The Frost

Chapter Five

What happened next was a whirlwind of events. King Alik had shouted orders to his guards and servants yelling at them to bring a Lightling at once to remove her icy touch. Another was sent to assemble the Counsel, Claire's gut telling her the main subject was whatever had just occurred. People scurried all around. The Queen was hurried out of the room, servants picking up her iced skirts. The Prince idled on the stairs, his gaze solely on her. The assassins were also ushered out of the room, green eyes giving Claire a weird look before the door slammed closed behind him.

A guard ordered her to move, his stance ready and cautious. He shooed Claire with his hand, but made sure not to touch her. As if her skin would burn him, or she guessed, freeze him. He led Claire out of the room and back up the stairs to the bedroom she occupied earlier, slamming the door and locking it behind her. She stared at herself in the mirror seeing if anything had changed. The person staring back seemed the same, but she could tell there was a difference. Her skin was lighter, instead of the almost brown looking Hawaiian tan, and seemed to still be glowing with a faint white light. Her cheeks were rosy, as if she had spent many hours out in the frigid air.

The overall biggest difference was Claire's eyes. If she had thought they were odd before, they were completely different now. They looked like the clearest blue ocean had frozen over; and were extremely bright, and bold. She blinked and when she opened her eyes, they were still there; looking like they didn't belong with the rest of Claire's body. Upon inspection she found that her hands were no different. Something had happened, and Claire was still trying to catch up with the rest of the people around her. She had created whatever occurred in the throne room. The snow, the ice, the cold; that was all her. She couldn't explain it, had no reason or understanding of why it happened. And Claire wondered if she could replicate the winter she had created on a smaller scale.

All thoughts of escaping vanished from Claire's mind as she lifted her hand, pointing it at the mirror. She urged the power within her to appear, trying to replicate the feeling from the throne room. It answered hungrily, abiding to Claire's orders and shooting out of her hand. With a burst, white swirling snowflakes and blue ice shards flew towards the mirror, coating it in a layer of snow. Claire gasped, looking at her hand again and tucking it into her side before walking over to the mirror. She scooped up the snow and was surprised to find that it didn't feel cold in her hand. Now, not only had she been thrust into this weird realm, she had powers.

The sound of a lock clicking broke Claire from her thoughts, and the door swung open. In walked green eyes, his brown hair still a mess, his gaze looking her up and down. He wore black jeans and a blue hoodie; his sword strapped to his back, underneath the hood.

"Hey. I'm Alex, considering I never got to introduce myself. My partner's name is Leo. And you, pruina, have caused quite a commotion." He announced, and Claire rolled her eyes.

"Don't even think about saying anything." Alex shoved his hands into his pockets and took a look at the frosty mirror before regarding her with a confused expression. He clearly didn't understand what she was referencing. The anger Claire had felt earlier came bubbling back.

"Explain." He demanded, and Claire stood up straighter.

"What were you thinking? You ripped me from my home, brought me here under a hunch, a hunch, and then you risk that gut feeling for my life. For Ashley's life. I could have died today. What if nothing had happened? What if I was human?"

"But you weren't. I was right."

"Are you always this arrogant? Did you even stop to think about my life? Or maybe consult me about what you were doing before you did it?"