Chapter 3

Finding the room empty startled Cooler at first, but when he saw the windows to the balcony open, he smiled and slid over to them quietly. Peering out, he was surprised and a little disgusted to find Isolda sobbing all over herself again. Hadn't she done enough of that back at the fight? Slipping onto the balcony and silently coming up behind her, Cooler leaned forward so his hands clasped the railing on either side of her body. Reacting to his presence finally, she gasped and spun, dropping the pillow into the snow at their feet.

"M-my lord, I-" she wiped at the tears on her face, struggling to compose herself, "I'm sorry. The balcony wasn't locked," she saw the pillow in the snow and dipped down to retrieve it, but Cooler snatched her wrist and pulled her back up to look at him.

Looking over her face, he asked, "Tell me, little Jin, why do you think my father wanted me to fight your brother? Why does he want our children so badly?"

Furrowing her eyebrows, Isolda shook her head, "I have no idea. I've been wondering that myself," she lowered her gaze and stared at the floor, "Your father demands children from us?"

Scoffing, Cooler shook his head, "He can demand all he wants. I may not be King yet, but I do have control over what I do with you. Now tell me why my father suddenly wants to be a grandfather."

"I told you I don't know."

"You don't know anything about your bloodline that would make my father leap at the chance to mix it with mine?" Cooler was skeptical. Either she was lying or she was stupid.

Still refusing to meet his eyes, Isolda shifted her stance and he felt her twist and test the grip he had on her wrist. Tightening it, he raised her off her feet so her eyes met his with a pained yelp.

"Why you?" he demanded, "What's so special about you compared to all the other females on this planet? Why did my father choose you?"

Isolda stared up at him, eyes gleaming, "I don't know-I don't know! He's your father!"

"He won't tell me anything. Now tell me what would be in it for my father if we had children?"

Blinking up at him, she shook her head, trying to pull her arm away from his grip, "You're hurting me," she growled.

"Answer me!"

"I. Don't. Know!" she screamed the last word in his face, clawing at him with her free hand, "Let me go! Let me GO!"

Releasing her, Cooler watched her crumple next to the pillow in the snow. She had to know. There had to be some reason, some secret about her that his father knew and coveted for his own bloodline. Cooler couldn't see it, unless they had only daughters meant to marry away for breeding. Shoulders tightening, he turned his back on her, "We're leaving. I'll send a servant to your house to gather your things."

"Leaving for where?" there was a note of panic in her voice.

Turning back, Cooler crossed his arms, "To my home, in the mountains."

Gathering the pillow in her arms, she stood, "Why can't I pack my own things?"

Eying her, Cooler shrugged, "Fine, let's go then, I'll take you there myself," raising off the balcony, he watched her, amused, as she tried to decide what to do with the pillow. Glaring at his smirk, she tossed it back into the snow and followed him into the sky.

...

Once they were over the city, Cooler held back and waited for her to lead him to her home. She knew what he would think of it when he saw it, and grated her teeth at the sigh of contempt he gave as they landed at her front door. Just because she wanted to prove herself a good wife did not mean she was going to put up with him being an absolute ass.

"You can stay out here if you want," she put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows at him.

Once again, he crossed his arms, staring at her silently.

Huffing, Isolda knocked on the door and took a deep breath as she heard Alpin moving around inside. Opening the door slowly, the Jin soldier flinched when he saw his sister and backed away from the door when he looked past and saw Cooler.

"Isolda? What are you doing here?"

Without answering her brother, Isolda brushed past him and into her bedroom. She heard Cooler say something to her brother but didn't care to make it out. Slamming the door to her room shut, she looked around at her things. She didn't have much. She and Alpin weren't the poorest people, but they weren't high class either. Running her hand over a crystal her mother had given her before she died, she ignored the sound of the door opening. Whether it was Cooler or Alpin, she didn't want to look at either of them.

"Cozy," came the voice of her new husband.

Opening her closet, Isolda began pulling clothes out and tossing them into a chest at the end of her bed. Feeling Cooler's eyes on her got under her skin and as she tossed in the last shirt, she whirled on him and snapped, "WHAT?!"

"I like your taste in clothes."

It was the first kind thing he'd said to her and her brain shut down, "Oh, uh, thank you."

Smirking, Cooler picked up a doll from a nearby shelf, "Will your toys be coming too?"

Snatching the stuffed Jin from his hand, Isolda said, "They're MY things. If I want them, they'll come with me."

Smiling down at her, Cooler bowed his head to her ever so slightly, "As you wish, Princess."

Swallowing hard, Isolda returned to packing her things. Everything fit in the single chest. Cooler insisted on carrying it for her.

