by C S Patra
“Is that where you want me to wait?”
“Wait by that fountain for me. You know which one I’m talking about, don’t you? It’s the one that has those serpents circling around it and the water comes out of their mouths.”
“Oh, I know that!” Lavinia could picture that fountain since she couldn’t stop staring at it when she entered the inn. It had been carved out of marble and the serpents were almost tied up with each other. Their faces looked like they were angry with each other, but it was also a peaceful sculpture. Something about it made her feel calm inside.
“That’s where I want you to be,” Alice said. “Stand by that fountain and I will be there.”
“All right.” Lavinia slowly got up and started to head toward the door. “Are you sure you don’t want my help?”
“I think I’ll be fine. How about you? Don’t you want to change?”
“This gown will do.” Lavinia looked down at the bright red gown that she was wearing. It wasn’t her best outfit, but she didn’t want to waste time finding another. “I’m more interested on how you will look anyway. I can’t wait to see that dress on you.”
Alice blushed and went back to the washroom where she could change. Lavinia only hoped that she didn’t make her feel strange over that. She was serious about wanting to see Alice in that dress and taking her out on a night in town. She didn’t know what it was about Alice that made her feel so warm. It was probably because she was the first person to treat her like anything but royalty. Alice never looked at Lavinia like she was a delicate flower. She treated her with respect and caring like a person deserved. Alice was honest with her. Alice gave her what no one else had given her in years. One day, she had to repay her.
I keep thinking that, but I have yet to come up with an idea of how. This dinner date will be nice, but it won’t be enough. She thought. I dragged her out of Themasa with very little idea of where we were going or what we were doing. She deserves more than this.
The very thought about Alice was making her blush. She didn’t know why but it was nice to spend some time with her. She liked having this quiet time with someone even though they were still learning a lot about each other.
She was waiting for long when a beautiful woman started to walk down the stairs. At first, she wasn’t sure who it was but the look on her face said it all. Alice had dressed up nicely and had pulled up her hair so the strands didn’t fall in her face. The ice-blue gown that she was wearing reached the ground, but she wasn’t tripping over her hem. Somehow, she looked more like royalty in that gown that Lavinia ever did. It made her look more like an adult than a sixteen-year old baker. She didn’t wear much jewelry, but it wasn’t necessary. What she had on was enough. She was beautiful with very little jewels and gems adorned on her body.
Lavinia had to hold her breath as Alice made her way over. “You look incredible.”
“Thank you,” Alice whispered, twirling around so Lavinia could get a better look at her. The skirt swirled around with her and she showed off the sleek white shoes that she had. “I will try my best to keep this dress clean and perfect. I will try not to drop anything on it or get it dirty.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. If it does get dirty, I can always get it cleaned. I’m far more interested in taking you out to dinner anyway. I want to spend a night in this town and enjoy everything that it has to offer. It’s very different from that village we were in. I don’t see anyone that needs my immediate help.”
“Then shall we go on our date for tonight?”
“We shall.” Lavinia was almost tempted to loop her arms through Alice’s but stopped herself. Removing this curse couldn’t come soon enough. Instead, she led the way with Alice right behind and had her hand at her side while they walked down the streets. Everything was lit up and glowing, but nothing was as beautiful as the girl next to her.
Soon. She told herself, looking at her hands that were itching to hold Alice. I will hold you soon. Just wait.
Chapter 15
Alice couldn’t help herself from staring at the beautiful ice dragon and serpent sculptures in the garden. As they walked down the path illuminated by the lights, she felt like their eyes were watching her and she wondered what they would think if they were real. How would they feel about her, a poor baker, and Vinnie, princess of Themasa, walking together under the moonlight? At the moment, they looked like two young girls having fun and enjoy themselves. They weren’t the only people out in this garden, yet they felt like they were alone. They had the night to themselves and it felt right.
“I have never seen anything like this.” Lavinia stopped in front of the sculpture of a two-headed ice dragon. It was arching toward the sky like it was about to take flight with its wings spread out and its mouths open to roar. “I’ve read about them in my books, but this is different. Seeing lifelike sculptures of them makes it feel like I’m standing in front of them.”
“Well, I think it would be a little more intimidating if you were to stand in front of a real one.” Alice thought out loud. “Are you sure this is what they would look like?”
“Of course. What else could a dragon look like?” Lavinia stared at another dragon sculpture, this with a single head and lying down. “They’re supposed to breathe ice and snow instead of fire but that’s not comforting. I don’t think anyone would want to be frozen to death.”
“Did you have to remind me of that? I’m already worried about the weather over there,” Alice shuddered. “I know we have enough supplies and clothes to handle that, but I keep wondering if that will be enough. What if we don’t find any shelter at night? What if all the inns are full and we’re left out in the cold?”
