my frustration just mounts. He chuckles and throws me a sweet smile that makes my heart skip a beat and my stomach flutter. Heat unlike anything I’ve ever felt before rushes through my body, and an instant later, the ice suddenly melts, water leaking out of my hands.Felix stares at my hands in disbelief. “You… you melted the snow.”The way he looks at me has my heart constricting with fear. He’s looking at me the way the jeweler did, with hope in his eyes.“Felix,” I whisper, shocked. “I have no idea how I did that.”He takes a step closer to me and cups my cheeks, his eyes on mine. “That’s okay, Arabella. So long as you have the ability, you’ll master it. I’ll be there to help you along the way. Do you know what this means? If we could get the ground to warm, we might be able to grow crops in Eldiria, rather than relying on our trade routes. We might be able to feed our people without having to risk death to gather supplies.”I nod, a small part of me hoping he could be right. If only I could truly make that kind of difference.noveldrama“What was it that you were thinking of when the ice melted?”I tense, my cheeks heating rapidly. I want to lie, but I can’t. Not when there’s so much at stake. I look at him, certain my cheeks are bright red, and force the word out. “You,” I whisper. “I was thinking of you having your hand on my shoulder. It distracted me.”Felix looks startled for a moment, and then the look in his eyes turns into something deeper, something that makes my heart beat a little faster. “If this is what happens when I touch your shoulder, then that explains why the temperature in our room increased so much when I took you to bed, and why the hot spring seemed to become hotter that night.”I blush fiercely at the memory of both nights. Part of me thought it’d happen again now that we’re back, but he’s been avoiding me, and each night, I’ve fallen asleep all alone.Felix bends down and makes me another ball of ice. “Try it again,” he says, his voice laced with excitement.I smile and take it from him, trying my hardest to focus on it, but nothing happens. He watches me closely, and dread fills my stomach, but my failure doesn’t seem to faze him. He smiles and grabs my free hand, pulling my glove off slowly, startling me.I look into his eyes, my heart racing. What is he doing? Felix turns my hand over and raises my palm to his lips. His eyes are on mine as he presses a kiss to it. I swallow hard, a thousand different feelings rushing through me, along with a kind of heat that seems to both burn inside and outside my body. This… what is this? I’ve never quite felt like this before.“Look,” he whispers, tipping his head toward my other hand. I glance over, finding only water on my leather glove. “The ice is gone.”I nod, confused in so many ways. It’s clear that my emotions control my powers, but I shouldn’t be feeling anything at all for Felix. I can’t, can I? This isn’t just lust. It’s more.“Shall we try it again?” he asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.I pull my hand out of his and hold it to my chest. “No,” I whisper, taking a step back.I turn and rush away, my heart racing and my thoughts uncontrollable. What is happening to me? Just yesterday, I was so relieved to hear Nathaniel had been set free and that things were going well at home. When I read Serena’s letter, telling me how much she missed me, I vowed to myself that I’d make it back to them as soon as I possibly could. That’s what I promised her in my reply. So why is it that each time Felix touches me, he makes me want to stay?