Aurelie felt the painful rise of a new pimple right in the fold of her left nostril. It must have been the cold that warranted it. This one felt like it would give her nose a run for its money in terms of the size it'd reach. She picked at it incessantly while trying to keep up with Deborah as she hurried through the long, echoing hallway.
Deborah had woken her from her nap, made her wipe the sleep from her eyes and hurried her along toward the dining hall where the Queen was hosting some form of celebratory dinner which, she was told more than three times along the walk, was extremely important because one of the rebel leaders was in attendance. Aurelie hadn't heard a word about the rebels up until that point.
They stopped at a tall arch. The transparent wallsâwhether they were made from crystal or ice Aurelie couldn't tellâlooked to be cracking from within. Aurelie's hot breath left a misty layer on the wall.
The guests had already been seated around a long, crystal table. Servants moved from person to person with a tray in hand, pouring drinks. One man stuck out among the rest of the nobles. He had broad shoulders, a thick auburn beard and wore a coat made of old animal skins as opposed the current favorite in the room which was white fur.
"This is as far as I'm allowed." Deborah bent to take a peek inside and stepped back. "Try the chocolate cake." She winked and patted Aurelie on the shoulder before walking away.
Aurelie took a few steps forward, and stood still below the archway, trying to spot an open chair. There were around thirty guests, all sharing eerie similarities.
A man to her right cleared his throat, startling her. "Princess Aurelie Dranoir of Highfire."
The chatter of the guests quietened and most, if not all, eyes fell on her. Aurelie found her chin rising at the mention of her name and land. The nervous tingle in her stomach seized and a calm confidence filled her.
The Queen rose and so did every one of her guests but one. Aurelie caught the wary glance of the rebel leader and kept it steady until a servant came to accompany her to the table. Lukas leaned over to a woman on his left and whispered in her ear. The woman moved from her place and walked around the guests to an open chair that Aurelie was intending to claim. Lukas smiled, and as if knowing that Aurelie was looking, glanced right at her and pulled out the chair, gesturing for her to sit with his hand.
Lukas had a sleek demeanor about him. The Queen's right hand, if the seating arrangement was anything to go by, was determined to please her. As a future king, he needed a queen. Aurelie, once an insecure modest girl, knew she was striking. Though, if his intentions were seduction, she understood that it was her throne and not her appearance that had attracted him. Whatever his reason, it was in Aurelie's interest to play along while she was a resident of his castle.
She walked his way and reached to the back of her neck with both hands, flipping her hair forward. Deborah, a curious soul, had wondered what would happen if Aurelie heated a small steel cylinder in order to curl her hair. She heard that one of the princesses had made one of the lady's maids do it by using boiling water. It didn't stay warm for too long because of the chill and she didn't have a dragon at her disposal so their experiment hadn't worked but Deborah's most certainly did. They used the cylinder to curl Aurelie's hair and managed to give her a full head of soft curls.
"Your Majesty," Aurelie greeted the Queen and curtsied.
"I hope your chamber was pleasing," the Queen replied, and extended her hand toward the chair where Lukas had remained waiting.
Aurelie move to the front of the chair and moments later felt a chilling breeze on her neck. "You look dashing," Lukas said and waited for her to sit before pushing the chair nearer to the table.
The others sat down as she took her seat. When the muddled sound of their chairs stopped, the Queen raised a glass. A servant came by and filled Aurelie's glass halfway with pink sparkling wine.
"I have welcomed you all here to tell you that we no longer have to dream. The cold will no longer shackle us, take from or destroy us. Centuries we've waited. And here we are." The Queen inhaled and set her glass down. "The trees will bloom. The rivers flow. I promised you this when you bestowed the crown upon me. And this evening I've come to deliver on that promise."
Aurelie listened, hanging on each of the queen's words. Alorah spoke with passion and grace. Her strength resonated through every inch of her body. One day Aurelie would have to speak to her people. Convince them that she was the one to rule them. She sat back and learned what it looked like to truly rule.
"There are no victors in a war. The proof of that sits at this very table." The Queen directed her glare in Aurelie's direction. "From this moment on, Princess Aurelie and I will show our people what it is to forgive. What it is to rebuild relations that have been doomed for centuries. Our people, my people, are starving for change. And so am I. Our ancestors have shown us all what it is to lose. I will not share their legacy." She lowered her hands to the table, holding on by the tips of her fingers. "Rise for us, Aurelie. Show them the face that will end all suffering."
