Alfheim

XVI. At the feast

The guards bowed for us and opened the gates. They guided us to the entrance of the feast. We stepped out of the carriage one by one. I let Sienna step out first.

Ysabel's (who's still in Ivy's body) POV

We gathered around the entrance. And watched the guests step out of the carriages one by one. I analyzed them one by one. Each Aestas champion had just like a Hiems champion a brooch of their realm on them. That's how I could distinguish them from the other guests. There were five Aestas champions in total. Or so I thought... I saw Sienna wave at me. I looked at her dress. Good, no brooch. And then I saw that bastard, Gideon...He had a brooch on him. Seriously....Of all people...I waved back at Sienna and smiled. Queen Gwendolyn who was standing in front of us walked towards the King and Queen of Aestas and greeted them. Then we all headed inside. Timothy was my escort for the evening. I'm planning to hold onto his arm the whole evening because I'm really intimidated by this whole thing and Timothy didn't mind. Neither did I. I felt safe holding his arm. Later we were instructed the be seated at the champions tables. One table was decorated with red cloth and the other with a blue cloth. We sat at the blue table. The King and Queens were seated higher. Their tables were placed on something that resembled a stage. In front of the stage was an empty black square that resembled a dance floor. We sat on the opposite side of where the King and Queens sat with the dance floor between us. On the left and right side of the dance floor were the other tables for other guests. I sat on the chair with the nameplate Ivy Wisteria on it. Sadly Timothy said on the opposite of me. Left and right from us four other winter elves filled up the chairs. They were the prisoners Timothy was talking about before. Two boys and two girls. They were around our age. The girls looked scared and the boys looked annoyed.
"I see your Hiems party has great champions," I hear a male voice behind me say in a sarcastic tone.
It was Gideon. I wanted to kill that guy. I decided not to turn around and responded with fascinated curiosity: "How come the groom-to-be's life is put in danger by the King himself?"
"I-." Before Gideon could respond Queen Gwendolyn tapped on her glass with a fork and announced a toast. She stood up.
"A toast to another great attempt to fulfill the prophecy and of course a toast to the great champions we have here today," Queen Gwendolyn says.
"Hooray!"everyone shouted with his or her glass in the air.
Queen Gwendolyn looked at Gideon and laughed. "My oh my," she continued, "Queen Sophie would you mind explaining to me why Lord Gideon is seated at your champions' table?"
Queen Sophie (Queen of Aestas) also rose from her chair with her glass in her hand and answered: "Let's just say we want to make sure we'll fulfill the prophecy this year. And Gideon is our strongest warrior." Then she looked at our table. Queen Sophie laughed.
"I could ask you the same Queen Gwendolyn. Why is your cousin sitting over there? Wasn't she killed in the snow storm with your sister and the rest of the family?" Queen Sophie said with an evil smile.
The rest of the guest went wild. "Snowstorm? I thought they died because of a curse?" I heard some guests say. All eyes were on me.
"Silence!"the King shouted.
Snowstorm? I have no idea what they are talking about. Meanwhile, the Queens kept staring at each other. The ambiance was intense. Everyone could feel it.
"Let's invite the champions to dance. How about Lady Ivy and Lord Gideon going first?" the King suggested with a smile to lighten the mood.
Oh no. No way I'm dancing with that cold-hearted bastard. I didn't even got the chance to reject the suggestion, because the Queens quickly sat down and agreed.
"Yes, sire," they both responded.
I heard Gideon standing up and he stood in front of me holding his hand out.
"Can I have this dance, Lady Ivy."
I didn't have a choice. So I just nodded and grabbed his hand. While holding his hand we walked towards the dance floor. The music started to play and the rest of the guests were no longer talking about the Queens' remarks from before. Now they were talking about how handsome Gideon looked or how beautiful I looked in my red dress. For a moment we kept dancing without exchanging a word. Then Gideon suddenly started to talk.
"Tired or living, Lady Ivy?" Gideon asks with a smirk on his face. I wanted to punch him.
"No," I answer with a big smile.
"So, why become a champion?"Gideon asks.
"Don't need to tell you," I answer.
"You won't tell me? Alright. I will tell you my reason. I will fulfill the prophecy and become the King of Alfheim with Sienna at my side," Gideon tells me.
"Keep dreaming, Lord Gideon," I say while laughing at him.
"You'll see," he says with an angry tone.
I 'accidentally' step really hard on his foot.
"Arghh...you!" Gideon responds.
"Woopsie... sorry I haven't danced in a while," I say while acting innocent. The King, the Queens, and the guests laugh.
"So you hold grudges," Gideon then says.
"Of course! You tried to kill me remember?" I whisper in his ear. Before the song almost ends I step really hard on his other foot. "And you broke my trust," I whispered in his other ear before bowing to him and walking off the dance floor.
I was really satisfied with what I did. His face truly looked like he was in a lot of pain. He deserved it. Later that evening Timothy and I danced together.
" So, how was the dance with Gideon?" Timothy asks teasingly.
"I don't wanna talk about it," I answer.
"Okay. I talked to our fellow champions by the way. They are pretty nice, but not that strong I'm afraid. We only have one big guy. But I think that won't be a problem since you have me," he says with a proud smile.
I lightly slap his shoulder. "That's a big problem, you idiot," I say jokingly.

The rest of the evening I got to know my fellow champions. I tried to ignore Gideon the whole evening. I did glance at him from time to time. There were great drinks and food at the feast. I truly enjoyed myself, but couldn't smile since I felt stuck in a place I don't belong in. At the feast you could hardly feel the rivalry between the realms because almost everyone except the champions were drunk that evening. After the feast, all the champions were brought by carriage to some kind of inn at the border of Hiems. Luggage had already been prepared for us. The rooms of the champions of Aestas were luckily separated from our rooms. They had their own wing.

At Jack's Inn

"I'm exhausted,"I say while walking towards my room.
In the corner of my eye, I saw the other champions of our party quickly entering their room and closing the door.
"Quickly go to bed then," Timothy says affectionately. "I will wake you at six."
"Six, that is way too early," I complain.
"Do you want to lose this competition and die?" he asks with a serious tone.
"I will wake at six," I immediately answer after his question.
"Goodnight!" Timothy says with a big smile before entering his room.
"Goodnight!" I respond.
Timothy is so two-faced...
Timothy's room was next to mine. That made me feel safe. I went inside and locked the door. I quickly opened the suitcase and grabbed everything for the bathroom. I quickly showered and put on my pjs. I turned the lights off and hopped into bed.
I lied on my back and looked at the ceiling. How did this happen to me? Maybe it's just one of your odd dreams, Ysabel.
It didn't take long before I fell in a really deep sleep...