London, 1025

The harsh winter winds whipped through the valley and whistled against the castle unmercifully. The small creek that surrounded the hill in a circle was frozen almost down to the dirt below, serving as almost solid ground to a possible oncoming attack, though at the moment there was no sign of one. The snow fell softly from the moonless night sky, but was thrown around in every direction once it made contact with the wind.

Inside the tall castle, a woman in an elegent red gown sat on a velvet chair at a long table beside the fireplace, her face in her hands, weeping quietly. She finally dabbed her eyes with a small cloth and motioned to the guard beside her.

"Bring my son to me," she said.

The guard nodded once and turned down a hall, his suit of armor clinking heavily on the stone floor until he reached a thick wooden door. He rapped on it twice and slammed the brunt end of his spear on the ground. "Prince Rorek, Her Majesty requests your accompaniment in the dining hall." Then he walked away slowly.

The door opened and the young prince made his way to the table the queen was seated at, a look of concern on his face. He bowed before his mother, and while still on one knee, took her hand and kissed her knuckles gently.

"What is it, mother?"

"Rorek, it's your sister, Via," the woman said. "She has been missing from the castle for hours, and the storm outside is getting worse!"

Rorek stood, though still holding his mother's hand. "Why didn't I hear of this sooner? Who's searching for her?"

Her Majesty dabbed her eyes again with her free hand. "There are guards out looking for her, but this weather is only making things worse."

"But Via cannot-"

"I know how deeply you care for your sisters, Via especially, but it appears there is nothing we can do at the moment, only what we are capable of. There is little chance we're going to find her tonight."

A protective pain stabbed in Rorek's chest. "Then we will find her frozen to death in the morning. We have to do something now." He dropped his mother's hand. "I'll go out and search for her."

"Rorek, no, you'll freeze!"

"Better I than her."

"No, I forbid you go out there." She put her face in her hands. "I can't lose both of you."

Rorek stared down at her briefly, knowing her had no choice but to obey her wishes, though everything inside of him told him to search for Via. He had cared for her especially, despite having seven sisters, since she was born, and she had favored him above even her mother. Rorek, who was the only son to the king and queen, was the oldest at sixteen, the girls all being under the age of ten. Via was barely five, far too young to know her way around the large grounds of the castle, but that was not the main concern. She had suffered from a severe illness two years before and been struck with blindness ever since. In that time, Rorek had been the young girl's eyes, taking her everywhere with him and willing to protect her with his very life. And he didn't plan on sitting back and doing nothing now, despite the queen's orders.

He bowed slightly at her. "As you wish, mother." It was not like him to lie or disobey, but he felt that this situation could be an exception. He refused to let his sister freeze to death while holding back and doing nothing, and he left the room without another word.

But his mother knew what he was up to. She knew him well enough to spot his stubornness and catch his lies, which were very rare, but she did not stop him from going out and searching. She was certain that he had a better chance of finding Via than than all the guards and servants combined, and was also certain that he would come back in good health. He always did; it was as if he was immune to harm. And that's why she let him go.

Rorek took a long coat and a scarf from his bedchamber, wrapping the latter around the bottom half of his face and shrugging the coat onto his shoulders. The cold outside was almost unbearable for the searching guards, but Rorek knew he could chance it. He had to, or it would probably mean his sister's life.

He put his hands on the frame of the small opening of the window and looked down three stories at the ground. The snow would support his landing, but he knew he had little to worry about. He had jumped from higher than this before, and had been perfectly fine. He decided that it must be his strange powers that enabled his body to perform such stunts without being hurt. He closed his eyes briefly and wondered why he had been blessed -or cursed- with such powers. The people in the village claimed the prince was a wizard, and had threatened to hang him on the gallows for his evil. He had tried to convince them personally that it was not true, but they took no heed to his words and were going to kill him, had not the queen given her word that whoever even thought of harming the prince would be tortured in the dungeon until they died. And nothing offensive had been said ever since.

Rorek took a breath and jumped from the window, flipping over gracefully and landing lightly in the deep snow. Well, he was out from under the watchful eye of his mother, but where to look for Via? She could be anywhere, and if missing for hours she could have traveled quite a distance. For a moment Rorek was clueless at what to do, but closed his eyes and forced himself to trust his instinctive powers instead of his physical senses. It sounded quite strange to others, but now he had a feeling he should search North. He headed in that direction without a second thought, holding up an arm to shield his face from the blowing snow.

After a while of trecherous walking, Rorek had traveled the distance of the valley and was now in deep woods. He called out his sister's name, but there was little that could be heard over the howling wind. He tried again, louder. "Via!" No answer. He hoped she wasn't already frozen, or suffering from hypothermia. He scanned around the snow-covered trees, but could barely see anything, for there was no moon to light the path. He turned and took another step, which happened to lead to a painful slide down a steep bank, and to make it worse, he hit every rock and tree on the way down. When he finally slid to a stop at the base of the slope, he just knew that his royal green prince's uniform was torn and his knee-high leather boots scuffed, but no matter. There were more important things to worry about than keeping noble clothes flawless. He stood up, spitting snow and brushing off his coat. He squinted. "Via!"

Cursed silence. Rorek raised his hand and ignited a sphere of white light, which lit the trees and reflected off the soft snow. Now he yelled with all the power he had in his voice. "Via!" Nothing. But he wouldn't let himself panic; he calmed himself and drove on, but only took a few steps when he heard something vocal. He stopped and strained to listen, then heard a wail in the distance. Without even thinking about which way to go, he plunged slightly to the right and called out her name again. This time, an answer.

