Chapter 33

Noora

Noora made it barely out of bed, her ribs aching with every breath, sending a roaring fire through her lungs. If she had a choice, she would’ve stayed in bed that day, trying to let her body heal for it to be at its best. However, her morning progressed rather differently. A maid burst into her room when the sun hadn’t risen yet, yelling at her to bathe and get ready for the second task. Noora barely opened her eyes as she scrubbed her face and combed through her hair. It tangled every two seconds in knots that seemed to only exist to annoy her. She dressed in her usual leather gear, two knives attached to her left hip before the maid offered her a long burgundy cloak lined with mahogany-coloured fur. She felt like she was encased in a portable blanket, keeping her warm and safe. Though safe was the last thing she would be in a few hours. Ushering her out of the palace, without having any breakfast, two guards accompanied her down to the courtyard. Biting wind greeted her face and they walked up further until they came across the courtyard. Noora’s body still ached with every step she took, her muscles knotted and sore. “Where are you taking me?”

“To the royal barns, you are to be escorted further into the lands of Oy Frossen.” The burlier one of the guards answered her. She was wondering where Raphael was, usually, it was him assigned to bring her to and fro. No, she considered that after his hospitality. Yesterday he wasn’t as excited to come across her again.

“Why is the task taking place in the landscape?” Noora asked, winding her arms around herself to stop herself from shivering. Both the guards shared a look of agreement before turning back to the front and deciding to ignore her further. She rolled her eyes in resentment and followed them towards the barn. Her hand flew to her heart, feeling the spiky object beneath her clothes. She bound the amethyst tooth to a small leather band, so she would not lose it during whatever was to come.

They rounded the east side of the palace and stopped short at the barn where a sleigh was already waiting for her.

She didn’t particularly like the way of traveling through it, though was glad to be back encased in warmth. Before they could reach the vehicle, a high voice called her name.

“Noora!”

She turned, brows drawing in as Freckles shot around the palace walls, her hair flowing right behind her. She was not in their chamber this morning but Noora wasn’t worried, she assumed her to be with Josephine. For once she was safe in their current environment. No matron lurking in the corner, waiting to attack.

“What’s the matter?” Nora asked as the girl came to a stop in front of her.

“I wanted to see you before you left. Tyra will take us to watch the tournament safely but I wanted to give you this in case you get hungry.”

Lulva opened her hand and revealed six little dates, the colour of dark honey, resting in her palm like gemstones.

Something tugged at Nora’s chest as she looked at the oval-shaped food. Hesitantly, she took them, procuring a small handkerchief, and wrapped them inside the paper before bestowing them in a small pocket at her calf.

“Thank you. You don’t need to look so worried, this is going to be fun.” Noora doubted that the lines on Lulva’s face were worrisome, however, she felt like she needed to reassure her.

“I’m not worried. I know you can do this. You can do anything.” Lulva smiled up at her before her short arms wrapped around her middle.

“We need to go,” the burlier guard pressed. Noora didn’t step away from the younger girl, pushing her nose into her soft hair. She inhaled lightly, smelling the familiar scent, home , and something that came close to love. An emotion she rarely felt or rather never felt.

“All right, I have to go now. After this is over, we are going to meet again. Promise me you won’t get into trouble.”

Lulva looked up at her, dark blue eyes resembling the depths of the sea. “How would I get into trouble?”

“Oh, I can imagine a few things. So promise me.” Noora stuck a red strand behind her ear. Freckles nodded, and said, “I promise I won’t get into trouble. Good luck.”

“I don’t need luck.”

“You’re right, you don’t.”

Noora turned around and stepped towards the intricate designed sleigh. It was white, with golden ornaments winding around the sides, running across the material as if someone had cried over it. The blades of the vehicle were sharp, dully gray at the lack of sunlight.

“Come on, we don’t have all day.”

The lanky guard pushed her slightly, and she turned around glaring.

