An Eternal Wintre

Chapter 8

Prince Mal was the one to find Anai's room in complete discord before anyone else. He sent his guards away and as he stepped into the room, closing the door, he sees the chaos. Flower petals dance across everything, littering his vision. The dresser is pulled out from the wall and crooked, drawers open and emptied. 

He has to hold himself up by leaning against the wall. Heart pounding, he closes his eyes and tries to breathe in. Shaky breaths try clinging into his throat as he opens his eyes and looks around the room. "Anai?" he whispers tentatively, aware that he'd receive no answer. With hesitant steps, he steps further into the room and starts searching everything.

Nothing is amiss in the bathroom so he focuses on the bedroom itself. Not all the drawers on the dresser are ruined or even missing a thing. The armoire with all Anai's dresses is untouched; as if wherever she was she didn't need or want dresses. The vanity seemed alright, the mirror looked cracked in the corner, a black feather rests on the top. The bed was a mess; the pillows askew and the blanket pulled out and folded over itself. He picked up one of the pillows to fix it and something orange rolls out from under it, hitting the floor with a smack.

Bending down, dropping the pillow, Mal picks up the orange thing and turns it around, finding it empty. He looks away from it when a raven caws outside the window, the sound of tapping on glass soon after. Stashing the container in his coat pocket, he goes to the window and opens it to find nothing. Sighing heavily, he continues his snooping with the bedside table.

The table was small and sturdy looking, made of fine oak and shiny. The knobs were made of brass, as were most of the knobs on furniture in the castle. It only had one drawer so he pulled it open to find a lump wrapped inside a white cloth.

Taking the thing out, he placed it on the top, the scent of flowers wafting up to greet him. Gently, he uncovers what's wrapped and stumbles back, hiding his hands behind his back. In the cloth lies a cut luphantias thal. Now his heart's really pounding as he takes in the look of the deadly plant.

Mal can't bring his thoughts together as another bird caws outside and black wings swoop in through the window. Ducking from the bird's attack, Mal drops to the floor lightly. Wings flap over his head and claws scrape against wood. He looks up to find the bird and flower gone. Racing to the window, he sees a black dot with something white under it. "Damnit!" he curses loudly, slamming his fist on the windowsill.

Worried that his guards would come looking for him soon, he shuts the window and starts cleaning the room. His heart sinks as he sweeps up the flowers and petals from his bouquet. Trash, he thinks. Going to the feather, he stuffs it in his hands with the flowers. With great effort, he pushes the dresser back into place and fixes the drawers.

Gripping onto the dead remains of the flowers, he tosses them in the rubbish bin in the bathroom before leaving the room and heading for his own chambers.

Guards fall into step right behind me, angering him. Slamming his door behind him when he reaches his rooms, he locks the door and paces the room, running fingers through his hair and messing it up. Why would she just leave? That isn't like Anai. "What do I know?" he admonishes. "She's lived with me for years and I barely know her. What a good husband I am to be." He continues his grumblings when something scratches his window.

What appears to be a very large raven sits on his perch, looking in at him with black eyes. Blood is caked on its claws and beak Mal can see as he steps closer to see it. When he gets too close it starts cawing and pecks the window, cracking it and sending spider webs around a small, center crack. An angry cry escapes it before it pushes off the sill and flies away.

Mal watches the bird of death fly towards the Rein Forest. A mere black dot now soars away from him as if escaping wrath. It goes past the forest. Far off in the distant lands past the cursed forest of Rein, a girl breathes her last breath for the side of light.

***

Sleep is hard to come by for Prince Mal after the days of Anai's escape. Men have been sent out to find the girl and rescue her. His father only sees her as a weak girl who could die at any moment. Mal worries over her, wondering if she's already dead or ripped to pieces by the dreaded shape shifters.

Her room looked like chaos, so it was the only logical solution that she was kidnapped. Right? Mal didn't want to think that she ran away from them, from him. They've given her all a girl could want and now she's just gone.

The king hasn't slept well ever since Anai's kidnapping either. It's as if when the girl was in the caslte, balance was stable and she was unnoticed but once she's missing everything turns into turmoil and falls off the scale. She's finally being noticed for all the wrong reasons.

She's always been noticed by Mal and now he wishes he paid more attention to the strange girl he found by the river. If only he was there for her more often then maybe she would've, could've loved him. Dreams were a flitting thing and he knew that.

Someone pounds on his door and they burst into the room. The prince has never seen his mother look so pale or disheveled. "Mother, what is it? Have they found her? Is she..." he couldn't finish the thought, biting his tongue. Queen Eliza only shakes her head and grabs his hands gently, cradling them in hers.

"Something's come up. Come my son," she says, her voice devoid of life. Fear snakes its way through Mal as he follows his mother.

King Mason clenches a letter in his hands when his son and wife come into his office. He doesn't look up at them as they sit down across from him. Rereading the letter, he spits out in anger and tosses the paper aside, letting it fall to the floor. Mal picks up the paper and reads it aloud:

We've got something of yours King Mason.

You want her back, then come and get her.

Come. Come. Let's play a game of hide-n-seek.

Who'll win?

Thallis Aluis

As he finishes the note, Mal crumples the paper in his fist. "Those bastards," he grounds out between clenched teeth. "What are we going to do?" The king only shakes his head, aging several years as he sags back into his chair.

"We'll stop at nothing to get her back," he answers after several minutes of silence.

The queen rises from her chair and excuses herself but Mal stays with his father, watching him. Breathing deeply inwards, he readies himself. "Father," he starts. The king looks up with tired eyes. "Anai stopped taking her medicine before she was kidnapped." Mal's never seen his father look so angry, and speechless at the same time that he tries pushing himself more into the back of his chair.

"When did you find this out and when were you planning on telling me hm?" he asks collectedly. Mal fingers the container in his pocket, glad he didn't take it out.

"A while ago. I found out a couple of days before she was kidnapped." Shame flashes across his face as he bows to his father in apology. The king sighs.

"Raise your head boy. It's no fault of yours really. This just means we must be extra careful and more diligent in finding her."

Mal raises his head and gets up to leave. Hand on the doorknob, he turns slightly and regards his father. "Father, why did we take in Anai?" he asks. The prince knows it's a dangerous question to ask but something's been bothering him ever since he found the plant in Anai's room.

King Mason looks to his son and his eyes seem to cloud over as he lies to his heir. "She seemed fit to marry you my son. A strong woman she is," he answers, smiling gently. Mal takes the answer as a half-truth but doesn't leave.

Tell me father," he starts, "If Anai wasn't human you would tell me wouldn't you?"

King Mason stares hard at his son, his eyes and gestures giving nothing away. His smile returns, looking strained. "Of course," he says. Mal leaves his father's office, his insides hurting. He's lying.

Back in Anai's chambers, Mal sits in a chair in front of the window and rolls the container around in his hands. He rubs his fingers over its surface gently. Dropping the bottle, he shivers, suddenly feeling colder than before. "She can't be one of them," he says to no one. 

Denial takes its course and Mal hides the container back in his pocket, but unable to move from the chair. It's too difficult to move as he watches the world continue outside. Anai, where are you?