Behind the shadow of her hood, Cinder trekked through the roads of the Capital while trying to duck out of everyone's way. The bustling streets plowed way for sleighs and carriages of all sorts, their weaving tracks imprinted in the mud-speckled snow. On the sidewalks along shops of all sizes, cloaked patrons darted in all directions until watching them made Cinder dizzy.
Lingering near a decaying fountain, she tried collecting her bearings out of anyone else's way. The map pointed her towards a set of jagged mountains with vast forests woven in the valleys, however, that described every mountain range on the island of Iceland. Without a wide knowledge of the terrain, the locations were as foreign as traveling over the moon.
She faintly recalled her visits to the village as a child to see if there were any hints as to the direction of the Artic Fox Tails, as her map listed them – translated to the Northern Peaks. Judging by their name they should have been simple to locate, but years of geography lessons from Iko taught Cinder otherwise. Relative to the position of the Northern Star, the mountains proved to be northeast and never renamed.
Cinder sighed to herself just as a man lugging a heavy cart mulled around the market square. The furs piled atop the chopped wood in his cart came from many creatures, some she recognized from across the sea. Hoping her suspicions that he was a traveler was correct, she kept her face downcast as she approached him.
"Pardon me, sir?" The gruff man gave a huff as he turned to face Cinder. "Would you be able to tell me which way the Northern Peaks are?"
A bellowing laugh split from the man. "Young Miss, few travelers dare tread on that terrain. None as frail as yourself, who don't even know the direction of the North, would ever survive."
Flushing a deep red where he couldn't see, Cinder pestered further. "Do you know where they are or not?"
He sighed. "I can't consciously show you the way toward a dangerous mountain with a storm brewing. However, if you insist on going, there is a trading post on the other side of the street that may have a compass."
Smiling, Cinder thanked him over her shoulder as she padded down the busy streets. "I'd recommend a portscreen, but those seem to be antiquities in this country," she caught the man say under breath before moving onward.
Whipping her head back and forth across the street, Cinder searched for the sign of the trading post hanging over a shop. Drawings of metal tools, bread, and books all led way to their respected shops but none held a symbol remotely connected to a trading post. She turned the corner while dodging a man shouting outlandish compliments for his fish.
Her shin slammed painfully into something just as she rounded the street edge. Crying out, Cinder was only able to stifle an unbecoming swear word by covering her mouth with her gloved hand. The hard surface that collided with her shin felt thick enough to leave a monstrous bruise by the next morning.
Kneeling to tend to the forming wound, Cinder remembered she was not the only one to call out after being struck. "I say, that hurt!" a shrill voice protested.
"Forgive me," Cinder replied without looking up. "I wasn't watching where I was going."
"Clearly! I appreciate your overly politeness, but what could have possibly distracted you enough to ram straight into me?"
Politeness, Cinder scolded to herself. Normal teenage girls didn't speak with politeness, unless they were royalty. Even though it cost her an aching injury to her leg, she was glad the stranger pointed out her mistake.
"Sorry, I was looking for the trading post." she tried again in a mumbled tone.
"Straight ahead. And don't walk blindly next time!"
Cinder stood to address the stranger. "Thank you–"
Other than many of the continuous amblers in the town, the sidewalk Cinder shared lay empty. No one around had been stopped long enough to chat with her, nor did anyone nearby as she searched the roads for the stranger. Only a fancy sleigh mounted to a pole on the street kept her company – even its owner could not be found.
While hunting for the woman she bumped into, Cinder's gaze cast over to a swinging sign with a globe painted on both sides. The trading post. Leaping out in to the path once it cleared of carriages, she headed straight for the blue door. She swore she heard a faint, sarcastic You're welcome, but couldn't be sure.
A bell welcomed her into the quaint shop, walls lined with maps and parchment. Behind a glass case, odd treasures rested on velvet pillows for a unique display. Different sized – and even shaped – globes hung from the ceiling as lights. One spun in a clockwise circle with a white ball attached at the axis.
"Can I help you?" The older voice made her jump and spin to find its owner, her face cloaked the entire time. An older man leaned over the counter with a curious glance at the young girl in his shop. Stains streaked across his worn apron where Cinder noticed a miniscule name tag tilted on his chest. Gilles, it read.
"I need a compass," Cinder pleaded. "And anything else a traveler might need."
The man's eyebrow hitched upward. "A traveler needs more than what a young girl like yourself can afford. With a compass, however, you're in luck."