To her satisfaction he took a few steps back, his eyes widening slightly.

Noora was hungry and cold,adrenaline was pushing through her veins egging her on. She was not in a state to pull back and he should not test her.

“I can find my way into the sleigh, thank you,” she said, grasping the snowflake-designed handle and pulling the door open.

With a quick jump, she made it inside. Her fingers immediately started to burn at the temperature change. She pushed a few strands of hair out of her face, arranging herself as she sat down on the plush settee settled inside the vehicle.

“Well, look at you all well rested.”

Her body went into a panic at hearing the unexpected voice. She grabbed a knife out of her left holster and held it against the stranger’s throat.

“That is a greeting I do not receive often.”

Noora scoffed. “Strange, how do people usually react when they are surprised by a person being at a place they shouldn’t be?”

The man slowly pulled the hood of his cloak off, revealing the last person on earth that Noora expected to sneak into her sleigh.

With a small jerk, the vehicle started to move as she kept on holding the blade of her knife against Nikolai’s throat. The prince looked rather amused at her antics, besides the fact that she was currently threatening his life.

“Some fall to their knees out of worship other times for different reasons.” His lips stretched into a grin as Noora made a disgusted sound. She moved back, her body jostled as the sleigh hit a bump in the snow, her eyes not leaving his form. He was dressed in a dark cloak, hiding his pristine clothing. Today he was wearing dark green gloves, golden vines sewn across the back of his hand.

He looked far better than the last time she saw him, a lot more sober too.

“What are you doing here?”

“Fancied a walk in the snow,“ he quipped as his gaze turned to the small oval-shaped window, currently offering a landscape of white.

“Well, then walk.” She crossed her arms in front of her, stoically holding her gaze on the passing snow.

“How are you feeling?” Nikolai asked.

“Peachy.”

“Noora,” he sighed.

She sighed and looked at him. “How do you expect me to feel?”

“Furious, determined, a little scared.”

She raised her brows at him. “I’m right, aren’t I?” He leaned slightly forward, his knees grazing hers over the small space of the vehicle. A shit-eating grin adorned his lips and Noora felt her hands itch to punch it off his face.

“You are feeling awfully well for a prince who embarrassed himself not a long time ago.”

He waved her words away. “That was not the first time and it certainly will not be the last time I will embarrass myself. I’ve survived worse.”

Something in his voice made her think he was not talking about embarrassing events in his life.

Instead of remaining silent, she decided to use his presence as an advantage. “What do I have to expect out there?”

Nikolai nodded as if he expected her to ask sooner or later. “The difference between the first and the second task is rather major. You will not be encased in a small arena, saved by the walls we built but you are out there in the wilderness.”

“That’s nothing new to me.”

He shook his head. “Do not overestimate yourself. You will have to rely on yourself only. The crowd will gather at the starting line of the tournament, which is where the jury will watch from a tower. But we can only see so far.”

Noora leaned slightly forward, making the prince adjust his legs so one of hers was between the two of his.

“What exactly do we need to do, Kai?”

He drew out a scroll from inside his cloak, revealing a small map of the surroundings of the ice palace. The adjacent wood that encircled almost the whole south side of the palace walls was drawn in carefully crafted circles. Behind it was the opal lake, currently frozen with ice at the temperatures that were reigning outside.

The end of the lake was surrounded by the family of Stormbryteren, a mountain scape that encased Oy Frossen from the Arctic Ocean.

“You will start here.” Nikolai pointed at the opening of the woods and then drew his finger through the thicket, leaves, and traps of it, emerging at the other side right at the lake.

“You will be provided with ice skates since it will take you too long to walk all around the water and get to the other side, so you can take the entrance into Stormbryteren—”

“Wait what?” Noora interrupted him rudely as the sleigh jostled them both again, making them slide closer.

“You want us to travel into the mountain range? Are you completely mad?”

