Chapter four

Beautiful...

Their was no other word to describe the man before her, he was beautiful, far beyond the shackles that society placed on the concept of beauty, merely his face was enough to cause fire to flow though the body of any who looked at him even if his personality damped his beauty, it was probably a good thing because if he was any more beautiful Eira probably wouldn't be able to stop herself from releasing him from the melting ice around him

"Who are you?" she asked again as she watched his bleach bone white hair fall over his shoulder even though she had secured it behind his ear. That simple movement made Eira shiver

"What are you?" she whispered, her hands cupped each other and pressed to the center of her chest, she could feel her heart beat though her breasts. She watched his face, trying to search for anything that would tip her off to what he was thinking but she found nothing except a cocky grin that caused her heart to thump so hard she felt as if it was trying to break free from under her rib cage. Eira blinked several times and looked down, finding her arm stretched out as if readying to free him from the ice, the thought made her pale slightly as she yanked her arm back. The man chuckled, causing the scent of cinnamon to cascade of her senses

"Gamil of the Lily, son of Boetius and Lofn of house Jelena, faithful to her majesty the Queen" he said as he looked at Eira, but she looked confused, what was a lily, Boetius? Lofn? Jelena? What was a queen? The questions must have flickered though her eyes because the man in front of her, Gamil, seemed to grinned wider, showing his shockingly bright white teeth.

"If you have a question, you should ask" he said as she moved her eyes over to wrists, watching them slowly twist in the melting ice, she didn't have time.

"What is a Queen?" she asked, that seemed like the most important of the question, she had already managed to work out that Boetius and Lofn where names, from context most likely his parents, and a house? Maybe it was the place he lived...He lived in a house that was named Jelena, but a queen? She didn't know what a Queen was, the word was strange to her. The question seemed to make the cocky aura surrounding Gamil disappear for a moment

"You don't know of your queen?" he asked and Eira just shook her head

"This land, all of it, belongs to the Queen, She is the ultimate decider, the lady of the realm" he said, but that didn't clear anything up for her.

"You look a bit like her, perhaps the reason you haven't heard of her is..." Gamil grinned

"Would you like to see the queen?" he asked "I could bring you to her." He said and Eira seemed to frown for a moment

"Why would you take me to this...Queen" she asked, but her mind was already decided, if Claire wasn't going to explain anything then she was going to figure it out herself.

"Because, everyone should be able to see their queen" Gamil said "Just release me and I will lead you to her" he said, his eyes where swirling like a whirl pool of orange and yellow and she hesitated before she nodded her head. Raising her hand she moved it down and the ice melted with it slowly releasing his body from the cold. Once the ice was gone the shadows came back to him, swirling around his form and creating clothing from the darkness, hiding every inch of skin from her sight, a hood coming to rest over his white hair and casting his face into shadows so that only his orange eyes glowing from within could be seen. He stood straight and tall, taller than any man she had ever seen as he towered above her five foot frame by at least two gigantic feet, he was huge and the darkness didn't held with the awe

"My men have most likely already made it back to the capital. We should hurry" he said as he turned around and jumped, the shadows carrying him upward now that she was close she could tell that his power came from the shadows. He lept right up to the top of the cliff and then looked down at her with a frown which caused Eira to blush as she turned around, raising her arms above her head and then bringing them down, causing ice to burst forth from her hands, sending her sky rocketing up toward the cliff. She screamed once she was almost fifty feet, she felt her feet touch down on the cliff but she stumbled back, arms pinwheeling until she felt something solid at her back, and then two strong arms on both of her shoulders. She looked up into the darkness of the hood, her eyes meeting his. The eyes, they where surveying her, calculating her each movement, it made her shiver in confusion and then she felt him pull his arms away and step back, the emptiness she felt at her back startling her as she went right back to stumbling back, a hand was placed on her back to stop her from falling and Gamil grit his teeth

"We're walking" he said before turning around and continuing on. Eira couldn't see his hands in the shadows, but from what she felt she assumed that they where still their. Eira walked behind him as he lead her across the rocks. They where fairly flat but they where cold, she could feel the cold slithering though her boots and causing her to shiver, it wasn't natural ice. Natural ice didn't make her cold, but she knew it wasn't her ice either

"Who made this...the cold?" she asked and Gamil smirked slightly

"it has been this way for eighteen years, those who know about what caused it dare not speak about it" he said which caused Eira to shiver

"Was it the Queen?" Eira asked and Gamil's smirk grew into a grin that flashed his white teeth though the darkness

"H...how old are you?" Eira whispered and Gamil turned his head, piercing her with his orange eyes

"I'm twenty one as of yesterday" he said and then looked away from her before turning his head back

"And you are?" he asked

"eighteen" she said softly as she looked down, Gamil just chuckled before shaking his head

"Well then you're going to be in for quite the shock" Gamil said before he stopped suddenly causing Eira to walk into his back

"Welcome to Omega" he said and Eira moved, walking around his massive body to see what he called Omega and she couldn't hold back her expulsion of breath that forced its way passed her lips. She saw the largest house she had ever seen, it was far beyond a house, it was as if it was dozens and dozens of houses had been stacked upon each other to create the towering structure that parted the white clouds in the sky with its tall spiked spire.

"What is that?" Eira whispered, her whole body shaking

"That, is the White Castle, Home to Queen Isolde, matriarch of house Mahala" Gamil said. Eira looked at the castle, that seemed like a good name for it, a castle. The way the structure dominated everything below, it even made the cliff look small in its overwhelming presents, but she wasn't given any more time to oogle it before Gamil interrupted

"Lets get going" he said before he jumped over the cliff, hitting the side and sliding down. Eira gulped slight before nodding her head and following him down.