Fantasy of Frost (The Tainted Accords Book 1) (13 page)

“He loved you regardless.” The King stands up on unsteady feet. “What a fool! To fall in love with the Princess. Don’t know what he was thinking.”

He lurches to the bed and swings a fist at one of the stone columns surrounding it. My eyes widen at his sudden rage. I stand, gripping the fur.

“Could you be pregnant?” he asks, spinning back around. I gasp at his rudeness.

“That is none of your business!” I say.

The King steps towards me. I hesitate, unsure of what to do.

“Don’t be embarrassed. My brother was never shy of showing his affection to the fairer sex.”

I gasp again. Why is he saying these things?

I had not thought of Kedrick being with other women before me. But he is right, I have seen enough of the open groping in the food hall to know Glacium is very different in this regard. My heart sinks. The love I felt for Kedrick feels tarnished somehow.

I look up at the King who hesitates a bit before resuming his slow stalk towards me.

“Why is it he warned the others not to speak of your veil?” he muses. His voice is a bit steadier now, he’s not slurring his words as much.

I don’t answer. It is too personal to talk of.

I look towards the door, debating whether I should leave now. I look back and the King is suddenly right in front of me. I jump back in fright.

“Did he see your face?” he asks. His breath is sweet, potently sweet.

“No,” I lie, trying to calm him. I look down at one of his hands. Both of them combined could nearly enclose my head. At best, I would only be able to evade him while he is this ill. He had still been able to take care of my two guards and I had no real chance against him with a mostly healed wrist and stiff shoulder.

I look around for a way to get out. “You are trapped, little girl,” the King purrs as he steps closer. “And you’re lying to me. I do not like liars.”

“Do not call me-”He lunges forward halfway through my retort and grabs my shoulders. My breathing is shallow and rapid.

“I want to see what he saw,” the King growls.

My heart hammers in my chest as I realise his intent. He drags me to the wall next to the fire and pins my shoulders to the wall with his forearm across my chest before I can blink. My eyes are wide. I am defenceless. I grip his forearm with both hands, trying to tear it off, scratching him. This does not bother him. My legs kick at him, but he presses his body against mine to pin my legs down. I throw my head back and catch him under the chin.

He grunts, but does not loosen his hold. Instead, using his other hand he rips off my veil. I barely have my eyes squeezed shut. It is off, my veil is off.

The King says nothing, he makes no sound. The only movement is that of my chest underneath his forearm and the sounds of my gasping attempts to breathe through my fear.

I do not dare open my eyes.

It is utterly silent apart from the occasional popping from the fire. I flinch, turning my head as he begins touching my face. He traces across my cheek bones and chin, across my forehead down my jaw, ignoring my efforts to throw him off by shaking my head side to side.

“Open your eyes,” he says in a hoarse voice.

I am not going anywhere until he lets me go. I open my eyes and look up at him. He reels from me so quickly I nearly fall over.

I scrabble to collect the fur from the floor as it drops to the ground without his forearm to hold it in place. I stand up, unable to meet his eyes after his view of my nakedness. He is completely silent. I finally look up and am surprised by his look of absolute shock. His eyes only leave mine to look at the veil in his hands. His mouth hangs open.

I don’t know how long we stand there, but my hands start shaking from the tension. King Jovan swallows hard, I notice he is no longer swaying. My face has shocked him out of whatever ailed him.

“You must wear your veil,” he says.

I nod, my eyebrows furrow in confusion, which turns swiftly to anger. Why do people keep saying that to me, or dying?

He rushes me again, slamming me against the wall and gripping my throat. His eyes are wild and unrestrained like an animal.

“Do not test me. Your life is forfeit if I so much as detect you have twitched your veil without my permission,” he spits.

There is a second where I think he must truly be able to read my mind, then I see his eyes flicking across my face and realise I have forgotten to filter the expression on my face. I’m so used to the veil concealing it. He must have seen my anger.

His threat bounces off me. I have no doubt he will do exactly as he says, but my mother has used these words so often they have lost their effectiveness.

“Do you understand?” He shakes me, yelling in my face. My eyes flash up to his. Without my veil I am able to see his face clearly in the light of the fire. With him this close I can see the individual lashes around his eyes which remind me so much of Kedrick.

