The Forest Princess

Nomansland

On the edge of the forest, where the treeline ended, another country began. It was a strip of land between the Kingdom of Jasper and the Ice Kingdom, also known as the frozen kingdom.

The Ice Kingdom was ruled by the dreaded Ice King. The land between the two kingdoms was dangerous territory, particularly in winter when the ground was covered in snow.

Nearly every winter, children disappeared from the village. People said they were taken by the Ice King. None of them had ever returned. Nobody actually knew what happened to them, once they entered the frozen kingdom. The Ice King couldn't take anybody from another kingdom. However, when a child strayed into Nomansland, he could snatch it away.

The threat of the Ice King to her children and her whole country overshadowed Larimar's happiness even more than the missing grandparents. She tried not to think about it too much, but whenever the first snow started to fall her mind wandered towards the icy slopes along the edge of the forest. They filled her with dread and terror, which it only left again in spring when the snow started to melt.

Every autumn, when the leaves started dropping from the trees, Larimar took the children into the forest and walked with them along the boundary of Nomansland. There were three spots where the track from their log cabin to the village came very close to the border.

She wanted to make sure Tilia and Carnelian knew those places. Every year she reminded them how important it was to stick to the path.

'One more winter,' she thought. 'Then the seven years will soon be over, and we'll be free from this dreadful menace.'

Larimar never spoke about these thoughts to Peregrin. He had enough to worry about. The life of a woodcutter was hard, especially in winter.