Frozen Flame

Chapter 1: Ice Kingdom

Underground in Ice Kingdom - Now / Five Days After the Capture of Thorn

The man clucked his tongue, searching through the fifth pile of paper that hour. Documents. Requests. Planning. Finding the piece he was after, he quickly rolled it up and ran out of the room, reaching an incredibly large hall of towering bookshelves and wide open air. He jogged to the edge of a tall landing leading into a twelve-metre drop and hopped onto a ladder, bookcase leading even further up the wall. Flicking a small switch, the ladder began moving around the books. And with another click, it stopped. One of his inventions.

Flicking through several books, the man scanned the titles. "No... no, no, no- ah, here we are..." He paused, glancing behind him. "I thought you said you were busy."

A lounge chair sat in the centre of the room, covered with fur and pillows. Another man lay in it, cross-legged, eyes closed. "I am."

"You're sleeping in your... highly... decorated throne."

The sleeping man pursed his lips. "I like the pillows - they're comfortable."

"They hurt your image." He brushed a hand through his hair, sighing. "Jared, the seven-year Fire peace-treaty anniversary is only a few days away, and you still haven't read through the confirmation papers for the festival."

Jared waved a hand. "I'll do it later."

An unseen glare. "You said that yesterday, yet here we are."

Jared turned over, pulling a blanket over him. "Just let me sleep."

A pause. "Were you staying up late working again?" Silence. "It was the cemetery building site again, wasn't it?" Again, silence. "I told you, we have people who deal with those issues - just leave it to them."

"It's a sensitive issue. They don't deal with it sensitively. I can recheck whatever I want - I'm the king, you can't stop me!"

"Fine, you can recheck whatever you want, just... Let this one go, please? It's getting a bit much." The man turned back to the books, picking another one out. "Do your job and I'll do mine."

Jared turned back around, flipping off his blanket and looking up. "But yours is like... five times my workload. Come on, let me help out!"

"Seven point two three nine actually, and stick to the agreement - you're the figurehead and take care of all your matters, and I take care of all the background stuff." He glanced down at his wrist - a strange contraption with hands and numbers, always ticking - a watch. Another invention of his. "Although, do actually sort out the anniversary papers by the end of the day. I have a meeting on some arising sun-deficiency issues out west in an hour and I still need to finish this up, so only call for me if you're dying." He turned away, moving the ladder back to the landing and climbing back up. He shouted out behind him as he hurried away. "There's a bed in your room if you want to sleep."

Jared rolled his eyes, pulling the blanket back over him and turning away. He closed his eyes.

A booming thud echoed around Jared's skull. Small footsteps quickly followed it as knights streamed in and knelt on the floor in front of him. Their faces downwards, they twitched with the need to get their information to him and then resume their previous duties - it had been a long day. It was always a long day.

He sat up at the sudden noise. His hand brushed along his scalp and his light blue eyes squinted open at the sudden atrocity of sound. "Geez-leweez! Do you think you could enter any louder? I'm trying to get some much-needed sleep here."