Circus performer Tryxan was born with a shard of ice for a heart, never feeling anything but numbing cold and bitter disdain for a cruel world, which presents a crueler choice: live without joy, or risk death for a chance at being able to feel.
Tryxan takes the risk with a lethal stage performance, but instead of dying, they fall into a portal that leads them to a castle in a far-off land… and a prince who longs to dance at the Yuletide Ball, but who is cursed to die by setting foot in a ballroom.
Somehow, the ice is not so cold in the prince's world, and as Tryxan teaches him to dance in the confines of his study, they find themselves feeling things they never have before. But a curse is not so readily thwarted, a shard not easily cast aside, and the pair's desire cannot survive across worlds unless both are willing to sacrifice body and soul.
A romantic fantasy Sleeping Beauty novelette with winter solstices, dancing and stolen kisses.
