Rose of Ice
The snow covered Igros Castle, as it did every winter. Summer would be late that year. It seemed that when the world was in turmoil, winter always lasted longer than it was supposed to. And the summer was always shorter. Or maybe it was just that Delita's heart was in turmoil. Maybe the grief of one soul could change the seasons of the world. No one ever really knew how much power a single person had, after all.
Delita stepped through the graveyard, ignoring most of the graves until he came to the one that he was looking for. Gently, reverently, he wiped the snow from the top of the gravestone with one gloved hand. Then, feeling as if that was somehow impersonal, he pulled the glove off and lay his bare hand against the freezing stone, hoping that maybe he could transfer the heat of his own body back into the one that lay beneath the ground.
Teta
Beloved Sister
Cherished Friend
As he brushed the snow off the writing with the same hand, Delita's heart twisted in-between pain and anger, and he clenched his other fist around the rose that he held there. He was angry at Algus, of course, for killing her in the first place, and he was angry at Teta for letting herself get killed, but most of all, he was angry at himself for not being able to protect her.
Using all of his willpower, he loosened his death-grip on the rose and laid it down on the grave. But then, before he could stop himself, he pulled out his sword and sliced the rose in half, right down the middle, then stalked away towards the castle.
God, how he missed her.
What he didn't see, was the instant freezing of the two halves of the roses… into an ice sculpture that would never die…