Isaiah opened his eyes and sun almost blinded him. He tried to move away, but then he felt pain in his side. He remembered it now. The wound he received from the bandits.

"Careful, my lord!" Hiram said, and uncle Ehan was standing beside him. Isaiah wanted to know how did they get here, but then he saw a young woman on the chair beside his bed. She blushed and turned away.

"Uncle." Isaiah said, with a groan. "I've forgotten what happened."

"You were brought here, to the castle of the queen." Ehan said. "You saved that snowman's life, so she wanted you to stay here."

"Did it go well?" Isaiah asked, and then smiled. "Of course it did. Is Olaf alright?"

Hiram sighed. "He is fine, my lord, but..."

"But what?" Isaiah asked. Hiram looked at Ehan, who nodded.

"You've been spending time with him for a week already. Saying that snowman is alright is like saying a fly isn't annoying."

"Alright, uncle." he sighed. "Where is..."

"I presume you meant to mention me?" a familiar voice said, approaching the bed. Father laid a hand on his shoulder. "I do not know whether you are an idiot or a hero. Perhaps a bit of both. You have saved just a snowman."

"A friend, father." he said, trying to straighten up. "The queen's friend."

"Maybe that was not that bad." he said. "However, what were you doing in the city at all."

Isaiah's smile disappeared. "What others should be doing."

Ehan and Hiram both coughed, ignoring the conversation as best as they could.

Jeremiah, to Isaiah's surprise, just sighed. "You would give your guts for the life of a random beggar, rather than spend an hour with noblemen."

"Not a very precise analogy. But yes, it gives the idea."

Jeremiah sighed. "Just like your mother, that's what you are like." he looked down at him angered. "This is about reputation of our house, Isaiah."

"Have I gotten drank or had a bastard? Am I a gluttonous man who spends his days shaming you and whoring around?" Isaiah said in his defense. "Or am I helping people?"

"Any interaction with common folk is..."

"Any? You pass by them every day."

"Do you know how the vasals of Hathir spoke about your grandfather? They laughed at his face, not behind his back, when he gave the coat to that beggar. Do you know what they talk about us?"

"Then maybe those lords do not deserve your respect." Isaiah said. "How long did grandfather rule? Thirty three years. Thirty three years of peace and prosperity, despite the lords not loving him much. Because of humility, not pride."

"You think you are good Isaiah, don't you?" Jeremiah smiled. "That you are better than your father and you pride yourself on that?"

"Pride?" he said. "I was once proud of my father, until he received the scepter he did and became a different man."

Jeremiah stopped talking, staring down at him. "We will talk later." he went to the door, opening it. "Sometime." and left.

Uncle and Hiram stayed in the room. Ehan sighed and patted him on the back. "Go back to sleep, son."

"That's good. Thank you. I think I can..." then, his wound in bandages hurt him, and he groaned. Ehan and Hiram tried to convince him to stop.

"Isaiah." uncle said. "You must stay here, in this room. The priest said that."

Isaiah rolled his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Fine. Do I have to just lay in my bed as well?"

Ehan thought for some time. "No." he said. "You can walk. But we must help you." he said and they both helped him get up.

"Thank you, thank you." Isaiah said, just wishing to get rid of them.

"Sarah! Give him his clothing."

The servant woman, named Sarah, brought Isaiah ordinary clothing, and she glanced at him and blushed again, turning away and leaving the room.

"I can be alone now." he said.

"No way." Ehan said. "I'll call Sarah..."

"Uncle, please." Isaiah raised his hand. "Just leave me alone for a bit."

Ehan sighed. "Alright, as you wish." he said. "But don't move too much. Sit on your bed."

"I will." he said and Ehan and Hiram left the room.

Isaiah again sighed in slight pain because of that wound. It's good the wound healed a little. His side still hurt a bit, but he could live with it until it heals completely.

Isaiah heard a knock on the door. "Moment." he said and put his clothes on. "Who is it?"

When the door opened, Isaiah immediately stood, and he wanted to grab the grey noble clothing of his. Imagine being dressed in front of a monarch in ordinary clothing.

"Lord Isaiah!" Elsa said when she entered his room and noticed he was dressed in black pants and boots of a noble, while his shirt was a citizen's one.

"Your majesty!" he said, smiling. "I...I am sorry for this, I..."

"Never mind that, lord Isaiah." she said, not quite sure what she actually forgave him right now. "I've just come to tell you: thank you. Thank you for saving Olaf."

He smiled. "I only did what was right, your majesty." he bowed his head, and she bowed it in return.

"I really owe you my life, lord Isaiah." she said. "I want you to know that."

"We are allies your majesty, and I..."

"No, no, no, lord Isaiah." Elsa waved with her hands. "I mean, like a person to person, I owe you for that. Not as ruler to ruler, but as a human being to another human being. Thank you."

He smiled again and nodded. "Yes, queen Elsa. You welcome. It was the right thing to do. Besides, I and he became acquaintances. He is a very...well, let's just say world would probably a worse place if he was gone."

She smiled. "I agree, my lord." and bowed her head, preparing to leave, but... "If there is anything," she asked. "that I can do for you, any messengers or help, I will be happy to do that for you, lord Isaiah."

