Chapter 2

Marina ran to her room and shut the door behind her. How could she tell them that she would freeze the stupid stone and more than likely break it? Marina rested her head in her hands as she sat on the bed. There was a knock on the door.

"Hey, Marina? Is everything all right?" Hope asked from the other side of the door.

"Sorry, Marina. Amara has trust issues, as well as leadership issues," Kelly said. Marina opened the door and saw hope and Kelly who was holding a plate of food.

"Peace offering?" Kelly said holding up the plate. Marina smiled and took it from her allowing Kelly and hope to enter.

"I'm sorry; I've just had a rough life. I can't handle anyone else getting hurt," Marina said grabbing a piece of fruit from the plate.

"And how would a truth stone hurt anyone?" hope asked.

"I'm not at liberty to say at the moment…" Marina replied looking down.

"Alright, I'm sure you'll tell us when you're ready," Kelly replied, "Until then we can find you some warmer weather clothes that blend a little better here."

"That's okay; I'm fine with this outfit. Please, don't go to any trouble. I realize my being here was unexpected," Marina replied looking at her clothes.

"It's no trouble at all, I like designing clothes," Kelly replied.

"I really have to stay covered," Marina replied looking at Queen Kelly's attire, "It's safer for everyone around me."

"Safer?" Hope asked, "Marina how can your skin hurt someone? It's impossible. I've known you for a few weeks and never felt in danger during that time."

Marina laughed, "I've never undressed in front of you either. You didn't know me from before. I guess I better tell you what's going on, but you have to promise to say nothing to anyone else."

Hope and Kelly nodded.

"I'm only telling you this so that you understand why I can't be touched and why I'm terrified of white coats," Marina said smiling at Hope, "So, I'm actually about forty-six years old."

"What? How is that possible?" Kelly asked.

"Time travel?" Hope suggested.

"No, I know I look like I'm 24, that's because I've been frozen for about 22 years. I don't know how I ended up in a lab; I must have been really young. I grew up in a cage next to other kids. Some had wings, some had fur covering their bodies, and some looked normal like me. I would get taken to a different room and get so cold I'd fall asleep. When I woke up it would be months later, then it became years later. They did all sorts of tests on me, as well as give me shots that made me sick. There would be different kids around me when I woke up. I think I originally had brown eyes and brown hair. After the sixth or seventh experiment they started changing color," Marina said.

"That can't be real," Kelly said, "I've never heard of any labs experimenting on kids!"

"It was always top secret. I think we were taken from drug addicts. Some of the kids were experiments of the scientists. Transformed before birth," Marina replied.

"That explains the number on your arm," Hope said.

"Oh," Marina replied pulling off her glove revealing the number with the snowflake next to it, "Yes, they put this on me to remember what number I was. The ice kept breaking the tags they put on me. They decided I needed to be frozen in something colder and started using liquid oxygen. I think the experiments started messing up my DNA. About three years ago I realized that all those sessions affected me more than I thought. I realized I wasn't really aging. At that point I felt like such a lab rat. I spent my whole life in there and never breathed fresh air. I dreamed of getting out but I didn't think it would ever happen. Well, I had just been revived from an Icy slumber of five years when they gave me some food. I touched the sandwich and it froze instantly. That's when I escaped the lab. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure I killed that guard, just by touching him."

"Wow, do you think these guys might have some magic to turn her DNA back?" Kelly asked Hope.

"No, but we may have found the answer to Koranen's prayers," Hope replied with a laugh.

"I don't know, do you think he's hot enough to withstand that kind of cold?" Kelly asked.

"Oh, he's definitely hot," Marina said with a smile, "But I don't think I could touch him. I tend to freeze everything. I can't remember the last time I could touch a person. Therefore I am obviously a virgin, even to kissing. You don't even know how horrible that is. You see all those romantic movies and books and wish there was someone out there for you, but you know you can never touch anyone."

"Wow, I can imagine. That's got to be tough," said Hope.

"I'm not sure if we can keep something like this a secret though, Marina," Kelly replied.

"What do you mean Kelly?" Hope asked. Marina looked down at her hands.

"I understand. I've been on the run for a while. I'm sure I can find my own way in this world, too," Marina replied.

"No, I'm not kicking you out or anything. It's just that people should know that they can't touch your skin. Someone might play a prank on you, or accidentally bump into you and pay the ultimate price," Kelly replied, "I'm just saying maybe we can say you were cursed or something since this world has magic people are used to that type of thing. This world is a lot more forgiving than earth was for me."

"Yeah, Kelly almost died in a fire before she was pulled here," Hope replied.

"Wow, I'm glad you're still alive," Marina replied.

"I'm glad those scientists didn't kill you either, but you understand that something like this can't be kept secret. I'll be glad to have you as a personal bodyguard though," Kelly replied.

Marina laughed, "Yeah, I'll say "Freeze!" and they will, literally!"

They all shared a laugh at that.

Meanwhile…

Koranen was having a hard time concentrating on his work. With the abundance of newcomers that have flowed onto the island he had a lot of light globes to work on. As well as some more plaques to ward away fire. The plaques would have to wait though; even the light globes were slow going since he could not seem to concentrate on the task at hand. A few months ago the Aquamancer's had come to the island to work with their water purifier. The females that were sent definitely weren't his type. They kept their hair short and wildly colored; which really didn't matter because at this point any sort of female would do for him. However, he could not touch any of them which only served to frustrate him more. What was worse than that is the fact that now Morganen's woman was here and he was still without a woman. That brought his mind to the woman that came with hope. Her beautiful icy blue eyes and that hourglass figure that would be perfect to hold onto when… splat! Koranen frowned and looked down at yet another glass for the light globe had burned too hot. The fire was engulfing his body again and the melted glass had dripped to the floor. He walked over to the forge and leaned on the side of it, resting his head in his hands.

If only he could concentrate on anything but women! It didn't help that he was so frustrated and disappointed that the Aquamancer's didn't work out for him, but also the fact that he had to watch couples smile at each other and hold hands all day long! Saber and Kelly, Alys and Wolfer, Evanor and Mariel, Trevan and Amara, and even Rydan and Rora when they showed their faces! At least Dominor and Serina were elsewhere with their affection. What's worse was the steady influx of people and their loved ones. The sad thing was that there were people that were paid for sex here, but he couldn't touch them either. He got onto the forge and laid down on the rock trying to lose some of the heat that his body was producing. He spent most of his time locked up in here and was growing quite tired of his surroundings but figured it was safer here than to burn up someone out there. His thoughts traveled back to Marina and he imagined being able to touch her. He imagined the way her black hair would fall down her naked body and the contrast between that and her pale skin. He realized he probably shouldn't envision her because every time he would see her after he might burn hotter, but she was all he could think of. If only there was a way to remove this curse and be able to touch whoever he wanted to, but then what would happen to his brothers? Sure, they could probably fend for themselves but how bad would he feel if he was so selfish to give up his magic? They would be the ones who would protect the kingdom and himself as well. He would never want to become a burden to them; although, he felt like a burden now as well. Hopefully Morganen could find his woman soon and before he turns into a pile of ash.

He closed his eyes and pushed those thoughts from his mind. The vision of Marina standing over him with nothing on came back to his thoughts. He touched himself and imagined the sounds she would make as he brought pleasure to her. He imagined how soft her warm skin would feel and the fullness of her breasts. He stroked himself and imagined her eyes on him as she licked where his hands were. A moan escaped his lips as he spilled his seed onto the hot rocks below him. The rocks had become red from the heat he was putting out and he felt a little cooler after relieving himself. Knowing it would feel that much better if he had someone like Marina to share it with.