The Winter Queen

13. New Place

"Ares!?" breathed Jake. I looked at the person in front of me. Is this... my dad?

The man looked at Jake, analysing his words. Then he spoke. "Sorry to startle you but I'm not Ares."

Jake took a step back. "Of course you are. I would recognise that face even in my sleep."

A sad smile spread across the man's face. "I can understand why you mistook me for Ares. But I assure you, I'm not him. I am Apollo, Ares' brother. We look alike so it's not surprising that you thought I was him." He said. "But mind if I ask you how you know my brother?"

"You don't know?" Jake said and then seemed to be remembering something. "Right. We never met. I'm Jacob, Athena's brother."

A surprised look crossed across Apollo's face. "Well I'd never. She used to talk a lot about you."

"I'm sure she did." Jake smiled sadly. He repeated the whole story of how he met Ares and helped me escape. When he was done, Robert and Gale looked as surprised as Apollo. "I'm sure you know Irena."

I stepped forward. My initial fear melted away after knowing that he was in fact my uncle and not my enemy. I went to him and he looked at me taking in every detail. He smiled. "You look a lot like your mother. And you have Ares' eyes." He opened his arms and hugged me. "How I wish they could see you right now." He breathed.

Jake spoke. "And this is Robert. Jude was his kingdom." They shook hands.

"I remember you. It was I who came to your kingdom to warn you of Azul." Apollo said. "But I was a day too late." Robert nodded.

"And this." Jake continued moving towards Gale. "Is Gale. Robert's son."

Apollo shook hands with Gale and then half turned to Jake. "You forgot to mention that he was Irena's boyfriend too." Then he turned back to Gale. "Relax. I'm not against love or anything. All I have to say to you is, hurt her and I will kill you." His voice had a hint of scariness to it. "Clear?"

"Yes." Gale nodded.

Apollo walked to the door and motioned for us to follow. He went out first followed by Robert, then Jake and finally us. Gale quietly slipped up next to me and whispered to me. "Why do all your uncles say the same thing? Jake told me the exact same line when we first met and now Apollo."

I couldn't help but smile. Even though I just met Apollo, I knew that he was similar to Jake in a lot of ways. His hug made me feel safe just like Jake's. They both love me. I whispered back. "That's because they both love me and care for me. I think they are like my second dads."

"Hm." He sighed. "Now I have to get into Apollo's good books too. I thought that Jake was hard. This guy is a whole new level."

Apollo led us through the long corridor and paused in front of a room.

"Jake. Robert. I hope you don't mind sharing. There are only a very few rooms that are usable." He pushed the door open.

"See you two around." Jake and Robert waved us off and went into their room.

Apollo kept walking and came to a second door. He turned to us and smiled. "This room is for both of you. I trust you both so that's why I'm putting you together. This way, I'll know that you are safe Irena." He turned to Gale and gave him the same smile. "And just for the record, I trust you Gale. I've been watching all of you for some time now. So I just thought I'll let you know that you are in my good books."

Gale shot me a look. Did he hear us? "Yes I did hear you two." Apollo laughed. "Take rest ok. I'll see you two later. And if you need anything, find me."

With that, Apollo left us in front of the room and disappeared around the corner. Gale turned to me and shrugged. I pushed the door open and went inside. He followed and shut the door. I looked around taking everything in. It wasn't particularly royal or anything but it must have been once. There was a wardrobe at one corner of the room a dresser near it and another door which led to the bathroom. A bed took centre stage and there were a couple of books on the bookshelf. Other than this, and a huge fur carpet on the floor near the fireplace, it looked empty. I walked over to the shelf and pulled out a book. I read the title and almost burst out laughing. Gale noticed and came to me.

"What's so funny?"

I handed him the book and said. "Whoever this room belonged to sure loves a good story." He read the title of the book and smiled. He tossed the book back to me.

"Maybe you should give it a try." H smirked.

I pushed the book back into the shelf. "Maybe you should." I flopped down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. The pattern was beautiful. It looked like a masterpiece on the ceiling. I closed my eyes and sighed. "So I'm finally here. Back where I started."

I felt the bed sink beside me. Gale was lying there staring at the ceiling. I kept my eyes closed. His breath tickled my ears. "This is how it's supposed to be. Where you begin is where you end."

I wrapped my arms around his torso and rested my head on his chest. His arms slipped around my shoulder and held me close.

"How do you think this will end?" I whispered.

"I don't know." He whispered back. "But it will be a happy one." He kissed my temple and in his embrace, I drifted off to sleep.

Other part of the abandoned castle –

I walked to the remains of the fountain that once took place in this courtyard. I sat down on its edge and my eyes wandered into the forest. When Jacob looked at me and said my brother's name, I realised how much I truly missed him. It's been years. After helping Athena and Irena escape, Ares returned to my side. We fought together and he ran off pursuing a few guards. Our defences fell and the last of us were forced to go into hiding. I haven't seen him since the moment he left.

I twig broke somewhere behind me and my hand was instantly around the hilt of my sword. Footsteps approached and someone sat next to me. I turned to find...

"Jacob."

"Yea." He said. "I wanted to ask you some things. It's about Ares and Athena. And some things about Azul too."

"Go on."

He looked troubled. "Do you think that Ares is alive?" The stress in his voice was evident.

"I don't know. If he was alive, he would have come to us. What makes you say that?"

He extended a faded yellow paper to me. I opened it and read. A letter. And the handwriting was like Ares'. "Not only that." He pointed to the corner of the paper. A seal of a snowflake. The symbol of Galos! I was astonished. He then pulled something out of his pocket and placed it next to the seal. It was a chain with a locket. A snowflake locket. Silver embedded with sapphires. I took it and held it in my hand.

"I remember this locket. After Ares introduced the new seal, he had this made. I saw him give this to Irena that day." I said.

"This letter was sent to Azul. You know what that means, right."

I looked at the letter and let my finger run across the faded seal. It all this is true, there is a chance that Ares is alive. If that's true, then where are you brother?

Somewhere else –

Azul's anxiety has heightened over the past few days. This is a good sign. Feel fear Azul. Feel the dread of waiting for your death. It's almost time. Time to put you out of your misery.