Heir of Ice

Chapter 5

Erik

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Erik hissed as another shot of vodka slid down his throat. 

"You would think you would be used to the taste by now," The woman beside him sighed.

"Shut the hell up Astrid." Erik groaned, making her laugh. Her laughter seemed to warm his heart almost as much as the alcohol did. Almost.

"How many shots have you even had anyway?" Astrid asked, inching closer to him on the dirty stained couch they were sitting on in front of the fireplace. It was the summer solstice but Nymphimorus still dropped to chilling temperatures at night regardless. 

"Six," Erik replied confidently. "Wait, it might have been seven... or eight-"

"It was nine, idiot." Astrid chuckled. "That was a trick question, I've been counting for you. But given your response, I would slow down if I were you." 

"In your dreams. Pour me my tenth." 

"I really don't want to bury your body when you eventually get alcohol poisoning, so I don't think I will." 

"Who said you would bury me?" Erik asked. "Just have Rune do it."

"What am I doing?" Rune chimed in, walking over from the kitchen and plopping himself on the couch in between Astrid and Erik, making Erik hiss in annoyance. 

"Burying Erik's body when he dies of alcohol poisoning," Astrid replied, her ice-blue eyes glowing with humor as she flashed Erik a smile. 

"Will do," Rune replied. "Want me to go get the shovel now?" 

Astrid burst out in laughter while Erik tried to move around and grab the vodka bottle from her hand. She moved her hand out of reach and Erik didn't feel like putting in the effort to stand up and grab it so he laid back down on the couch in defeat. He turned his gaze to the burning fire before him. 

"Do you think Prince Victor is having fun at the Aethian Royal Ball tonight?" He asked to no one in particular. 

Rune groaned. "Oh god, he's talking about the royal family again. Why does he always do this when he gets drunk?" He said to Astrid. He stood up from the couch and made to walk away. "I'm leaving before this turns into a big drunken rant." 

Erik flipped him off as he left. 

Astrid just chuckled, moving closer to Erik now that Rune was gone. "I'm sure he is having the worst time imaginable in that horrible hot desert." 

"Yeah, he better be." Erik slurred out. "That's what he gets for leaving the kingdom in ruin! Him and his brothers!" 

"Yup, they suck." 

"They totally suck!" 

"And where are those stupid twins? Shouldn't they be helping out as well? They're probably missing on purpose!"

"You do realize how stupid that statement is, right?"

"Yeah, yeah I know. The royal family is just dumb. I hate them and all of their stupid faces." 

Astrid shrugged, her light blonde hair cascading down her shoulders as she did so. "Nothing we can do about it though, right?"

"Yeah, that's the problem." Erik sighed. "Why do they even want the stupid throne so bad if they haven't stepped foot in the country in over twelve years? I mean shit, it would be a lot easier for them if they just came back to Nymphimorus and tried to get the support of their people but no, they have to do it the hard way! It's just a stupid brotherly fight and they don't even actually care about any of us! They just care about their own egos! If they actually cared they wouldn't have let this kingdom fall to ruin, they wouldn't have allowed-"

"Shhhhh, I know." Astrid shushed him as she grabbed his hand. "It's no use getting angry at them though. What good is that going to do?"

Erik shrugged, sighing and closing his golden-brown eyes. "I don't know." 

Erik supposed a lot of his rage towards the royal family was just misplaced anger he had at his screw-up of a childhood. 

He had been abandoned by his parents, just thrown out into the tundra in the middle of the winter, and left to die. He didn't die, however. He managed to find his way to the nearest building, his little boy self probably just searching for warmth. God knows who was in the building, but they ended up dumping him in an orphanage. Which would have been fine had the war not affected the city so badly there was no tax money to pay for the orphanage. 

For a couple of years, Erik had been homeless. It was then that he had been introduced to the drug game. Drugs were becoming increasingly popular in this day and age because people needed to dull the pain of constant war and poverty somehow. Erik had started to dull the pain for himself as well. Rune had been his dealer. 

Soon he became close friends with Rune, as well as Rune's partner in crime, Sten. Together they started dealing, which definitely did not help make Nymphimorus a better place, but Erik needed to make money somehow. Soon they had enough money to buy a small apartment in the shittiest part of Ranya, the capital of Nymphimorus. 

Astrid was the last to join the gang. She was prostituting herself in the same alley Erik was trying to deal one night, and they got into an argument over who's territory it was. Eventually, that heated argument turned into a heavy makeout session, and Erik ended up taking her to their apartment. 

When Astrid woke up the next morning she decided she would rather stay and join the drug business than go back to her previous profession.

Erik was happy she made that decision. He would never tell her, but his blood boiled whenever he thought of all the other creeps that probably had touched her body, and used her like nothing more than an object. He knew Astrid hated her past just as much as he did, but he also knew that she was trying her best to survive in a fucked up kingdom. Making her feel bad or guilty for needing to survive a couple of years ago wasn't going to make anything better. 

They hadn't so much as kissed since that one night one year ago, and although it at first really upset Erik because she was hands down the most beautiful girl he had ever met, he didn't want to ask any questions. From then on they had been what Erik liked to call "friends, but if any other dude so much as gives her a weird look Erik will kill him". Not that he ever let Astrid know that. 

He turned to look at her now. Her moonlight pale skin matched his own, but she had freckles on her face that made her all the more adorable. "You know," Erik slurred. "You're really pretty."

His heart melted when she blushed, quickly covering her face in embarrassment. "Shut up, you're drunk." She giggled.

Erik cracked a smile before taking the opportunity to grab the bottle of vodka from her hands and finish it off. 

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This is another short chapter, but everyone say hello to Erik! Erik's initial start is also a little slow cause I gotta get that annoying exposition out of the way. But don't worry, things will start speeding up for him soon! 

And don't worry guys, the next chapter will be back to Alia (since I'm sure you all are just dying to know what's going to happen next with her).

Anyways, I hope you are all doing fabulous right now! I'll update again soon!

-Maddie :)