Ondine smiled and said, ‘Told you I could smell snow.’
Hamish pulled Ondine into an embrace and kissed the tip of her cold nose. ‘I’m deeply sorry fer the trouble I put ye through. I should hae thought of a better way tae help ye than cheating at yer school tests.’
Tears blurred her vision. ‘Oh, Hamish, I’m sorry for the way I reacted. I know you were only trying to find a way to help me stay here with you.’
He hugged her a little bit tighter. ‘Ye broke me heart every time I thought ye might be leaving.’
‘I didn’t like fighting with you. I’m not cut out for it,’ Ondine said. ‘Everyone here is so messed up it’s contagious.’
‘Aye. Mebbe we should go back tae yer parents’ pub.’
Lightness filled her. He wanted to go home? She wiped her eyes. ‘You’d do that for me?’
‘In a heartbeat.’ He gave her one of those grins she’d come to love. The ones that made her feel all warm and melty inside. And a bit giddy in the head.
She kissed him with all her heart. The kind of kiss that told him how much she wanted to put all this craziness behind them. He returned her ardour tenfold, making her wonder how she’d ever doubted his love in the first place.
When they pulled apart, he brushed away a fresh tear from her cheek. ‘Then why are ye still crying?’
‘Because I feel so guilty for doubting you. The Infanta . . . I mean, I guess she’s the Duchess now. Anyway, she filled my head with doubts and I was silly and tired and stressed enough to believe her. She said you’d let me down. Her words were like poison and –’
He silenced her with a kiss that sent firecrackers off in her head. When he eventually broke away, he looked short of breath.
Snowflakes fell on their hair and shoulders, but Ondine felt warm right through. ‘I wish we could stay like this,’ she said.
‘Aye, me too.’
The sounds of the orchestra inside the banquet hall drifted outside. Hamish took Ondine’s hand, bowed over it and said, ‘May I have this dance?’
Ondine giggled and put her hand on his shoulder, ready for a Brugelish three-step. They took a few steps this way and that, before the snow and cold wind made her hands freeze. She pressed her arms around him, under his coat.
‘What kind of dance is this?’ he asked.
‘It’s called a snow-shuffle.’
Hamish chuckled. ‘Aye, I like this dance.’
They shuffled and snuggled, in that thin zone between the bonfire and the cold air, as snow swirled around them, heralding the onset of winter.
‘I love ye, Ondine.’
She held herself against his warm chest and said, ‘And I love you right back.’
92 The Dentate is Brugel’s equivalent of Parliament. ‘Dentate’ means ‘the place with teeth’.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to my readers. I hope the past few hours between the pages have been great fun.
Monumental thanks to my husband, for challenging me to come up with bigger and better ideas.
To my clever agent Suzy Jenvey and the talented team at Egmont, especially Leah Thaxton, Philippa Donovan and Rachel Boden. Thank you for sharing my imaginary friends with the world. Thank you for pushing me to work harder. But mostly, thank you for making this writer’s dreams come true.
ONDINE
The Autumn Palace
Praise for Ondine:
‘A wonderfully imaginative debut novel . . . the author’s unique blend of the magical and romantic elements of the romantic fairytale gives new life to this long established mode of storytelling.’ Inis
‘. . . on sheer charm alone, Ondine is hard to resist. This whimsical romantic fantasy for girls 12-plus simply oozes romantic longing. If you swooned over Edward, you’ll likely go gaga for Hamish and Lord Vincent.’ Bookseller + Publisher
‘A debut novel that mixes romance and magic and, for the first time ever, witches turning gorgeous boys into ferrets.’ Bookseller
‘Ebony is an absolute marvel when it comes to humour.’ Bookwitch
‘I can’t remember where I first heard about Ondine, but I’m certainly very glad that I did.’ Poisoned Rationality
‘I had a hard time putting it down. It was sweet, funny, charming and yet again funny.’ We Adore a Happy Ending
‘I absolutely enjoyed reading Ondine . . . Shambles sold the whole story with his wit and charm.’ The Bookette
‘This is a fun, romantic, well written read which would appeal to young girls aged 12+.’ Lovely Treez Reads
‘Ondine was an absolute pleasure to read.’ Brizmus Books Blogs
‘Oh man, this book was so absolutely quirkily and wittily fantastic.’ Audrey, Good Reads
‘Don’t be a bampot, give this absolutely fantastic book a read, you won’t regret it.’ Leanne, Good Reads
‘. . . original and quirky – wonderful use of witty footnotes throughout . . .’ Me and My Big Mouth
EBONY MCKENNA
The decision to leave a career in journalism was a logical choice for Ebony. There wasn’t enough time in the day to write the fictional stories she wanted to tell, against the factual that she had to tell. She followed her heart towards writing science fiction, romance and young adult adventures. Ebony now writes full time and lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her husband and young son. She loves trivia nights, train sets and the Eurovision Song Contest. Her first teenage novel was Ondine.
www.ebonymckenna.com
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Naturally, all of our books meet legal safety requirements. But we go further than this; every book with play value is tested to the highest standards – if it fails, it’s back to the drawing-board.
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