Caspian
The entirety of Frostfang has gathered for his departure.Dressed in their furs, they’ve marched from the capital to the bluff, a sharp cliff that overlooks the sea. There isn’t a breeze. It’s as if even the wind has paused to pay its respects. The ocean is so still I can see the reflection of the fading pink sun.
A small boat drifts out to sea. Irahn is finally at rest, hands crossed over his chest on his sword. The sword he’ll never swing again.
I don’t join the crowd but sit on the edge of the cliff above the ceremony. The people of Winter would not welcome me. Not when it was my mother who brought this fate to him.
Why do I even try? I’ll never be one of them. Never belong.
Wrapping my cloak tighter around myself, I turn my attention to the front of the crowd. Keldarion leads the procession, Rosalina at his side. The other three princes march behind them. A strange pang hits me in the chest, something that I never thought I’d experience when looking at her.
Jealousy.
Rosalina is everything I could never give him. Everything I can never be. Beautiful, kind, the right heritage. Someone the people of Winter can look at beside their high ruler and feel hope, not despair or disgust.
Not that Keldarion ever cared about that. Often, he disregarded the opinions of his realm and stood beside the Prince of the Below.And look at how that worked out for him.
For years, they whispered he was in league with the Below. They whisper it now. Even perched on the side of the mountain, I hear it, and I know he can hear it too. I’m sure it’s only Rosalina’s hand squeezing his that helps block out the noise.
“How could he have let Irahn fall? Was he not powerful enough to stop it?”
“He invited the Below in like last time.”
“Have you heard? The Prince of Thorns is back. The high prince is in league with the Below. Again!”
“Keldarion is not worthy to be high prince.”
I grit my teeth and throw my hood over my head, trying to ignore the insistent chatter. Of all their claims, none is more false than saying Kel is unworthy.
I’ve known it since I fell beaten and bloodied at the gates of Castletree and he first held me in his arms.I need your help, I had said, thinking it was a lie.
Only he had helped me. Helped me in ways I didn’t even realize were possible.
The High Prince of Winter showed me what it was like to love, what real friends were, and what it meant to be a hero. Because that was what he always was from the very beginning: shining silver, with an air that drew people in.
I saw in him what it meant to be a leader. Kel was so different from my mother, from even his own father. The citizens loved him, respected him.
And I so desperately wanted to be saved by him.
But you broke him, my mind spits.
Tears spill down my face, freezing almost immediately on my cheeks. Through my blurred vision, I watch as Rosalina and Keldarion draw their bows. Farron steps forward and ignites both arrows in flame. In perfect synchronicity, the arrows fly into the sky and land on the boat, lighting Irahn’s final passage.
It would have been better if you died in the Below.
Drawing my knees to my chest, I bury my head in my hands, blocking out the view of the princes of Castletree and Rosalina embracing.You don’t belong with them.
My thoughts consume me. I shouldn’t be here. I’m barely holding on to control. Sooner or later, they’ll all suffer because of me. I’ll hurt Rosalina. I’ve already ruined Kel’s life; it’s only a matter of time before I ruin hers as well.
The icy air burns my throat as I gasp for breath. My body shakes. I reach into my pocket, searching for a handkerchief, but my fingers brush something wooden. A small camel.Why did you give this back to me, Anya? After all these years, what does it mean?
“Is this seat taken?”
I shoot my head up, blinking through my blurred vision. A bundle of fur with a large hat trudges up beside me. His cheeks are red, but his blue eyes—such familiar blue eyes—are bright.
I wipe my nose. “I was actually saving that icy slab of rock for the abominable snowman, but he hasn’t shown up yet.”
“Abominable,” George says, settling next to me with a huff. “That’s a human legend.”
