Page 154 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
I should probably be terrified to be standing next to a goddess, but I have so many questions, I don’t have time for being scared. “What am I?” I ask her.
“You are the Princess of the Desert, the Princess of the Sun, the Princess of Prosperity,” she tells me what I already know. “All of these names are true. You come from a lineage where chosen women are blessed by the sun.”
“You mean actually blessed?”
“Yes, blessed by the Goddess Aine.” She smiles. “By the Goddess of the Sun. She gave you your gifts.”
“I’m not sure if I understand any of that,” I admit. “I don’t even understand my gifts.”
“Don’t you?” she asks. “You were able to tell who I am without even blinking twice. Why can’t you do that to yourself?”
“I… I bring prosperity… meaning I can heal nature,” I say.
“Exactly,” she says. “Your powers are of nurturing and healing kind, but not the way people imagine. You don’t hold out your hand and heal sickness. What you do goes far deeper. You are connected to this earth, to the ground, to the plants, to the air. It’s the reason why it’s so easy for you to travel through other people’s minds. It’s the reason why Aengus, youthful god of love and flying creatures, Aine, the ruler of the sun, and I, Goddess of the Moon, bound your fate to the triplet princes and to the young dragon prince.”
“Does this mean I can really do it?” I ask. “Wake up this other deity, Artio?”
“Yes,” she says.
“Just like that?”
“Of course.”
I blink. It’s that simple? “I approach him, take a trip into his mind, and he will wake up?”
“Sometimes it’s less complicated than you think it is,” she chuckles.
“Favian said the same,” I say. “That I can easily wake him up.” I pause. “What about Cailleach?”
“She is a different issue, unfortunately.” Arianrhod looks at me sadly. “The dark witch woke her up and then took advantage of a very sad and grieving person. They are two minds in one body now.”
“Then, it means I need to find out what troubles one, to set it free, and then make sure Cailleach can return to being herself,” I say.
Arianrhod looks at me, amused. “You are truly an amazing young woman. I’m not surprised the young prince fell in love with you.”
I feel my cheeks flush. “I’m very much in love with him, too.”
“It shows. Or you wouldn’t have reached your full potential.”
“What do you mean?”
“Aine is a peculiar goddess. She is very careful who she grants her powers to,” Arianrhod explains. “Now, she sees you as a… flower, with roots and blossoms. If treated correctly, you will grow and blossom and get stronger. That’s what happened once you came to the Kingdom of Eternal Ice. In the stories your general read for you, they talked about love. With growing love, your power grows. But it’s more than that. It’s not just the love of your chosen mate, it’s the love you feel from the land, from the people, from your friends and family. In return, it makes you want to give all this love back to them. You blessed the man you fell in love with then you blessed their lands in return. The instinct you felt when you reached out to Favian, when you said just now that you would help Cailleach, this comes all from the love you carry inside you.”
I stare at her as the words begin to sink in. It all… makes sense. It does make my head spin, but at the same time, it makes so much sense. I feel happy and content here, and like I belong. I have found my confidence here, my love, I’ve made friends, I’ve found home.
I smile as warmth floods me.
Arianrhod returns my smile and gestures towards the ground I’m walking on. To my surprise, small flowers started blooming wherever I stepped. “Was that me?” I whisper.
“I think you know the answer already,” she says. “What you feel now, this is what you need to channel to save those the witch has imprisoned.”
“I understand now.”
“Shall we go then?”
I look at her inquisitively, wondering where she wants us to go. When she reaches out her hand, I just take it without thinking any further. To my surprise, the goddess and I suddenly find ourselves on a mountain trail. It’s cold and an angry blizzard is hunting the area. Amidst the snowstorm there is…
“Wait a moment,” I whisper. “This is…”
