Page 44 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
“Only females are born with it,” I say. “And no, I have another sister with the gift, albeit it’s said to be weaker in her. She grew up secluded, too, but then married one of my father’s ministers. She is a very cute girl, and he took a liking to her. She isn’t like me…” I pause. “Something about me creeped my family and our people out more.”
There is a hint of anger flashing in his eyes. “That’s why they locked you in.”
“They feared me.”
“It’s their loss,” he says before turning to look at me. “Is this true? What you said about how families aren’t close in the Desert. That it’s just not that important?”
There is something about him that makes it impossible for me to lie to him. “No,” I admit. “It just goes for my family.”
“There is no need to pretend, Aza,” he says softly. “You are here now, and none of us are scared of you. In fact, you have enlightened our dull lives ever since you came to our lands.”
“What if it’s me that the woman in white is after?” I ask, noting his surprise. “Royan and the others didn’t believe me, but I know what I saw.”
“I believe you,” he says earnestly. “Because I can see things too.”
His words surprise me, to say the least.
“A few days before you arrived, one of our northern villages was attacked. We went there and helped the remaining survivors, and while we rode back, a blizzard chased us. I know there was something in there… something vicious that kept snarling and growling at us.” He pauses. “I’ve seen these monsters all my life.”
My heartbeat picks up at his words. He doesn’t think I’m crazy, in fact, he shares my fate. At least part of it. And although he sees these monsters, as he calls them, no one in his family shuns him or secludes him.
“I’m sure the woman in white didn’t appear because of you. She was always there, but maybe she wanted to stop you from entering our lands.”
“But why?”
“Maybe we set our fates into motion,” he muses. “You being here means change. It means your fate and our fates are colliding.”
“Isn’t that scary for you?” I ask.
“Not at all,” he smiles. “I think the goddess sent you to us, and I’m glad that she did.” He gets up, reaching out his hand to me. “Come, I can show you around. The night sky is clear, and the moon shines brightly. There is a place you need to see.”
I nod, taking his hand and allowing him to pull me along. We silently walk through the castle to one of the back doors.
“Where are you going?” Flinn suddenly pops up next to us.
“I’m showing Azadeh our pack’s symbol,” Endellion whispers. “Don’t be so loud, Flinn.”
“Oh, I will grab some wine and come along,” he grins. “And Caelan can’t sleep, either. I saw him running a few laps through the building.”
“How come we are all awake?” I chuckle.
“Must be fate,” Flinn grins.
“We’ll wait for you outside,” Endellion promises. “Just pick up Caelan and some wine, and meet us there.”
Flinn runs off, while Endellion and I step outside. It’s freezing cold, and I’m glad I’m wearing my thick coat. It doesn’t take long for Caelan and Flinn to approach us. Flinn basically appears out of nowhere and grabs my hands to twirl me around, until my head starts spinning too. I laugh when Endellion catches me and stops me from dropping to the ground.
“And you are not wearing a scarf again!” Caelan groans and hands me one. “You and Alana are both too careless when outside.”
“The big bro grizzly strikes again,” Flinn teases, laughing when Caelan growls at him.
They both take off towards the huge backyard of the castle. I haven’t been there yet. Until now, I only saw the enormous castle and the parts of the town I saw when visiting Ita’s parents. Behind the castle, there is supposed to be a beautiful park. Endellion offers me his arm again, and we follow his two brothers. I’m not sure what I expected, but when we reach our destination, I gasp in shock. I let go of Endellion’s arm and hurry forward, only stopping when the landscape spreads in front of me. It’s a huge lake covered in thick ice and illuminated by the moon shining above it. Behind it there is a forest, dark and mysterious in the moonlight. But, the lake… it’s ethereal, sparkling in silver and blue.
“It’s turquoise during the day,” Caelan explains to me.
“And this”—Endellion gestures towards a tree to our left— “is the World Tree,” he says. “Some call it the Earth Tree. Our people think it’s where the Moon Goddess’s power manifested itself.”
I look at said tree in awe. It’s silver-grey, and despite there not being a single leaf on it, it looks mystical.
