Page 11 of Frozen Hearts and Death Magic

3

Ice-breaking

Three carriages were going to transport the young royals to the Sunset Lake, then three more would follow with guards. The gatherings always had some informal activities to entertain the young royals. Leah’s mother had told her that it was common for princesses not to attend them, as the young ladies needed to protect their virtue. But Leah couldn’t fathom what was unseemly about skating, and she was glad that Kasim was bringing her along.

Wearing a coat, a scarf, and a hat because of the cold outside the dome, she doubted anyone would notice her. She stood by the last carriage with the guards waiting for the young foreigners to arrive. Kasim stood beside her, ready to tell her who was who.

Leah had three cousins from Greenstone, and she was hoping to meet them. In fact, she couldn’t wait to meet her cousin Mariana again, still remembering her short visit when they had been just little girls. The kingdom where her mother had been born had greenbringers, with magic related to growing plants, which was very useful to make sure crops were healthy. That wasn’t the only kingdom with green magic, though, as there was also Vastfield and Haven. Speaking of greenbringers, the two older princes from Vastfield were the first ones to get into a carriage. Leah wanted to watch the younger one, since he was one of her potential matches, but it was hard to see much under his hooded coat.

The reason her parents wanted her to marry a younger brother was that she was Frostlake’s sole heir, and the idea was to make a strong alliance but marry someone who would be willing to live here and help her rule, instead of taking her to another kingdom. That was why she wanted to watch the younger brothers rather than the crown princes.

The next ones to arrive were the three Ironhold brothers. While in theory the younger ones could be good suitors, the truth was that Ironhold never made marriage alliances, apparently because they wanted ironbringing contained to their kingdom, so Leah knew that neither of them would be a potential husband.

The last ones were the Umbraar twins. Now Leah paid a lot of attention, but it wasn’t that she thought the prince could be a potential match, but that she wanted to know why her mother had warned her so much to stay away from them. She hadn’t explained much other than saying that they were rude, ill-mannered, and lived in poverty in a kingdom crumbling apart. Some of it was likely exaggeration, but there should be a reason why her mother hated them. Leah had also heard that the twins’ mother was from Ironhold and had eloped with their father against her family’s wishes.

The Ironholds hated him so much that they had forbidden anyone to trade with Umbraar, and so the kingdom had become isolated. The kids seemed normal, though, and in fact it was good to see that at least one princess was also coming with them.

Minutes went by and nobody else came. Kasim went in to check if the others were late, but returned soon, telling the drivers to move. He took the reins of the last carriage himself, and Leah sat beside him.

“Where are the others?” She knew that all the families had arrived, and yet there were no wildbringers or anyone from the non-magic kingdoms.

Kasim chuckled. “Afraid of the cold, I’d assume.”

Well, it was still a good opportunity to get to know the younger Vastfield prince. She almost wished she could go in the carriage with him and his brother, but it would be too obvious—and inappropriate. Apparently a woman’s virtue was something that could be snatched from her at any moment if she spent time unattended with a man. At least that was what her mother seemed to think. While she wasn’t sure what exactly could be stolen, she doubted anyone would do anything with Kasim here. It meant she wasn’t unattended, though, so she wasn’t contradicting her mother’s advice.

They left the castle and took the road to the Southern Gate. When they were almost crossing the dome, one of the carriages stopped, and a guard came running towards Kasim.

He bowed slightly. “Master. One of the Vastfield princes feels indisposed, sir. They wish to return.”

Kasim’s expression was grim. “Does he need immediate assistance?”

The man shook his head. “It doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“I’ll see,” Kassim said, then told the guard, “Stay here.”

The guard looked at Leah, then bowed. “My lady.”

She nodded, slightly annoyed that he was making it obvious who she was, then looked at the carriages. The Ironhold princes were getting out of theirs to see what was happening. This was so unlucky. Her chance to get to know one of her potential suitors was gone. Not to mention that having a visitor getting ill during a gathering could be horribly problematic and cause all kinds of talks of poisoning and sabotage. But then, they’d arrived this morning and perhaps hadn’t even eaten in Frostlake. It could have been the trip or going through the portals.

All the kingdoms had a portal hub, through which they could visit other kingdoms easily. In Frostlake, it was somewhat far from the dome, for security reasons. Leah had never traveled through one, but she’d heard that the experience could make someone dizzy and indisposed. It was very old magic bringing Aluria together, and likely explained the issue with one of the Vastfield brothers.

Kasim came back and sat beside her. “The Ironhold brothers are returning too. Do you still wish to go to the lake?”

She smiled. “Better than being locked in a library.” Perhaps she was also curious to see the Umbraar twins up close, and maybe looking forward to getting some fresh air and spending time outside.

The carriages made their way out of the dome into the Southern Road, then turned into the path leading to the part of the Sunset Lake where they usually skated. The weather was cloudy with a few flurries, and not very cold. It was a perfect day to be out, and it was a pity that almost nobody had come.

Leah watched from a distance as Kasim and a guard led the twins to the benches by the lake and helped them put on the borrowed skates. The girl was tall and beautiful, with brown skin and wavy black hair. Her brother… Leah avoided looking. His hair was black, straight, long, and very shiny. The little she’d seen of his face was quite nice, and that was why she didn’t want to look too much, didn’t want anyone to think she was admiring him.

Still, Leah was curious to observe the twins better, so she got closer and sat on a bench behind them.

“Want to bet who’s going to fall first?” the prince asked his sister.

His voice was deep, and sounded oddly familiar, comforting, even. For the first time, Leah realized that magic was something she could feel, like a smell, but not really a smell, a different sense, and the prince was brimming with magic so strong that if it were a light, it would be dazzling.

The Umbraar princess was trying to lace her skates, doing a poor job of it. “I can see you’re confident that it’s not gonna be you. But falling doesn’t scare me, you know? I’m perfectly capable of getting up.” Her tone was playful.

He chuckled. “I’m glad we agree you’ll be falling more than me.” He got up and walked towards the lake, put his feet on it, and started gliding. His movements were a little odd, as if the skates were being pulled by something.

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