A Symphony of Ice and Shadow

Chapter 4

Content Warning: Brief Mention of Sexual Activities, mentions of struggles with mental health, mention of death 

Rhoe woke up with the sun shining in his eyes from the large glass door that led to the balcony of his suite at the palace in Banjali. He could still feel the effects of the enormous amount of wine that he consumed last night with Gavriel. He would have regretted it but damn, it was good wine. As Rhoe opened his eyes and stared at the arched ceiling of his room, he heard a small whimper coming from beside him. Oh yeah. He didn't remember her name or how they ended up in this room, but he did remember her soft dark skin and the way they felt together. Rhoe needed the touch of a woman. It had been several weeks since his last encounter with a beautiful woman.

Rhoe heard another groan from the floor at the foot of the bed. He sat up to investigate the groan when he saw his friend and cousin sprawled out on the floor, shirt off, and wine bottle in hand. "Gav, what are you doing in here?" Rhoe asked, rubbing his eyes, and lying back down on the bed. Rhoe had a serious hangover after last night; he assumed the same about Gavriel, who just groaned in responding to Rhoe's question. Rhoe instantly felt a hand go across his bare chest and the girl saying in Eyllwe "Stay, my prince."

"I will visit you tonight, my dear. Now leave" Rhoe said to the woman. Rhoe had no intention of visiting the woman tonight. First of all, he didn't know her name and second, he had no need or want, for that matter, of keeping a woman. Last night was just for fun. The woman got up, grabbed her clothes, and left the room as instructed.

Rhoe forced himself up from his bed, several minutes after the woman left, to clean up in the bathing room. On the way, he gently nudged Gavriel with his foot. Gavriel's long blond hair that reached his shoulders was now covering his face and his tan skinned back was in full view. "Rhoe, I am never drinking that much wine again" Gavriel grumbled into the floorboard of Rhoe's suite. "Gav, make a vow you can actually keep. Now get up, we have training" Rhoe said, washing his face off in the bathing room. He knew that Gavriel would drink just as much the next time they went out into Banjali.

Rhoe quickly ran his hands through his silver hair that he inherited from his father, Rowan Whitethorn, and over his tan skin to wash off the grime of the night before. He then quickly got dressed in his training clothes and grabbed his sword. When Rhoe entered the main living space of the suite, he noticed Gavriel was ready, and his shoulder length blond hair was tied half up in a knot. Sometimes the resemblance between Rhoe's cousin and his father Aedion, were uncanny. But other times, you could see the mannerisms of Gavriel's mother, Lysandra as well. "I hope you are not too hung over you won't give me a fair fight" Gavriel said to Rhoe as they made their way outside to the training grounds. Rhoe snorted, knowing full well that even if he was drunk off his ass, he could still beat Gavriel in training. "My friend, I always give you a fair fight" Rhoe said.

The males made their way down to the training grounds where they kept up their training in sword fighting and archery. Rhoe preferred two dual wielding blades instead of a great sword, which is what Gavriel preferred. The preference is most likely due to the fact his mother required all of her five children to become proficient in some sort of weaponry besides their gifted magic. So, Rhoe chose dual wielding blades. Both of their fathers always insisted on being proficient in all kinds of weaponry in case they did not have their preferred weapon in a dangerous situation. Rhoe unsheathed his swords from his hips and said grinning "Ready to get your ass handed to you, Gav?" But before they could start sparing a large midnight blue wyvern landed in the courtyard. Both males backed away from the creature but kept their weapons ready. Rhoe looked up at the rider of the wyvern and said "Asterin Havilliard, is that you?"

"The honor is yours, prince" Asterin said back, getting off the wyvern. Two other females dismounted from the beast, and one stroked its scales. Rhoe put away his weapons, knowing that the three females were not a threat, at least, not at this current moment. He was not stupid enough to underestimate how dangerous the princess of Adarlan could be if provoked. Rhoe did not recognize the other two females at first but when he smelled the evergreen and jasmine, he knew immediately who it was. Actually, how could he forget that Marion Lochan and Asterin Havilliard were inseparable since they could walk? The two females were dangerous together both being proficient in a type of weapon and magic. Rhoe assumed the third female had to be Althea Westfall since he remembered she was the last piece to their little trio.