Page 94 of A Requiem of Fire and Ice

I slide on the knee-high tight red boots and stomp inside them, muttering my irritation. Although I shouldn’t act so bitterly, considering it’s what I want. There’s a slight chance of winning against Prince Reen in our match if he grows some sort of fucking bond. He can hesitate, and that’s my chance to go in for the kill.

Is it a foolproof plan? Fuck no. But it’s the only one I've got.

I tie my hair in a high ponytail, slide creamy foundation over my face, thicken my lashes, and glide matte red lipstick on my lips to look the part. There’s a definite difference when I peek in the mirror that I covered with the towel. A shift in appearance makes me look sophisticated and intelligent, which is laughable because, in Prince Reen’s presence, I am half as bright as I want to be. So, I play the games my parents taught me, even if they’re sickening.

Prince Reen waits on the deck. His red eyes glance in my direction momentarily before he stares back out at the cloudy white sea. He wears a black coat buttoned over a red shirt and denim-grey jeans.

I stand beside him. His heat ripples, creeping across his shoulders like another layer of him that gives off a defensive mechanism to anyone who grows too close. As much as I hate the heat and everything to do with it, his warmth feels heavenly against the antsy, rigid chill from nowhere. No wind brushes against me to take a bite of coolness, and the air has no life or sound to silence the beating of my erratic, tense heart.

“I want you two to hold hands,” Alad says, causing Prince Reen to curl his lip in disdain. “We want it to seem like you two are together and not that Pandora might be the ice elemny in disguise. Also, call him Reen from now on—at least in front of listening ears.”

I blanch. “Fine.”

Prince Reen doesn’t move to take my hand. It stays by his side, so it fucking means I need to make the first move. But do I want to when Alad had a damn conversation with Astin about Prince Reen’s thirst for blood to spurt from his hands?

Taking a deep breath, I move my hand towards his hand, and the warmth spreads almost immediately until my fingertips throb. His long, slender fingers glide over mine, enveloping them in his large hand. Prince Reen’s thumb taps against the back of my hand, and when I look up after staring for a moment at the thumping rhythm, I notice his eyes narrowing and searching the sea of clouds.

I do the same.

The clouds don’t part when Alad tells us we have docked. We move down the ramp. Murmured conversations slip through the thickened white air, sending me more on edge because I can’t see where they’re coming from.

Through the veil of mist, red, blue, green, and white glowing lights pulsate. Ignoring the crowded line appearing through the clouds, we move through while guards on either side eye us with curiosity before the whiteness consumes them as we walk further ahead.

When we’re on the other side, my eyes widen at the diamond-shaped glass dome structure showcasing a blue, cloudless sky. Air elemny float in the sky, defying gravity, causing a stir among elemny from other elements inside the Tumul Hall.

Light floods the outside of Tumul Hall and soaks across my skin. A delicate breeze brushes against my face as I officially step inside the Kingdom of Cloud. There are more elemny in the air than on the ground.

Buildings glisten, shining and reflecting the sky off the mirrored structures. Every shop, store and home we move across oozes with money, glamorous and expensive items that empty pockets as soon as they set their sights on them. Even the floral shops have flowers made of fine, fragile glass, creating timeless beauty that couples gravitate toward because they want a flower that will last them forever.

“You should take your time before getting to the Toshiharu estate,” Alad says while Astin moves through the air in case of an attack. “Buy something for her to solidify that you two are in love.”

Prince Reen grunts, which means, “Fuck off, Alad”.

I beam a smile. “Can we look at the flowers, Reen?”

Red eyes, filled with nothing but death, roll in my direction, but I hold my own against him. He can’t kill me now. It won’t satisfy him, and we both know it. So, why not push a little so I can at least explore a world I never got to know?

Alad breathes a laugh. “It sounds like a marvellous idea, don’t you think, Prince Reen?”

“Fuck off, both of you,” Prince Reen mutters. “Fuck everything about you two and your manipulative ways when I can’t do fucking shit. Egotistical, obnoxiously arrogant ice elemny who⁠—”

I grab his arm and pull him toward the florist, abruptly ripping him away from his tangent before he erupts the kingdom with black fire, chaos, ash, bones, and decay.

A woman wearing a white dress that hugs her figure smiles at me…until she sees who’s attached to me. Her wide, brimming smile falters when she sees the Prince of Big Dick Energy and takes a cautious step away.

Still holding Prince Reen’s hand, I lean down, marvelling at the crystal flowers glowing in an assortment of colours. My focus settles on a violet bellflower glimmering on a glass-green stem. It’s beautiful.

Straightening up, I lean against Prince Reen’s shoulder, point to the flower and say, “Can I have that one, please?”

My smile broadens when he mutters his complaints. The woman says it’s free, but Prince Reen tosses her a few notes, plucks the flower from the others and hands it to me before it turns into a sloppy, melting mess.

Alad appears beside me and says, “Did you want me to care for it while you two roam, Lady Pandora?”

Lady Pandora? Is it customary to give me a title, even with a prince who has no claim to the crown?

Huh…I actually don’t mind it.

Alad moves behind us again when I hand him the glass flower.