Winter Frost

WINTER FROST

Winter nights are cold, but His heart is colder.

Prologue

I woke with a start as a loud knocking sounded on my door. “Amelia, wake up now! Hurry.” It was my older sister, Analia. Her voice evoked a fear in me that froze me to the bed. “AMELIA! Get up now!” she screamed, and quickly I sprung out of my bed and rushed to let her in. The second I’d turned the knob, she burst through the door, locking it behind her. As she turned to me I noticed her body was shaking, and the fear in her eyes mirrored my own.

“Amelia, sweetie, listen to me. I don’t have a lot of time to explain to you what’s happening, but what I must tell you is this. We’re in danger.”

“Who?” My small voice trembled with fear, as I tried to understand at such a young age what was happening around me.

“Our entire village, Amelia. It’s not safe for you to stay here. If I tell you where to go you must promise that you’ll run and not look back. Will you promise me that you can do that?” In that moment, my mind seemed to be working faster than I was supposed to be able to do at such an age, I knew from her words alone that my sister would not be running away from our unsafe village with me. I knew this might well be the last time I ever saw her again. So, in just a millisecond, I made sure to record her face to memory. I remembered the shape of her head, which was most flatteringly shaped like a heart. Her skin, flawlessly pale, was even whiter in the dim moonlight glow that seeped in through my window. Her eyes, which I had always favored along with her long brown mahogany hair seemed to have faded from their beautiful leaf green to a sort of sea green. She was a slender woman, ripe in her young age of 21. She was fifteen years my senior, and the best mother I knew. Though she wasn’t my real mother and had no children of her own, she always treated me the way a mother would.

All the men of the village had tried to woo her, but over the years, most of the more gentlemanly ones were satisfied with nothing more than a friendly relationship.

“There is an old cottage west of the village near the lake. A man lives there. His name is Mr. Walsher. You can trust him, Amelia. He will take you to a woman. She is a good friend of mine, you may trust her as well, but no one other than these two; do you understand?” I nod my head, and she continues. “There is one more thing I need to tell you Amelia, and you must heed my warning with great care.” As she spoke the words, a loud thud sounded on the door, and a man grunted before calling out in a language I could not understand. Analia looked back and the shaking in her body became slightly more intense. “After you arrive at the place the woman will take you to, you must never let anyone know about the power inside you. Never, Amelia, ok?” her voice alone forced a strong shudder through my body, as it had somehow become icy cold. “But why can’t I—” Before I could ask my question another bang sounded, and the wood of the door cracked loudly, a large line breaking the middle of it.

“There’s no time for questions.” She said as she pulled me over to the loose window near my bed. “Climb through there and remember where to go. Remember your promise. Don’t look back.” She said sternly, and suddenly a blow strong enough to break the door clean off the hinges was struck, and a large man in a black suit stood inside the doorway. Moving quicker than I’d ever seen her, Analia spun around and threw a dagger I had not even realized was in her hand, lodging it into the man’s chest . He was knocked into the far wall and another took his place. “Go, Amelia now!” She lifted me up and pushed me through the window, but as I turned back to call for her I knew I should have kept my promise.

I watched as the large man standing at the door sent a long blade straight through her abdomen, and suddenly I was numb. I moved with a sort of unknown efficiency as if I knew in the slightest where I was going. I just knew I had to get away. As the men chased behind me, I could feel my lungs burning with exhaustion, but I moved too fast for them to think of catching up. Eventually I reached the edge of the forest, and I couldn’t feel more at home. No one knew the forest as well as Analia and I did. We had memorized it like the back of our hands, and as I passed our familiar picnic spot, I began to slow my pace. When I listened closely I could no longer hear the men behind me and I knew for now I was safe. So, I began the route Analia had instructed me to take.

I had always been a smart child. Smarter than most, and many people had referred to me as a child genius, but in that moment, I felt like the complete opposite. What was happening to my village? Why had my sister risked her life, and who was Mr. Walsher that I was able to trust? It wasn’t until morning that I reached Mr. Walsher’s cabin. He was a round man with honey brown skin and snow-white hair on only the sides and back of his head. He asked no questions, and neither did I. That afternoon a woman named Kalita Grinach arrived, and we set off to a place unknown.