Nikolai looked up at her from the map. “This is not an easy tournament; you won’t receive glory or Gulls without having to risk something.”

“I won’t be able to earn gold or glory if I end up dead.”

The prince looked at her surprised.

“What?” she snapped.

“Is that where you draw the line? Shouldn’t it be natural for you to travel through nature?”

“Nikolai, this is a suicide, it is freezing outside, the forest will be a death trap and I don’t even want to think how dangerous it would be to skate over the opal lake.”

Something glinted in his eyes. “You’re scared.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I just respect nature too much to test its limits.”

“You mean your limits,” he said, raising a brow.

She knew exactly what he was doing. She just didn’t know why he did it.

“What happens after the lake?” she asked, training her gaze back on the drawn map.

“There are two options: either you skate over the lake and take the natural entrance right here.” He pointed at the south of the mountains. “That would take too long,” Noora said and he nodded.

“That’s why you could use the underground entrance, through the lake.”

“Through the lake,” Noora stated and looked at him.

“Through the lake.” He rolled up the map and laid it beside him on the settee.

“Our guards carved a big enough hole in the ice, that you’d have to dive for a minute at maximum and then you would end up inside a small pool that is inside the mountains. It will take some strength and you’ll be cold afterward. Still, it’s a shortcut.”

“In the mountains, you have to take every turn left until you reach the heart of it. It looks like a small cave and inhabits riches you cannot even imagine. Do not take anything. I mean it.”

She nodded. “You forgot a part.” He tensed up.

“The part with the fire-breathing creature inhabiting those riches. It is forbidden for anyone to travel there, this is by far the stupidest idea I have ever heard. It would be like walking into the lion’s den. If you even make it that far the cave would be one’s immediate death.”

Nikolai stared at her for a few seconds. Then he burst out laughing.

Noora stared at him as a sound as melodic as the church bells in town erupted from the man and kept on going until she feared she would hear it in her dreams.

When he finally stopped laughing, his cheeks flushed and eyes glittering like polished jade, he spoke. “That is only a myth, Noora, do not always believe such gimmicks.”

“It is not a myth, it is real you stupid child.” At her words he sobered up quickly, his gaze darkening.

“If you found your fears in myths, you should not even partake in this tournament.”

He slid back in his seat, their legs untangling and Noora knew that whatever it was that triggered him, he didn’t want to be called a child. Though she could see behind his arrogant mask like she could through looking glass.

“If you decide to go, you have your token with you.” He nodded at her chest as if he could see the stone right through her clothes.

“You will be able to exchange the stone for an item of your desires. You should choose wisely since it could help you in the third task.”

“How should I know what to choose when I don’t know what the third task is going to be?”

He shrugged his shoulders as the sleigh came to a slow stop. Outside the window, Noora could already see the stands built in a crescent shape around the border of the forest. A small tower, built out of mahogany oak rested in the middle, making space for the four judges. One seat was empty, the others occupied by the queen, the blonde woman, and Koa-Ailani, a grim look on the witch hunter’s face.

“Did the other contestants get a one-on-one consultation like I did?” she asked, looking at the prince. He shook his head. “They only know the route they have to take but not what to do.”

“Why did I get one?”

“I felt generous.”

He was lying. He was not a bad liar, he did not flinch, nor did he break out in a sweat or blink while he told her lies. However, whenever he felt guilty he had the habit of driving his thumb over the small jade stone ring on his pinky finger. A fatal flaw in the golden mask of innocence.

Without mentioning it she went for the handle of the sleigh but his hand wrapped around her wrist.

“Noora.”

She turned to look at him. The cold mask slipped off his face and revealed his burning eyes of worry. “I want you to focus on what is important. Don’t chase a rabbit that is dressed as a wolf.”

She blanched. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Do not lose sight of the real enemy.” He let go of her wrist, indicating that his generosity reached its limits.

With no clue what lay ahead of her, Noora opened the door and stepped out into freezing Hel.