That was neither a promise Aurelie could make nor one that the Queen could make for her. She remained seated and watched the Queen coldly. Aurelie had her own people to make promises for. Besides, if her people were so broken, how were they to fight the King? She came looking for help and not to mend their post-war wounds. The Queen's eyes moved from her to the guests and back. For someone so talkative, she was certainly at a loss for words now. That's what you get for assuming that I'm desperate enough to lead myself to become your scapegoat.
The rebel leader laughed out loud and caught the Queen's dirty glare with one of equal sharpness.
"Guards!" a screech came from beyond the room. Heads turned toward the noise. The guards that were stationed around them move to the arch that Aurelie had entered through. They blocked it and withdrew their swords. A large number of angry voices echoed through the hall outside.
"Where's the Queen?"
"We want to see the queen!"
Lukas stood and turned to his mother. She looked more relieved than afraid. The embarrassment Aurelie created was forgotten for the moment.
"Get back."
A man who was more than two heads taller than the biggest guard pushed one of the swords away with his hand. "Stop me!" he roared and pushed past. About twenty men filled the room behind him. The guards ran around and stood in front of the queen.
The rebel leader stood casually from his chair and nodded at the men. "Connor," he greeted the tall man.
"So this is how the royals live," Connor said. He walked around the table and leaned over a woman wearing a white fur hat. She gasped and closed her eyes. The woman next to her put her hand on her chest and looked up at him.
"Please," she said in a soft voice. "Don't hurt her."
Connor snatched the woman's glass and gulped down the sparkling wine. "Ye hear that? Please." He shook his knees and laughed.
Aurelie rose from her chair and summoned a ball of fire which was hidden below her cape. Lukas put a hand on her shoulder and motioned for her to sit down. "I'm not afraid," she whispered.
The rebel leader watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye, yet to move from the table to join the next of his party.
"I know, but they are." Lukas pointed his head toward the guests.
Aurelie sat down and lowered her eyes. A fire burned brightly within them, thankfully none of the men noticed.
A glass smashed behind her. Pieces of it landed steps away from her chair, the wine running under it.
"We're starving and you're having a party?" He picked up a bottle from one of the servant's trays while his friends scavenged the tables.
"Gentlemen, please." The Queen stepped away from the table, the guards following. "You called me, and here I am. There is no need to upset my guests. Dima," she addressed the rebel leader, "this is not how dialogue is opened."
As soon as she stepped away from her chair a man ran up and snatched her glass. "A royal wine!" he shouted, getting a laughing response from the others. "Tastes like any other." He threw the glass at the queen's feet. It smashed into the floor, splinters of glass cutting her skin as the flew past. Drops of blood ran down her shoe and crystallized as they touched the floor.
Still, the Queen remained calm. "What is it you want?"
"Food and a place to sleep! This castle can house at least a hundred people. Tell me, how large is the feast you've prepared for these useless nobles? How much will you throw away while your people starve?"
A man neared Aurelie's chair. She closed her eyes. They were hungry and desperate. She couldn't help but see the inn's wizards in the face of every rebel. Yet the sound of the footsteps of that man coming closer to her made her boil with rage.
He stopped behind her. Aurelie felt his hand reach past her shoulder. The glass clinked as he lifted it from the table. Without thinking, she grabbed his hand. "Ah," he moaned and yanked his hand away. The glass fell and shattered.
"Keenen," a man called from the opposite end of the table, "everything alright?"
He didn't answer. Aurelie's chair squeaked as he turned it. She gasped and looked up. Keenen stepped away and put his hand on his chest.
"Keenen!" the man called again.
An eerie silence fell upon the room and was broken by at least five sets of footprints approaching her. Lukas sat still as a corpse, reluctant to even turn to look at her.
"It's the dragon!" Keenen found his voice again and took another step back.
"Settle down," Dima called to his men but their eyes remained hungrily planted on her.
The men behind her broke into a run. Aurelie stood and turned to them. With a swing of her arm the floor in between her and the approaching rebels engulfed in fire. The men stopped and looked up at her with bewilderment.
The guards raised their swords. Dima grabbed the blades of the two closest guards and ripped them out of their grips. Blood dripped from his hand. His eyes were black with rage. "You bring our enemy here and invite me to sit at her table."
Aurelie summoned a fire below his feet. He looked down and tried to step over it. When he noticed that it clung to the soles of his shoes, he knocked the remaining guards away and grabbed the queen by her throat. One of the guards fell and slid across the floor.
"After all her kind has done!" He lifted Alorah by her neck. "You try to sell her to us like a hero!"
The Queen struggled in his grip. Her shaking hands struggled to loosen his grip. Aurelie let the fire spread up his body.
