The Ice Queen of Lessaenes (Book 5)

Beyond the Garden

Yes, I know I was going to wait until I finished the entire Books of Lessaenes series to start writing this, but I JUST CAN'T WAIT! Saralee is such an amazing character, my favorite by far, and I just had to make her book RIGHT NOW! Also, the picture is young Saralee. Now, without further ado, I present to you the Ice Queen of Lessaenes ;)

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Location: Glaisse, Lessaenes

Saralee's age: 9

Keilee's age: 12

Airel's age: 7

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I lay sideways across the length of my luxurious bed, absentmindedly kicking my feet as I paged through a book. My thick, black French braid was slung over my left shoulder and my eyes occasionally flashed blue with Aural power. I was too young to have perfect control of my Aural impulses, though I was quite Aurally advanced for my age.

"Hey!" I heard a sharp whisper from the foot of my bed. "Psst! Sara!"

I looked up to see my sister standing in front of me, her hands on her hips. Her deep blue eyes stared at me calculatingly and her lips curled into a mocking smile.

"Get out of my room, Keilee," I grumbled, turning away from her and absorbing myself once again in my book.

"Well, someone's feeling grouchy today," Keilee pouted, crossing her arms over the third button of her silk petticoat. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go on a little adventure with me and Airel," she smiled, gesturing to our little brother who stood beside her, brandishing a long stick as if it were a sword.

"I am the mighty Prince of Lessaenes!" He proclaimed, raising his stick into the air with a flourish. "And I'm going to save my sister, the fair Princess Saralee, from this terrible, stuffy room!"

"I think you're the one who's going to need saving!" I laughed as I tumbled on top of him and began to tickle him.

"Let me go! Get off!" Airel squealed as he wiggled beneath me, trying to get out of my grasp.

"Okay, that's enough guys," Keilee said sternly. "Now, do you want to go on an adventure or not?" She asked with a grin.

"Yeah!" Airel and I shouted simultaneously. "But where to?"

"Beyond the garden," Keilee whispered ominously, leaning in for effect.

"Beyond the garden?" I gasped. "You mean past the old gardener's hut and the stone wall? But Mother said never to go there! She said there's monsters out there, prowling the land outside the castle grounds. And they really, really like to eat little princesses for lunch!"

"She was probably just trying to scare you," Keilee laughed. "And Mother and Father are meeting with the Council right now. There's no way they'd find out! Besides, there's nothing outside the walls except Glaisse."

"But we're in Glaisse..." I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"No, the real Glaisse," she smiled. "Outside the castle. In the city. There's food, and excitement, and crowds," she said dreamily. "We're going to have so much fun!"

"But won't they recognize us?" I asked with worry. "If there are so many people, someone's bound to figure out who we are. Pictures of us are all over the Auraweb!"

"I have the solution for that," Keilee smiled, taking out three sets of plain shirts and stretchy pants. "We're royals. No one's seen us in anything but designer dresses and boots. There's no way they'll recognize us in this, we'll blend right in.

"They're ugly," I scrunched up my nose with disgust.

"Do you want to go on an adventure or not?" Asked Keilee.

"Okay," I sighed in defeat, grabbing the drab outfit from Keilee's hand and walking into my spacious bathroom. I carefully untied the silk ribbon on the back of my multi-layer dress and pulled it off before changing into the new clothes. I emerged to find Keilee and Airel standing in my room and also wearing their nondescript outfits.

"Let's go!" Keilee said cheerily as she led us out the door.

"I'm scared," I whispered. "Father would kill us if he found out about this."

"Stop being a baby," Keilee laughed. "Come on, it'll be awesome!"

I reluctantly followed her down the long corridors of Icicle Hall, my personal favorite of the royal family's three main residences. She skillfully lead us through the servants' passageways instead of the main ones to keep us from being discovered. I could tell this wasn't the first time she had gone snooping around.

"And here we are," she said proudly as we exited one of the smaller passageways into the open, sunlit garden. "Now who'll make us a ladder?"

"I will!" I called out. Though I was younger than Keilee, my Aura was much stronger than hers. You could say I was born gifted. Closing my eyes, I summoned the blue power from within me. It still had a slight greenish tinge- a sign of juvenility- but it was dark and thick.

With a twist of my hand, I shaped it into a ladder with thick rungs that would be easy to hold onto. Running up to its pulsating, blue form, I placed my foot on the first rung and began to climb, hoisting myself up and over the wall. After my siblings had both done the same, I pulled back the Aura and let it reenter my body.

What we saw at first was the part of Lessaenes' capital city that was familiar to me, the elegantly decorated Elitia filled with excitingly modern mansions with ornate gates where my parents' Council members and their families resided.

Glaisse was structured similarly to a dartboard with Icicle Hall in the middle, the Elitia, or place of the elite, in a ring around it and the Populati, or place of the people, in a ring around that. In a ring around the Populati was the Lekhone, or place of the filthy. It was a shady, crime ridden region on the outskirts of the city that people tended not to talk about. But we were still in the Elitia, surely we wouldn't go out that far...

"Keilee! Look!" I tugged on my sister's sleeve and pointed to a man who strolled along the street that ran parallel to the one we walked on. He held a rusty emta to his lips, and I watched, enthralled by the beautiful music he produced on the cheap metal instrument.

The song he played wasn't sad at all, yet even my young ears could sense the great sorrow that hid behind the deep, soulful notes. From his dragging steps and coarse, sweat-stained shirt, I could tell that he didn't belong in the Elitia. Maybe he was a servant on break, or a traveling musician. Whatever he was, it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except the music, the sweet, perfect music.

"What is it?" Keilee asked.

"Look at him," I gasped with excitement. "The emta player!"

"Yes, a man playing an emta," Keilee rolled her eyes sarcastically. "So exciting."

"But he's so good!" I smiled, letting go of my sister's hand and running down the street to catch up to him.

"Fine, go listen to your emta man," Keilee snickered. "Airel and I are going to go do something fun."

I ignored her and followed the man, completely entranced by his playing. I walked behind him, oblivious to where I was going, under the music's wonderful spell.

When he pulled the emta away from his face after what felt like a blissful eternity, I was instantly jolted back to reality. Looking around, I realized I had no idea where I was. Broken beer bottles and other various discarded items lined the streets and the air smelled foul. The emta man and I seemed to be the only living beings in the area. There weren't even any birds. My heart caught in my chest when I realized where the beautiful music had led me. I was all alone in the Lekhone, and I had no idea how to get back.