HEART OF ICE

CHAPTER 6

Alejandra couldn't believe how quickly the place had changed. The quiet memorial had been transformed into a carnival of camp fires and noise. Ornate paper lanterns were strung like festival lights between and around the towering stone monuments. Savory-smelling food and sweet drinks, she swore were glowing in the copper-colored tankards, were being offered and passed amongst the revelers. The place had been so peaceful at the start of the day. That time was only a memory now. She thought this was supposed to be a funeral. She thought the elves had come to mourn the death of the father. All Alejandra saw around her was a party.

She needed to find Silas. It was time to go home. Alejandra looked out over the memorial grounds. Finding the shy, old historian was going to be a challenge.

There were elves everywhere. The few dozen she had first seen in the woods a few hours earlier now numbered in the hundreds. There were the very tall ones, the tops of their heads two to three feet higher than Alejandra's. There were far shorter ones, their heads and shoulders almost even with her own. There were elves with long, flowing hair cascading down the backs of their leather tunics. There were elves with short hair, and a few with hardly any at all. There were the old and young, but even most of the young were still far older than Alejandra. She saw some with unblemished faces and arms. Then, there were others with ancient scars. She wondered what stories they might have of fighting alongside her father once upon a time.

Alejandra noticed their eyes the most. They would watch her as she passed. The firelight and bright, amber glow of the lanterns made them sparkle and flare as they gazed over her. They weren't looking at her in any negative way. There was a quiet curiosity in their expressions. They were looking for the fallen legend in her. Alejandra suddenly recognized the responsibility of her lineage. All at once, she felt the weight of her father's legacy sink onto her shoulders.

"Miss de Rosa," a familiar voice called out from a nearby group Alejandra had already passed. "Miss de Rosa wait!"

Alejandra stopped walking. She turned partway around, spotting the elven prince Salysh hurrying to catch up with her. Alejandra hadn't realized she'd been walking so fast, or how a place so crowded could still seem so large.

"You can call me Alejandra, Prince Salysh," she said, loud enough for him to hear over a sudden burst of laughter from nearby.

"Only if you just call me Salysh," the prince said, smiling. It was the same smile that had made Alejandra blush earlier in the forest. It was having the same effect there under the light of the lanterns. "Are you alright? Who are you looking for?"

Alejandra blinked, looking up into the prince's face with surprise. "How-"

"The way you were looking around at everyone," Salysh said, answering the question he knew she was about to ask. "It seemed like you were trying to spot someone."

"I'm trying to find Silas. Have you seen him?"

Prince Salysh shook his head. "No. But, if I had to guess, I'd say he was was with-"

Suddenly, a chorus of loud, low horn blasts rang out from around the memorial grounds. Every elf not already standing rose to their feet. The music around the fire pits faded away at once. The rowdy conversations, muted under the long, loud notes of the horns, halted altogether. Everyone had turned to face the same direction. Every eye was watching the central path leading into the sacred place and the group entering the ancient monument.

When the horns finally stopped, Alejandra heard Prince Salysh, standing beside her, finish his thought. "...My father."

King Saulnyck was as tall as his son, yet his presence loomed larger than any of the elves assembled. He wore a polished, bronze crown upon a curly nest of thin, gray hair. The shadows cast by the blazing fires and bright lanterns made the wrinkles on his face seem more pronounced. There were prominent circles sagging slightly around his wide, golden eyes.