Chapter 2

I watched the trolls help Melkate move my body onto a horse. He mounted the other with my sister held in his arms. The troll that had been speaking mounted the horse with my body. He, It, was clothed in animal furs and leaves. It had dirty auburn hair and looked like a flattened stone with a body attached. Moving away from my body I saw my sister, her hair was now a pale blond with a red tinge, closer to her natural snowy white, instead of the vibrant red it had been since she became ill. She looked better than she had before. It was as if she had not just been dying in my arms, but rather sleeping on a chilly night without a blanket.

As they traveled back to the palace I followed in the air above. Melkate was talking to the troll about something but I was to high above to hear and whatever it was they spoke about I didn't care to know. When they returned to the palace the King and Queen where waiting at the gate with Galdson, Nex, and our step-mother. I had never seen Mother in such a state. She was pale white and pacing to and fro, looked as if she were about to faint. Then, as the horse with my body entered the gate, she did faint but as she fell I saw her eyes. They had become cold and lifeless. She was dead. Galdson rushed to her side as she fell to the ground, hitting her head. Lifting her, he saw the lifeless eyes and knew she was dead. He lay her back down, closed her eyes, and covered her with his vest. Nex, with her head hidden in the Queens dress, didn't see her mother die. She only looked when the King called for the physician. But everyone knew by the falter in his voice, it was too late.

The physician told the King what they all already knew and went to fetch the nursemaid. Now at this point one would think that things could not get much worse, correct? Well I thought the same thing at the time but then again I was dead, my mother was dead, our father had disappeared, thought dead, and to top it off my sister now had not only lost me but our step-mother as well. As time wore on however, things would get much worse.

The future aside, all this left Galdson, the only other person in the entire city beside the king and queen, to take care of my sisters. If fate had conspired to throw everything it could at him the it was doing so now.

Let us pause for a moment so I might tell you something of Galdson. Galdson was the adviser to the Kings father, he is also the only carpenter left in the city now that I am dead. That dictates that he is the casket maker. So Galdson not only must deal with the death of his sister, my step-mom, but also my death, his nephew and apprentice, as well as try to raise my now orphaned sisters. Especially Nexilious, his only living blood relative. Now back to the story.

I watch as the nursemaid takes my sisters inside the palace. I start to follow but then the King begins to speak. "Galdson, I know how difficult this maybe for you so you may leave if you choose but, I would like to know how your young apprentice died. Melkate?" the King turned to look upon the old librarian. "Sire, I killed the young boy."Melkate said simply. Galdson charged him only to be held back by the guards. Melkate continued, speaking softly but with a steady determined tone "I killed him to save his sister. Her heart had been cursed with a strange magic and if we had not done what we did she would have been killed by it. That was something I could not allow happen." Gently the King asked "But to save her you killed her only brother. You killed her most trusted and favorite person in all of existence. You could do that but you could not let her die. Why?" "Because my King, she is your niece and she is the only one who will be able to stop the very curse that has afflicted her from destroying your daughter Elsa and the kingdom." Melkate whispered.

If I was shocked by those words the King was felled by them. It would seem that there are secrets in the kingdom that even the King did not know. "You mean to say that this girl is my brother's daughter?" the King asked. "Yes, but I think if you did not know then it would be best to keep it a secret." Melkate replied. "If a time should come where she need know her lineage then and only then should she be told." "Why Melkate? Why should she not know?" the Queen asked "Her father vanished two years ago and he was hiding from his own brother before that." Melkate said, "I think that should be reason enough." I could tell Melkate was hiding most of what he knew from the King. I think the King could tell as well but he said nothing and turned, walking into the castle. Galdson followed looking back at Melkate before stepping inside.


Authors Notes

Read these at your own risk as they may contain things you might not want to know.

This chapter has also been rewritten as part of the major rewrite I did to hopefully improve the story. This chapter has probably been changed the most out of the ones that were changed. I hope that it will allow a better explanation of parts of the story and a better story over all.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy.

-Blood

Chapter 2 was replaced with this revision on the 13th of February 2014.