Page 140 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
“Yes, my sweetheart,” she says as her scent reaches my nostrils. It’s the first time I can sense anything.
“Ita is dead,” I say, my voice hoarse.
“I know, my dear,” she says sadly, hugging me towards her chest.
“She…wasn’t… my mate, but…” My voice trails off. Talking hurts.
“It doesn’t matter that she wasn’t your mate. It doesn’t make your feelings any less real or valid,” she says.
“I’m tired,” I say.
“I know, but you need to wake up now. Come, Alana, Ros.”
Ros’s nose curls slightly.
“They need us,” I say to her, fighting the pull that wants to drag me downwards into sleep again. “They need us to fight for them.”
Ros grumbles.
“We are not weak,” I tell her. “Ita called us her Warrior Princess. That’s what we are. Warriors. She died for us, and we will make sure to honor her sacrifice.”
Ros blinks her eyes open, looking at me tiredly. She doesn’t say anything, but I can see understanding in her eyes.
“Good,” my mother says gently. “And now, look at me.”
It feels like it takes me hours to force my eyelids open, but eventually I manage to open them slightly, the surrounding light almost blinding me for a moment. Once I adapted to my surroundings, I can see my mother lying next to me, holding me in her arms.
“Mother,” I blurt out. “Mom, you are here!”
“Of course I am here. Your father told me that you almost lost your life, and I dropped everything and returned”
“But, the research concerning Flinn, Ende and Caelan,” I say. “And the prophecy.”
“Nothing is more important than my children,” she says. “And this time, you needed me more than they did.”
I feel a coziness coming over me that I almost forgot existed. When Ita died, I felt my whole heart freezing, but now my mother is here, and I feel like not everything is lost.
“I’m tired,” I admit.
“Now you can sleep,” she says. “And when you wake up again, you will feel refreshed.”
She is right, because the next time I open my eyes, only a couple of hours have passed and I feel much more refreshed, and strong enough to sit up a bit. Ros is awake too, though still a bit weakened and tired. My mother is still here, finally explaining to me that I almost lost my life to the beast too, and that I was in a coma for three to four days.
“Is it true?” my father bursts into the room, startling me while my mother just laughs. “She is awake! You are awake!”
“Alana?” Kilah peeks into my room as well. She looks to the side. “Took you long enough.”
I remember how she cried over my bed, and smile at her. “Why don’t you sit with us?” I ask her.
Kilah’s eyes widen, and to my surprise she rushes towards me and Mom, and hugs us both.I thought I would never see you again, and you would die hating me.
I never hated you,I calm her.
One by one, all my family drops by. Endellion only visits briefly, though he looks tired. Actually, all of them look drained. After poking my father for a few minutes, he succumbs and tells me everything that happened while I was in a coma. From the young dragon Elio joining us, Endellion and Azadeh choosing each other, to Royan and General Shayan still missing, Endellion developing crazy superpowers, and Azadeh getting cursed.
“Alright-” I toss my blanket aside. “I got it.”
“What did you get!?” my father exclaims. “You should stay in bed.”
