Chapter 14

THE first thing I noted when I woke up was that I was freezing.

I blearily opened my eyes and saw a wall of white.

I blinked hard and saw Aiden standing, looking outside. "What's going on?"

He turned around when I spoke, face grim. "Bad news, Princess." My heart leaped as I looked past him, through the cave opening. Snow coated every leaf, every twig, every blade of grass.

I stood up, my feet feeling shaky as I walked towards him. It was the first time I'd seen snow as well - the ice glittering like glass, small bits of green and brown poking through it.

I crouched down, touching it carefully. It was harder than I'd expected, and so cold. But when I looked...it was hard to decide which was lovelier - the snow or the rain.

"Do you think it's beautiful again?" Aiden asked. I just knew he was raising an eyebrow in his typical skeptical look. I chuckled, standing up and turning to him. I was right. He was staring at me, looking utterly bemused - an eyebrow raised.

"It is. Don't you think so?"

He sighed, shaking his head slightly, "Alright, it is. But it's also cold, and we can't possibly travel in this. We'll have to stay here until it melts. Nalvia knows how long we'll be stuck if it snows again."

I looked at the white expanse in front of me. "The first snow. My sisters told me that there used to be a celebration at the palace for it."

Aiden crouched next to me. I could see his face through the corner of my eye. "I've heard of that. We have it in the camps, too, though probably not as grand as you did."

"Not me," I corrected, leaning back on my heels, my bare skin freezing.

Aiden sighed heavily. I glanced at him to see him looking at me. "Tell me about your sisters."

I bit my lip, looking back into the trees. "Where do I begin? I barely remember the older ones - Laurel, Sylvan, Olive. But they were the kindest, humblest women you'd ever know. I remember Ash a bit - and Willow and Holly. They were the ones that raised me. They taught me everything about being a queen, the things Laurel and Sylvan taught them. They made sure I wasn't afraid, wasn't ever lonely."

I let out a small laugh, pulling my knees to my chest. "I was the baby of the family. They protected me, made sure Ivy hurt them, not me."

"There was one more. Eight princesses," Aiden said, after I paused for a while.

I nodded, choking down the sob that had built up in my throat. "Juniper. She was barely two years older than me. The two of us, we didn't remember anything except those cells. She was my best friend, we went through everything together."

Aiden waited as I wiped a traitorous tear. "We knew Ivy was going to kill her. A few days before she was to turn sixteen, we made plans to escape. Ivy - Ivy found out, and - "

A sob broke out, and I covered my mouth, shutting my eyes tightly. I could still hear it. Juniper's screams, my screams, our pleas for help. I could see Juniper, bloody, still feel the pain that had shaken my body after Ivy had punished us.

She'd held me for so long as we cried. We'd known we'd lost. Lost to Ivy.

Aiden's arms encircled me. I buried my head in his chest as I shook, forcing out the words. After all this time, it was good to tell someone everything. "She made sure I wasn't alone in those days before Ivy killed her."

"She sounds incredible," Aiden said, rubbing my back lightly. I nodded, though he couldn't see me.

"She was the best. But then she was gone, and - "

"It's okay," Aiden said, his breath brushing over my hair lightly. "You're not alone anymore, Elvina."

"I am alone," I said, pulling away slightly, looking away.

Aiden wrenched my face back, his eyes staring hard into mine. "I promise, Elvina, you are not alone. You've got me. And Arden, mom, dad, Meadow. And that friend of yours, the maid. We're going to save her too."

Thinking of Maple made me want to cry again, but I nodded, wiping my face and standing up. Aiden stood up as well, his figure a good head taller than mine.

"Do you feel better?"

"I do," I nodded. Strangely, telling him had made it feel easier to bear. I wasn't grieving alone anymore. I knew Aiden understood.

"I've found that when you share with someone, it makes the burden easier to carry," he said, looking directly at me.

"What's your burden?" I asked softly.

He looked down, eyes clouding over. "I'll tell you some other day. For now, breakfast." I didn't push it as he led me to the back of the cave, pulling out our leftovers from last night.

I didn't argue as he gave me more bread than I was used to, and dried apple. I just made sure he knew that, if I was sick, I'd make him clean it up.

"Your clothes are dry," he said. I glanced at my clothes, spread out on the ground. They were, indeed, mostly dried. Aiden turned as I pulled them on, and then took the shirt from me.

He pulled on the jacket as well and turned to me. "Let's train for a while, until we can leave." I nodded. He passed the sword to me, and I took my position, Aiden opposite me with his daggers.

***

The snow had mostly melted away, leaving the soil moist and slippery. It was a struggle just to stay upright.

After my third fall, leaving the front of my clothes covered in dirt, I glared at Aiden. "Can't you transport us through the trees like your father can?"

His face darkened. "No. I've been practicing, but...I'm not strong enough yet," he said grumpily. I snorted at the pouty look on his face but looked away when he shot me a flat look.

"I've been thinking," he said finally, "How did your mother know where the camp was?"

My head jerked up, and I looked at him, eyes wide. I'd thought about it, but with Ivy, there were so many possibilities. "I don't know - do you think she followed me?"

Aiden shook his head, eyebrows furrowed. "No, dad left too fast for her to know where you were going."

It was all so confusing. Ivy was powerful, but she wasn't a seer. How did she find me? Was she following us now? "Do you think she'll find us again?"

"I don't think so, she can't possibly know where we are," Aiden said. I nodded.

But I wasn't just trembling from the cold.

He noticed.

"Elvina, it's fine. Trust me, she won't catch us." Of course, he was just saying that to reassure me.

"If you say so," I said, looking away.

We walked on for hours, stopping for lunch once. We drank from a nearby stream. Aiden seemed to know his way through the Forest, though I had no idea where we were.

The sun was still weak, and the air still cold, but the sweat plastered my hair to the back of my neck. Aiden didn't seem all that affected, no doubt a result of all the training he'd been through.

We'd entered a colder area, where there was still snow littering the ground, when I was jerked from my mindless plodding. I looked to the side to make sure I was right.

Out of the corner of my eye, a dark shape flitted through the trees.

"Aiden," I whispered harshly.

He glanced down. "What?"

"We're not alone."

I LOVE the new Aidvina scenes :) I'm such a romantic sap! Don't forget to:

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