The Midnight Storm (A New Dawn #2)

Chapter 52 - Nick

Prince River had promised a warmer welcome from King Alder. While the Ician had been right—the King had shaken hands with him and asked him about the journey up north—Nick found the dark chamber to be on the chilly side. A crisp wind blew through his hair. From where the draft originated, he couldn't tell. The walls were equally grey, no change in colour or blurriness that indicated a window.

 A sharper, muskier, slightly sweet scent lingered in the room. While the King and the Prince discussed the death of King Ariel, Nick slowly turned his head towards his armpit. He inhaled sharply. Stale, stinking sweat. But not the penetrating smell he was looking for.

He shuffled forwards. Could it be the King?

"Yick," barked Bear.

"Is something the matter?" the King said in a hoarse voice.

"No." Nick stopped and clasped his hands behind his back. "No, I was just.... wanted to have a good look at you, Sire. It's not every day one gets to meet the King of Ice."

"Sure." The outline of a bony hand beckoned him to come closer. 

The pungent smell got stronger as he moved towards the King's bed. Nick squeezed one eye shut and narrowed the other. A round face with a large nose in the middle. Spikey hair. A lot of hair for someone his age. The contours of a forked beard.

"My Greenlander granddaughter is far finer to look at, isn't she?" the King remarked.

"It's different," Nick said. He had to think for a heartbeat to envision the playful spark in her sapphire eyes instead of the gruff old lady he had met in the hall. Once more, he was struck with the thought that he didn't miss her that much.

Bear slipped in front of him, his paws scurrying. He sat by the King. Flick-flick went his tail. "Yap-yerr."

"Hello there, pup. Didn't expect to see you there?"

"Yep yowl Reawr Yick Reawr Yow," Bear explained. Seb had loved him, but Nick needed him more.

"Is that so?" King Alder said. "So your name is Bear. That's a fine name. Did Nick give it to you?"

"Njarf, Yep."

"So Seb did."

Nick cocked his head. "Sire, how is it you can understand him?"

"A mountain dog only obeys their current master, but never forgets the old," King Alder said as though that was something obvious. His blurry arm reached for Bear. "You're growing up well. Glad I picked you to gift to Sebastian."

"I hope you don't see as an insult that Seb... Prince Sebastian gave Bear to me instead. He had to go where he couldn't take the dog."

"And the dog received a fine master in return," King Alder said. Nick could tell the man was looking at him. "Anything else is Greenlander niceties. Throw those away—you're in Ice now."

"I didn't mean to... Bear is the best thing that happened to me."

"Better than my granddaughter?" The King chuckled, afer which the snigger turned into a nasty, slimy cough.

"Father, here." Prince River offered him something to drink.

The King drank hastily in between coughs and wheezes, closer to choking than anything else.

Nick knew why Alana and King Thomas had asked to kill the King of Ice. A civil war between the brothers would shift the attention of magicians away from the other half of the continent. He had had his doubts before, but now that he stood in front of the odd though friendly bedridden man, he grew more convinced that he wouldn't do it.