Meeting the king

Inside the castle walls it's cold, empty but it was home for the royal family. The king was standing in the throne room starting out from a large window with his arms crossed. His eyes stared at the white landscape that has once been green and lively. But he thought how it is now was much better. How the sunlight touches the surface of the snow and makes it glow, it's almost blinding. Yet the white landscape he loved so much still felt incredibly empty…

"Your majesty" The king's thoughts were interrupted and he turned towards the voice, seeing Julian standing proudly with a bruise on his cheek.

"You look worse than usual" With a sigh he turned his gaze back at the snow covered mountains. The man chuckled and walked closer.

"You know the incident last night? Boats stolen, every single creature gone. I think I know who it was, the one who left this impressive bruise." The king still felt uninterested and sighed, thinking about the angry crowd in the city. They never stopped complaining.

"What about him?"

"It wasn't a he but a she. With those specific features you told me to keep a close eye on. Ears like an Axolotl. Scaly skin, reptile-like eyes and shades of blue and purple. Ring a bell your majesty?" His eyes slowly widened as he turned towards Julian who had a pleased smile on his lips and a sadistic look in his eyes.

"Not only that. Her face was familiar… Like I've seen it everyday. Oh… Why is it the woman in the ice sculpture." The king couldn't help but smile and shake his head. He walked past Julian and towards the ice sculpture close to his throne. He desperately tried to hold onto the tingling feeling he felt everytime he looked at the woman's face. His dear Sofie…

"It's funny… How over all these years, I was certain that I have banished all of them. That they no longer existed nor remembered. And only one survived?" He turned back towards Julian while an elegant smile was perfectly placed on his face.

"You know I hate lies Julian."

"Your majesty, I have learned my lesson and I promise, I will never lie to you." He bowed and looked down.

"She exists, and I have witnesses. Everyone in the city can confirm they have seen a blue haired girl. However she disguised the rest of her features." Before Julian could continue, a royal guard marched in and bowed as well then waited for permission to speak. Julian slowly stood up and moved to the side, leaning towards the wall.

"You may speak"

"Your majesty, Theelia's and Onyx's chosen ones are here."

"What a pleasant surprise, they must be here to stop this nonsense with those creatures." The king smiled and gestured to let the two of them in. The guard bowed once again before leaving. The king moved towards his throne and sat down.

"I'll return at a later time then" Said Julian and bowed, about to leave the throne room where he passed by the mentioned "champions". He couldn't help but smirk as he passed by them. Poor them, dragged into business they aren't even part of, just because their god decided to use them as their puppet.

"King Roland Selander. Introducing Cashimir Havenbow, chosen by the goddess Theelia and Helene Nightwish, chosen by the god Onyx." The royal guard bowed after he made a formal introduction and Cashimir assumed they should as well so he followed the guards actions. Afterwards he observed the king in front of them and felt a slight surprise. He always thought kings were round with a large beard. But King Roland was extremely thin, his expression lacking emotion despite smiling. Something in his eyes was lacking and he felt just as cold as the environment. His hair was short and light. He couldn't decide if it was blond or just silver.

"Welcome Cashimir and Helene. I assume both of you are tired so please let me offer you two a room to stay in here at the palace. Then we can speak business tomorrow" Cashimir nor Helene had the time to reject the offer while the king already gave the order to the guard.

"Please let me father '' A female voice came out of nowhere just as they were about to follow the royal guard out of the room. The king just smiled and shook his head.

"Eavesdropping is not very princess like darling. You are old enough to know that." The princess who spoke up appeared from the shadows, her hands were clasped together and she seemed extremely nervous and shy. Helene couldn't take her eyes off of her though. Something about her aura captivated her. She was wearing a beautiful light blue sparkly dress and her hair was long and wavy. She was also wearing a matching pair of short gloves. The king eventually signed and dismissed the guard.

"Go ahead my dear." The princess made her way towards the two of them and straightened her back to appear a bit taller and more elegant while her hands were still in the same position. Cashimir made a quick glance at the king and noticed how his smile slowly began to fade and he looked extremely bored.

The only sound the princess made was from how her heels made contact with the floor which echoed in the hallways. Helene's eyes were still locked on the princess, watching how her wavy hair was bouncing as she walked. Then the princess stopped in front of two doors which looked different from the other doors. They didn't look like they were out of ice or glass. But dark wood.

"They are the warmest rooms in the castle. I didn't want my father to put you into the most elegant rooms since everything is made out of ice." The princess finally spoke, did a quick bow before she was making her way back. Cashimir thanked her before stepping inside the room which was indeed much warmer. Helene however didn't enter hers.

"Princess…" The sound from her heels stopped and the princess slowly turned around. Helene was able to catch a quick glimpse of the princess' eyes which were ice blue. The princess however quickly looked away when their eyes met.

"You should head inside." Helene was speechless, not knowing how to act. She wanted to ask her name but the girl disappeared before Helene could even form a sentence. Helene sighed as she entered her room and threw her witch hat on the bed before running her fingers through her thick curly hair and cursed under her breath.

She was at least lucky enough that she didn't reach the inn to leave her belongings, it would be a pain to go out in the cold again to bring everything. She sat down on the bed and shook her head as she pulled out the gift from Onyx. It was glowing more than usual and she slowly opened the book, hoping the pages weren't blank. Her heart sank when the pages were still empty… As she was about to close the book, words began to appear. Her eyes widened as she quickly opened it.

"Ice. The princess. Freedom. Magic. Loneliness. Regret. Love" Simple words like that appeared in the book. Nothing about her destiny, nothing about how she is supposed to serve her god or save the world… Just that she might fall in love with this shy and ice cold princess… Disappointedly closing the book, she slowly fell back on the bed and began to play with her hair. Currently, her source of happiness is that she doesn't have to sleep on the dirty ground anymore but on a warm cozy bed.