Page 28 of A Storm of Fire and Ice

Fannar put his frosty hand over mine and gave it a supportive squeeze.

“You might be part of the Fire Kingdom’s royal family,” Gwyneira suggested.

“Obsidia did call you ‘Fire Princess,’” Brontes reminded us.

She did call me “Fire Princess” . . . twice. I just assumed she had mistaken me for someone else. I mean, she was from another dimension after all. But why was the royal crest on my music box?

I blinked. An invisible weight pushed down on my skull, causing a dull throbbing in my temples. My blank gaze dropped to the ancient texts spread across the table.

Could I possibly be connected to the Fire Kingdom’s royal family? If it was true, why didn’t my parents tell me? Then again, they never told me I was a Fire Enchanted. No, me being royalty is absurd.

My parents were from the Unenchanted Realm. They must’ve gotten the music box from someone else. I was just a rare unicorn Enchanted that happened to be born to Unenchanted.

There must be some explanation for this, a simple mix-up or coincidence, right? How could I have grown up without knowing anything about this?

I chewed my lip, mind churning.

“Helena?” Fannar’s concerned voice broke through my thoughts, his hand loosely shaking mine. “Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry, Helena.” Gwyneira probably saw the shock written across my face, and her eyebrows knitted with worry. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, I’m fine,” I reassured them, forcing a smile so they wouldn’t worry. “It’s just . . . a lot to take in.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of this.” Fannar locked eyes with me, squeezing my hand again. “But for now, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves before we have all the facts.”

I nodded slowly.

“Alright,” he said hesitantly, his piercing blue eyes searching my face for any sign of distress. “If you need anything, you know I’m here for you.”

“We all are,” Gwyneira nodded sympathetically.

“Thank you.” I managed a small smile of gratitude.

The possibility that I could be related to the royal family stirred up emotions that I didn’t expect. It had been so long since I’d had a family that I couldn’t remember what it was like to be a part of one. But the more I thought about it, the more I started to notice a strange, empty void inside me that I hadn’t realized existed until now.

Absurd or not, I needed to find out more about the Fire Kingdom’s history, about its royal family. If there was even the slightest chance that I was connected to them, I had to know for sure.

My eyes scanned the various ancient texts laid out across the table in front of me before they fell upon a stack of books on the history of the Fire Kingdom.

I can multitask! I’ll look for information about the royal family and the prophecies at the same time.

The others resumed their search for information on Obsidia and the prophecies. Fannar muttered under his breath as he poured through stacks of scrolls, while Gwyneira’s fingers danced across the pages of countless volumes, making note of anything that might hold valuable insight. Brontes bustled back and forth from the table and shelves, replacing finished books with fresh ones.

I dove into the texts with renewed vigor. My eyes scanned the pages feverishly, hungrily devouring every bit of history they offered. Stories of fierce battles, great triumphs, and devastating betrayals filled the text, each one painting a vivid picture of the Fire Kingdom’s tumultuous past.

The hours of research blurred together as a fortress of books surrounded me. My eyes ached from squinting at faded words, but I wouldn’t stop until I uncovered the truth. The truth about my past, my connection to the Fire Kingdom, and my very identity were all tangled together in this mystery, waiting for me to unravel them.

Then, I finally found a section in a newer book about Fire Kingdom history,The Last Fire Queen.It told the tragic story of the Fire Kingdom’s last royal family.

On her twenty-fifth birthday, Queen Scarlett ascended to the throne of the Fire Kingdom. She ruled alongside her husband, King Tindris, with a fierce determination to protect her people and provide them with a safe and prosperous future. Together, they bore two daughters, Aria and Helia.

However, in the same year that Helia was born, tragedy struck. An ambassador from the Ice Kingdom, seeking to sow discord, murdered the infant princess while visiting the Fire Castle. The Ice Kingdom refused to punish the ambassador, denying justice for the murdered princess.

Anger swelled within me, hot and suffocating. How could this have happened? The book gave no details on the crime itself, only that the Ice Ambassador had escaped to his homeland, never held accountable. It was maddening.

My heart ached at the thought of such an innocent life cut short. The murder of the Fire Princess and the lack of justice had caused the rift between the kingdoms, just like my roommate Iris told me months ago. No wonder Fannar had been so reluctant to be seen with me when we first met.

Wait . . .I did the math in my head. Baby Helia was born the same year as me? My heart hammered in my chest as I flipped through more pages, eager to learn more about the royal family’s history. Why was Queen Scarlett thelastqueen? I swallowed and read on.

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