Despite the warm air bursting through Nainsi's ventilation shafts, Cinder felt colder than she did in the midst of the mountain's storm. Frost snuck into her clothing through the holes in the wool and nipped at her bare skin underneath. She thought her shivering might shake the entire sleigh it had become so fierce. The worst of the cold, however, radiated from deep within her chest where she knew her heart was slowly turning to ice.
Rubbing her hands together, Cinder tried huffing hot puffs into her palms to relieve some of the cold. Suddenly, something warm wrapped around her hands and squeezed with gentle reassurance. She glanced up to see Kai offering his free hand as a heater while the other remained firmly wrapped around the reins. "Cold?" Kai asked, with a small smile.
You have no idea, she thought to herself. Cinder nodded, but she supposed her rattling teeth gave more of an answer. Eagerly, she held Kai's hand tighter and let his natural warmth seep through her gloves.
"Frosts, you really are freezing," he commented as she clutched his hand close to her chest.
Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment. "I'm sorry," she mumbled.
"No it's just – here." Slipping his hand from hers, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. With a contented sigh, Cinder folded into his side and allowed herself to bask in the shared warmth of their body heat. Even through the thick layers of his clothing, she could hear his heartbeat quicken as she rested her head against the crook of his shoulder.
A head popped up from the back seats and eyed them with annoyance, "Should I find my own means of transportation?"
Cinder jumped at Scarlet's interruption and unintentionally slid a centimeter away from Kai's body. His arm remained around her, but the space made it clearer his intentions were purely practical.
Guilty, Cinder had completely forgotten about their new companion's existence. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a faint blush to Kai's cheeks – it appeared she wasn't the only one who forgot they were no longer alone on this journey.
"You think you've got it bad?!" Nainsi whined from her speakers. "I've had to sit here and watch them cast shy glances at each other all evening! It's like they're canoodling with their eyes–!"
Kai cleared his throat very loudly to drown out the rest of Nainsi's protests. "We've reached Portland's borders. We should be in the heart of the city in a few minutes."
Cinder's flush relieved a bit of her cold and she let herself focus on their destination rather than her impending death. What was once nothing more than glowing flecks on the horizon had become a chandelier of dancing lights over the rooftops. The buildings – mostly two-story cottages similar to the ones in Iceland's capital – were all painted in bright colors that reminded Cinder of stained glass. Just beyond the winding streets, she could make out the dark waves of the ocean beat against the icy beach.
It was breathtaking.
Standing in her seat slightly, Cinder eagerly leaned over the sleigh's headboard to get a better view. She wobbled with each bump in the snow, but her grip on the railing kept her from flying forward – until their uneven mountain path gave way to paved roads in a single, abrupt jerk.
Cinder lost her grip and nearly tumbled headfirst over the sleigh's side. If not for the hands clinging to her coat, she would have.
"Careful!" Kai shouted, pulling her back into the seat with Scarlet's help.
"Honestly," Scarlet grumbled once Cinder was secure again. "Do you have a death wish?"
"No," Cinder mumbled into her scarf. She wasn't about to admit her lack of graceful coordination. Winter was the picturesque princess, not her. "I've just never seen it before."
"What?" Kai frowned. "Portland?"
Cinder shook her head. "The ocean."
Her eyes found the black sea again, watching each tide wear away the distant shore. Tiny diamonds of color reflected off the waves from Portland's lights and reminded Cinder of her mother's favorite necklace. Cinder often clutched the white jewel at the necklace's center when she was very young, giggling like mad when the seemingly plain stone lit up with color in the light.
Moonstone, her mother called it. An unfortunate name for something so lovely, Cinder always thought.
"I thought it was frozen," Cinder commented to herself. She didn't even think she'd said it aloud until Kai answered.
"It is, mostly," Kai said. "A few miles out and you start to see the glaciers floating by, sporadic at first. Suddenly, there's so many the ships can't avoid them. You have to pick and choose which ones will cause the least amount of damage to the hull until . . . until there's more ice than water."
It was a chilling thought, but not as pressing as what Kai slipped in with his explanation. "How do you know?" Cinder asked lightly.
Cinder remembered clearly what Kai had said about his past – and none of it mentioned traveling the frozen seas. Yet he spoke with the knowledge of someone who had seen – lived through – the terrors of sea travel.
Realizing what he had given away, Kai faltered. "I–"
"Look here!" Scarlet interrupted.
