Flames (Book 3)

Chapter 25: Teren

Mey Olidade. 

An Iceheart-to-be. 

Somehow, the idea that she had finally snapped didn't surprise me as much as I had expected it to. It was almost as if I had known all along that the girl would find more peace alongside the Ice Queen than with the Flames. 

Although, I wouldn't say she had sided with them. She only lived among them for her own convenience, just as my mother had lived among the Flames, and I after her. Mey sided with no one. Her heart was neither frozen nor warm. It was simply bitter. She was a Radical, through and through. 

In some ways, because I was quite confident in my knowledge of where her true loyalties lay, having her in Glaisse was exceedingly useful to me. Now that she had duly exacted her revenge on my brother, thanks to my flawless planning, she would be more loyal to me than ever before. If I ever needed anything done in the capital, I would know who to call. 

A job in the capital. 

The prospect, which was nearly as enticing as a chance to live away from my siblings, didn't seem nearly as far away as it once had. After the White Hot Flame's most recent disaster, and the subsequent capture of Thorel Myers, the rebellion really wasn't much better off than I was. For all I knew, they were in the same forest that I was in, getting stung by the same Rhenan Fighter Bees and cutting through the same dense foliage. 

I must say, in a way, I was thankful for the collapse of the Flame base. It had given the Radicals the opportunity to separate ourselves both mentally and geographically from the Flames. Now that we were no longer living under Eleanna Myers' roof, we could establish ourselves as an independent entity. The mere thought of so much freedom and power brought an uncontrollable grin to my face. 

No more Order meetings. No more curfew. And, most importantly, no more perfect, angel-boy, girl-magnet, Lessaenite-loving Aron. 

"What are you smiling for?" Holly scowled, hacking through a thick tree branch with her Aura-lined machete. Despite the mud that stained her usually perfect Iceheart hair and the sweat that coated her neck and arms, she was still so stammeringly beautiful. 

Much better than Aron's fake, letdown of a princess.

"You don't like my smile?" I pouted, feigning disappointment. 

"We're in the middle of the woods with nothing but two backpacks, this knife, and twenty duvats!" she yelled. "You have nothing to smile about right now. Nothing!" 

Now, this was when my knowledge failed me. I racked my brain for words, but I could not string them together to form a suitable response to Holly's furious declaration. Most of my past experiences with girls involved either killing or dueling with them. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't had very many normal conversations with girls at all. I had no idea what would please my future Queen, or what would offend her. 

Unfortunately, the situation forced me to think like one of my least favorite people. 

What would Aron say? 

"I have you," I grinned. 

Holly stopped, slapped her forehead, and began to laugh. "You're hilarious." 

I mean, it worked. 

Not in the way I expected it to. 

But it worked. 

"So," she sighed. "Where are we even going?" 

"I'm not really aiming for anywhere specific. That's hard to do without an Aurascreen. I'm just hoping that we'll end up in the nearest village," I shrugged. "If we're going to get anywhere from here, we need to use the advantages that we have over the Flame. Unlike them, we're small. A horde of traveling warriors draws a lot of attention, but no one's going to give two teenagers a second glance." 

"Not when they're the daughter of the current leader of the White Hot Flame and a descendant of it's founder," Holly crossed her arms. "Look, I really appreciate what you're trying to do for the Empire, but your plans almost never work. So far, you've successfully gotten the Radicals exposed to my mother, incited Mey to become an Iceheart, destroyed the machine for creating the Flameheart Serum, our one and only chance of defeating the-" 

"You're wrong," I said simply. "I didn't destroy the Flameheart Serum. Well, I may have indirectly caused the destruction of the machine by directing the Ice Guards to it in order to save my own life, but the Serum is still very much here." 

"How?" Holly raised her eyebrows, suddenly interested. 

It was time for the big reveal. Every bone in my body screamed now! 

"Remember this?" I winked, removing a grimy piece of twine that hung around my neck. Holly gasped at the sight of the vial that was attached to it- filled to the brim with the very last dose of Flameheart Serum in the universe. 

"It's just enough to be fatal to one Iceheart. Holly, this is our destiny." I grabbed her shoulders, staring into her beautiful, purplish blue eyes to emphasize my point. 

"You'll never get that to the Queen," she laughed. "What do you think you are, some kind of hero?" 

"You ridicule me, but I know that you believe it, too. You know that as long as this vial is safe in our hands, there is a chance." 

"I don't," Holly replied firmly. 

"Prove it." 

"Fine," she said. "I swear to Lumys herself, if you use that vial of Flameheart Serum to kill Queen Saralee, I will marry you on the spot, Terennel Faerlen." 

A sense of giddy excitement rushed through me as I thought of what she had just said. 

Was it really going to be that easy? Both my throne and my girl, in one shot?

Watching as the trees opened up into a clearing before us, I smiled, starting to pick up my pace. 

"See you at our wedding," I called over my shoulder as I advanced forward to survey the village we had just entered. 

Better watch out, Ice Queen. Teren's coming to town.