Page 127 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
“I will come with you,” Flinn offers. He chuckles softly. “Knowing Aylin, she won’t be too happy to be woken up so early. You are better off with some backup.”
Endellion and I meet King Gillean, Nevyn and Kilah for breakfast. Eibhlin is with Alana, keeping an eye on her, while Caelan runs late because he had an early morning training with the warriors. He, Flinn and Endellion have upped their training to an extent I’m starting to worry for them. They keep pushing and pushing themselves.
Endellion will take over training until lunch and then do individual training, too. “I will be running and building up stamina,” he explains to me. “We are all pretty good fighters, but we can’t just rely on our muscles.” He pauses. “Alana survived because she had resistance and stamina.”
“That’s true,” Gillean agrees.
“I should probably do that, too,” Nevyn says. “I… I always thought I didn't have it in me to be a great warrior, and I still think it’s not my main forte, but I can still train my strengths.”
“I agree with that,” Gillean tells him. “Your mother always says that our brains are muscles too, so it’s good that you train them. Being a scholar is what you were made for, but it doesn’t mean you can’t do anything else.”
“Why don’t you join me, Nevyn?” Endellion offers.
“I can never keep up with you,” he says, clearly nervous.
He is so sweet. I haven’t had much time to spend with Nevyn or Eibhlin. I hope in the future I can change that—they both seem to be such unique personalities.
“Don’t worry, we won’t go full out,” Endellion promises. “I just want to build up some endurance and will run laps around the lake. You don’t need to join me for the whole time.
Nevyn takes a deep breath. “Good, let’s do it.” He turns to his father. “After training with Ende, I can help Aylin.”
“Yes, do so,” his father approves. “Maybe take Eibhlin with you. I don’t want her to be too involved in all this. She is too young, and I want her to have fun, too, but I know she wants to help.”
Endellion and Nevyn both laugh, while Gillean looks at them, slightly disgruntled. “What’s so funny?”
“Doing witchcraft with Aylin is pretty much what Eibhlin deems as fun,” Endellion says.
Gillean smiles. “Then it’s settled.”
“Do you need help with something else?” I ask Gillean. “With Alana, maybe? Or Aylin?”
“No dear,” Gillean says. “You worked so much recently, I’d like for you to take a rest.”
“I could use the time and meditate a bit. Erin showed me some tricks.”
“It’s probably quite valuable for us if you work on establishing a connection to the dragons,” Gillean agrees.
“Maybe I could work together with Elio.”
Gillean and Endellion both seem to fancy my idea and encourage me to do it. Everything was so crazy recently, with all the wounded warriors needing help and the fallen ones needing to be sent off, that I actually didn’t have any time to spend with Elio.
After breakfast, when everyone heads towards their tasks, I go looking for Elio. I find the teenager outside, covered in a thick jacket and with a canvas. “They all left you alone?” I ask.
He beams when he sees me. “The princess!” Then he shakes his head. “I’m not used to so many people,” he says. “Prince Caelan told me to take a little break and get some well-deserved alone time.”
“I’m sorry for disturbing your alone time,” I say.
He shakes his head. “It’s different when it’s you.”
“Elio.” I sit down next to him. “I dream of Favian. Of your brother.”
He looks at me with interest. “I know,” he says. “Aylin and King Gillean told me about your part of the prophecy.” He tilts his head before continuing to paint. I watch him for a few minutes until I realize who he is painting.
“That’s him!” I exclaim.
He smiles sadly. “Then it’s true. You can connect to my older brother. I wish I could too. I don’t have a big family, not like the princes and princesses here. It’s me… and Favian.”
“I’m so sorry,” I say quietly, feeling a lump in my throat when I remember how many dragons probably died. “You’ve lost so much.”
