~ The Desire to Kill ~

Ezekiel was busy patrolling the ballroom when he first noticed the cloaked boy who watched Princess Winter obsessively. His eyes were glazed with admiration, making him seem dangerously and frighteningly obsessed with the silver-haired wolf tamer. Ezekiel dismissed this at first. The banquet was being held for the twins, after all, so it wouldn't be abnormal for people to be smitten with them. But as the hours passed, the boy's gaze didn't falter even once. His stare devoured everything the Princess did and said obsessively. It made Ezekiel feel sick.

Ever since the apple tree incident, Ezekiel had grown rather close to Princess Winter over the past few days leading up to the banquet. Although he was five years older than her, she treated him like he was a child and it amused him. He picked up on the way she interacted with people around her, only breaking her mask of coldness whenever she was around Aiden.

Snowflake, like Winter, clearly hated other people. At first, being around the wolf put him on edge. Snowflake often bared his teeth at Ezekiel and growled at him aggressively. But after a while, they became used to each other's presence. They didn't like one another, but they respected each other. Ezekiel quickly cast the thoughts away. Thinking about how eerily humanlike the wolf was gave him goosebumps.

"Emris." Ezekiel said while scanning his surroundings. "Is it just me, or does that cloaked boy seem suspicious to you?"

Emris frowned. "I noticed it too, but I believe he's an envoy from the neighbouring Empire. You can tell by the pattern on his cloak."

"It's bothering me."

"It's alright." Emris said with a slight chuckle. "The Princess is next to His Majesty. There's no one more capable of protecting her than him. Besides, that demon looking wolf can probably put up a nasty fight as well. Gave me a bit of a fright when I first saw the small Princess parading around with it in her arms."

Ezekiel watched from a distance as the monstrous creature with venomous teeth cuddled into the Princess' lap. Its red eyes shone brightly like the apples from that one afternoon. Ezekiel cursed silently as he began to blush. Just why was he feeling this way?

"Ah," Emris let out a sigh. "Let's head on up there. It looks like the envoys are gonna great the King."

"Didn't you say the Princess was safe up there?"

Emris hesitated. "It's not the Princess that I'm worried about. If the King spills one of the envoys' blood it could result in a war between our Empires."

~***~

Winter glared at the men who bowed before them. Snowflake let out a deep throat growl. The sound was deep and menacing, a sound reflecting primal savagery and worse than that, it sounded like a warning. Snowflake bared his teeth, forming a threatening reaction to the men who were approaching. The King, who watched the ferocious animal assume a defensive position, smirked. Clearly the breathing floor rug felt it too. An immense magical power. Aiden slipped his hand into Winter's and glared at the men wearily.

"We greet His Majesty, the King, and the Royal Princes and Princess of the Empire." One of the envoys said. "We would like to present the Princess and Prince with gifts to celebrate their return."

One of the envoys knelt before Winter and presented a finely decorated paper box. He opened it to reveal a beautiful silver plated necklace with carefully cut blue diamonds and intricately arranged white ones. The necklace sparkled under the gleaming chandelier lights. It looked heavy enough to break Winter's neck. She clicked her tongue and gazed into Snowflake's menacing red eyes. They held a foreign expression that she had never seen before. He shook his head side to side, almost as if he was warning her.

She looked at the envoy with irritated eyes and said impatiently, "No thanks, I'd rather not break my neck."

Lysander instantly erupted into a fit of unstoppable laughter. The King's eyes gleamed with amusement at the envoys, watching their next moves carefully. The entire ballroom became filled with stifled laughter and distant whispers.

The necklace contained heavy traces of magic. There were several spells added to jewellery nowadays to make it shine brighter or last longer, but whether it was good or bad magic didn't matter. Accepting a necklace laced with magic alone was dangerous already. The King wasn't surprised by Winter's answer at all. She was given several necklaces after her arrival, but never wore a single one. She hated heavy jewellery and overly fancy clothing.

"If Winter's not accepting her gift, then I won't accept mine either." Aiden said while making a sour expression and playing with Winter's fingers.

"I do apologize," Somebody else spoke up. He was a young boy who looked about the same age as Ezekiel. His hair was a strange shade of navy blue bordering black and his eyes reminded Winter of storm clouds. "My name is Prince Henrik de Aurosilio. If the gifts we prepared were not to Her Highness' liking, then I will be sure to send over something more suitable to her tastes. A ring, perhaps?"

The King's eyes gleamed with the desire to spill blood. A ring was sent with the intention of engaging and marrying a lady in future. Winter was barely nine. The King debated murdering the child right then and there. Sure it would start a war between the two Empires, but his fingertips itched with the desire to kill. He glared at the wolf who clearly emitted the same aura of bloodlust as he did. What if he fed Henrik to Snowflake and made it look like an accident?

The silver-haired girl and her wolf watched the envoys with menacing eyes. "Instead of a ring, send me a phoenix."

Winter couldn't hide her sinister smile. She gently pet Snowflake's fur and he relaxed under her soft touch. She briefly remembered that in the novel there was one phoenix left in the mortal world. It was a majestic bird with rich red and gold plumage that lived in the Arabian desert. In other words, it was impossible to find. Several men journeyed in search of it, but died painful deaths from the desert heat. The phoenix was simply unattainable and impossible to catch or covet. She basically told Prince Henrik that she would never marry him.

Prince Henrik smiled dangerously. "Very well then."