Leaving toward his back room, Cinder fingered a few of the coins she snuck out of the palace wondering if he'd question where she obtained royal gold. Eyeing a collection of mismatched, illegal wires unsuccessfully hidden by a blanket, she had an itching sense he was the type of man who didn't ask questions when it came to money.
Gilles returned, a wooden jewelry box locked in his grasp. Worn, yet well-crafted, the box only deceived Cinder into believing the compass beneath was in the same condition. She held a gasp back in her throat when he revealed the metal plated contraption, unlike anything she had ever seen before. The black face stared back at her, lit to life by Gilles's index finger.
"It is electronic," he explained. "And still immune to the Snow Queen's powers with the help of a microchip. Sadly, it still can only be used as a compass."
Caressing the lovely piece after Gilles placed it in her hands, Cinder noticed an etching engraving the back. An S curled in delicate script decorated the silver metal, the scratches marked over it only adding to its originality.
Gilles continued making his sales pitch, without much enthusiasm. "It belonged to an old employee of mine."
"How much?" she inquired.
A heavy chuckle escaped Gilles's lips as he began spewing tales of supply and demand, authenticity, and other nonsense about the compass's worth. To an untrained ear, the chatter seemed reasonable if not a steal. To Cinder, who sat through hours of Advisor Torin's lessons on the economy, the gibberish sounded ridiculous. Playing along with his game, she handed him a golden coin more to shut him up than anything else.
As she expected, he let her leave with the compass and no questions. She slipped it into her pocket after stepping out into the street, the business very depleted from its original valor. While the sleigh remained and the occasional sled ran through, many of the hurried people had found where it was that they were going.
Hoping to follow their lead once she caught her bearings, Cinder headed back the way she came. The fountain seemed a fair place to plan where no one would peek at her identity under her hood's protection. She jogged back to the crossroad's corner when a glinting light caught her eye – and made her icy heart drop when she located the source.
A picture of her parents rested in a shop window behind an array of lit candles. Her heart jolted at the sight – it was not a picture she was unfamiliar with. The very same photograph was displayed all around the palace; one of her parents' favorite, at least next to their family portrait on Winter's first birthday. It depicted their coronation day, when the beloved King and Queen of Iceland took on the throne.
Sitting before her husband, Cinder's mother smiled brilliantly at the photographer wearing a gorgeous dress of jewels and patterns. Her dark brown hair was strung up in an intricate style centered on her exquisite crown. The diamonds, large enough to fit in Cinder's palm, sharp-edged shape reminded her of icicles rising from the ground.
Queen Adri's hands clasped over her husband's on her right shoulder. Wearing a lavished military uniform and a dwarfing crown atop his head, her father looked much younger than she remembered him to be. Clean-shaven and wrinkleless, the missing grey in his light hair made him seem like a different person, though not unfamiliar. His smile glowed just as brightly as his wife's, the true joy of the day seeping of the page and into Cinder.
Sadness began crippling her insides as Cinder realized her coronation would not have been as happy of an occasion. Succeeding her dead parents, wedding a man she barely tolerated, and fighting off a curse from the tyrant Snow Queen. To her, the world displayed in the happy picture was like a dream rather than a memory.
"Excuse me?"
Suddenly, a hand rested on her shoulder sending electric shivers up her spine. Before she could conceal her face, she spun to meet the eyes of the stranger who discovered her. She expected someone else – guards, Advisor Torin, Iko, even Winter – but not the startling boy with copper eyes.
This ended up being longer than expected, but I managed to post it sooner!
I hope to see another update within the next few weeks - I am really excited to be working on this stage in the story. Things are going to start getting good!
Banana Kisses: Thank you, thank you, thank you - I cannot say it enough. I am so grateful to be in your community, so glad you like my story, and so happy you left me a review :) As for your questions, Channary will play a vital role in the story, although most likely not until the end. Her past with Levana is twisted with deception, dark with betrayal, and one that prove very dangerous for Cinder. I wouldn't say their relationship was like Anna and Elsa's because there was scarcely any love between them. There was at one point, but it has all dried up from hatred and envy now.
Malika DaughterOfWisdom: Here you are :)
Lady Jo Editor Extraordinaire: I'm overjoyed you liked it! He's going to be an interesting character.
lunartic: Scarlet is coming! I assure you! All major couples (Kai and Cinder, Scarlet and Wolf, Cress and Thorne, Winter and Jacin) will make an appearance in this story. Scarlet will be arriving in Book Two, sooner rather than later. And thanks for another review!
Thanks to everyone reading this story! Looking forward to the next update and please review!