Eternal Wynter

Eternal Wynter Chapter 8

"Where are we going?" Hayden asked. He fell into step next to Wynter, his one hand grasping a dagger attached his belt. The blush had faded from his cheeks, but he glared at the horizon, the one leading to Isabella's kingdom, like he wanted to personally slash it to pieces. His eyes held a strange sadness that Wynter had not noticed and now, as she trudged through the knee deep snow, she paid it no attention to it.

She was shivering ever so slightly, not enough to make Hayden realise it, but enough for her to realise that she had used too much power already. The air around her was slowly healing her strength, so she ignored the flaring pain in her chest. The fire in her veins seemed to have been silenced, but that made her worried, even if she did not realise it. Her dress had been cleansed from the blood and billowed behind her as the wind shot past in torrents. Her eyes reflected the storm that was coming, tame yet dangerous. She ignored Hayden's question and kept walking.

The air around them was crisp and stung both their cheeks, but only Hayden felt it. Wynter walked, absently flinging snow out of their way to make walking easier. As they approached the castle, Hayden got his first good look of the kingdom. He couldn't help but to feel awed. He was used to dirty streets, smelly stables and taverns, filthy children running through the streets and shady vendors trying pawn off their goods to the townspeople. The only beauty in Isabella's kingdom was her castle and its gardens. Now, looking at the Crystal Court, he felt as if he was standing in a dream. Isabella had always made the Crystal Court seem like a hellish place, but in reality the Court was a place where he could imagine people would swarm to. Not just because of its beauty, but because of the amount of peace the place radiated.

The palace glittered in the morning light, the jagged edges of towers reaching toward the sky like stumped arms. The main part of the castle was circular, three storeys high, with a two storey arch framing the front doors. The third storey was slightly smaller than the first two, sloping downward so that it created a wicked looking needle at the top and icicles hanging down the side. There were three other, more square wings of the castle. They spread to the sides of the main structure like a bird's wings and tail feathers. At the edges of each wing, a tower jutted out and launched into the sky, reaching the same height as the third floor. The wings were only two storeys high, but they were just as impressive as the main building. Even looking from that distance, Hayden could see diamonds, rubies and crystals embedded into the flawless ice. They created sparkling patterns on the walls, depicting waves, wind and other beautiful images. A beautiful staircase curled down from one of the balconies that connected to the main building.

Hayden tore his eyes away from the castle and studied the courtyard. It created a domed area, cutting the wings in half from the outside. Three large arches opened the area, giving anyone access to the castle. A fountain bubbled in the centre of the courtyard, its heat sending small amounts of steam into the sky. All around the castle, housed stood like sturdy rocks in their places. The people seemed to blend in with the landscape, as their clothes were a blinding white. Stables and taverns were present, but they seemed different from what Hayden knew. These were white, brown and beautiful. They seemed to promote the aura of peace and serenity that had settled over Hayden. Two lakes were frozen over on each side of the castle and children and adults skated peacefully over the surface. Hayden felt a pang of jealousy. Skating was forbidden in Isabella's kingdom, the only reason he could skate was because his father had taught him in secret.

He snapped out of his awed daze and took off after Wynter, who had simply continued walking. He marvelled in the fact that he could be next to her and not be pelted by her emotions. To him, being able to feel only his own emotions for once in his life was bliss.

Wynter finally stopped when she reached the courtyard, causing Hayden to bump into her. She lost her footing and pitched forward as gravity did its duty. The ground spun closer to her head, but suddenly stopped. Pain blossomed from her shoulder and into the rest of her arm, but it was less pain than the ground would have inflicted. Wynter's head snapped to her wrist, where she found a hand holding on to her tightly. Hayden helped her back to her feet, pulling her upright and unintentionally pulling her into his chest.