Crowns of Flame and Ice - Book One

(24) Champagne Truffles

I listened to the gentle whisper of the snow as it fell against the canvas of my makeshift tent. It'd been yet another two days of miserably walking through snow and Ice. I'd been surprised that it hadn't yet slowed as we were now almost on the border of Calvain. However, unsurprisingly, Quilo had yet again been silent as we approached. I'd tried to ask him about what had happened when he slept, when the night demons had found him, but he'd again told me to get lost. Not in such a polite way as that.

It was now the night before the solstice and the temperature had dropped to an almost unbearable temperature. I feared that if we had to stay in this much longer we'd surely freeze to death. Normally I enjoyed the cold mornings, the gentle blanket of frost that peppered the ground. Even the trail of cold that left gentle icy nibbles on my skin, it was strange to think about, but it just felt like home, like it was right. But this was just too cold.

I snuggled further under my blanket, the t-shirt I wore did absolutely nothing to help. Why didn't I just do the sensible thing and pack normal sleepwear like a non-criminally insane person? I'd even wrapped a thick sweater around my legs, which hadn't done much to help either. I sighed skyward, we were now a little under a day's travels from the Zaith mountains. To be honest I wasn't sure if I was relieved or not. I had the growing worry that I wouldn't make it out of those mountains alive. I could totally take Quilo in a battle, but did I really want to? Was it worth it? If I beat him and took the object I'd have to take it back to my father or he'd kill me anyway for coming back empty-handed. Either way I lost, so what was actually the point?

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A few hours later I was so cold that when I lifted my arm into the air my skin had turned blue with faint orange splotches, that was most certainly not good. The sun was starting to creep higher in the sky, illuminating the tent in a soft orange glow. It was officially the day of the solstice. I felt a pang of hurt in my chest and I blinked away tears, they'd likely freeze onto my skin if I let them fall. The castle would now be bedecked from floor to ceiling in decorations, the staff busy preparing for the meal. I'd often wake up at dawn, the one day when the kitchen staff had been grateful for the help and had prepared vegetables. I wondered if Rosie now stood where I normally did doing the same thing or whether she had attended to her own duties first.

I swore, my arms were now completely numb. Deciding it was either this or freezing to death I hopped up and ran out of my tent, blanket clutched around my shoulders. "are you awake?" I called, springing from foot to foot in front of Quilo's tent. A muffled "unfortunately" sounded and I rolled my eyes. I peeked through the door and found Quilo comfortably surrounded by a pile of blankets, pillows and soft-looking sweaters. I glared at it all. "That fucking t-shirt" Quilo hissed "is that all you've been sleeping in this entire time?". I nodded, stepping onto the end of his bedroll so my feet didn't turn into a new flavour of ice cream. "why didn't you pack anything else? like, I don't know... literally anything that went past your knees?" I opened my mouth, "scraps of lace don't count Lil Red." I snapped my mouth closed, pink creeping into my cheeks.

I glared, "I just didn't think about it. I've never been outside long enough to actually feel the effects of being cold so I just didn't realise." Quilo sighed, muttered something I couldn't hear under his breath and then moved over. Quilo flipped half of the blanket over, "come here." I blinked at him, "are you going to stab me?" He rolled his eyes, then patted the now empty half of his bed, "if you don't hurry up then I might." Simply because I was shaking, simply because I was so cold I was turning blue, I leapt forward and huddled under the covers. My sworn enemy, a feud that went far beyond that of our kingdoms, was my only source of warmth.

"you're shaking" Quilo whispered into the silence of the tent. A faint cool breeze skittered into the space, snaking across my face. "If you were twenty seconds away from hypothermia I think you would be too" I spat, tossing a glare his way. He chuckled, the sound bouncing off the canvas walls. Quilo shifted, one hand wrapped around my waist while the other wrapped around my shoulders as he gently pulled me to him. I stiffened as he tangled his legs with mine, "better?" I nodded, the warmth from his body seeping into mine. "Anala I'm not going to hurt you, if you keep staying all stiff like that your muscles are going to seize up from the cold", Quilo promised. I rolled my eyes, "a person who was going to hurt me wouldn't admit that they were going to hurt me". He chuckled but pulled me in closer.