“You killed Care. I hope you can live with that, because you are going to have to for the rest of your life.” Her tone is sharp, and words poisonous.
Brink seems surprised by her snap, but composes himself quickly, seeming indifferent about the topic.
“Care is not dead—”
Glacier interrupts him, annoyed and angry, “Yes she is. I was there when she died. I was in the room with her.”
Still, he remains indifferent.
“Then why haven’t they mentioned her death yet?” he asks. She stills at his question.
He’s right – why haven’t they?
Glacier shrugs her shoulders, taking a step back from him.
“They probably will tonight. I just thought you should know that you are a murderer now.” A pestering emotion tugs, and Glacier feels unfit to say those words. Like she is no better.
Well, I’m not…
Brink simply shrugs, “So I’m supposed to take your word for it?” He seems angry by her accusation.
Glacier swallows the lump in her throat, sending him an angry frown.
“I don’t care if you believe me. You’re a killer.”
Brink seems excited when Glacier says those words, like he has been waiting for her to say them throughout the entire conversation. He leans in close, until his nose is barely touching hers.
“Glacie, you haven’t seen anything yet.” And with that, Brink waltzes into the room like their conversation never occurred. Glacier stands at the entrance, frozen.
Glacie? He does not get to call me that!
Instead of contemplating his words, Glacier enters the room with her head high and her back straight.
The crowd below is vast, as it includes tonight and last night’s gala invitees. The tables are in the same positions, crowding over the dance floor.
Glacier starts her decent, following Brink as he skips ahead. As she collects a handful of her dress in her hand, she notices the crowd watching her warily, waiting for her to explode with ice. Ignoring the open gapes, Glacier glues her eyes to her feet.
When she reaches the bottom of the stairwell, she walks straight to the table she had been seated at the first night.
Her stride is quick and easy as everyone parts like splitting water, regarding her with caution. Glacier grinds her teeth, clenching her jaw tight with embarrassment, but continues on like she doesn’t notice.
~
Right before their meals, Sasis stands from his seat and looks over the crowd with a strange smile on his face, not quite content, but nearly remorseful. The crowd hushes instantly, itching for his words.
“My children, it is with great disappointment that I share this news with you all. All contestants must be informed before dawn.” He pauses for a moment, looking to the other Chamber Seats for confirmation.
He’s going to announce Care’s death…
Glacier looks over to Fielder’s table at the same moment he looks to hers. His eyebrows rise, like he is questioning the same thing. Glacier nods her head solemnly before drawing her eyes back to Sasis. He clears his throat before continuing.
“It is with our deepest condolences to the family who has lost their child—”
Wait, not families?
“—That the High Chamber has decided to forgo one of the Programs this year.” The crowd erupts in confused chatter, all confused and outraged by the change of the tournaments timetable.
“Quiet, please. This was a difficult decision that we made, but we confirmed it this morning before today’s battles. This is so the body of Alue Puckett can be returned to her home region quicker.”
Wait, what? What about Care? She died as well. Why aren’t they telling anyone about Care!
Glacier glances over to Fielder again, and finds him giving her a confused look. She shakes her head, trying to convince him with her eyes that she hadn’t been lying when she told him.
Care died. I heard her flat-line. I was there when they gave up…
After dinner, the tables are cleared and then moved to the edges so that people can dance in the centre. Lien approached Glacier with his wife, Darmila, in tow. He wasn’t lying when he had told Glacier how beautiful his wife is; with her tan skin and large black eyes, she is astonishing. Her ivy green dress flows similar to Glacier’s but has a more complimenting, yet revealing neckline. Glacier dismissed them playfully, encouraging Lien to dance with his wife. It didn’t take much to convince him.
Glacier stands off to the side behind one of the large white pillars where she suspected no one could see her. But to her utter surprise, the person who first taps her on the shoulder is a boy with a dwarfing figure and sandy blonde hand. Isaac. Glacier gapes at him, shocked that he would even bother approaching her.
“Can I have your first dance of the night?” Glacier nods stiffly, his small smile strangely easing her worries.
He takes her hand and guides her out onto the dance floor and begins swaying her softly.
I’m surprised so many boys know how to dance…
The atmosphere is slightly awkward; realizing this, Isaac speaks over the soft music.
“That was a pretty interesting battle.”
The idea that he might be angry, that he might try and hurt her like Gamble had as they dance, has her limbs seizing and her heart thudding painfully against her ribs. Hearing her breath quicken, he adds, “You won; I’m not angry. Just confused.”
Glacier frowns at him.
Please don’t start asking questions.
Obviously because he cannot hear her thoughts, he does anyhow.
“Why didn’t you fight back in the beginning?” Her head reaches below his shoulder, so Glacier doesn’t bother trying to look up at him.
“I don’t know…”
He doesn’t seem convinced with her three-word answer.
“OK… then what did you mean by ‘you can't control it’? And what did you mean when—” Glacier cuts him off by giving him a sharp glare.
He looks surprised by her quick movement, “Just… leave it.”
Isaac doesn’t seem happy by that response either.
