Heir to the Ice Queen (Book 1)

Ch. 15

     I had no time to react, the King made a ring of fire surrounding me, some guards protecting Princess Palma, while the others held their weapons in my directions. Although Ray and Zinnia looked at me in disbelief - not moving, not breathing, simply still.

     "But-" Ray spoke, "you don't look like a winter. That knight was a winter Nova, you aren't. You have brown skin, hair, and eyes, just like a summer."

      He said this more to convince himself, whether he figured out where I really was from before we got to the castle or just now, he was in denial.

     "There were rumors as to how the Winter Princess looked," the King looked me up and down while I held my head high, "Regardless for the poor bastard who had to deal with your mother, you are not a summer citizen. If who you say you are is true then there is nothing but ice in your heart, just like your mother."

     The flames started to get closer to my body, and unlike the ones that I am able to wield, I felt the heat in these.

     "No," I replied, "I am nothing like my mother. That is why I have traveled into the heart of the summer land, in asking for your help to end her. The winter citizens want a new leader, most of our villagers are dying off from starvation or from the cold but my mother does not allow them to leave, or even care for them. But I do. "

     He took a step closer to me, examining my features that just showed him I was a summer citizen. But his eyes tried looking deeper than that, he was looking for my winter side. 

     "Then why don't you take the throne for yourself?" he said in a low voice.

     "Because she's the oldest, making her the strongest. Which is something you already know about. And I am not on a suicide mission. That's why I need help."

     His forehead creased and his lips twitched with anger, "What you're really telling me is that you want her power. Is that it? You honestly believe I would help you, the Winter Princess, in gaining more power?"

     "I know you want her dead too, you just haven't had the access to the land yet. But with me, you can," I stepped closer to him, in doing so, closer to the flames. They didn't burn me yet, but it was unpleasant. 

     "Help me to help you," I smiled and my voice sounded like a spider entrancing its prey to get stuck in her web. He didn't budge though, he just kept looking at me as if he wasn't going to agree with me no matter what I said. He needed a little bit more of a push, to show him that I was on his side, any information he wanted was his. 

     "You know that after the war my mother froze every summer on the land, most were sent back to melt and die but have you ever wondered what was made of your brother? He's still frozen on my lawn, but-"

     I didn't finish. I felt the flames grow and burn my palms as I tried to block the fire he sent towards me. Hard enough that it sent me flying to the wall that was nowhere near where I stood moments before. When I felt the adrenaline in my veins, and the anger built up in me I had seconds to realize what happened when Elis pushed me to the wall even more and picked me up from my throat, cutting off my air supply.

     I blame it on the remaining poison lingering in my veins for my poor fighting skills, but mostly because I was re-hearing what I just spoke out loud, and it didn't sound as nice as it did. But thats what happens when you grow up in winter, you learn to be blunt.

     "You come onto MY land, My castle, and ask ME for help to help gain you more power!" He roared, "You are just as stupid as a new born. You think you are different than your mother? Well you're not. You are both manipulative, heartless, and as cold as your very land. And more importantly, you will never be trusted by me, or any of the other seasons. You have had nearly a century to come for my help, but you never did. You, Princess Evie, are pathetic," He looked me up and down, releasing a sinister grin, "And you are now my prisoner."