"Rorek!" It was drawn out and full of agony, which tore at Rorek's heart as he moved forward. It was Via all right; he couldn't mistake her voice for anyone else's.

And finally he saw her. She was curled up in the snow under a slightly elevated fallen log, shivering violently and crying nearly frozen tears. He let the light from his power die down, then hit his knees beside her, taking her arms in his strong hands and massaging them briefly before shedding his coat and wrapping it around her. Her teeth chattered, and he ran his hands on both sides of her face, shocked by how cold her cheeks were and how blue her lips had turned. The cold took advantage of his coatless frame and snapped at his skin, but he ignored it, lifting Via into his arms as she held onto him as tight as her small and nearly frozen fingers could manage.

Rorek followed his footprints and headed back the way he had came, but stopped at the base of the slope. How was he supposed to get up there while carrying his sister? Maybe there was a way around. He looked, but was agonized to see none. He sighed and decided that desperate times called for desperate measures, and he sat Via gently on the ground beside him, but she held tight to his arm.

"Rorek, don't leave me!" she cried.

"I'm not leaving you," he replied, carressing her face briefly. "Just stay put."

Via, having always trusted her brother, nodded slowly and hugged his coat tighter around her shivering frame. Seeing nothing out of her blind eyes, she jumped a little when she felt him move beside her, then heard an earsplitting sound of moving rock in front of them. She wanted to ask him what was going on, but remembered he had told her to stay put and thought better of it. Only little did she know, Rorek had summoned enough of his telekinesis power to split the hill in front of them and move the rock to where the two sections separated, thus creating a manipulation to the ground to where a part of it was even with the other side. He picked her up again and carried on.

Back at the castle, Her Majesty was nearly frantic with worry. She suddenly regretted allowing Rorek to go, fearing that she was about to lose Via and her only son, if she hadn't already. She paced the floor in nervousness and ended up on the first floor of the castle, near ready to scream, when there was a thud at the main doors, then they slammed open. She gasped when she saw Rorek, covered in snow, holding Via wrapped in a coat.

She ran over and pulled them inside, slamming the door against the harsh wind and leading Rorek to the fireplace. "Via, is she-"

"She's all right, but a little frostbitten, I'm afraid," Rorek said. His mother couldn't help but notice the shiver in his voice and that he was wearing no coat.

"Thank goodness," she breathed, and stripped most of the clothes right off Via, coming back with two dry blankets and wrapping her in one, putting the other over Rorek's shoulders. A servant brought some hot tea, and Rorek made Via drink, while the servant woman bowed and left the room. Rorek's other sisters were with their caretaker, a short middle-aged woman who practically loved children more than life itself. Rorek sat down beside Via, keeping her close to the fire and making sure she drank the hot tea. Her Majesty put her hand on Rorek's forehead and commented on how cold he felt, but he insisted that he was fine.

Just then the king entered the room in all his glory and fancy apparel, sending the guards and servants bowing and scrambling to get out of his way. He ignored them completely and looked down at Via as if her being half frozen was the most normal thing in the world, and his voice hinted at the same thing. "She's quite all right, then? Good, I was afraid my best guards would freeze during the search."

The queen's eyes snapped, and she whirled to face her husband. "Yes, Via's fine, no thanks to you, you old fool! Rorek went out into this blizzard and risked his life to save her! He's more of a father to my daughters than you ever thought about being!"

His Majesty stared at his queen in slight surprise, then looked as if he was going to dethrone her. "Don't you dare speak to me that way."

The queen was immediately silent. She cast her eyes to the ground, and her husband went on talking. "You sent our son out into that storm?"

Rorek stood up, draping his blanket over Via, and stood in front of his father almost challengingly. They were of equal height and width, and almost muscle as well. Rorek made stern eye contact with the king and said boldly, "She did not make me search for Via, but I would commend her even if she did. She obviously cares more for her family than her battle army, unlike you."

The slap that came next would have driven Rorek to the floor, had he not had such quick reflexes to keep his balance, though he had not escaped the blow. "You're foolish to disrespect me!" He cursed and threw another swing, but Rorek twisted away and blocked with his wrist. Then the king turned to Her Majesty in a rage. "You've raised our son into a weakling, a coward! I intended him to soonly become a knight in my army, but you have trained him to be worthless, treating women the way he does. Hah! Women do not deserve respect, especially the way he gives it! I know you raised him to think of women as the most respected thing a man can have... fool."

"I did not want him to turn out like you," she hissed. "And he doesn't need to be a knight, he needs a wife! Don't you know anything? All the young girls this side of the country want his hand in marriage."

"A wife?" The king laughed. "You are pathetic. Women only ruin a good man... which is what I can only wish your son was."

"So now he is only my son? You're a tyrant, and always have been. And you apparently do not know Rorek at all. He is the warrior that you can only imagine, so don't you dare call him weak."

"A warrior? I do not think so. He's a wizard."

"I'm not," Rorek finally spoke up, dabbing the blood that seeped from his lip. "Think what you will, but I won't tell you again."

The king raised a hand and looked at his wife. "You can say what you want, but it will make no difference to me. Rorek's going into battle training, and he will be a knight in my royal army, willingly or not, it's going to happen. He's going to be in battle, and he will most likely die in battle. So let's just see what kind of hero I can turn your coward of a son into."