Cold, so cold. Aelin had forgotten what warmth felt like. She had forgotten what it felt like to be dry. Her thin night dress did nothing to stop the flow of water that roared past her skin. If only the river was ice, then she could lay down.
Aelin's arms and legs had long since gone numb. She no longer had control over her body, and her mind was slowly slipping away.
Not the worst way to die. Much better then my parents.
And with that last thought, the rightful Queen of Terrasen caved into the darkness.
Aelin laughed. She had never been good bending her magic to do little tricks. But Dan, one of courtier's sons, was particularly good and spinning the lights that came off his hands into beautiful pictures. The Princess's magic always came out in the form of flames: hot and burning, consuming anything it touched.
"Again, again! Oh, please Dan, please do that one again!" The young boy laughed. "As you wish, Princess." Aelin waited as patiently as she could, knowing that it took great concentration for Dan to make even the smallest of images.
A small orb of light appeared in the palm of Dan's outstretched hands. It pulsed, grew, and delicately branched out to make a perfect picture of Aelin's dog, Swiftpaws. Aelin gasped. Even though she often had Dan create these small light displace, she always found them too stunning for words.
Dan smiled. Even though they wore him out, he never said no when Aelin asked him to perform. Dan had tried to show the princess how to make a small image, but the result ended up being the destruction of her small wooden table that sat by her reading chair in her quarters. After that one try, the Princess didn't pursue the art.
Aelin looked up at Dan's face. It was beaded with sweat and contorted into a look of mass concentration. Aelin looked back down at her dog just as it flickered out.
"Sorry. Lost control of it. A little too tired." Dan said, nearly falling over. Aelin barely had time to catch her friend. "Don't apologize! You should have stopped before you got so tired!" Dan gave her a sheepish look.
"Guards!" Aelin called out. There was no way she was going to be able to support Dan much longer, and it looked like he might have to go take a nap. The Princess frowned. As much as she loved Dan's lights, she hated how much energy it took out of him. She'd have to be more careful next time, and only ask for one or two small pictures so that Dan wouldn't pass out.
Two guards came running from around the corner. Even though Aelin spent most of her time in the small garden maze behind the palace, most of the guards still couldn't always find their way to her when she called.
"I'm alright, it's just Dan." The two guards looked down at the boy Aelin was supporting. They looked a little amused at the sight of the two children, but they didn't say anything. The two lifted up Dan between them and half carried, have dragged the boy towards the general location of the castle. It never surprised any of the guards that their princess often spent her time with anyone and everyone her age, even the stable boys. For Aelin was an only child, and her parents could not spend all of their days keeping their daughter occupied. So, the Princess found company wherever she went. She knew most of the palace guards' names, and was good friends with most of the maid staff. She tried to stay out of the kitchen because all the flames were too stimulating for her power, but she still knew everyone in them. And so the small Princess went around each day getting to know the castle and its staff a little bit better.
The people loved Aelin, as she loved them: Wholeheartedly and unconditionally. She was forgiving and peaceful, with a light sense of humor and a contagious laugh. So it was completely natural for two guards to come upon their princess supporting one of the many young boys who could be seen running around the castle.
As the sounds of the guards footsteps receded into the maze, Aelin turned away from the castle. She walked through the maze with sure, knowing steps, seeming to take random turns but always ending up where she wanted to go. After several minutes of walking through the maze, Aelin came to the center. A small fountain spit water out of the mouths of several different magical creatures. There was a goblin, two small flower fairies, a wood nymph, and at the center of the small group, a beautiful female Fea. Aelin gazed up into the face of the Fea. Aelin's mother had told her long ago that it was her great-grandmother Mab, one of the three Fea Sister-Queens. Aelin automatically reached up and touched her pointy ears that matched the ones of the Fea in the fountain.
It was there, in the middle of Terrasen's fern maze, that Aelin heard the first screams.
More to come soon! Please let me know what you think. I always love to hear from you guys.