Page 136 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
My mother smiles at him, grabbing his face and kissing him softly.
“One daughter in a coma,” she says. “One daughter-in-law cursed, and one of my miracle sons was born with the rare power of the Ice Wolf Prince. What else did I miss? It seems like it was truly time for me to return home.”
“That pretty much covers it,” Kilah says.
My mother lets go of my father and turns to hug Kilah and Eibhlin. “My strong girl and my special
girl.”
“Do your other miracle boys get a hug too?” Flinn asks cheekily. “Even though they can’t turn into a cool ice wolf?”
Mother just chuckles and hugs them, before turning towards me. “My boy,” she says gently. “I’m so proud of you.”
I turn to look at my family, noting how Flinn is sporting bruises all over his arms while my father and Caelan are bleeding. “I’m so sorry,” I say.
My father beams at me. “Forget it. I for one am proud of having such a strong alpha as a son!”
“Yeah, you better be sorry,” Caelan grumbles. “Because we can’t shift into a special wolf.”
“Or merge with our wolf spirits,” Flinn adds.
“You just had to win, didn't you? Get the woman and the special powers,” Caelan says, amusement in his voice.
“For the record, I’ve never been so happy to be in this family,” Eibhlin says. “This is the most fascinating stuff ever.”
“You are what you are,” Kilah says. “And, you are still you.”
I smile in relief. “Thank you for not treating me like a mistake.”
“None of you were ever a mistake,” my mother says. “No matter what the superstitious pack members used to say when you were born. You were always a miracle.”
“Did you know this would happen?” my father asks Aylin.
Aylin shrugs. “To say I knew would be an exaggeration, but I had a feeling that one of them inherited special powers. Them being triplets, the prophecy, the Desert Princess… it all led me to thinking that this wouldn’t be the end of it.”
My mother turns towards Simin. “What’s your name, child?”
“Simin,” she says shyly. “I’m Princess Azadeh’s friend. She always treated me like her sister.”
“Sweetheart,” my mother approaches her to take her hand. “Your princess is said to be born with the gift. What exactly does it mean? I’ve researched a lot but no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find anything.”
“Aza’s father had all the books destroyed that explained the gift,” Simin explains. “I don’t know much about it either. General Shayan would know more. But… she has many names. The Desert Princess… the Princess of Prosperity like the young dragon called her. The Princess of Life and Death.” She pauses. “The Desert people think she is cursed.”
“Her gifts are no curse,” I say. “Just like mine aren’t, either.” I pause. “I think Azadeh awakened them.”
“What?” Aylin looks at me in surprise. “Why do you think that?”
“Because she made the goddess’s tree bloom again, and the wasteland is coming to life once more because of her.”
“It’s…” Simin looks flustered. “You will think I’m stupid. But, General Shayan told us a fairytale when we were younger. About…” She pauses. “No, it’s childish.”
“I doubt it is,” my mother urges her gently. “You can tell us.”
“About a princess, who can protect those dear to her.”
“Like Aza did,” Flinn says. “When Tynan and the others were hunted by the blizzard. She covered them with a barrier.”
“She did that at home too, once,” Simin says. “Which is why everyone was so terrified of her. If she can do good, she can do bad too.”
