An Eternal Wintre

Chapter 20

Yulis receives the letter of calling of arms from Cain two days before the coronation ball of Prince Mal. He licks the blood off his lips as he rereads over the note. "My dear friend Cain wants me to help him against Lutenia? Hm, says Ulikar's comin' too. What do you think Rem?" he asks the girl dangling from the chandelier connected to the stone ceiling. Her hair sways from side to side.

"I think we should take Lutenia for ourselves," she bites out, spitting as she talks.

"Tsk tsk, young Rem. We can't take Lutenia, especially not with Ulikar on its way. Hm..." His thoughts trail off as he stares at a candlelight flicker. "Get the others and tell them we're going on a little trip."

Rem slips her legs from the chandelier and falls to the ground, landing on her feet lithely and slithering up to Yulis' side, wrapping her arms around his neck and whispering in his ear. "Where are we going?" she asks, her eyes turning yellow. Yulis pulls her by the hair and slams her hard into the floor.

"My pet, we're going to see the snow. Get. The. Others." He yanks her up hard but she doesn't wince.

Rem trots away on the balls of her feet to let the others know. Yulis looks at the severed hand on the ground. The person wasn't the tastiest but he couldn't be picky here in the mountains with barely anyone to prey on.

Picking up the hand, he inspects it to see it's clean before sinking sharp teeth into it and tearing off a chunk of flesh. Fur starts sprouting out of his skin as his excitement boils up in his stomach. The bones of the hand rattle on the stones, playing a song of the dead as it's crushed under his bare foot.

***

Anai trains regularly with the men of Lutenia's army now, Quinn her main instructor. Occasionally she'll spy the prince fighting too but he hasn't seemed to notice her yet.

She's decided to trade her fancy dresses for clothes of soft cloth that are free flowing. The bandage wrapped around her breasts to keep them in place trickles with sweat uncomfortably but the way she glides with the piece of wood in her hands makes her feel all powerful.

She's mastered the bow and arrow but hasn't gotten passed using the wooden sword yet. Today was the day of change for her as Quinn steers her away from the wooden stick to the stack of metal swords. "Pick one that feels right in the hand, light, then we will begin," he says, leaving her in front of them.

Metal gleams in the sunlight and blinds her as it shines brighter against the snowy backdrop. Trying all of them, she decides on a thin sword with a thin handle, a red gem in its hilt. The point seemed able to pierce even through ball-joints.

Quinn appraises her choice. "Excellent. Perfect size for ya. Now, begin!" He doesn't give her time to react as he slashes his sword near her gut. She barely manages to dodge it by jumping back. "Jumpin' won't save ya lass!" But he laughs as he slashes again.

Anai calms down enough to block one of Quinn's blows meant for her thigh. "Good. Again!" And again they do the same move before moving onto other basics. She comes out with scratchers on her arms and cheek but she's smiling wildly, her hair coming out of its ponytail.

As she's putting away her sword, another man puts his away and his shoulder bumps her, almost knocking her over. "Oi, watch it," she snaps and looks up into the face of the prince. He's grabbed her upper arm to steady her. He smiles despite her biting remark.

"Good to see you too. Were you watching the training?" he asks but getting his answer as he takes in her appearance.

"No, I was practicing. I've been here the past couple of days now, training with them. I see you've been doing the same." She motions to his bare chest and he flushes,

"Well, I'll uh, leave you to it then. Glad you're taking the initiative too." He turns to leave but remembers something and jogs back to her. "Remember, the coronation ball is tomorrow. Get plenty of rest." Anai watches Mal jog away towards the sheds.

Anai barely makes it to her rooms before throwing up. Her stomach clenches in hunger but also anxiety. The ball's already tomorrow and still nothing from Cain. What are they planning without her? How could she get a message to him? Quinn? No, he's a spy here not a messenger. The only person she could think of was the last person that would help her. Anai tries calling for Corax.

She leans out her window and calls for the girl. As if she never left the castle, Corax flaps through the window, almost running into Anai. She shifts before even landing; her feet bare and black like her hands. "You called?" She smirks, her hood up.

"Something's going to happen tomorrow night at the coronation ball," Anai says matter-of-factly. Corax cocks her head like a bird.

"And why is that?"

"Because it's the perfect time to take the chance of wounding the royals, maybe even kill one." Her blood boils as the girl looks lost. But Anai knows that Corax is never lost. She knows everything. "What's Cain planning?" she asks.

Corax trails black fingers along the bedpost and scratches something into it, not looking at Anai. "Some of the clan will be here, posing as guards to get closer to the royals. One of them will be your own guard, Quinn. Lucky you. It'll be hard getting past that general bastard but I'm sure I can distract him." She grins and scratches more at the wood. "What he's really planning is to memorize the castle's layouts physically. It's a practice run really to see how easy or hard it'll be when the war comes. Smart really." She admires whatever she's carved and smiles maliciously as Anai. "Best be careful little Nymph."

Corax shifts into a raven, her eyes seeming to be alight with glee at the possibility of potential deaths tomorrow night. She soars out the open window, her cackling laugh riding the wind. Anai slams the window shut and locks it as quick as she could, wanting to keep a barrier of some kind between her and the Raven.

Anai wrinkles her nose at the stench her sweaty body gives off. She's never sweat before but she's been doing too much, her body can't keep up. Running a bath, she freezes it and relaxes in the water for a long while.

When she finally feels herself to be clean, she gets out and lies on the bed in her towel. It scratchers her soft skin, irritating it, relaxing her.

She worries over the ball and how everything will play out. Cain would want to know the layout of the castle more clearly, but she did give him a very intricately detailed map. Why come back? What Corax said made sense but something gnaws at Anai's mind that she can't wrap her head around.

Anai sits up and tightens the towel around her body as she walks to the window and freezes the locks and hinges over so it won't open until she melts the ice away. Turning towards the bed, she notices the carving Corax was scratching out on the post and goes closer to examine it. Anai fills with rage at the image. On the bedpost is a skull with a raven standing on its head, an eyeball trailing by a nerve in its beak. A word is scratched in under it. Letum. Death.