Princess Turned Barter

Chapter Thirteen

Elena

Before the sun was able to rise, Kyra had me awake and trudging through snow that reached my waist. It is difficult to wade through the thick mass. Once you have made a path ahead it almost instantly fills back up again with fresh precipitation. Every inch of ground in front and behind is covered, and it is almost impossible to see where we had once trod.

I had been asleep when Kyra began clearing the door free of the intrusive white mass, and I was awoken from its fitfulness by the grunting of her labour.

My eyes burn from the reflecting sun on the snowy surface as Kyra helps pull me. Occasionally the snow is ice and meets your feet like a brick wall, breaking your toes which are otherwise frozen. Not only do my hands and feet ache from the cold, but my wrists and waist burn from the friction of rope tied tightly to my skin.

I had absolutely no idea it got this cold in our kingdom. The snow was always cleared from the streets in Maidell, and there was certainly never any in the court of our castle. In fact, I cannot remember the last time I had touched snow. Mary told me it was undignified for a princess to play out in the cold, and that when I grew to be Queen my people would not take me seriously if I were to play snow angels with the common folk.

And suddenly my heart begins to ache in my chest at the thought of Mary.

"Please be alive" repeats over and over in my head as Kyra tugs on the rope, the trees all blending into one another as we march.

It is safe to assume that we're a few hours outside of Miadell by the distance of the mountains and the type of trees that are hanging heavily over us as we tread, but I haven't a clue where we're headed.

"Where is it you're taking me?" I ask Kyra through chattering teeth, the borrowed pants now wet through.

I begin to stumble, tripping over one of the many blocks of ice forming deep beneath the surface layer of snow. Kyra snatches my hand, her large palm surprisingly warm - sending a shiver through my aching body. She tugs me forward.

"First we're to get a horse-"

She begins to answer but I interject, disbelief whistling through the air, "Where on earth will you find a horse in the middle of nowhere?"

Kyra snorts, her face contorting before a fit of laughter so uncontrollable leaves her scarred mouth, like there was a joke between her and the trees that I am not privy to.

"Why are you laughing?" I demand, pushing my feet into the snow and refusing to move.

She wipes a frozen tear from her cheek and answers between heavy breaths, "Princess, we're all but two hours away from Maidell."

"That can't be right, we walked for at least a day previous,"

Kyra answers with a simple nod, her brown hair bouncing on her shoulders regardless of the crusted blood and dirt seen hanging from her locks.

"So how are we only an hour away from my home?" I ask, my throat dry and my face hot in the freezing air.

"Well, princess," Kyra smirks, her eyes holding a playful and mischievous glint as she speaks. "I took you in circles."

Kyra points then, into the distance. There I see the carriage covered in a fresh coat of snow, light red blotches flitted around, and just a few steps ahead is where Darius had passed away.

---

Kyra has taken the rope from my wrists to allow me a modicum of freedom, but I continue to be connected to her at the waist as she gently brushes a brown horse that impatiently stamps her feet beside the carriage.