Page 10 of Winter Princess
I’m relieved when the doors open with a ding, and I can escape the hotness. I’m talking about the temperature, honest.
Our suite is large, if a little run down. One king-sized bed, two smaller single beds and a sofa.
“I take the bed,” Frost shouts and throws himself onto the bed. From the sound it makes, I’m sure he’s just broken several springs in it.
“The princess gets the bed,” Storm growls. What a gentleman. But this whole princess thing irritates me immensely.
“Would you stop calling me princess? I’ve never even been to the Realms and I know next to nothing about Beira and what she rules over. How can I be a princess if all I know is the human world? My magic is out of control, I have no clue what I’m doing, and...” My voice breaks a little. Damn it, I hadn’t planned to show them how insecure I feel. My eyes are tearing up as I think of how silly I am, standing here in the middle of these Guardians who have no doubt got better things to do than looking after a self-pitying girl. I haven’t cried this much in years, not since puberty and Tom Martin breaking up with me.
Arc is by my side in a flash and takes me into his arms. His thick muscles press against my ribcage and I lean into him, burying my face in his chest. He feels so warm and comfy; I don’t want to let go. For a moment, I feel safe.
“Everything will get clearer when we get there, lassie,” he whispers, his breath warm on my head. “Your mother will explain things, and you’ll learn how to control your powers. You’ll be magnificent once you know how to deal with them.” He gently rubs my back and I almost let my tears flow. But I don’t want to be even weaker in front of them. I detangle myself from his hug – regretting every inch I move away from his warmth – and step back until I reach the bed.
They’re all looking at me, as if they’re not quite sure how to deal with all the drama. Don’t worry, boys, neither do I.
“You can take the bed, Frost, I’m the smallest. I’ll take the sofa.” It doesn’t actually look that bad; it’s long enough for me to lie comfortably without my legs hanging in the air. And it’ll be a lot comfier for me than for the boys. Guess being small has its advantages.
“No, Storm is right,” Frost says with a sigh. “You take the big bed.”
Chapter 4
Iwake up and I know I need to get outside. It’s dark and judging from the light snoring coming from two different directions, everyone is still sleeping, but something important is happening and I need to leave this room, immediately. As quiet as I can, I slip out from under the covers and make my way through the dark room. A sliver of golden streetlamp light breaking through a slit in the curtains is the only thing illuminating the room, but somehow I know exactly where to tread without stumbling over our clothes or bags. Just when I reach the door, Arc lifts his head from the sofa closest to the exit. “What ye doin’?” he asks groggily.
Without being called for, my magic springs into life. “Sleep,” I whisper, threads of magic carrying my command. He sinks back onto the sofa. I quickly step out of the room and follow the corridor to the elevator. I know I have to take it to -1, the underground garage. The lift is taking forever to arrive and hot sweat breaks out on my skin. I need to hurry up. For a moment, I debate taking the stairs, but then I remember that it’s important to take the elevator. I don’t want anyone to see me. Finally, the golden doors open and I step into the cabin. There are two men in there, dressed in black, but I ignore them. They’re safe, no threat to me.
With a loud ding, the doors close, something hits me from behind and I black out.
***
“…we should kill her now, while she’s unconscious.”
“Boss wants to talk to her first.”
“We have no idea what she’s capable of. It might be safer to not take the risk.”
My stomach lurches and my head is one big pain. Where the hell am I? The ground below me is vibrating. I’m in a car, the boot, apparently, but without a cover so I can see the daylight shining through the back window. I must have been out for hours. Trying not to make a sound, I shift my limbs, assessing the situation. No gag, no blindfold – either the movies are wrong or these kidnappers don’t know how to do it right.
Best of all: They used rope to tie my hands together. How lovely. Handcuffs would have been a lot harder. I concentrate and send a single tendril of magic to the rope, willing it to burn quickly but without smoke. A bright blue flame erupts, dissolving the rope in seconds. My hands are free.
“Didn’t you see how easy it was to control her mind? Sweet like a lamb being led to slaughter. If only every job was this simple.”
“You didn’t feel her magic. It’s strong, even though she’s untrained. She could rip us apart with a thought, Duke. We should kill her. I don’t know how long the spell will keep her subdued.”
Anger courses through me. How dare they. Breaking into my mind, manipulating me to walk straight to them like an imbecile. How could I not have known? I was supposed to be powerful, but then how could they overpower me so easily? It’s time for revenge.
I sit myself up, smiling sweetly at them. “It no longer does,” I chirp, before unleashing my magic. The guy on the wheel turns around, but I wrap him in icy strands of magic, rendering him immobile. At the same time, I shoot a blast of air towards the second guy, crashing his head on the dashboard. With a bang, the airbag inflates, pushing him back against the headrest. He's still, no longer moving. Good.
The car swerves. Not so good. With both men immobilised, the car is driving itself. Oops, I didn't think of that. We're racing along the road; luckily there are no other cars around. I can see a tree-lined junction in the distance where the road forked into two. I need to stop the car or we'll crash. I send out a tendril of wind magic towards the pedals. The man's foot is still on the accelerator. Concentrating hard, I push his foot away with a burst of wind and use my magic to press down on the breaks. It's not easy to keep the wind concentrated on such a small area without pressing down the other pedals. I can feel sweat pooling into tiny beads on my forehead. The car slithers and groans, but it slows down.
Too late. A tree crashes into the car - or do we crash into the tree? I am thrown forwards, suspended in the air as my magic bursts out of me, uncalled. I’m floating over the back row of the car, staring at the large branch that has broken through the windscreen, ready to impale me. I give my magic a mental hug. Without it, I’d be an unsightly human kebab by now. I ask it to put me down and I gently float down to the scratchy car boot floor.
I crawl back into the boot, avoiding the evil branch that is blocking my way out. The back doors are bent; I doubt I can break them open.
I try to open the car boot door, but it's stuck, no matter how much I rattle at the door handle. I shoot a burst of wind against it, but all it does is throw me backwards. Damn it. Imprisoned in my kidnappers' car. Now there's a sad story for you. I'll need to think of something better than brute violence. Fire maybe? But then, using fire in a crashed car might not be the smartest idea ever. Who knows if there's leaked oil somewhere.
Would freezing metal do anything? Why not. I send some tendrils of frost magic to the edges of the boot door, thinking this might shrink the metal enough for it to open. Thin ice begins to cover the metal; little ice flowers that are making me smile. And when I kick the door and it actually opens, I smile even more. Fresh air, finally. I slowly untangle myself and climb out of the car.
Now that I'm outside, I can see the whole extent of the accident. A tree has dented the entire front of the car, and one massive branch has pierced through the windscreen. I check on the two men, but they are either out cold or dead. I decide not to investigate further. As much as I want to do the right thing and get them help, they did try to kill me. One of them was really quite adamant about that.