I sigh. “I had not been planning to take it off anyway, King Jovan, but you have made yourself clear.” I look directly into his eyes as I say this.

His gaze flickers down and then back up to my eyes again. He releases his grip and pushes the veil into my hand. He does not wait to see if I put it back on. With one last murderous look he stalks out of the room and is gone with the same slamming of the door he came in with.

I replace my veil in a daze, trying to absorb what just happened. I locate the wooden band across the room and push it over my head. As I do, my anger fails me and utter devastation fills me. Three people have seen my face, one is dead and the others both threatened to kill me. King Jovan is more similar to my mother than I had thought.

All my loneliness and heartache, and all my worries and sorrows rain down on me when I attempt to sleep once more. I have not cried more than a few tears since Kedrick’s death, but now, in the lonely dark, I sob until falling into an exhausted sleep.

I’m unable to lift my spirits. I recognise my dejection, but am at a loss of what to do about it. Between the happenings with my mother a few months ago and Kedrick’s death, I wonder if King Jovan’s words were my breaking point.

My friends know something is wrong. I respond quietly to their inquiries about my mood and health, but I wish they’d stop asking. Rhone offers to take me on a sled ride, I decline.

I jump when Sanjay slams his fists down on the table. “Tell us what’s wrong,” he demands. The others look at me, body language expectant. 

“Nothing Sanjay, I am f-” I start.

“Don’t tell us you are fucking fine again,” he says, red creeping up his neck in the tell-tale sign he is angry. “You’re not
.
”

Unable to summon enough energy to argue with him, I get up from the table and leave the hall. I just need a day to crawl into a hole and recover.

My new guards follow me. I wonder how severely the other guards were hurt.

I spend several days in my room, only going out for meals, and even then I don’t eat, I just watch for the hawk to reappear. Enough time has passed now for a second reply to have arrived. But there have been no more messages since the last, unless they are being received somewhere else. Not knowing what is happening between our worlds is worrying me to the point of it being overwhelming.

I sit on the long seat in my room where the King had sat not long ago himself. I stare at the arrow tail, hoping an answer will suddenly jump out at me. Every passing day makes me feel like the trail is growing colder, slipping out of my grasp. Apart from narrowing it down to the delegates and staying alive, I have not made any headway with finding Kedrick’s killer. What if the next message asks for my return to Osolis and the King grants it? I feel I’m failing Kedrick, disrespecting his memory, but I honestly don’t know how to go about tracking the assassin down. And how would I get away even if I did kill them? The weather was getting more and more violent as we moved further through the third sector. The howling wind was a constant background noise. Like Osolis, the fourth sector here was unliveable, though I wondered how it could possibly get any colder than it was now. I wouldn’t be able to take two steps in this weather without getting lost.

A pounding on the door startles me from my gloomy thoughts.

I tense, thinking it might be King Jovan, but the door does not crash open so I rise and look out through a crack. Fiona and Sanjay stand outside.

“You
are
alive.” Sanjay throws his hands in the air, his voice echoes down the hallway.

“As you see,” I respond with narrowed eyes.

Fiona elbows Sanjay and he mutters, “Ouch”, before he continues. “You are summoned to the meeting room,” he says.

I swallow. King Jovan has decided I cannot be trusted to keep my veil on. Is he going to kill me after all? I can think of no other reason he would want to see me. I nod, my eyes wide.

I return to the bed for my coat.

Sanjay and Fiona lead me to the meeting room. Sanjay slaps her bottom as she moves in front of him down the stairs. She giggles in response, throwing a grin over her shoulder.

This is nothing compared to what I have seen in the food hall. Sometimes people are all but making children on the table tops. But in these situations there are always other people around. It is very awkward being the only other person here while they do this.

We continue on in this uncomfortable way until Sanjay looks over his shoulder at me and bursts out laughing.

“My love, the Tatuma is not used to such affection. We must save it for tonight,” Fiona hushes him. I clear my throat and do not say anything.

Sanjay is still laughing at me as we reach the room.

“Stop it,” I snap over my shoulder as we enter the room. “I do not care that you touched your wife’s bottom.” I turn to look at the room.

