Vermillion & Silver

Chapter Sixteen || Frost

Light was a luxury. It came through a small window on the left side of the room and illuminated the particles of dust that danced to the rhythm of an ever-present draft. But it only appeared for a few short hours every morning, the rest of the time the room was plunged into a deep darkness, one so oppressive that not even a couple of candles could assuage it. It made the place feel like a dungeon.

Selene sat at the foot of the large bed, reclining against the wooden post that supported the canopy, and enjoyed the few rays of light that announced the coming of morning. She had not slept that night, nor the one before, the cold was too much to bear. She could no longer feel the fingers on her feet and her ears had also gone numb. The princess was covered in blankets and furs but the room was so frigid that they did little to warm her up.

She couldn't believe that she wouldn't even last a week, it'd been four days since their arrival and she was already dying from the temperature and the lack of food.

It hadn't started out so dreadfully. The castle was not in good shape but the south side, the one closest to the village, had withstood the pass of time better than the rest of it and it was still habitable. Kaspian had shown her some of the interiors on the first floor, an old dining room with stained glass windows and grey stone walls, an armory filled with a curious array of weapons, and a sort of sitting room in what Selene suspected had been an audience room during the castle's glory days.

Afterward, he'd lead to her new bedroom. She'd liked it at first, it wasn't nearly as grand as her rooms in Arcadia, but it reminded her of the temple, it was all very clean and simple, bare stone walls, a fireplace, a small desk, and chair; the bed was the only luxury, big and sturdy, covered in soft furs and a comfortable featherbed. But its simple charm faded with the embers of the fireplace and the arrival of the cold night.

She'd done her best to preserve the warmth but it had been a losing battle. The room was not only cold, it's walls were also humid, and when Selene tried to bring the fireplace back to life she found it was an impossible task. After her attempts had failed she'd tried asking for help, she wasn't above putting her survival over her pride and she was well aware that adapting to her new home would take some guidance. But when she tried to leave the room she found a snarling wolf on the other side of it and on her second try, hours later, the door was locked.

Trapped in her new gelid prison she was left with nothing to do but shiver and think over and over about the mistakes that brought her there. She wished she'd never left the temple, maybe if she'd begged Mother Helena to let her become one of the priestesses she would have allowed it, Selene regretted not trying harder to make her see that her true destiny was in the Sanctuary, among the books and the gardens. She even wished she'd accepted Etienne's proposal when he offered her the claiming necklace, she wouldn't be freezing to death if she'd stayed in Arcadia with Hadrianen and the Valois.

"... You weren't at supper." Selene tore her gaze from the sun rays to find Anja standing just a few steps from her. She hadn't heard her come in. "Your Highness?"

"Sorry?" She wasn't quite sure the other woman wasn't a hallucination and tried to reach out to touch her but her body was too numb to move. "I... what were you saying?" she asked, her voice trembling and her teeth clattering.

"Are you alright?"

Anja moved closer and suddenly all that Selene could think about was the color of her hair, how red and vibrant it was. It reminded her of fire. "Your hair is like flames," she mumbled.

"Your highness?" Anja touched her face softly and tried to make her meet her gaze. "Selene?"

When the princess lifted her head she found wide blue eyes peering down at her with concern. She'd never seen that expression on Anja before, the redhead was all courage and strength, but now she looked almost afraid. Selene was sure that she had to be imagining things. "You seem real but I know you are not," she said and pulled away from the fingers touching her face.