Heir to the Ice Queen (Book 1)

Ch. 3

     Four days later I made it to the border when the sun was setting. Its soft orange hues hid behind the white clouds giving the sky a soft pink shade. When I got off the carriage I was star struck by the view; grass as green as emeralds that go on and on for miles while the orange from the sun blanketed over the land. 

     The carriage had already left the second I got out of it, pretty sure the guy didn't want to be at the border any longer than he had to. Or maybe it was tempting to him, to just leave the harshness of winter and go to Summer's healthy lands. Even if it was just for a few seconds. But my mother would know if he left.

    At the border I still wore my royal dress and had nothing else on me, no weapons, no spare clothing, no food. But I luckily don't need food or weapons, being an immortal royal, mundane things like hunger were no enemies of mine. And as for weapons, my power was stronger than any sword or man.

     On the other side of this though, I had doubt. My power comes from the land of winter, so does that mean once I cross I lose it? My mother never told me much about how it worked in other seasons. Nor were there any books to learn from, she burned them all the second she became queen claiming that anyone could sneak in and learn of a way to defeat her. So she kept me, her heir, as clueless as she could.

      I went to the tree next to me and froze it, to see if my ice was still apart of me in new lands. But instead, all that came out was a little bit of soft slushy snow just on my finger tips. Well I guess my power weakens at the border and will be completely lost when I cross it. Crap. Now I need spare clothes and a weapon. I sighed, of course my mother wouldn't tell me this. And would literally send me off with nothing. Whatever I'll be fine on my own, I'm not as weak as she thinks.

     I just needed eight steps to walk right into the summer court. Just eight. I can do this. Deep breath in, one step. Seven, breath out. And then steps six threw zero were done in one breath. 

     I did it, well the easy part. The land was beautiful, and feeling grass in between my toes was a strange feeling. Kind of like I was crushing tiny trees, yeah I liked that thought. And the heat! It was sun set and it was still the warmest I've ever felt! 

     But it didn't feel wrong, it felt kind of right. Mhm, a little strange. I thought because of my whole winter life and powers that summer - my complete opposite - would disturb me but it's far from that. I guess that solves the question as to where my father was from. Or maybe my skin was just absorbing in the suns heated rays for once. And maybe I could get a nice tan while I'm here.

     But for now, the plan. First, blend the dress in. I found the nearest rock and cut the length of it. I dug a hole to bury the left over material and noticed that my hand got completely covered in stained with the dirt. Another idea popped into my head, one that'll be slightly fun. I started to role around in it and the grass to dirty the white of the dress. Quickly it had green grass stains and brown smudges all over until the white was hardly noticeable. 

     It was actually kind of fun being so careless, I started to laugh. And forget it, rolling down a hill? Amazingly fun how the feeling of falling and out of control just soared down the hill. I don't know how long I just stayed there acting like, well...a kid. A 99 year old acting three, oh well, my mother wasn't around to see so who can really judge me. 

     Yeah I think I'm going to stay on the summer side for a while and have some fun for once.

     ••••••••••

     The sun was completely down by the time I made it to the closest village. I stole a dress, shoes, and a small kitchen knife in a matter of minutes. Yeah, I'm that good; but I didn't stick around in that village. It's to close to the boarder and they'll be looking for a thief, so I kept on walking. The moon was my only source of light, and the days trip was tiring on me.

     There wasn't a town in my vision so I guess I'll just have to sleep some where on the floor, which would be a first for me. I took a right somewhere and found myself walking on something that wasn't grass, or dirt. It...it was softer, with each step my feet would sink in and its soft dirt kept sticking to the bottom of my feet. I kept hearing something like strong water crash into something. Turning away from this place and waiting for the sun to come rise to get a better look would probably be the safe way, but I was curious. What was this? 

     Then I saw it with the moons light glow, the floor in the distance was moving! And then picking itself up and crashing into itself! What kind of stuff goes on here in summer? 

     Whatever was happening didn't seem so dangerous though. The floor was moving gently now as the wind died down. Walking closer to it I was able to see it better, I was looking at something I only heard in rumors. It wasn't the floor that was moving, it was water, and a lot of it. I was looking at the beach.

      According to the rumors the beach was only in summer territory, and the only reason why it's the second largest land is because the oceans water is really hard to freeze over - meaning my mom can't concur it with just her and I. 

    I took my - stolen - shoes off and ran into the water, up to my knees and felt the water gently accept me. It was like a really big bath tub, except ocean water felt different than drinking water and of course the feeling of wet sand.

     It was peaceful here, like this. Don't get me wrong there's peaceful places in winter too. Like the forest behind the castle close to the mountains. There's a small cave that I've been going to ever since I found it when I was little. But this is different, it feels as if this setting has life. While in winter it just feels... cold.

     It seemed like a safe enough place to rest for the remainder of the night, no villages for miles and it was quiet.

••••••••

     "Hey, umm.. Miss?" 

     I shot up so quickly I hit my head, hard, on who ever woke me up.

     "Oww!" And "ugghh" were both our word choices to express our pain. I looked him over and he looked...delicious with his dark caramel muscular skin and his chocolate eyes that just kept staring at me. And his curly cinnamon hair that was just above his ears. Okay I either need food or him in my system later. And since I don't really need food.....

     "Was that really necessary? I didn't mean to scare you," he said.

     "Well you don't hover over a random girl to wake her up. A head bud is the first line of defense," I retaliated.

     I could be a bit snappy in the mornings and no matter how this guy looked on the outside, on the inside he was someone who woke me up. And was also someone who found me. So much for my sneaky stealth. 

     He laughed though, brushed off my harsh comment and the sand from his hands and extended it out towards me.

     "I'm Ray," he said.

-----

   Banner made by Red0_0