Page 24 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
“Are you cold, Princess?” Endellion asks when he notices her shivering hands.
“Actually, I’m slowly warming up again,” she admits.
The young woman next to her, Simin, takes her hands into hers and rubs them against each other. Azadeh smiles at her, and it’s the first real smile I’ve seen from her.
“You are soon going to warm up properly,” Endellion says. “The kitchen chef prepared some hot pot.”
Our private dining room is a comfortable place with a huge table and padded chairs, a fireplace and beautiful pictures which my mother had painted.
“You are already acquainted with everyone here,” Dad says. “Aside from my beta.” He gestures towards Quinn. “This is my beta and advisor, Quinn.”
Azadeh smiles at him politely. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise, Princess.”
“A beta is the second in command, is that correct?” she asks.
“Yes,” Dad beams, obviously happy she has informed herself before coming here. “The third in command is Ita; she is my gamma.”
“But, Royan…” Azadeh blinks. “He was called gamma too.”
“He is your gamma,” Dad tells her.
She turns her head to look at Royan, her eyes wide. “I told you, Princess,” he says with a bright smile. “I was chosen to be your protector.”
“I’m sorry that I lack so much knowledge,” she says. “I only had a few books available.”
“We have a big library here,” Dad says. “You can read as much as you want.”
“Endellion and Caelan are also pretty good with our history,” I tell her. “And with the local myths.”
Endellion nods, while Caelan looks flustered. The poor guy always turns into a Neanderthal in front of someone he doesn’t know. It doesn’t matter the gender; he is always helpless.
“You are very kind, King Gillean,” she says, and again there is a hint of sadness in her voice. “All of you are. Thank you.”
“You are a guest here,” Dad says proudly. “I told you not to hesitate to ask for anything.”
Before we can chat longer, though, the door flies open and my other siblings flock in.
“I hope you are good at remembering names.” I tease the princess.
“No kidding,” Endellion laughs. “We have a lot of siblings.”
“Oh, they are all your brothers and sisters?” she asks curiously.
“Yes, here, let’s go by age.” I point at Alana. “The fabulous redhead with short hair is our Warrior Princess, Alana. She is training under Gamma Ita to become an elite warrior.” Alana grins and winks at Azadeh and Simin. “Then we have the beauty in dark-blonde, the real princess, Kilah.” Endellion elbows me secretly at my little stab at Kilah, but no one else noticed, so… who cares? “And our smart genius, Nevyn. And last, but not least”-Eibhlin waves excitedly-“the crazy girl with the crazy looks.”
“Thank you,” Azadeh chuckles softly. “This kind of introduction will surely stay with me.”
“I guess that was his intention,” Alana laughs. “That and teasing us.” While the others sit down, she exchanges a few words with Ita. The two of them are good friends, and make plans to catch up later. Meanwhile, Kilah makes sure to sit down close to Azadeh.
It doesn’t take a genius to guess why. Azadeh is the living image of a real princess. She is elegant, regal and very beautiful, while appearing modest and a touch reserved. She is everything Kilah wants to be.
I doubt that’s truly who Azadeh is, though. She has just buried everything beneath this mask of perfection.
Man, this is going to be interesting!
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