“Why won’t you give me any answers?” His tone still isn’t angry; just more perplexed. By this point, they have stopped moving all together now, but are just staring at each other.
“Because…I can’t…” At this, his eyes droop. He knows he isn’t getting any answers, so he nods his head and they start to sway once more.
“You don’t have to be afraid to tell someone if you need help.”
“I don’t need help,” Glacier answers quickly. “I just need everyone to leave me the hell alone.”
He is quiet for the rest of the dance. When the song draws to an end, she thanks Isaac for the dance. Just as she is about to walk away, Glacier hears something that has her head spinning and her heart beating a mile a minute.
That’s not…
She turns her head to the sound, and her eyes burn with blissful tears.
What is he doing?
Fielder is on stage, sitting on a bench with his fingers drumming over long white and black keys.
Piano.
But it is the song he plays that has her blood pumping in her ears like a separate instrument, blocking him out.
No, I want to hear him.
Fielder’s eyes are glued to the keys as his fingers dance across them, creating a beautiful melody of song.
It’s the same song.
He plays the song that Glacier heard the first time the two of them met – that day in the snow when she had swum under the wall and found him in a broken down shack.
It’s the same song.
Her feet guide her to the stage like a magnet without her knowledge until she is standing at the foot of the stage watching him play, mesmerized. Glacier barely notices that a lot of the crowd have either started to dance to the song, or have stopped to watch him as well. Her eyes are watery, but the tears have yet to fall. Her heart twists and
turns with the memory of meeting him that day, her only friend.
The song goes on, and Glacier’s only thought is to climb the stage and sit beside him on the bench, like she used to whenever he would play it for her. When the song slowly starts drawing to its end, the crowd starts to applaud his performance. Fielder ends on the last notes and holds, drawing out the song a while longer.
When the room becomes void of any music, the crowd cheers louder with claps of appreciation. Fielder watches the keys for a moment before squeezing his eyes shut and lowering his head slightly.
Her heart is with his, tied in the memory of when they played that same song together in that old shack. Glacier bites her tongue hard, surprised she doesn’t taste blood. Hampton, the Hale representative and Second Chamber Seat, climbs the steps onto the stage, approaching the piano. Fielder stands from the bench, and as if knowing Glacier is there, his eyes immediately sought hers. And with that, Glacier feels something hatch inside her, blossoming dangerously.
“Wasn’t that wonderful, everyone?” Hampton speaks, wrapping an arm around Fielder’s broad shoulders. Fielder seems uncomfortable in his hold.
“And what is the name of that song, Mr Vinson?” Fielder gazes around the room for a moment before his eyes resettle on Glacier.
He had a hard time finding a name for that song.
“I named it when I was twelve. It’s Mink’s Song.”
Glacier gasps at the name.
He named it after the fox we found?
He had told her that he couldn’t just settle for something – it had to have meaning to him. It had to mean as much to him as the song.
Hampton continues with his questions, “And who is Mink?”
Glacier can tell from his tone that he doesn’t really care. He is just asking for good showmanship.
Fielder’s eyes burn against hers, the orange flickering like live flames.
“Just a pet I had,” then his eyes sadden, “but she died last year.”
With those words, the bliss and happiness Glacier had been feeling is shattered.
She died…
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Hampton adds when the crowd sighs sadly, “but you have a lovely name for the song.”
Hampton releases his hold on Fielder, and beacons to the crowd to have them rejoice at the idea.
Fielder leaves the stage as Hampton continues on. Glacier has lost focus in it all together.
I need to leave before Fielder finds me.
Glacier weasels her way through the crowd, ducking and dodging whenever she catches a flash of orange eyes or a glimpse of curly light hair.
I need distance. I need Castor to be safe.
But the sound of Mink’s Song continues to resound off the walls in her head, playing like an endless symphony.
The song pulls her heartstrings violently, and her efforts to push it away become overwhelming difficult.
“Glace, stop.”
Damn it…
He is suddenly beside her outside the ballroom where a different song now plays past the door. Her eyes are wide, and her lips tight.
Don’t say anything. Keep walking.
Glacier quickly turns around and continues walking.
“Glace, don’t ignore me! Not after what I did in there.” His tone is angry.
This is the first time he has ever been angry with me…
Her shoulders hunch over, and her ponytail falls past her ear to flick her nose. Glacier hears him move closer, and her chest tightens with panic.
“Stop.” He stops. She doesn’t turn around when she speaks again.
“I don’t want you to talk to me again.”
Don’t turn around. You won’t be able to say it.
“What?” His tone staggers, like he cannot even begin to comprehend her request. “If this is because of the Memory Wand, I’m sorry—”
“It’s not.” Glacier interrupts him, keeping her back straight but her head low. “I just need to focus on winning this competition. That is what I have come here for.”
Glacier takes what little comfort she can in the fact that she didn’t lie to him. Initially, Glacier did come here to win in order to protect a little boy back home.
I am not going to risk his life for anything. Or anyone.
Fielder is silent for a moment. Glacier feels warmth clouding around her, slowly becoming hotter and hotter.
“Fine. But just answer one question for me. I just need to know…”
Fine. One question.
