Frostbite

Chapter One - Sunset

Prince Emeryth sat on the train contemplating the sun from the window. If he didn't know which season it was, he couldn't have told whether it was rising or setting. He would have to wait for months until the next long night would come and there would be nothing but the Moon and thousands of stars and the South Lights shimmering across the sky. His heart was filled with pride as he glimpsed through the landscape of fjords, mountains, distant manors and small castles built from gold and never melting ice. 'Yes' he thought 'I was born to be the prince of the most beautiful empire in the world'.

He could smell Joy in the air. Quite literally. He turned from the window and looked around his private wagon, but there was no one else there besides Athystal. Emeryth looked at them and could see that Athytstal too was smelling the scent of Joy. The next moment he heard a twittering laughter as the scent became stronger and somebody entered the wagon. A servant came to him and on a silver plate brought a letter that was addressed to him.

'From the emperor, I suspect' he said with a certain light happiness in his voice. The servant nodded and curtsied as an answer. 'You haven't been smoking a cigarette of Joy, have you, girl?' Prince Emeryth asked.

'No, your highness!' the girl exclaimed with a sudden terror in her eyes.

Emeryth knew that she was telling the truth. The sound of laughter had led him to believe that perhaps some nobles were having fun in the other wagon. This is all they do, even in the palace: smoking Joy and drinking champagne.

'You may take one if you want' he sighed as he cut open the letter with a paper knife 'and sit down. You'll wait for my reply here, should I have one, and take it back to the telegraphist at once.' And without waiting for the answer he started reading.

The servant sat down nervously, Athystal handed her a silver tray of cigarettes and lit the one she put in her mouth. She inhaled and when breathing out, a glittering purple smoke left her lips, the same colour appeared moments later in the iris of her eyes, her nervousness dissipated in the air with the spicy, fruity scented smoke. She looked at Athystal with a curiosity she couldn't hide very well. She's never seen anyone like them before: their heavily embroidered purplish-blue gown was that of the South, even if the tailoring mirrored a style very far from it, their hair was in a sort of chignon with elaborate braids and locks that simply looked quite tangled. The most particular however was not the hair or the garments, but rather the face they were framing. No matter how long she looked at it, she just couldn't make out whether it was that of a man or a woman. And with that thought it finally came to her: the creature that was sitting opposite to her, the very person that lit her Joy was an Epicene. Suddenly she felt utter disgust and turned her attention to the prince's golden figure, rather than the queer creature in front of her.

The prince suddenly turned to her as he tossed behind him a lock of his copper hair.

'This requires no response from me. You may leave now.'

The servant stood up, curtsied and left the room, forgetting that she still had her Joy between her fingers. Emeryth knew that she would get punished when they'll see the cigarette in her hand, and even if she was smart enough to throw it away the minute, she left the wagon, the purple taint in her eyes was a dead giveaway. He felt no guilt for that. After all she also had the choice not to take a Joy, and more importantly: not to look at Athystal that way. 'Father should ban this form of thinking' he thought, but he knew all too well that thoughts were the only things even an emperor couldn't touch.

'We're wanted at the council meeting as soon as we get home' he said, turning to Athystal who was staring at him with a mild disappointment in their eyes. 'I know what you're thinking, but she deserved it, and I know that if you wanted to do something about the girl, you would have. Only you're too forgiving to act on things like this. Just imagine if I was in the same situation.'