The two turned away from each other to catch a glimpse of what their companion was talking about. Moving her arm over the seat between them, Scarlet held her open compass in the palm of her hand. The needle was spinning wildly, without direction or means, and continued to get faster as they moved into the city.
"We're getting close," she grinned.
"How does this work, again?" Cinder asked hesitantly.
Scarlet left the explanation to Kai. "Compasses use the Earth's magnetic field to give directions. The Mirror of Reason, however, has a greater magnetic pull than the Earth. Legend says the Mirror of Reason is at the end of the world – which is technically true. It's at the edge of the Earth's magnetic field."
Head spinning from the information, Cinder could only blink at him. Scarlet seemed just as baffled – but far less likely to show it. "So, the Mirror of Reason is out of range with the magnetic field?"
"More or less," Kai replied, giving a small smile in understanding. "Basically, what it means is the Mirror is closer than most people think."
Cinder was beginning to catch on. "So we won't need to cross the sea."
Kai shook his head. "No. The entrance to the Mirror of Reason is somewhere in the mountains near here."
"And we find it by following the compass," Scarlet deduced, snapping the device close for an added effect. She appeared to be one for dramatic flair, Cinder had discovered.
"When the compass stops moving, that's where the entrance is," Kai finished. His tone had taken a dark turn, as had his eyes set solely on the setting sun.
It wasn't difficult for Cinder to realize he was thinking about his father. Cinder supposed she looked like that too, when she allowed herself to think about her parents. She fought the urge to reach for his hand, offer some measure of comfort, because she knew deep down she needed it more than he did.
"Ahem," Nainsi commented, reminding all of them of her never-leaving presence. "While I'm very excited not to be dragged out to the frozen sea, I refuse to travel over any more mountains tonight."
"Nainsi–" Kai warned.
"Don't you Nainsi me! I've been nearly blown up by a delivery, carted through a snowstorm, chased by rabid wolf creatures all because you insisted on going down that mountain in the first place! I'm putting my runner down, Kai! No more mountain travel until morning!"
Rubbing his temples, Kai looked as if the sleigh's complaints were physically painful for him to listen to.
Shockingly, it was Scarlet who came to the rescue. "Fine with me – I haven't slept on anything remotely bed-like in, oh, three weeks?"
"Besides," she added, nudging Kai's shoulder in an overly familiar way that Cinder did not like. "I doubt Dogbreath back there is going to be catching up to us anytime soon."
With a defeated sigh, Kai relented. "Alright. We'll find an inn for the night, but by morning we are gone. By now, all of Iceland is probably on the lookout for its missing princess."
Admittedly, Cinder hadn't even considered that people might be looking for her. Perhaps in the Capital, but here? On the very edges of Iceland?
Knowing Advisor Torin, it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.
And yet, Portland seemed in another world than the rest of Iceland. Nearly all they passed gave friendly smiles and Cinder couldn't help but wave in friendly return. It was as if Iceland's fear of eternal frost had yet to reach this little port town.
This was the Iceland the other countries envisioned when their name was mentioned. An Iceland that wasn't living in fear of the Snow Queen's wrath. An Iceland living, thriving, despite the difficulties the frost had tossed at them.
This was the Iceland Cinder wanted to bring back.
Now fully mobile through Portland's streets, Nainsi had slowed her pace to a brisk walk barely faster than the patrons around them. It was Scarlet who pointed out the wooden sign with a picture of a bed over it – though she could have done so more discreetly. Unsurprisingly, she was more anxious about what kind of meal the owners would offer if they stayed the night.
Kai pulled up to the curb just outside the inn's entrance where a few other sleds were tied up for the night.
"I'll get us a room," Scarlet said, hopping out of the sleigh before it had even fully stopped. She appeared to have forgotten her ankle had nearly been bitten off by a wolf creature and stumbled a bit on the landing.
Sheepishly, Cinder wanted clarification. "A room?"
Scarlet shrugged. "We can get two beds."
Cinder prepared a well-thought out protest to that statement, but Scarlet had already sauntered out of reach. With reluctance, Cinder bit her lip and tried deliberately not to look at Kai. They had already spent a night together alone in the woods; she really had nothing to say.
"Everything alright?" Kai asked, tying Nainsi up to the nearest post. After an earful of her complaints, he had also hooked up her charger and agreed 'not to disrupt her before dust collected on her railings'.
"Fine," Cinder replied a bit too quickly. "Fine."
The second time wasn't as reassuring as she'd hoped. Raising his eyebrow, Kai watched warily as Cinder helped herself out of the sleigh. He didn't seem like he would say anything more – but he also didn't seem like he entirely believed her.