When Glacier realizes he can't hear her thoughts, she voices them.
She hears him shift on his feet, and the urge to turn and look at him burns far hotter than her skin at the moment.
“Why did you never come back?” Despite feeling as though she should have predicted that question, Glacier is utterly speechless when she hears it.
No, not that question…
Raising her head, she squares her shoulders, “Because my father asked me not to…” She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. “And now I’m glad he did…”
I need to say it to stop his advances. Even if it kills me…
Glacier turns around to face him, her knees nearly buckling under the intensity of his gaze. Fielder’s eyes are lonely, his brows furrowed in sorrow, and his lips pursed in a miserable manner. He is the picture of undeserved rejection.
Just say it, Glacier!
“I would have wasted my days on you instead of making memories with him.” Her voice is steel, her eyes drained.
I can't risk Castor. He’s all I have left.
Fielder is destroyed by her words, his darkest nightmare transpiring. Glacier turns her back and walk away, tears rolling down her face at the memory of his grief.
I can’t believe I said that to him…
As the guilt eats away at her, Glacier walk down the carpet, which is now deserted. No photographer in sight. The carpet still runs from the entrance onto the road, so she follows it to the sidewalk. Vaguely remembering which direction she came from when driving to the event, she walks clumsily down the concrete path, with her arms wrapped around her torso in hopes to comfort her heartache.
You don’t even know him! Why are you so upset about it? He’s a Halen; you can't be with him anyhow. There is no hope where he is concerned…
Glacier’s silent tears morph into soul sucking cries, as the memory of Fielder’s broken heart overshadows his song.
Not having any strength to move, she collapses against the side of a building, drawing her knees to her chest and cries loud and unforgivingly.
I don’t want to be alone.
~
When Glacier finally arrives back at the hotel, it has already been two hours since tonight’s Gala ended. And apparently, her disappearance didn’t go unnoticed.
Stepping into the flustered lobby of the Persia, staff is running around frantic, some members from her team sitting at the steps leading up to the elevators.
Branch is sitting close to Neena, his suit jacket resting beside him on the steps. His tie is loose and his eyes are tired, but he doesn’t seem to be moving anywhere anytime soon. Neena is resting her head on her twin’s shoulder, her eyes closed and her hair falling down her back. Keena looks equally exhausted, with her head resting on her palm, as she leans on her knee. Her lipstick has disappeared completely, leaving her naturally pink lips untainted.
It is Branch who spots Glacier first. He gently taps Neena’s knee before racing over to where Glacier has stopped by the entrance. Neena and Keena look up at the same time, both disorientated from waking.
When Branch is within distance, he grabs Glacier’s shoulders and gives her a stern look.
“Where have you been? Your driver couldn’t find you at the end of the night, and everyone thought that Halen who played the piano tonight, took you. Did you leave with him? Are you hurt?” Branch’s words are fast and almost indistinguishable. Glacier’s eyes are sore and heavy, a
nd her mind is close to switching off.
“Please, I just want to go to sleep. It has been a really long day.”
Branch seems angered by her words until Neena steps forward with Keena behind her, and places a hand on his shoulder.
“Branch, it’s OK. She’s really tired. Let’s just escort her back to her room, OK?”
Glacier smiles thankfully in Neena’s direction, following them to the elevator. Once inside, the four of them all lean back against the walls, resting their tired eyes.
“So, nothing to do tomorrow. Want to see the city? It’s not like we’ll get another chance?” Keena speaks for the first time tonight.
Glacier’s eyes remain shut as she assumes that Keena is addressing Neena and Branch. The other two whisper ‘yeah’ and ‘sure’. It is when the elevator signals that they have arrived on their floor that Keena speaks again.
“What about you, iceberg?”
Realizing that Keena is referring to her as ‘iceberg’, Glacier’s eyes snap open and focus on the shorthaired twin.
Keena’s eyes are closed, but her eyebrows are raised questioningly, indicating that she is not asleep. Without opening her eyes, she exits the elevator, followed by Branch and Neena.
Glacier nods her head in answer.
“Alright. Ten o’clock, we’ll all meet at the elevator.” With that, they all murmur ‘goodnight’s, and walk to their designated rooms. Glacier collapses on her bed, falling into a blank sleep.
SIXTEEN
QUICK VISIT
“How are you feeling, Miss Wardgrave?”
Doctor Cartmen asks, his eyes flickering from his transparent clipboard up to Glacier, then back down again. His inconsistent gaze unnerves her as he evaluates her condition. She notices the same grey circle pin beside his badge that he had worn the last time she saw him.
“Well, my wrist is still a bit sore, and I have a headache,” she answers truthfully, the memory of her last encounter with the doctor fresh in her mind.
‘Just know that there are people that will help you when you don’t feel safe.’
What did he mean by that?
“That is to be expected.” Glacier frowns at his remark, but says nothing.
The frazzled doctor continues to write quickly on his board, occasionally glancing at her as he does. Tired of the silence, Glacier asks him the question tickling the forefront of her mind.
The Frozen Beginning (Elemental Diamond Book 1) Page 19
