Chapter 1

Chapter 1

His collar itched at his neck, the stacked materials of the peacoat making it feel like he sat in literal hellfire. His fingers were clad in the same leather gloves he wore every day, a lone ring sitting on his left ring finger, an aventurine embedded in the silver. He always found distraction in turning the silver band like a spinning wheel. It made him forget how hot and itchy he was feeling, how little he wanted to touch the filled plate that rested in front of him. Baked fish garnished with the secret recipe of cook Anneka.

When he was little, he would dance around the kitchen and watch her prepare the fish. He tried to copy the recipe but it never quite tasted like hers, it was a wonder that he didn’t touch the dish. Luckily there was no one around judging him for his lack of engagement with his meal besides the girl who was sitting at the other end of the mahogany table. Her lips were moving softly as she spoke about the ice mines of Oy Frossen.

Her red hair swayed elegantly every time she turned to the side, brushing against her soft chin. Her chocolate eyes were attentive though when she put them on him, he felt nothing. Nothing but the usual kindness he felt for strangers.

He tried listening to her, tried to be entranced by the golden ring winding around one nostril, the way it glinted in the same way her eyes did. It was a great complement to her dark complexion and if he was to consider her objectively, he would say she was beautiful.

One of the most beautiful women he had encountered in his life. Nonetheless, she did not entice any kind of spark in his body.

“Are you quite well?”

He snapped out of his gloomy thoughts as he registered that she had asked him something, requiring an answer from him that went beyond the occasional nod.

“Why yes, I am.”

“You seem to stand beside yourself lately. You know you can talk to me about it.” She placed her hand on the table, flashing him the view of the dark tendrils that wound around her wrist and up her fingers. She stretched her hand out as if she wanted to reach for him over the ridiculously long table. He didn’t know whose idea it was to seat them at the primary table as if they were expecting an armada to have dinner with them.

“I was kept awake until the late hours, it is surely just my tired mind.” He tried to muster up a smile and admitted that it was just half a lie.

Her eyes turned the slightest bit downward at the corners. “May you want to rest?”

“That would be of great consideration.” He took the olive branch and immediately stood up. She followed his motions immediately, tilting her head to the side with a soft smile. Why did his heart not skip at that deliciously perfect smile? He couldn’t say.

“I am irrefutably sorry but I promise I will get some rest and gift you with my whole day tomorrow.” He tilted his head as if in parting and her lips spread into a smug smile, enhancing the dimple carved into her right cheek. “A few hours would suffice.” His eyes glinted in understanding before he turned and made his way out of the room.

He didn’t know where he was going until he charged past various rooms and landed in his study.

The sun was already sinking early in Oy Frossen tinting his ill-lit office in soft golden light. He passed the wall enhanced with bookshelves as tall as the room would allow, strode past the globe that carried various options of liquors inside and walked over to the dark wooden desk that loomed in front of the great windows.

Papers were scattered along the wood, notes scribbled frantically by him last night, contracts, and wax that had dripped onto the papers like red blood stains.

He immediately loosened his collar but didn’t dare to remove it entirely he feared someone could burst inside at any given moment.

Trying to take a reassuring breath, he filled and expanded his lungs with oxygen but the hoped relief never ensured. His gaze swiveled outside towards the snow-painted landscape.

Nature lay in silence, almost untouched and he wondered for how long it would resume like this. The last bits of sun rays made the surface of the snow glitter like the pompous ball gowns northerner women adored so much. He could see a white owl hiding between the branches of a tree, tucking its head inside his feathers, yellow eyes slowly blinking shut.

Before he could dwell in any thoughts the door to his study burst open forcefully, making the glasses on his desk clink against each other.

“You’re a despicable human being you know that?”

He didn’t turn around to greet her. “Hello, Tyra.”

“I swear I’ve never seen someone as privileged as you complain about every little thing.” He decided to remain quiet and consider waiting for her next rage-fueled words. He knew that with Tyra there were never just a few sentences thrown at his head.

“You get the power, you make the decisions and even get a beautiful girl served to you on a silver platter and you reject her.”

At that, he turned swiftly, confusion riddling his face. “I didn’t reject Aileen.”

He noticed Tyra’s face was painted in anger but he knew what was lying underneath. That it wasn’t anger at him but more envy that rippled through her veins.

“You might as well. You’ve been dancing around her for weeks, instead of finally giving her the ring.”

He rolled his eyes having heard enough already. “You’re sixteen don’t talk to me about things you don’t understand.”

His condemning words were like liquor added to a fire, her anger doubling as she strode to the front of his desk, placing both her hands on the wood. “I understand that we need you to marry Aileen-Akamu in order to survive. I understand that she has been here for a month and you haven’t made one single move besides helping her up the steps. I understand that Queen Kahale-Akamu and King Nalu-Akamu sent her daughter here for two months.”

“What are you saying, Tyra, get to the point.” He glared at the younger girl, exhausted by her anger. She didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know. He knew what was at stake, more than anyone here. He knew they needed Ka-Hema’s loyalty as much as they needed their armada.

“I am saying that whatever you are doing is not working, brother. Whatever is holding you back cut its head off and get it done.”

“Nothing is holding me back. I have a plan.” His eyes flickered to the landscape outside as if he was willing his riders to appear in the snow-stricken ground. “If your plan is waiting on them to find something, you’re foolish.”

He turned back around, staring into the amber eyes of his sister. They were gloating like hot coals, in such a stark contrast to her light skin and sleek, black hair.

She was the fiercest looking of them both but he didn’t need fierceness nor did he need anger. He was in power here no matter what.

“It’s not about something.”

Tyra scoffed, her eyes flying to his gloved hands. Before he could react, she caught ahold of his left wrist. He tried to swallow the panic, knowing that she wouldn’t tear the gloves off. Her delicate fingers wound around the silver ring, her thumb swiping over the aventurine stone.

For a moment his body shuddered as he willed the picture out of his head, facing his sister.

She was almost as tall as him, they both inherited their height from their mother, which made it harder to glare down at her.

“She won’t come back no matter how long you wait, they will not find her because worst case she is already dead—”

“I dare you to repeat that.” His body tensed as his voice dropped a few octaves. He rarely got angry, he was rather the positive and kind sibling in their family but not when it came to this. Never when it came to her.

“You have to face the truth. Because even if you would find her it is too late. We need Ka-Hema’s loyalty and Aileen-Akamu is the only way to ensure that. Let go of the past, brother, before it dares to swallow you.”

She finally let go of his wrist and turned. Her hair flew behind her like a curtain. Her trained frame disappeared without another word. Slamming the door behind her. He didn’t dare move, didn’t dare speak into the silence that surrounded him.

He couldn’t do anything than stare at the ring on his finger knowing damn well that his sister was right.