“Surprise!” A room full of people yell at me. My hands fly up to protect my face as I jump back from the onslaught of noise.

Sanjay howls with laughter behind me.

I look around the room in utter shock.

All of the delegates are here with their wives and children. They’re all laughing at my fright like it’s a joke. My eyes move over the rest of the room. The stone table of the meeting ring is laden with food and bright material has been thrown over the chairs.

“Why did you do that to me? What is this?” I ask, stepping further into the room, my heart still galloping in my chest.

“It is a surprise birthday party,” Malir says.

I frown. “It is not my birthday today. It is not until the end of the first.”

“We know,” Adnan says with crossed arms. “You neglected to mention it on the stairway.” I’m baffled by the set of his shoulders.

I struggle to understand. “You are…annoyed I didn’t tell you?” I ask. I glance at the other delegate’s, finding they all echo Adnan’s disapproval, some of their wives are shaking their heads.

I pull back as I contemplate their reactions. What had Kedrick said about birthdays? I can only remember him commenting on them once, when he had noted he would be missing my birthday and how unreasonably sad he had been about it.

“Birthdays are big here,” Sole says, even his voice is slightly lowered in disapproval.

Hilarity bubbles up within me at his words. I have grown to like Sole a lot more now that Blaine is not around. He is more upright and confident. I bite the inside of my cheek to stop my laughter from escaping. I don’t want to offend them, but this situation is utterly bizarre. “I beg your forgiveness for this gross oversight. I hope because I was a prisoner and had nearly snapped my wrist off, you might see past this grievous error.”

The wives nod their heads and murmur their forgiveness, quite solemnly, while the delegates who have spent time on Osolis do not stir from their disapproval. They know I’m laughing at them. What Solati would not? The big, raw Bruma love a good birthday celebration? I would have found it easier to imagine Olandon working in the orphanage.

I look at the men, their faces are averted. Adnan gives me a small smile which does not reach his eyes. My shoulders shake a little with suppressed laughter. They will only get angrier if I laugh at them. I put a hand to my chest.

“I’m sorry. Truly,” I choke out in strangled voice. Though still suspicious, this seems to mollify them a little. I attempt to compose myself as Jacqueline, Roman’s wife, steps forward.

“Stop sulking you lot. She has apologised and I am sure she won’t do it again.” To me she says, “There is not much to do here in the cold. Birthdays are treasured, as well as other occasions.”

“A birthday would have broken up the monotony of the stairway nicely,” Roman mutters, then winces as Jacqueline hits him in the back of the head.

“So. You scare people on their birthdays?” I ask. This is a completely foreign notion to me, ridiculous even, but I reserve judgement for the moment. I can certainly see why they would want a break from the monotony of the weather.

“It is more considered a thrill,” she says. “I take it Solati do not celebrate birthdays?”

I shake my head. “Only the eighteenth birthday or on your revolution day family and friends will acknowledge the passing.” Jacqueline nods, but I think I have lost her. She looks like Ochave when I was explaining how Osolis rotated. Fiona has joined us and overheard the last part. Her eyes are wide in disbelief.

“Thank you for this.” I wave around the room and force down another giggle. “You did not need to go to this trouble. My birthday was long ago.”

“The other women and I have been busy all morning,” Fiona says as she steps into the middle of the stone ring table. She gestures to a group of women who stand in the room and they all busy themselves.

I move around the room as introductions are made, not knowing what to do to help the other women. Tomi’s small son particularly likes me and follows me around the room, sitting on my lap when I stop to rest.

“Time for presents, Tatuma,” Sanjay says, his voice high pitched in excitement. I laugh and think of how fond I have grown of these people. I haven’t thought of them as my kidnappers since we first stepped foot on Glacium. Somehow, despite me never being able to make friends before, they have become just that. It seems silly that they are still addressing me so formally.

“You must stop calling me Tatuma,” I blurt out, wincing a little as the delegates hush and turn to me. The wives and children look at them with confusion, not understanding the importance of this.

“You may call me Olina now.” I nod to them and one by one they bow to me as is Solati custom.

“We are honoured, Olina. Thank you.” Malir quickly explains the importance to the others.

Sole and Tomi come forward with a pile of bright parcels.

“What are these?” I ask.

