Chapter Seven: Laelette

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Mynoa, Rundil

Laelette’s nosed itched.  Her nose itched and yet she could not scratch it due to the gods-awful harness she woke up in.  Whoever had put her in it had been very smart.  It was made entirely of Iceglass, a metal found in the frozen mountain range of the Medeas.  It was naturally imbued with magical properties than made it impervious to the cold, much to the dismay of Laelette.

It had been nearly five days since her hot-headed twin sister had killed the king.  She cursed her twin for the hundredth time since she had woken up in her cell.  It was her fault for setting the king on fire.  The room’s temperature dropped suddenly.  Laelette took a deep breath.  Her breath was cold as ice.  She felt her nose itch again and she let out a deep groan.

A noise outside her cell drew her attention.  It was likely the warden.  He came twice a day with a meal of stale bread, hard cheese, and odd tasting water.  She suspected it was her feeding time again.  Gods, she felt like an animal, except animals were treated far better than this.  There was a jingle of the key sliding into the lock and the clunk of it unlocking.  The door slowly creaked open.

“I was not expecting to see you here”, she told her visitor.  “Tell me, Princess, did you come for talk or pleasure?”

Audriel entered the cold room.  She rubbed her hands on her arms as she glared at her prisoner.  “Just for talk.”

They both remained silent for a moment.  Laelette looked at Audriel expectantly.  “Well, what did you come all the way here to talk about?  I’m sure you didn’t make the journey just to stare at your caged animal.”  The stood up from her spot in the corner, the chains of her harness jingling with every movement.  She could only walk a part of the way to the door.  The chains bolted to the wall and floor kept her from being able to cross the room entirely.

The princess scowled at her.  Every breath she took was visible against the cold air.  Her breathing still remained steady, Laelette noticed.  This surprised her.  She had been anticipating her death at the hands of the princess any day now.  She was even more surprised it took her this long to come to her.  Unless she has already spoken to Lisbette, which was doubtful, she was the safest to approach.  She was incapacitated.  She couldn’t harm the princess even if she wanted to.  Or was it the queen now?  She was unsure of what events had transpired since her untimely arrest and the warden is not one for talking.

“Your sentence has been passed”, Audriel said.  “Your exile is imminent.”  Her voice was steady and as cold as the room in which she stood.

Laelette coughed.  “Exile?”

“To the Tundra.”

Laelette stared at her, never giving away a single emotion.  She was ice itself.  Cold.  Hard.  Fierce.  Unfeeling.  “Death by exile.”

Audriel merely nodded her head once.

“You cannot kill us yourself, so you would have us freeze and starve to death, huddled in some cave, fighting to keep our eyes open.  What a fine and courageous queen you will turn out to be.  Unable to kill your own father’s murderers.”  She spat at the ground.  Her saliva turned to ice before it hit the floor.  It landed with a soft clink.

The princess mirrored her prisoner, never breaking her mask.  “I wish I could kill you, but I cannot.  It is not in my power, nor is it in my heart.  I am not like you and your sister, I cannot kill my family.  Despise you I may, but I would never spill the blood of my own blood.”

“How touching, kind princess, but I am no killer.  It was my dear twin you killed your beloved father.  No matter how much I begged my sister to stop, she would not.  It was not our intention to kill him.”

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