Jacob offers me a smile, nodding to the other three. “A magic wielder, aye? I haven’t met a mage in a long time. One of my little girls, we think she might be gifted. But she’s too young for us to know for sure.”
“I’ve only ever heard of magic manifesting in the Snow Queen or Icebound spirits of the north,” Lucius adds, pressing his fingers to his chin. “Interesting.”
With guarded eyes, I look over the four of them again. I’m not going to answer that.
The scenery shifts, twisting the memory, and I can almost feel the phantom echo of the ground shaking from thegiant who followed me here. The giant I was escaping from in the Frostlands, the one who bested me.
Briefly, images of Ray’s younger brother, Thomas, flicker through my mind. I’ve known Thomas since he was a boy, and now he's a man. A dying man. If I could see the Shadow Man at this moment…
Things are out of order in my memories now, like my past and present are mixing together.
“He’s a prince,” Ray snickers, his young, unbothered face grinning at me as the trio of friends share their stories. He’s pointing to Lucius, who tries to hide behind the wings.
“Barely,” Lucius hisses. “A Lord, maybe.”
“You live in a castle,” Zarev argues, his eyebrows lifting. When he’s not busy being so serious, he’s just an average kid. “With servants.”
“Staff,” Lucius corrects.
“Villagers depend on you,” Ray continues. We’re in the old tavern, the place that Dahlia built with Jacob before he died. The images of Thomas slip away, returning to my friends at the age I met them.
“You two exaggerate,” Lucius says, turning his attention to me. “My parents have… money. But they aren’t royalty. I’m not a prince. We help the people who live near us. The thorny vines that grow around the perimeter of Notre Dame keep our enemies out. Separates us from enemies like Camelot.”
That means nothing to me. “I don’t know Notre Dame.”
Lucius narrows his eyes, still stirring his food. “It’s Thornton Palace now. The bell tower is too damaged to use.”
“So, Ban, you said you were from the Frostlands?” Ray nudges Lucius’s arm, but it doesn’t get him to back down.
Pursing my lips, I almost don’t respond. But it’ll just come up again, and for the most part, these people seem nice. “I am.”
“People don’t come from the Frostlands often to Sherwood,” Zarev argues, crossing his arms. “Icicle Pass is brutal.”
“You’ve been?” It comes out like a challenge.
He scowls, shaking his head. “I don’t want to go up north. It’s really cold, and there are beasts up there.”
“Icebound spirits and bears,” Lucius supplies. He seems to drop in little facts as he sees fit.
I nod. “Yeah, that’s right. And giants.”
“Giants are in Sherwood, too,” Ray says with a shrug. “And Ravens Wood. I heard they even have some in Tressa.”
“And how would you know what’s in Tressa?” Jacob calls from the kitchen. “You’ve never been past the wall.”
“Neither have you,” Zarev calls back, and I feel like I’m missing something. I have no idea what wall they are referring to.
“You’re from the Frostlands?” a little girl asks, coming over to me. I know they introduced her, but for the life of me, I can’t remember her name apart from the rest of the younger children.
I nod. “Yes.”
“I wish I could go to the Frostlands,” she says dreamily, leaning against the table. “I bet it's beautiful.”
“It’s cold,” I say.
“Genny,” Ray says through gritted teeth, “don’t bother him.”
She sticks her tongue out before going back to the food. “Don’t hog him.”
