Page 19 of Winter's Dragons. Frozen Flames
I wasn't in the least bit surprised when, upon entering her apartment, she made a beeline for her meditation chamber. She'd explained in the past that it allowed her to connect with the realm more deeply than she normally could have and that she used it whenever she needed a boost.
We waited outside without being told to and gestured for our parents to do the same. I half-expected them to start peppering us with questions, but they didn't. Perhaps they realized that my fellow dragons and I didn't have the answers either.
It couldn't have taken more than a few minutes for Cassia to emerge from her meditation chamber, but those minutes still seemed to stretch into an age. And when she did, at last, join us, the dark expression on her face made my dragon even more restless and upset.
"It would appear that I cannot track Snegurka down from here. I suppose I should have seen that coming."
She let out a heavy sigh, and I'd never heard her sound so tired, not even after the incident with Jack's enchantment. "In any case, I promised you an explanation, and you shall have it. Since I've been chastising you all for not being straightforward with me about your families and your pasts, I might as well tell you about mine."
****
Cassia
A few centuries before
"Are you sure this spell is correct, Pandora? The magic doesn't feel like it's responding properly."
My sister crossed her arms over her chest, and the defensive stance made her unbound brown hair slide rebelliously over her eyes. "The spell is correct! I'm sure of it. I overheard Mother chanting it yesterday. If you don't want to try it, I'll just ask Tarasia."
I twitched in irritation at Pandora's shameless blackmail. She knew perfectly well that I did want to try the spell. I just wanted us to be more careful. Tarasia was the worst possible choice for something like that. She was even more impulsive than Pandora, and her constant pranks never failed to irritate me. If Pandora resorted to her to attempt our mother's enchantment, it could only result in disaster.
"Fine," I said with a huff. "We'll keep trying. But I still think we're doing something wrong."
Pandora rolled her eyes but didn't argue with me again. She probably knew that I was right, but was being stubborn just because she could.
In any case, we'd figure it out with some trial and error. Probably. We'd done it before, although granted, in the past, we hadn't tried anything quite like this.
We slaved in our little hideaway for over two hours. The threads of the enchantment still resisted us, the earth not aligning to our abilities as much as we would have liked. Even so, we were making headway and had tweaked some of the errors in our approach when a familiar voice interrupted our little session of magic practice.
"Cassia! Where are you?"
I peeked out from behind the bush and saw Tarasia climbing up the hill, with Eranthe trailing behind her at a slower pace. "Over here. Stop being so loud, for gods' sake. What is the matter?"
"Your cute friend's here! The one from The Realm of Eternal Ice. We couldn't really hear what he was saying, but I think wants to talk to you."
Jack was here? That was strange. We'd just spoken the day before yesterday, and he had said he wouldn't be able to drop by this week because his family wanted to spend time with him or something. Then again, that alone had been unusual, since Jack didn't have the closest relationship with his father and his older half-sister.
"He looked very worried and upset," Eranthe said, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. "I have a feeling something's wrong."
I shot my youngest sister a quick smile. "I'm sure it's nothing, Eri. Probably just one of his games."
In truth, I didn't know if I meant my words, but I didn't want her to worry needlessly. Eranthe was much too young to carry such burdens. I would do my very best to make sure she'd never have to go through any unpleasant experiences at all. I was the oldest sister, so it was my job to protect her and the others, even Pandora, no matter how much she might whine about it.
Today was apparently one of those days during which their pigheadedness far outweighed my ability to convince them to cooperate with my logical desire to keep them safe. "We'll go check it out together," Tarasia said happily. "Come on, Eri."
She offered Eranthe a hand, and together, they began to head back the way they'd come. I shared an alarmed look with Pandora. What was Tarasia thinking, putting Eranthe in harm's way like that?
We rushed after our younger sisters, and we caught up with them just in time to hear the tail end of their exchange. "Do you think I could cross the bridge today?" Eranthe asked.
"I don't think so. Probably not. But even if that's true, I'm sure it'll be safe soon. We'll ask Cassia later, all right?"
Nobody but me would be crossing the bridge today. At least Tarasia had had enough sense to realize that and not make Eranthe any promises we would not be able to keep. "I'll tell you when you're ready," I offered. "For the moment, let's just hear what Jack has to say."
Eranthe wasn't too disappointed with our refusal, having undoubtedly expected that response. Together, the four of us made our way down the steep incline, through the forest and the path that led toward the bridge. Beneath us, the waters of the river Amethyst snaked between the two beautiful lands, glittering in the warm sunlight. Further north, the small village of Lillia bloomed over the sprawling plains like the flower after which it had been named.
Lillia was a settlement of naiads and meliae. Since my own mother was a nymph aligned with flowers, it should have been very dangerous for us to come too close to The Bridge of Melting Snowflakes, the sole passageway that existed between The Realm of Eternal Youth and that of Eternal Ice. However, the other side of our parentage gave us some protection, and these days, I crossed it pretty often, curious to explore more of the neighboring lands.
It was during one of these trips that I'd met my friend, Jack Frost. He was the prince of The Realm of Eternal Ice, Queen Snegurka's younger half-brother. When we'd first crossed paths, I'd expected him to be arrogant, mean or cold, but he had surprised me since he was anything but. Even so, his magic kept him more bound to his homeland than I was to my own, so whenever he came to see me, I was the one who had to go meet with him.