With his jaw clenched, he tightened his grip. "You'd better kill us both then, dragon. I won't yield to you." Dima pulled Alorah toward him. "Not the way this whore queen has." The fire climbed up her dress and left white burn marks on her hand.
Aurelie looked from Lukas to Alorah. He was still seated, even now when his mother hung from the hand of their invader. No one dared defend their Queen, not even her son. Aurelie had no choice but to extinguish the flames. She turned to the guests and made the fire spread all behind their chairs. Then the flames moved outward so that they were out of reach for the men.
"Mother, enough!" Lukas banged his hand against the table.
Alorah lifted her hand. Dima attempted to grab it but failed. He was strong and big, but slow. Her finger graced his forehead. A blot of ice formed where her finger had touched. It spread, faster the bigger it got.
"Dima, no!" cried a man but before he even finished his words, an ice barrier formed around his friend. So thick, that no one would be able to guess an actual man was inside.
The rebels moved forward but were blocked up flames. Connor dropped to his knees and clutched his head. His cry echoed through the chamber.
She could have stopped him at any time but she needed Aurelie to show that she was willing to protect her first. She wouldn't have been surprised if the whole thing was staged specifically for that. It didn't even matter that Aurelie didn't stand when Alorah wanted her to because when push came to shove Aurelie protected her and her people.
Lukas walked to his mother and picked up a sword that had fallen. He swung for the man's arm that had still been attached to Alorah's neck. It shattered as it met the sword. The hand, however, remained tight around the queen's neck. Aurelie clenched her jaw to keep Alorah from seeing the disgust she felt.
"Aurelie, dear," she said nonchalantly, "won't you assist me."
Aurelie summoned fire and came to the queen's aid. She held her palm under the frozen hand. The ice melted and drops of blood and water dripped down between the two of them. Bile rose in her throat as more of the ice melted. Get yourself together. You've seen worse. She swallowed gulps of air and kept a straight face.
Alorah grabbed the hand and pulled it off her neck. "Thank you." Purple imprints of his hands remained on her skin.
Aurelie's skirt was damp at the ends and grew heavier the longer she stood still. She looked down and noticed that the floor was covered in water. "Oh my," she said, "I'm melting your floor." She did a good job of acting as heartless as they did, or at least that's what she thought.
"Not to worry!" Lukas said. "As soon as your fire's out, it'll all freeze again."
Aurelie ignored the cries of the men and walked up to where the fire divided them. "If you do not leave once I recall this fire, I will kill every single one of you." The scariest part of this whole evening was that she meant every word and without an ounce of guilt. She stepped back and bent down, holding her hands out to meet the flames. They ran, leaving whatever fell behind. She hoped the sparkling wine was worth it. Alorah stood and watched her from a distance with her arms crossed. When she caught Aurelie's eyes, she turned away.
Aurelie followed the men out of the castle. The door had been at the very end of the long hall. As she neared, the sound of swords clinking came from outside.
"Retreat!" Connor screamed as they reached the door. "Dima is down, retreat!"
Aurelie moved sideways through the door that the men had attempted to close behind them. The corpses of two guards lay just beyond it. Aurelie stepped over them, keeping her hand over her mouth.
The terrace was covered with bodies, both guards, and rebels. Crystalized blood colored the floor and snow below the stairs. A guard ran toward her. He put his hand on her shoulder and made her turn back to the door.
"Princess Aurelie, you shouldn't be here. They're fleeing, but it's not safe for you to be out here."
If he only knew what happened inside. He walked with her all the way back to the dining chamber and left her standing at the arch. The frozen body of the man had been taken away upon her arrival. She just managed to see the bottom of his feet as they carried him through one of the doors.
"How many dead?" A woman asked as Aurelie walked to her chair.
"I don't know."
"I can't believe it, Alorah. We must have ridden right by them on our way here. It's a wonder we're not all dead!"
A nervous chatter rose in the room. Alorah stood. The sound of her chair silenced them all. "Now we know who our allies are." She smiled at Aurelie and lifted a glass in her direction. "It is an honor to have you in our presence! Raise your glass to the noble and brave Princess."
"This better not have been for the show," she said loud enough so only Lukas could hear and put a bright smile on her face to accommodate the Queen.
"You have my word," he replied.
And your word means so very much to me, she fought the need to roll her eyes.
Aurelie glanced at him and nodded once. He could take that whichever way pleased him. She found herself worrying about Deborah more than the happenings outside. When Deborah left her at the arch, she walked in the direction where the men came from.
Servants appeared with trays of hot food. A thick, steel bowl of soup was placed in front of Aurelie and Lukas as if nothing had happened. While the guards burned the bodies of the dead rebels outside, the nobles ate hot soup.