“Alice…”
“I’m serious, Vinnie. We are doing fine because we’re not dealing with anything yet. If we go further, then we will be faced with much more than we can handle. I’ve never seen a blizzard before. I only know what people have told me but I’m not sure I can live through one.” Alice wiped the sweat from her brow. “I’m sorry. I know I’m getting well ahead of myself but now I am worried about what could happen.”
“Those are concerns to address, Alice. I understand how you feel because I’ve been thinking about that too. I never knew what snow was like except from watching it fall outside of the castle. For many years, I wanted to play it and feel it, but no one would let me go,” Lavinia sighed. “No one wanted me to experience winter. All I could do was watch snow fall and icicles form on my window. It was nice but it’s not the same as knowing what winter is like.”
“It can be pretty harsh. Themasa has had some harsh winters but I don’t think will be anything like the winters in The Frost Kingdom. I found some books in the inn that talked about winters over there. There aren’t very many ways to get around it and only certain animals can survive in such cold weather. So if we were to get a horse_”
“It most likely wouldn’t be able to survive a night there.” Lavinia finished off for her. “I see the problem. If I see Kian later tonight, I’ll ask him about a better option. The train station will only take us halfway there but trekking through the snow and ice will be hard on us. No matter how well prepared we are, we won’t get far like this.” She looked up at a statue of an ice dragon. “You don’t suppose we would be able to ride one of them, do you?”
“A dragon?” Alice followed her gaze and laughed. “Oh, no! I don’t think we’d ever be able to tame one of those dragons. Do you see how it looks? I think it would kill us if we ever tried to get close enough!”
“Just because it looks frightening doesn’t mean it is. Look at those scales, the wings, and that long tail. This creature was made to fly through the roughest storms and blizzards. I know I haven’t read anything about people flying on dragons, but I don’t think it’s impossible either. Just like we can ride horses, we should be able to ride these beautiful animals.”
“Horses are different. I’m used to seeing horses. I know what they can do and h
ow fast they can go. A dragon is something I only heard about in stories. I’ve seen their pictures, but they always strike me as majestic but dangerous. I’m not sure if they even exist.”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out and that’s to go to the Frost Kingdom. When we get back to the inn, I’ll talk to Kian and come up with a plan on what to do there.” Lavinia decided. “Let’s not think about that tonight. Let’s just enjoy this beautiful art and each other’s company. I can’t believe someone spent so much time making sculptures like this. They put it together so we could admire it.”
“Yes,” Alice murmured, unsure what else to follow up with this. The sculptures were beautiful, but they were nothing compared to the girl she was standing next to. For once, Lavinia felt like a girl to her and not the princess. She didn’t feel like royalty but a friend. A part of her want to reach out and grab Vinnie’s hand but she stopped herself. Not being able to touch her friend, to hold her, was unbearable. There was no way they could continue to live like this. “When do you think we’ll be rid of our curses?”
“I’m not sure. I hope it’s soon,” Lavinia said, wanting to lock her fingers with Alice’s. They were both close to each other yet still kept a bit of distance. The slightest trip or lean could be fatal for them. “We’ll get to the Frost Kingdom, Alice. We’re getting closer to removing these curses.”
“What if we don’t find the answers in the Frost Kingdom though? Does that mean we have to move straight to the Petal Kingdom?”
“We must. I have read a little bit about it and I know that it is a little different. We won’t have to worry about the cold, for one thing, and we’ll be surrounded by beauty. However, that’s all I have heard about it. There’s even less information about the Sugar Kingdom other than the fact that the buildings and the roads are paved in sweets.”
“That does sound delicious though I don’t think they’d approve of anyone eating their streets.” Alice chuckled. Lavinia giggled at the thought of this and they both felt a bit more relaxed. “It’s nice having some time alone with each other.
~ ~ ~
Kian walked down the busy streets of Losalle and tried his best not to pick anyone’s pocket. This city was filled with wealthy people and they loved to show off what they owned. He could tell by looking at what they wore and the things they flaunted about. It would be very easy to pluck a ring off someone’s finger or reach into a coat pocket to get some coins. He had a good way of running into them, excusing himself, and being polite with them while they were distracted. The temptation was a lot.
No, I can’t do that. I promised Vinnie I would help her. I do not want to draw more attention to myself. He scolded himself as he walked by a well-dressed couple. He thought about how he could get his hands around the woman’s neck and nick her necklace. By the time she noticed it was gone, he would be far from Losalle. They would never know it was him. For Lavinia and Alice’s sake, he kept his hands to himself.
It felt strange to him that the princess of Themasa wanted his help. Not only was he the first person to see her outside of the castle, she didn’t want to throw him in princess. She had seen potential in him that no one else had seen. That was what he wanted others to notice. Trying to lead an honest life hadn’t gone well. Work at the bakery was nice but he was usually stuck in the back helping others. He didn’t mind it, but it did feel like he worked hard and got very little for it in return. He liked the people he worked with and he understood why money was scarce at times. They would do a lot of work on certain days but get very few people coming into the store. That was the main reason why he had turned to stealing. Part of it was to get money and the other part was to use his skills in another way. He didn’t feel like he had done enough.
