The Heart of Ice

Chapter 4

Davina

The morning sun peers through my window, bright and welcoming, causing my eyes to flutter open lazily. I don't remember falling asleep in here, for the last thing I can recall is Everett showing me to my room, telling me about the different varieties of cheese their cooks serves, as if it were top secret. But I must've been more exhausted than I realized, which makes sense. Yesterday was too much—more than I could handle. Not only did I have to deal with being chosen and Austin, but The Ice King's attitude didn't really make for a warm welcoming; It was more humiliating than anything. He's the exact type of guy I would grow to hate.

Everyone else didn't seem that bad though. Callum, who I immediately knew I wasn't going to like by the way he almost broke my arm, actually didn't seem that bad when I started to talk to him more. He was actually quite nice, letting me in on some things and showing me the ropes of others. He's also sort've placed himself into the category of The Ice King's father figure, so I could go to him if I ever needed to know something. Everett is my favorite so far. In a way, he reminds me of Austin. Always goofing off, making jokes; it was a comfortable feeling. I even found myself opening up to him a bit yesterday, only when he asked, of course.

I guess you could say yesterday ended better than I predicted, despite everything that happened. It even had me thinking about if this is all as unbearable as I was thinking it would be.

The sound of a tray connecting with the floor drags me out of my thoughts, startling me. My head whips around, and I see a brown-poofy haired girl standing completely frozen in the doorway, one hand covering her mouth. I recognize her as the girl from yesterday, who did the exact same thing, when my 'argument' with Killian kicked off. Her copper colored eyes scans me intensely, waiting for me to react.

"Hello," I say. "Are you alright?"

Her hand slowly drops from her mouth, and she finally goes to collect the tray. "Yes, yes, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you, Miss."

"Oh, don't worry about it. You didn't. I was already up," I retort. The girl, clearly from The Kingdom in the Leaves, nods. "Yeah? Why didn't you come down for breakfast? The cook has conjoured up a lovely feast for your arrival. I don't know how she does it, honestly."

"Well . . ." I trail off. If I'm being completely honest, I think I might be more anxious than I'd like to see The Ice King after yesterday. Even though he was being a complete asshole, I didn't exactly make the first impression I wanted. Then again, how does one usually want to come off to a murderous King?

Before I can answer, the girl laughs, except it isn't filled with something funny, only understanding. "Right. I saw what happened between you and The Ice King yesterday," she starts, but I cut her off before she can finish. "Yes, I know, it was completely embarrassing."

"Girl, no. That was the most badass thing I've seen in a long time. I'm glad someone is finally here to tame that brat."

Once again, her hand flies to her mouth. "Oh my gods, Miss. I didn't mean to say that." In the midst of her panic, I burst into laughter. "No, it's fine. He was being bratty, but you know you don't have to call me Miss, right?"

"Oh yeah, I know. But Callum would have a full-on heart attack if I called you anything other than that. He's so jumpy for no reason." She chuckles to herself.

"Well, when he's not around you can call me Vina," I smile. "It's what all my friends call me."

"Okay, Vina. And when he's not around you can call me Moon." She places her hand under her chin. "Or Momo. It's what my little brother calls me."

I think it's safe to say that I've made another friend in the castle, who kind've reminds me of one of my other friends, Eliza. She and her family were the only citizens in our Kingdom that were from The Kingdom of Fire, so as you could imagine, they were also the most hated. She would often get bullied at school, things thrown at her head or weirdos teasing her about her fire ability, but I've always felt connected to her in a way. I don't know if it was just because my father always warned me to stay away from her, or because I felt like she had more to her than everyone was willing to see.