"Elaena..."
The voice spoke to my heart. Soft. Gentle. It spoke of the beautiful mountains and the green lands.
"Elaena...Wake up, my child. Wake up."
"Wake up!"
I awoke to find Jezreel hovering over me, hands caressing my face.
A dream...
"I heard you screaming so I came running," he said. "What is wrong? A nightmare?"
"No. A dream," I murmured, "A bad dream."
"A dream?" he asked softly. "I do not have dreams. What are dreams usually about?
"It is something I fear. Sometimes it is something I long for..."
"What do you wish for Elaena?"
"I do not know," I whispered, wrapping the blanket around my cold shoulders. I lied. What I wished for is to know the face of the voice who soothed my nightmares and fears.
The voice had spoken to me during the night of a raging storm over Eden. Rain was a Blessing, but fierce howling winds had terrified me as a child. As I had been crying, hidden in my room. Alone, with tears falling down my cheek, the voice had first spoken.
My love...Do not be afraid. Speak to me and I will answer. I will comfort you and guide you. Every night I will stay with you.
The voice had begun to sing.
The everlasting fire,
the fairest maiden of the light.
The brightest fire of the darkest night,
you'll be alright, my darling....
From that night I had been comforted, and the voice had spoken to me. The lullaby had soothed my fears in the darkest stormy nights, and I had slept.
Jezreel rose from the bed and turned towards the doors. "Elaena, today is the day that One is born. Come, Mother and Father wish to see us in the Throne Room."
"Who? Who is born?"
"Mother has given birth to a son. Her firstborn." As he reached for the golden doors, he turned and spoke the final word. "— An heir."
Screams in the night. The hidden secret of Mother. Her smile between her and Father.
The King of all Eden. The voice's warning rang in my ears.
I struggled from the bed, feeling the heavy velvets to the doors. "Jezreel—"
"Come," he extended his hand to me. It was trembling and ice-cold. I took his fingers in mine and was led down the cold gray-white halls of the castle.
The soaring walls of the castle swallowed me as I was led to the Throne Room.
Jezreel. My dearest brother. A whisper was whipped away by the walls that swallowed us, and led us to the heart of the Eden.
A son. Jezreel's right to the crown would be stripped. The Crown was entitled to the child of the King and Queen of Eden.
Guards stood at doors in plated, dark leather and glittering armour. Their swords with swirling gold were at their sides. Four guards stepped forward grasping the carved, burnished oak handles and pushed the great doors of the Throne Room open. My heart froze. The doors lined with gold brushed against the stone walls once, then froze, as I had. The room was ablaze with the colours of men, women, and children. Courtiers of the King and Queen. My father and my mother.
YOU ARE READING
The Cursed Prince - Fire and Ice (Book One)
Fantasy"What she remembers can never be spoken... " A young prince is raised by a king. His adopted sister hides the dark secrets of her mind within her heart-one that is locked away-filled of secrets. But all secrets and promises made are shattered when t...