In a way, he had been glad that they had stopped at a village. He wanted Lavinia to see how others lived out here. There were people who struggled out in Themasa alone yet they didn’t get much help from the king and queen. He didn’t want to believe that the people who ruled the kingdom were cruel, but they certainly turned a blind eye to problems. He had never told anyone about how little he had in his own house. There were nights where he had gone to bed hungry and didn’t get to eat anything until he went into the bakery in the morning. Even still, sometimes all he got to eat were burnt pieces of bread or poorly made cakes. No one really understood why he would take them, but they were good enough for now.
Tamara knew that he wasn’t privileged and tried to give him encouragement. She would pull him to the side and tell him that he didn’t need to worry about being the best. “I know you’re still very young and there’s a lot that you have to learn. Work hard and everything will come in due time. You have the talent. You will be recognized for it soon enough.”
That was all nice to hear but Kian didn’t want to wait for it. There were people out there flaunting about their wealth and not caring about those who didn’t have enough to live. It infuriated him whenever he walked around the kingdom and saw them pass by the beggars on the road. No one thought to give them another look, let alone any money. The more he thought about that, the angrier he got. He had to do something about it. The only way to get anyone to pay attention was to steal from them.
He wanted to do it right now but kept to himself. Instead, he found himself looking at some of the small ice dragon sculptures being sold in a store. These dragons didn’t look as intimidating as the ones that he had seen in the gardens and parks. If the Frost Kingdom had dragons of this size, he wouldn’t be so worried. He didn’t know much about them, but he knew they did breathe a white fire that felt more like a blast of cold air. They froze people to death instead of burning them to a crisp and it was ten times worse. He only hoped that the stories about these dragons were just that. He didn’t want them to be real.
Walking around the store, he thought about how much they were priced and what he could get from selling them. This store was giving them away for far too cheap and the artwork was just too nice to be worth two gold coins. He just didn’t understand it so he had to ask the shopkeeper about the sculptures.
“Oh, those. Yes, they are made of real crystal, but they are not selling as well as some other things,” she explained when she saw them. “Evidently, no one wants to buy sculptures of small dragons. They would rather spend money to get something larger and more practical.”
“Still, I think that two gold coins are not enough for something like this,” Kian admitted. “Why don’t they want sculptures like this? Are they too small?”
“No, it’s not the size but it’s the fact that they are sculptures of dragons. People have a fear of those dragons and don’t want to keep anything like this in their houses. They feel like they’ll be attacked by dragons if they have them.” The shopkeeper explained. “Having the statues in the gardens is fine. Having them in houses scares them.”
“Is that so?” Kian was confused by this. “From all the dragons that I’m seeing in the city, I thought people would be fond of them. Have you sold many of these smaller statues?”
“I only sold one the entire week,” she admitted. “Even though I do have sales now and then, I don’t get as many customers as I’d like. That makes living in Losalle a little hard because I barely make enough to get by. Things are always changing and growing over here. Prices are always going up for small things and you have to make sure you have enough money.”
“You don’t make enough money?”
“Not always. That’s why I spend more time in the shop than I used to. Every little coin that I get counts toward a meal or clothing or something of importance,” she continued. “I think I will be working longer in the upcoming days. Many of the folks are going to the Frost Kingdom masked ball so things will be very quiet.”
“There’s a masked ball in the Frost Kingdom?” Kian repeated, suddenly intrigued by this information. “Is everyone in town invited?”
“Oh, I wish! Only the wealthiest get to go there as well as those who have some talent. An
yone that’s an artisan or has magical powers will be invited. I don’t think I will ever be able to see the inside of the Frost Kingdom castle,” she explained. “What I have heard about it is that this is the event of the year. You see so many witches and sorcerers performing spells and magic acts. However, the thing about this ball is that everyone is playing tricks on each other. It’s up to you to decide who is a real sorcerer and who isn’t. Needless to say, the Frost Ball is what people dream of being a part of.”
“I see,” Kian murmured, feeling his hopes get a little dashed. This information was helpful, but it also meant a little more work. “By any chance, do you know how to get an invitation to the ball?”
The shopkeeper laughed. “Oh, I would never be invited to one but a customer of mine did drop this off earlier. She cannot go this year because she has an ill family to take care of. She asked if I wanted to go but, unfortunately I cannot. There is no one who can take care of shop for me on that day and I have no way of getting to the Frost Kingdom.” She handed him the invitation. “I’ve been trying to give this to someone else, but I have had no luck. Those who are going already have their invitations.”