Sighing to herself, Cinder wondered if now, when they were alone, would be the best time to ask him about the ocean again. He had said little about his past – other than his father's trials with the Mirror of Reason – and it had begun eating at Cinder's mind more and more.
When they had first met, he had said he was from the Norwegian Port – a port city not unlike Portland, but further to the east. And unlike Portland, the Norwegian Port hadn't been in use for over a year. Not since Norway joined the hundreds of other countries that the Snow Queen froze over for her own amusement.
Cinder wanted desperately to ask Kai about it, but one single thought kept her lips glued shut. She had no right to his honesty when she couldn't even fully give her own.
"How awful for the princess."
Spinning around in a flurry, Cinder nearly jumped out of her skin at the mention of a princess. Her body chilled, if such a thing was possible, even more in shock. As she darted her head around for who had spoken her title, she soon realized whoever it was may not have been talking about her.
"Indeed," another voice commented. Cinder located them now; a group of three huddled by one of the inn's windows, smoking what she could only assume were cigars. The two men of the group had beards longer than Cinder's hair, and the woman seemed close to growing her own.
"Cinder?" Kai called from behind her. "I'm heading inside."
"I'll be there in a minute," Cinder replied over her shoulder. She didn't stop to ensure she had heard him; she was too busy slipping closer to the burly group to catch more of their conversation.
"As if losing her parents and sister wasn't enough," the woman snorted. "That damned Queen had to send a damned spy to pester the poor girl?"
Winter, Cinder realized. They were talking about Winter.
"No doubt hez makin' da poor thang's life hell," one of the men commented, his voice thick with an overseas accent.
The other man spit into the ground. "That's probably the idea."
"Not like she can do much, either. Refusing a moon Ambassador is more like a declaration of war," the woman agreed.
Cinder sucked in a very necessary breath at their words. Queen Levana had sent an Ambassador to spy on Winter? The thought of Winter needing to be in the same room as anyone from the moon was enough to churn Cinder's stomach, let alone her having to speak with one on a daily basis.
But why in spring's name did he come? Cinder was already on the run from the Queen's curse – Winter did not need to be dragged into it. The Ambassadors that arrived during her parents' time were always cruel and vile people, people her parents sent away with clever excuses before they could do any real damage.
Bawling her hands into fists, Cinder felt her nails dig through the material of her gloves and into her palms. She should be there. She should be there to protect her younger sister from the Queen's hated minions.
She should never have left.
Mustering all her courage – and not much else – Cinder turned on her heel. She needed to tell Kai and Scarlet she was going back, regardless of the consequences. Even if she died, at least she would die in the confines of her home with her sister. At least she would be able to protect Winter from the Queen's ambassador if nothing else–
A sharp pain stopped Cinder mid-thought and buckled her knees out from under her. Stabbing – like a thousand blades of ice piercing into her heart – enveloped her. The pain latched onto her heart and refused to let go, deepening it's hold until Cinder keeled over. Would the air not have been ripped from her lungs, she would have screamed.
This, Cinder thought, is what it feels like to die.
It's been far to long, my friends. This was supposed to be up Monday, but I settled for 12:30ish on Tuesday to make it extra long.
The next chapter is almost done! So hopefully that will be up soon. Still on track to finish by September! Thanks for sticking with me everyone!
Cheesehead101: I didn't even think about that, but I would agree with you. Jacin is more beautiful and Thorne is more . . . charming :) The way I thought of it was Cress meeting an Earthen for the first time, and of course it's our wonderful Captain :) Thanks for the review!
Guest: Here it is :) Thanks!
Human-at-Heart: Thank you, thank you, thank you! It makes me so happy to have awesome reviewers like you! And don't worry, Wolf and Scarlet will find a way to come together :)
LunarLover: Sorry this took so long! I was out of town for a week . . . and then a week turned into two . . . the point is: I'm very sorry! And thank you so much for another of your lovely reviews! :)
BookAddict510: Thank you so much! I'm blushing!
Lovetoskate: Of course! My heart wouldn't be able to take it if Scarlet and Wolf didn't end up together (or any of the main couples for that matter). Thanks for the review!
creepyvampiregirl13: I don't think I can thank you enough for your amazing review. I read it about six or seven times and every time it made me happier :) Thank you, immensely, for your review and love for this story! Thank you! Thank you!
As always, thanks to everyone reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following! I love each and every one of you!