Rhosyn's Journal Entry:
I find myself turning to ink and parchment as if words can fortify the brittle pieces of my heart. There is something in the rhythm of verse, in the gentle pulse of poetry, that soothes the ache no court's promises can touch.
"In shadows deep where secrets lie,
A rose blooms still, beneath cold sky.
Her thorns are sharp, her petals frail,
Against the storm, her courage pale."
Do I write of myself, or of some other creature trapped in a story not her own? Sometimes it feels as though I am the shadow and the rose both, caught between a world that demands obedience and a heart that refuses to yield. How bitter it is to dream of freedom while knowing my wings are clipped, bound by alliances that do not care for the scars they leave behind.
"A crown of thorns, a silken mask,
A future bound in hollowed glass.
Yet hope persists, a trembling flame,
Defiant still, against the pain."
Hope. A foolish word. A fragile thing that clings to the edges of my soul, like a candle flickering in the winds. I write these lines as though hope is a friend, but truly, it's a ghost-a haunting I cannot rid myself of. In the quiet hours of dawn, it murmurs, stirs, and breathes life back into me. It is a torment and a salvation, this hope.
"One step, one breath, one whispered plea,
Against the night, she will not flee.
In silence kept, her song unfolds,
A tale unwritten yet, untold."
Perhaps there is a power in words, in laying bare the fragile threads that hold me together. To write is to bleed without consequence, to free myself, if only for a moment, from the binds of the court. And so, I keep writing.
Don't get frostbitten while reading this dark, gripping, passionate retelling of Snow White.
Icelyn, the princess of the Winter Realm, is being used as a tether to unite the Winter and Summer Realms in an upcoming war. As a woman, she is seen as nothing more than chattel instead of the strong warrior she truly is. She longs to prove her worth to her father and people, but how do you accomplish that if never given a chance? When Icelyn's powers continue to strengthen, her evil stepmother decides that marrying her off may not be enough to rid the thorn in her side and takes a more drastic approach. For Icelyn, there is danger around every corner; even the mirrors have ears. To complicate matters, Icelyn learns that she is the fated mate of the King of the Night Realm, a wicked and unseelie fae that will do anything to claim what is rightfully his... When he comes to collect her, her entire world is turned upside down. Her fate was questionable in the Winter Realm, but how will she ever survive in a court of nightmares and ruin?
***
She was mine, and it was about time they learned that. I have sat by idly for years, knowing she belonged to me, and yet, I did nothing about it. I did not want a mate, they were a weakness I could not afford, but now they were trying to join her with another, and there was no way I would allow that.
"Ready or not, my little snowflake, here I come."