A Court of Heritance and Destiny

Chapter 3 Freya

Outside of the Spring Courts bourdess, in the human lands and solar courts, winter held the lands in an icy grip. Even inside of the magic they noticed the cold. It was like an edge in the air, noticeable but not overwhelming. Not that Freya cared as she walked around in her garden. The special area was surrounded with rose bushes in all styles and colours. Red, pink, orange, white, yellow. Freya loved to sit next to them, letting her fingers follow the petals. Sometimes she even pulled them off, spreading them around her in the wind.

They danced as she spun, falling from her hand one by one. The wind kept them floating in the air before falling down. Red rose petals in the white gravel, Freya sat down in the middle of the circle, her chest rising and falling from the action. Her head felt a bit strange, but that was normal it often did.

"What have you done?" She turned around to see Dorothea walking toward her. A large smile came over her lips and she stood up grabbing some of the flower petals in the process.

"Look! They are floating!" She tossed some of them up in the air, hoping to see her eyes light up with wonder as they slowly danced down. Far slower than they should.

"Freya, we don't kill flowers from the garden!" She grabbed her arm and pulled her away from her circle. "And your dress is dirty now!" Freya looked down, seeing some dust along the hem of her dress.

"Sorry..." The grip around her arm softened, but Dorothea still pulled her inside. "It hurts."

"That is what you get for doing something like that." Doroteha put her down on the chair, the cold water hit Freya just a second later and she tried to get away. "Stay still."

"It is cold!"

"Stop screaming!" Freya stopped moving, and stayed completely still as Dorothea pulled her back into the cold water, once again rubbing her hair with the soaps. "Good." Her fingers pulled at the roots of her hair, and Freya held in tears. Crying would not help her, she knew that already.

She shivered as Dorotheas harsh movements combined with the cold water. Her eyes felt heavy, then she started to pull on her dirty dress, it was too warm, but she was cold...

"Stop moving!" An icy grip came around her chin, forcing her still. "Just, stay here and let me finish." The strange burning came back to her scalp, but Freya remained still, limp in the chair as the sounds of cold water and soaps led her to sleep.

___

She was sick, again.

Her teddys sat next to her bed, like guardians as she tried to sleep. The fever made her shiver and sweat. It made her lacking all appetite and hungry,at the same time. Being locked away like this made her sad, not that she could cry.

Her father walked in, his large frame blocking the lights from outside.

"Rosebud..." He sighed and sat down next to her. "Feeling better?" Freya just wimped in response, pulling the covers tighter around her. "No?" She shook her head, only to cough out, gasping for air as the cough didn't stop. She had been like this for days now, starting with that coldwater.

"Here... here..." Her father helped her to sit, giving her a glass with some syrup. "This can help..." Freya looked at him. He had no crown on today. "Sleep Rosebud, it will be better."

She trusted him, he was always right, everytime she got sick he was there and helped her, he always came to her room, telling her to sleep, and a few days later she was back out again. Paying in the garden. Then again she would fall sick.

Time and time again, over and over. But this time something was different. Her cough didn't disappear, her fever never broke. Her skin felt too small for her body, like something wanted out of her.