The Cursed Prince - Fire and Ice (Book One)

Bear and Blood

My eyelashes brushed against the earth.

I lifted my head. Silverwing nuzzled beside me. Alive. I was still alive.

Continue, my love.

My head whirled around. The voice. The voice was here in this forsaken land.

"Please," I whispered. "Please speak to me! Help me, guide me."

My love, I will speak to you, for as long as you live, I speak.

"Where should go? In what direction?"

Go south. Ignore the branches which are like the bars of a never-ending cage. Find the men. Find the murderers. Find them.

"South," I murmured. I stroked Silverwing's neck. I must find food. Either he or I would die.

"Come." I untied his reins. Silverwing shifted and arose to his feet, shaking out his mane.

Food. Where to find it in this place, completely stripped of life?

I dropped from the hill and mounted Silverwing, tightening my sword around my back. The sword and dagger were the only weapons I had to protect me.

Something black and purple hung from a tree, covered in dark green leaves like a shroud. I reached up and held the fruit in my palm. A berry. A blackberry or a mulberry? There was one way to find the truth. I tugged off the fruit. A thin, green, persistent stem remained. It was a mulberry. I devoured the berry and immediately set to gobbling down as many berries as I could eat to quench my hunger. Silverwing sensed my action and set to eat nibbling off the berries to eat. Soon his mouth and mine were smeared in mulberry juices. I had a pocket in my cloak and I filled it bulging with fruit.

The mulberry tree was full of delicious, sweet fruit. It was a miracle to see it growing in such a cursed place. I filled my lap with a mountain of berries before checking that Silverwing had eaten his fill and twitching the reins to turn him in the direction of the south. 

The way will be hard, and I fear for your safety and life; the path is guarded by bears and beasts of the forest.

I gripped the reins. Bears and beasts? I was not prepared for bears and beasts. I would happily fight Jezreel over a bear any day, or night. What Jezreel had taught me with the sword was not what a princess should learn, but I had begged Jezreel to teach me. So he took me to the deepest part of the stables with the commander of Father's army, a man who was honoured to teach me the art of the sword. He demonstrated with Jezreel, using swords of steel. Jezreel trained me with swords of wood, or even broom handles. Jezreel's voice filled my head. Assess your grounds. Never stab your enemy as soon as you can with your sword: It will make you openly vulnerable to your opponent. Never lift your arms and sword behind your head: It only opens them up to their enemy and makes it very easy for their opponent to strike. Control the flow of the fight.  If you succeed in finding the flow and controlling it, you have a chance of almost directly influencing the entire fight directly through your actions.

For now, Silverwing and I were alone in the forest. No smell, sight, or sound nettled our senses. Silverwing trotted through the sticky mud with a sucking, oozing, squelching sound. From the faintest chinks of light sinking through the twisted net of branches, I could find my path.

I smiled at the thought when Jezreel had whopped off the top of my broomstick, I had taken the remaining stick and walloped him over the head.

As I chuckled at that scene, I looked up to the sky. The sun rises in the east. Sets in the west. Mother's lessons drilled into my brain.

Mother. Father. Dearest Ariel.

Ariel would have been crowned king after Father's death. The crown of Eden would have rested upon his head, hair of raven's wings, and eyes of a beautiful gray-blue. He would sit surrounded by men whom he could not trust. Men who whispered twisted words and secrets into his ears. He would have heeded their words and the Garden of Eden would have been ruined under his hand and by the man who only wished to gain gold shekels for their own pockets while draining the pockets of the people. He would have reigned, and his descendants after him would rule over Eden. Alas, he was dead. Jezreel would be appointed king and the people would suffer under his hand, despise him and his kin after him for the sake of gold. Gold that filled the pockets of his advisors. If Toviel, Duke of the City of Spiritual Water was his Appointed advisor, Jezreel would heed his words, and the kingdom would not fall into ruin under his reign.