“Presents!” Cameron, Tomi’s boy squeals from my side.

“Gifts,” Rhone grunts.

I gasp. “Presents. Kedrick talked of these. They are all for me?” I ask looking around the room. Smiles and laughter are the response.

“You take off the paper,” Adnan prompts. Sanjay sniggers.

I roll my eyes. “Yes, I know that.”

I pull the bright material off the first parcel, inside is a new set of clothing. It is woman’s clothing made in a child’s size. The neckline is low, I worry a bit about how much of my chest will show, but I admire the quality and feel of them. They are soft and lined with fur, I know they will be warm.

“They are beautiful, who made these?” I ask.

Fiona blushes. “I did. It’s why your party is later than we would have liked, I had to finish making these.”

“It astonishes me that you can do this with your hands.” I marvel.

“She can do a lot more than that with her hands!” Sanjay says. The others in the room laugh as Fiona cuffs him around the ears. I’m a bit wiser now and my cheeks heat, having an idea what he means.

I go through gift after gift. The delegates have been thoughtful and given me presents I need to help with the cold. Boots, a coat, a furry thing which apparently goes on my head to keep it warm. Sleeping clothes, which I clutch in relief. No more naked midnight visits, thank Solis. They give me a game called cards, and Malir’s wife, Sadra, offers to show me some games. I had always loved the games back at the palace. Olandon and I had played them often. It would be nice to take back some new games to show my brothers. I offer to show Sadra some of the games we play on Osolis in return. Several of the women murmur their interest at this.

After the presents are done, I am directed to the food. I move towards my usual pear.

“You can’t eat a pear
again
,” Sanjay scoffs. “No wonder you don’t grow. This is a birthday party, you’re meant to stuff your face.”

“I don’t know what the other food is,” I say honestly, though I’m sure I would still eat the pear anyway. We do not eat a lot of meat on Osolis and I have found the majority of the Bruma diet is made up of it.

Sanjay looks up at Roman, his mouth a grim line. “Roman?”

Roman takes over. Having wondered about his role on Osolis, I am soon told he is in charge of food resources on Glacium. Though he is not a minister. Maybe he works for the food minister. I tuck this confusing thought away for later.

He prepares a plate with a selection of food arranged in bite size. I try them one at a time, people laughing when I do not enjoy the food and cheering when I do. My cheeks hurt from the laughing after a while.

“No more,” I say. “I swear I cannot eat another bite.”

“I’ve been impressed you’ve eaten half of what you have. I don’t know where it has all gone.” Roman laughs and takes a large sip from his goblet. I have noticed most of the adults here are drinking the same substance. Their cheeks have been growing steadily redder and their movements have grown more erratic, similar to King Jovan’s a few nights before. The voices in the room are loud and shouting now. I even saw Malir’s hand disappear up Sadra’s skirt before, and he has never shown any affection in the food hall before. There must be something in the goblets.

Fiona and Jacqueline sit next to me singing a bawdy song.

Adnan stands on a chair, wobbling slightly. I worry he will fall, but the others do not appear concerned, so I shrug it off.

“To the Tatuma!” He shouts. I laugh at the loud sound coming from Adnan, who I have always found quiet.

“She said to call her Olina now, fool,” someone shouts from the back.

Adnan pats the air several times. “That’s what I meant. I want to wish a happy belated birthday to Olina! Raise your drink.” I look around me as everyone holds their goblet in the air.

“I don’t have one,” I yell over the noise.

“Get the woman a drink!” Malir roars to the laughter of the others, even Rhone cracks a small smile. A large glass of the drink is shoved into my hand by Roman. Some splashes onto my boots. 

“Where was I?” Adnan squints, swaying on the chair.

“Bloody hell, get it done before dinner, man,” Jacqueline shouts. I giggle at Adnan’s consternation. His brow clears as he remembers.

“A toast! To Olina. On her birthday!” There is a cheer at his words and everyone tips back their glass. Some only take a gulp, others like Sanjay and Roman, drink the whole cup. I bring the cup under my veil and swallow a large gulp. My eyes widen as the liquid burns its way down my throat. I manage to keep from spitting it out, barely. I cough and gasp for air. The Bruma find this hilarious. The room is filled with their laughter and the sound of a door crashing open.