"Thank you, your majesty." he said. "No necessary need at the moment, but thank you. No, wait! Actually, there is something."

"Yes?"

"There is a young soldier named Ethil, who follows me everywhere I go." I should have asked uncle and father about it. "When I left to find some food, he stayed with the donkey and a wagon. I would just like to know if he is alright."

She nodded. "I will send for him."

"Thank you." he said and then she left.

Harald crawled through the night, Uthal, Gisman, Hama and Reug behind him. Soldiers have been patrolling the city ever since that incident with the snowman and that happened yesterday. It is almost as if the fate has turned against just for the sake of laughs.

If Mern hadn't tried to pick more than two sparklers, maybe the snowman wouldn't have appeared at all.

"Damn thiz." Hama said. "I told ya we zhouldn't have azzepted hiz buzinezz. He'z a madman!"

"What would you have had us do?" Uthal hissed. "Smuggle weapons as we did always? This business has meant us a fortune! We could have earned more than ever in our lives." he pushed Gisman. "Had you caught that snowman, you little slug!"

"I?" the huge idiot said. "I was about to, had you not pretended to be in charge and let him escape!'

"I let him escape? He slipped out of your fingers, cretin! And in return, you decided to throw a vase at him."

"A vase," Reug said. "that cost a fortune!'

"You pathetic pieces of meat!" Harald yelled at them, shooting in the air. "If you had brought these as I told you," he showed them the gun. "we would have gotten rid of that lordling without anyone ever knowing how he died. They don't even know what a bullet is."

"Reavvy?" Hama said. "And what wivv we do now, zhief? Do you want uz to do zomething to correct thiz or...we wivv get outta here az I tovd you we zhould!"

"Shut your hole!" Harald punched him. "We're not safe here, yes, but without none of you is gonna mak it out of here alive!"

"Then what?!"

"We leave today!" he roared. "Kirun will not know we left if we do it quickly. He'll suppose we died."

"I sincerely hope that does not need to be the case."

He walked in on them, dressed in black coat. They could recognize his ash-grey mustache everywhere. Akal, the rabbit, crawled behind him, as always.

Harald winced and backed away, feeling as if he was staring at a wolf. "Kirun?!" he whimpered. "What...what a pleasant surprise? We were just going to..."

"Report your failure to me." his heavy accent made him even more terrifying, aside from the red in his eyes. "I never took you to be great professionals, but I assumed that courtesy of reports is a trait shared in all of business."

"F...failure?"

"Do not stumble on your words, Harald." he said. "The story has spread like wildfire through the city. Otherwise, I would not be here. Good thing for you that no one actually found that wagon. Now, that would make things incredibly uncomfortable...more than I care to have them be."

"We'll fix this!" he whmpered again. "We swear. Swear on my mother and father's grave. I'm gonna..."

"Do what?" he said. "Go and ask the queen to give you back the time?" He grabbed Harald by the shoulder and he flinched at the exact moment. Kirun was smiling, holding him like a friend. Like a friend. "If I remember correctly, you were given very specific, precise, clear and thoroughly weighed suggestions, or maybe my mind has gotten a bit old?"

"No...no. I mean, yes, Kirun!" he laughed. Fight fear with laughter, his uncle taught him.

"And you agreed with those suggestion and agreed to follow them, have you not?"

"Well, maybe I meant..."

"'Your wish," Kirun immitated him, "my order, sire!' Isn't that what he said, Akal?"

"Exactly boss!" Akal hissed. "I remember it and I have a memory of an elephant!"

"Precisely! An elephant!" he smiled and looked back at Harald. "Harald, my dear friend." he chuckled. "My dear, dearest friend. Do you know what is the key difference between ice and fire?"

That question confused him. Like asking: "What is the difference between night and day?"

"I, uh..." he didn't know. "I never thought about it."

"Ice," he let him go, but remained beside him. "is not that dangerous, in and of itself. In fact, it is a tool of sculptures and food, just as the beloved queen of this country proves. Even when you are cold, you are simply not being well: just shaking. You do not really feel hurt, more like...absence of well-being. Ice is not...aggressive. Even when you are freezing to death, you eventually start dreaming you are warm. You die a peaceful death, in a dream and he is merciful towards you."

He left him and took his gloves off. "Fire, however...it is different. It is not a tool. It is...alive. Too alive." His fingers sparkled with flame. "It is a beast. A hungry beast that runs after you, and makes your eyes stare at it. You fear her, yet admire her beauty."

Everyone started feeling hot. Too hot. Hama could feel sweat roll down his forehead. It was the middle of the night, on a dock by the sea, yet he felt the need to unbutton his shirt. Harald was standing behind Kirun like a statue.

"If you don't approach her and think of yourself so higher than her, she will spare you: you respect her and she leaves you alone." he turned back to Harald, who was holding a lump in his throat. He squealed. "Disrespect her, though..." he clasped his hands and the flame burned.

Harald was all in flames, burning brighter than a hundred candles and smelling horribly. He screamed in anguish, but they didn't know what were the words. They all stood terrified. All except Kirun, who didn't even have a single sweat on his head. "Once set, you cannot send her away like you can with ice. The only way to save yourself from her..." his eyes burned. "is to vanquish her."

In desperation, the burning body threw itself into the water, sending huge vapor above the sea. But he didn't come out.