"Wouldn't want you or your weakling brother to hurt yourselves."

Standing in the entryway still, hanging his head, Alpin didn't respond to the insult. Hesitating before her brother, Isolda opened her mouth to say something, then closed it and simply touched his shoulder. Raising his head to meet her eyes for only a moment, Alpin shrugged her hand off and retreated into his own bedroom.

...

Waiting outside, Cooler watched as Alpin turned away from his sister, leaving Isolda standing in silence. If she had wanted to come for some sort of reconciliation, she definitely hadn't received it. He could have told her it would have been like this. Closing the front door behind herself quietly, Isolda took a long last look at her old home, then turned back to him.

"I'm ready."

"It's a long flight. Can you make it, or do we have to return to the castle for a ship?"

"I can make it."

Nodding, Cooler lifted himself and the whole of Isolda's belongings into the air effortlessly. He really had married a poor woman. Whatever his father was hiding from him about Isolda, it had better be good and worth all this trouble.

The weather was good for flying. The sun was out and reflecting off the snow, but the eyes of the two Jin adjusted naturally to the glares and sparkles. Wind was mild and flowing the same direction they were flying. It felt wonderful to be in the air. Slowing a little, Cooler let Isolda come up next to him and noticed the exhilarated flush to her cheeks despite the events of the day. Smiling to himself as he thought of other ways to make her cheeks flush, Cooler amused himself for most of the flight.

...

Cooler hadn't been lying about it being a long flight. Just a little over halfway, Isolda felt herself tire and slow dramatically. Noticing it as well, Cooler stopped them, "You're exhausted already?"

"I'm sorry, I don't train all day and night," she shot back between breaths.

Groaning, Cooler turned away from her, "Climb on my back."

"What?"

"Are you deaf, Isolda?"

Snaking her arms around his neck and wrapping her legs around his waist, Isolda climbed onto Cooler's back. Taking off, the Prince sped up the pace back to what they'd been traveling at when they'd first left. His breathing never quickened and his pulse against her arms remained steady and relaxed. Between her and the chest, he had to be carrying a few hundred pounds. How could someone be that strong?

Before long, the mountains rose up before them and Cooler was dodging around cliffs and peaks until they came to a deep valley high up in the mountains. Gasping at the snow-white castle among the dark green trees and the large blue lake across from it, Isolda thought it was the most beautiful place she'd ever seen.

Chuckling as her grip tightened, Cooler asked, "Do you like it?"

"It's gorgeous," she breathed against his neck.

Making low circles, Cooler landed inside the courtyard of the castle. Dropping from his back as he handed her chest to two approaching servants, Isolda gazed around in wonder. From above, Isolda could see the castle was less than half the size of King Cold's, but she thought it was much more beautiful. King Cold's castle was all hard, ugly angles. Cooler's retreat was organic and felt like coming home. The white stone columns that held up the surrounding balconies were carved into the likenesses of legendary warriors. The rounded arches and dark wood doors contrasted against all the white. Turning in circles, Isolda tried to take it all in.

Coming up behind her, Cooler placed a hand on her shoulder, "Come, Isolda."

Dazed, Isolda obeyed without arguing, wanting to see more of this place. Leading her through two massive double doors and into a grand entry hall where the two servants waited with her chest, Cooler asked, "Do you want to unpack your things yourself?"

Nodding, Isolda was ever so slightly touched by the fact that he had asked, "Yes, please."

"Just deliver it," he waved the servants away and they ascended the large stairs in the middle of the room.

Tapestries and mounted heads lined the walls of the hall and fur skins covered the cold stone floor. Most still had heads and limbs attached and Isolda shuddered at the size of some of them, "Did you hunt all these animals?"

"Yes."

"What lives up here in these mountains?"

Laughing, Cooler waved for her to follow him up the stairs, "Let's get you settled in, Isolda. Then I'll give you the grand tour of my little kingdom."

...

I bet you all thought I'd forgotten about this one, huh? To tell the truth, I've been trying to write this chapter for a while now, but I will admit that my other fanfic I'm currently writing has been getting in the way. I wrote myself into a corner on this one, plus I kept wanting to just jump into 'fun time' but it never felt right. So anyway, here (finally) is the third chapter for my fellow Cooler fans. Thank you guys for reading this and I'm so sorry for these ridiculously long waiting periods. I'll try to do a better job of updating both stories instead of neglecting this one. I swear I WILL finish this story no matter what, I just can't promise that it will be quickly unfortunately. Love you all bunches and thank you for your reviews and comments! Hope you liked this chapter! ^^