OMG guys! I entered the first two chapters in a fanfic contest and I won! YAY!
After I'd cleaned up my tear stained face, we got straight into work. We sat by candle light around a small round table in my room, discussing my every move. It was now almost midnight and we'd planned quite a lot so far. Maps, parchment, quills and ink sat on this table, recording what was going to be a very important event.
"So, there's this nice inn in this town that'll surely accommodate a weary knight. Oh I almost forgot, if you go down this side alley behind this shop that sells leather goods, there's this professional blacksmith that practically no one knows about! I tend to stop by every chance I can and get my blade repaired!" Denmark babbled on again. He was getting really into this secret rescue mission, like he felt as if he was coming too. But behind all this was the sad reason I was going in the first place. I had lost concentration through listening to all these instruction and was looking off into the darkness that filled the corners of my room.
"Hey Ice, you okay? We can stop for tonight if you're tired." He said considerately. I snapped out of my thoughts and back to reality.
"No, let's continue. We need this plan urgently." I said with determination. As I spoke I accidentally rubbed my eyes, obviously stating that my body was in need of sleep. But my brain thought different.
"Well by the looks of it your already half asleep. Ya can't hide it from me! I'm the King!" Denmark pointed out.
"Well I'm not tired, okay? This is important!" I argued
"Says the person with dribble on their chin. I bet you didn't notice that huh?" He pointed out. I blushed slightly and quickly wiped it away with my sleeve.
"Look Icey, you've had a big day. Your body needs rest. We'll finish the plans tomorrow night. Same time same place." He spoke as he stood up, folding and rolling the plans into neat piles.
"Hang onto these. They'll be safe here." He instructed. I rested my head on my folded arms as Denmark walked to the door.
"Well, goodnight." He said as he exited the room.
"Night." I said, now completely obvious about being exhausted. I stared at the pile of parchment on the table, wondering If this whole thing would even work. I'm only 17, and the worlds a big place. I stood up and placed the pile on one of my higher shelves. No chance of anyone finding it now…As I blew out the candle, moonlight filled the room. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, but after they did, the world seemed to be flooded with light. It was beautiful. I looked up to stars, and prayed. I prayed about how beautiful the world was, how kind my friends are, and for the safety of Norway, especially Norway. I turned and lay on my bed, hoping I could think about things. But exhaustion overwhelmed my body and I drifted off to a safe, happy place. Hopefully the morning would bring a greater day.
I awoke, and the cold morning breeze brushed across my cheek, sending a shiver down my back. I had left the window open so the evening breeze would fill my room, and over power the heat. As I buried my face deeper into my cushion, I realised, it was summer. My eyes shot open at this abnormality as I sat up straight. Wrapping my blanket around my shoulders to shield me from the cold, I walked over to the window at a hurried pace. I looked out, only to be greeted with a white expanse, covering the hills and castle walls. It was snow. But why the hell would it be snowing in the middle of summer?! I looked over to where Mr Puffin was trying his best to conserve what body heat he had left by burying himself under a cushion on a chair.
"Mr Puffin!" I said in urgency.
"Yep?" He weakly cawed from under the pillow.
"I'd thought you might like to know that it's snowing outside…..in the middle of summer." I added at the end. He poked his head out and shivered, then flew over and landed on the frost covered window ledge. He panned the scenery, and then looked at me.
"I think we'd better tell King Denmark."
"I have a feeling he already knows…" I replied. What a dumb thing for Mr Puffin to say. You'd have to be blind to not be able to see it.
As we winded our way through the hallways, the whole castle seemed to be frozen in time. The cold had caught us all off guard, and so no proper heating had been arranged. There was barely anyone around, and the only sound was my own footsteps echoing off the stone walls. We arrived in the Throne room to find a rugged up Denmark pacing across the room in what seemed to be a deep thought, obviously very concerned over the weather.
"King Denmark." I broke the silence. He looked over to me with worried eyes.
"Uh, Iceland. I think it's about time I told you a few secrets." He explained sheepishly. My eyes lit up with these words. I always thought I never knew the whole truth, like I was only living on the surface.
"Well, I'm guessing you already know about Norway having powers." He started. I nodded my head in agreement.
"Turns out uh, God how do I put this…turns out your brother helps keep balance of uh…like the weather and seasons and stuff. In particular summer!" Denmark frantically tried to explain.
"He's, uh, like Mother Nature's right hand man, in the summer department! Yeah that's it!" He finally concluded.
"Why are you going to all this trouble to find the words to explain. It's not that difficult you realise?" I said bluntly. It's not like I knew about how Norway's had such importance, I just didn't want to be treated like a kid anymore.
"Well, there is one word that sums it all up, but it's big and I didn't think you would know the definition." He retaliated.
"And what might that be?" I questioned.
"An Eletalthermbre." He recited.
"A who what?" I questioned. Well that was unexpectedly large.
"Told you it was big!" He snickered. "So since summer has gone all who-whack, it means something is wrong with Norway. Either he's hurt or he could even be…"
"Don't even think like that!" I forcefully yelled. I stood in a defensive way, crossing my arms and anger across my face. How dare he say that. Norway's too good to get himself killed. But it was probably a mistake displaying myself in such a manner. My attitude changed Denmark as well. He didn't speak for a few moments, but his face….
"You need to start facing the situation Iceland! NO ONE can be 100% sure of what happened, even you! For all we know he COULD be dead! But I'm still letting you look for him. Still letting you believe he's okay. Soon, life will pick you up by the collar, and dump you back of the ground. And you'll realise that you're lying to yourself….because no one knows for sure." I took a step back, in a mild shock. His words yet to break the ice and sink in. He turned for the door, but looked over his shoulder.
"You are dismissed." He spoke. But I was never invited anyway.
"HYAH!" I yelled as my sword sliced the still dummy. It split into two and collapsed on the stable floor. All eyes were on me as the horses had finished eating and were curious of what this human was yelling for. The morning had only brought more snow, colder rooms and icy winds. All the fire places had been lit, but not all the rooms had one. And that's why I'm here, because the stable has a fire place for the blacksmiths. And if I had stayed in the room I was supposed to be in for any longer, my nickname would be easier to explain. Plus I had company of the non-judging type, so no more comments about my height or age, or jealous attempts from the other knights to knock me down because of my special title that WAS NOT MY FAULT I WAS GIVEN IT ITS BECAUSE I'M A COUNTRY AND YOU'RE A HUMAN. Just me, the horses, and Mr Puffin. All warm together in this smallish space. I had been in here for a good two hours and I haven't even broken a sweat yet. As a matter of fact my knuckles are still frozen. I went over to the fire place and chucked another log on the fire. The fires soon engulfed it in flame, charring the bark before consuming the rest of it. I sat and watched as the process happened, throwing all my mental worries into that hellish pit. This was one of my many weird ways of disposing my worries and clearing my mind. I mentally scrolled through them as they suffered a well-deserved fiery death. Denmark yelling at me, TICK. The ever-freaking-lasting snow, TICK. The rescue missionnnnn….. now that's something I can't just throw away. It at least still had meaning to me. It isn't something I could just forget and ignore. I stoke the fire with my sword, making the log disintegrate into smaller pieces. I refuse to say my life sucks, 'cause I know that I can get through it with time. But my luck has been standing on the edge of a cliff, and it refuses to step back.
"Hey Mr Puffin," I started
"Yup?"
"Do you think this'll all work out? Rescuing Norway and all?" I questioned
"Well are you prepared to try? Because if you don't try you can't win." He replied.
"Of course I'm prepared to try! I can't just give up." I explained.
"Well then give it your all and hope for the best." He responded.