It was another four days before we arrived at the place where Kalita would be taking me, and I still hadn’t said a word. The place was the largest I’d ever seen, and I was only getting a side view. I wondered vaguely how many floors there were. We entered through a side tunnel, and it was then that Kalita told me I was entering the palace of the king and queen of Olandino. Had I not been numb, I was sure I would have been startled, but instead I reacted the opposite way. I just continued walking. I later learned that Kalita was the head doctor in the palace. She attended to the king and Queen when they were ill, and even their young son. As it was the queen had been sick for the past month. So, for the days that followed my arrival, I stayed in the nurse’s quarters alone for most days. I still hadn’t said a word to anyone, no matter how much they had tried to coax a single word out of me.

It had been another three months and the queen’s condition had taken a turn for the worse. Kalita often came back to her room in tears or too tired to notice I was around, not that I minded. When the Queen finally passed away from the condition, the entire staff was to attend her funeral, and to my surprise, Kalita forced me to attend as well. The ceremony was long, and many people spoke kind words of their fallen queen. Apparently, she was such a lovely soul, the kingdom would never be the same without her. Kalita and I sat near the middle of the crowd, but as the ceremony neared its end, Kalita seemed as though she couldn’t bear to remain there any longer, so she took my hand and led me out of the chapel. Sadly, we hadn’t quite gotten out before the ceremony did end and people began to file out.

“Kalita…” A deep voice called. She spun around quickly at the sound and we were faced with a man in a black suit of armor, and the Olandino emblem embroidered onto his left breast. His hair was a bright blonde, almost golden and his eyes, like my sister’s, were emerald green. By his side was a brown-haired boy dressed similarly. His eyes were puffy and red and swollen from crying, and immediately I knew who they were. Standing before me was King Godfrey himself along with his son prince Alistair. The boy was tall for a ten-year-old and quite lanky. His features were soft, and I wondered if he resembled his mother. I had never really seen the queen for myself. Not even in pictures. As Kalita curtsied, I could feel her fingers tugging on my hand, indicating that I should do the same, but for some strange reason, I couldn’t quite seem to bring my knees to cooperate. “Who might this little one be?” The King’s husky voice asked. His voice evoked a strange fear in me, and as I looked up into his eyes the fear grew stronger. Even as a child, I knew this man was a dangerous man.

He stooped down before me, so we were at eye level, and as he smiled, an image of a dreadful hideous beast with sharp fangs covered his handsome face and I stepped back in shock. His smile faded slightly, and he looked at me intently. “Hello, what is your name child?”

“Your majesty, please excuse me, but if I may… She does not speak.” Kalita spoke. The king’s eyes cast up to her, and he asked.

“What do you call her?”

“Well, your majesty, I hadn’t quite learned her name, and as I’ve said before, she refuses to speak.” The king looked back at me again, but his eyes were confused now.

“Would you tell me your name, please?” He asked softly, but my tongue was tied, and my voice seemed to have vanished. I opened my mouth to speak, but when no words came out. I closed it back. For a long moment, he just stared at me, and then he stood up to resume his conversation with Kalita. I could barely hear the words of him wanting her to remain the head doctor, for her work was very good. I also heard him assuring her that the queen’s passing was not her fault and that there was nothing she could do. In my own opinion, the King in no way resembled a mourning husband, not even a mourning companion. It was as though the queen’s passing was a regular everyday occurrence. His son on the other hand, seemed to be trying too hard to hold himself together. Slowly, so as to not disturb her conversation or draw attention to myself, I released Kalita’s hand to go and stand in front of the crying boy.

As I stood before him, it was as if I was not even there. He practically looked right through me, though I somehow did the same. My insides tingled as I used my ability to see what was inside him, feel what he did, but strangely I felt no different. Usually when I’d done this before, I would feel a change. Sometimes I would feel angry or elated or even just a warm glow, but this time there was no change, and it didn’t take me long to realize why.

The sadness he felt reflected my own. As I looked up at him and into his eyes, I could see it for myself. As if instinctively, I sprang on him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. Whenever I was sad, Analia used to always give me a hug, and as I did the same to him, speaking my first words in the past three months, I whispered the words she always used to say to me. “It will get better.” The next thing I felt shocked me slightly, and I wondered if I imagined it because of what followed. The second the boy’s arms wrapped around me, I was pulled away, as Kalita tugged me off him. I looked up in shock to find several guards with daggers pointed toward me, and quickly Kalita jumped in front of me.

“Stand down, men. For heaven’s sakes, it’s only a little girl.” The King said his voice was deadly calm. He showed no caution the way his guards did. As the guards put back their knives, Kalita was dismissed and we headed back to the nurse’s quarters. My skin still tingled when I remember the boys short embrace. I wished there was some way I could befriend him. He seemed nice enough, and Analia had taught me very well how to read people, but something told me that encounter would be the last time I was ever so close to his highness, Prince Alistair again.