Page 137 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
“What else can the princess in your story do?” Aylin inquires.
“Bring rest to tormented souls, and stuff like that.” Simin blushes. “And… it’s said her powers grow when she is in love.”
“If her love grows, then the prosperity will, too.” Mother affirms. “And part of our prosperity is our nature, the lands surrounding us. The prophecy calls her princess of the sun, because she is the light.”
“And what now?” I ask, while I take Azadeh’s hand into mine again. She looks like she is sleeping.
“I will give her all the tools,” Aylin says. “The herbs to help her relax and fight, the runes to keep the curse from spreading, the peace of mind she needs to focus, but she needs to battle this on her own. This is between her and the woman in white.”
“Just like you needed her faith and love, she needs your faith and love now,” my mother adds. She smiles. “And now, I’m going to look for my warrior girl and make sure she returns to us.”
*AZADEH*
I hear whispers around me, but they are far away. Like voices frozen in the air and carried through the wind from far away and now surrounding me like snow petals. I remember that my body was in tremendous pain, the kind of pain that almost broke my mind. It feels like something was burning me from the inside.
But now, I feel peaceful.
Like I’m floating.
I take a few deep breaths before opening my eyes, noticing I’m lying in a beautiful green meadow. Funny. It feels like ages since I’ve seen a green garden. Even back in the Desert there were mostly just oases and small gardens with fancy flowers, but the general landscape was rather sandy, the green more leaning towards brown. It was beautiful in its own way.
But this here, this rich green meadow with the tiny yellow and white flowers blooming everywhere, is new to me. I get up on my feet, wandering around. I’m barefoot and only dressed in a light white linen dress.
There is a lush leafy forest stretching in the distance; everywhere it’s just green. I follow the sound of birds until I find myself at a pretty stream that turns into a small waterfall and ends in a wondrous lake.
I’m still bathing in its beauty when I hear a cough behind me. “Hello Princess,” a voice says. “So, we finally meet in person.”
I turn around in surprise. “Favian,” I breathe.
forty-four
The Realm of Dreams
*AZADEH*
This can’t be real. It’s impossible. But all the while I try to find logical reasons as to why Favian can’t be here in person, it slowly settles in that he is. Joy fills me. I haven’t met him before; I didn’t know about him, yet it feels like I’m finally meeting a long-lost brother.
“Come here,” Favian chuckles and hugs me. He pats my back before he lets me go again. “You look fabulous. Being in love suits you.”
“Well, I do have a wonderful lover,” I wink.
Favian smiles gently, and I realize he truly looks like an older version of Elio. Both of them look kind. But while Elio looks innocent and cheerful, Favian looks to be much more serious. In Favian’s eyes, there seems to be a fire. I bet if provoked, he can unleash his beast, too. “You look pensive,” he says. “What’s going on inside your head?”
“It’s just… you look so different from the werewolves,” I admit. “Are all dragons like you?”
“What?” he sounds amused. “Weak?”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” I chide him.
“The wolves are a lot about bodily strength,” he admits. “And dragons are, too, just not about raw strength. We are more athletic and used to being agile. In our dragon form, we are very powerful. As for me… I look so weak because I have been locked in for a long time.”
“And you are a golden dragon?” I ask.
He nods. “It’s because of us, because the royal lineage consists of golden dragons, that the whole dragon shifter population was in danger. So many lost their lives, because we were hunted.”
“What’s so special about the golden dragons? Why were you hunted to the point you almost went extinct?”
“Golden dragons are necessary for other dragon shifters to receive their dragon spirit, if you want to call it that way. For each shifter, we test the element they are most responsive to and then grant them a blessing, and they will receive their dragon form. Unlike werewolves and other shifters, our dragon form does not have its own voice, though. It’s truly more like a beast within us.”
