Hearts of Fire and Ice

Chapter Six~ Snowdrift

I sat on a rock ledge near the SkyWing-IceWing border. The mountains were beautiful, and the sun was just dipping below the horizon. I spent last night alone in my "palace" thinking about what had happened the night before. Jasper. I just couldn't get him out of my head. He was tall, handsome, and his scales were just a beautiful shade of red... 

"Snow, you're blushing," a familiar voice said. I turned around to see...

"Jasper! You found me!" I exclaimed. 

The red SkyWing smiled, "You said we would meet at the Sky-Ice border when we met last night. This seemed like a slit you would like." 

I smiled back. "Well, I do like the view here. You can see the sunset perfectly from this rock ledge... I really like the mountains." 

"I like them too," Jasper gazed off into the distance. "Although you must prefer the tundra, huh?" 

I looked down at my talons. "Not really. It's a little cold..."

"Cold?" Jasper chuckled. "But you're an IceWing! I thought you liked the cold!" 

"Well, those are just the side effects of..." I trailed off. Had I gone too far? 

"Side effects?" Jasper asked. "Side effects of what?" 

Yup. My stupid mouth. I had no choice but to tell him. 

"Side effects off... Of being iceless." 

Jasper gazed into my eyes. "Snow..." 

I could feel myself starting to cry. "I'm iceless! Barely any frostbreath, I don't like the cold that much. I'm defenseless! I've tried to hide it by being loud, and I guess I'm too stubborn and outspoken... It's only gotten me in more trouble. I'm like a RainWing!"

I was sobbing uncontrollably at this point. But Jasper was acting differently than I expected him to. He sat beside me, looked into my eyes. He did this as if he understood me. As if he knew how I was feeling. 

"Snow, I'm so sorry..." He said. "But... You've done a great job of not letting anything stand in your way." 

I looked up, my face stained with tears. "I'm useless, Jasper. It makes no difference. I'm alone now. Queen Glacier kicked me out of the Ice Palace. She says my twin sister could be in the IceWing army! And I'm here, an outcast, with nothing to do but look back on what I've done in the past, knowing that my future won't be any better." 

"Snowdrift. Snow. Look at me." Jasper said with a little more force in his voice. Was he commanding me?

I looked up into his deep brown eyes. We locked gazes for a few moments. Then Jasper said, "Look, Snow. You have more opportunities than me. I... I have a confession, too." 

"What?" I asked, choking back my sobs. 

"I'm a SkyWing prince. My mother is Queen Ruby of the SkyWings," Jasper hung his head, looking away from me. 

"But... Don't you like being royalty, Jasper?" I sat up and placed my talons over his. 

Jasper continued to look away. "No, I hate it. Despise it. I'm the only male in my family, and the youngest. My sisters are all battling for the throne. It's my job to command the army and make war strategies, but I hate war! And then there's Mother... She's so overprotective. For years I've been locked in the palace, forced to study, act the way my mother wants me to act. I've been hiding who I really am... all because of her!" 

I had never seen Jasper act with such aggression. I was taken aback. This handsome, wonderful SkyWing prince was more troubled than he appeared. He wanted to be free. 

"So your mother is Queen Ruby and she forces you to be who she wants you to be... It sounds sort of like Queen Glacier. Glacier always wanted me to be a ferocious soldier... I had the guts, just not the power. It was my twin sister, Icecap, who had both the guts and the power being that she was iceborn. Glacier loved her..." 

"Did you love her?" Jasper asked out of nowhere. 

"Love who?" I tilted my head. 

"Icecap, your twin. Did you love her?" 

I began to sob again, "Yes, more than ever! Icecap and I were like the best of friends! She understood how I was feeling, and always knew how to cheer me up when Glacier was being harsh on me..." 

With that I fell into Jasper, sobbing. He took my head in his talons and said "Three moons, Snow... I'm so sorry..." 

I felt something warm on my face that wasn't my tears. I took my talon and brushed it against my cheek to find a ruby-red liquid. It was blood. 

"Jasper!" I exclaimed. The SkyWing had a deep gash on one of his legs. "Jasper you're bleeding! What... What happened?" 

The SkyWing seemed to like my concern for him. He shook his head and said, "It's nothing. I was just escaping my room and I cut my leg on..."

"Wait, stop right there! You were escaping? Escaping from what, exactly?" My eyes were wide with worry.

"My room, I told you!"

"Why were you locked in your room?" 

"Mother... I wasn't supposed to be flying last night, the night we met. My older sister, Crimson, told Mother about what I had done... she doesn't know about you though. Thank the moons she doesn't. If she did..." 

"If she did... then what?" I asked. 

"I don't know. But it would be something horrible. Something that would endanger both of us..." Jasper sighed. "We just can't let my mother know." 

"Okay..." I looked off into the distance. I could see the rolling foothills that would become the flat tundra miles away from here. Sitting on this mountain ledge with Jasper... I could almost see that far.

" I really like it here," I said quietly. 

"You said that when we first sat here" Jasper smiled. 

"I know," I smiled back. 

There was a pause. Jasper and I sat together in silence. 

Suddenly, Jasper twined his tail around mine. I was taken slightly aback. But Jasper was smiling, and he took my talons in his and said, "Snowdrift... would I be crazy to say that I love you?" 

"Crazy? Nobody is crazier than me to say... I love you too Prince Jasper."