The Scarlet Phoenix and the Prince of Winter

Chapter Ten

Kaylie's eccentric grandmother lives in an equally eccentric house too. It was not the typical house that you would see in the neighborhood because it is a treehouse. Yes, it's located atop a giant tree as big as a tower in the middle of this freezing forest.

The tree where Kaylie's grandmother lives in a treehouse is the biggest tree that I have ever seen in my life. The girth of its trunk is wider than ten people forming a circling by extending their arms and holding one another. That's how ridiculously big it is. I remember that my Aunt once told me that this tree used to be a 'temple' back when Aure was still not locked in an eternal winter. But since I was young back then when she said that, I could not understand what a temple was back then. But right now I think I know what it means, and why Kaylie's grandmother lives here. She probably is a descendant of the people that used to frequent this temple that they built on a giant tree.

"What is this place?" Prince Kao was almost speechless at what he was seeing right now. I could not blame him though because, at first sight, the treehouse situated atop the giant tree complemented by the ghostly light coming from the snow everywhere makes it look ethereal.

"Did you not know that a house like this exists in the land of Aure?" I asked. "People in our neighborhood know bout it."

He shakes his head at my question. "I did not know about this. But it's so beautiful. And look at it! Location aside, it does not look like it's an ordinary house either."

"Because it is not. My Aunt called it a temple."

"That explains it," he said nodding to what I said. "There is something about it that screams 'ancient.' Not only because it looks old, but also because it looks like it was made without considering the amount of snow in this place."

"Maybe. Kaylie told us before that her whole family had lived there for generations. Her family only left when her mother married her father and chose to live in downtown Aurville. So, shall we go there?"

"Okay. I'll put you down now Rainha. Can you now walk?"

"Yes, I can! Thank you for carrying me, Your Highness. I feel really shy and ashamed that you have to carry me like that---"

"It's alright. Just don't tell anyone about it."

I nodded. "That will not be a problem. No one's going to believe me if I told it to someone, anyway." The Crown Prince then walked again to the treehouse, and I followed him sighing. I did not know why it irked me so much that what I just said was true. No one is going to believe me when I tell them that I became the Crown Prince's companion for a night and that he even carried me on his back.

Maybe it's frustrating that my wildest dream actually happened and none of my friends were able to witness it. I don't even know if my best friend will believe me once I told him about Prince Kao. Jang tolerates my daydreaming because she knows that the Crown prince is the only man that makes me swoon but I don't know what will she say if I told her that I am now on talking terms with him. I guess she will probably not believe me at first.

We were not taking the steps to the main door of the treehouse. We climb the stairs carefully because it was getting higher and higher. Slipping right through the wooden stairs covered in snow and ice would be really possible so I have to focus on it too. The height was making me dizzy though, but the Crown Prince probably felt my fear so he let me go climb the stairs first like a gentleman so that he'll be able to guard me from behind.

It was a sweet gesture and I could not hold my smile as I continued on climbing the seemingly never-ending stairs right up to the part of the tree where the treehouse was sitting. The only thing that keeps me sane from this scary activity was the fact that I could feel the Crown prince's hot breath behind me.

Then we finally reach the door. I was already panting not because climbing the stairs took my energy away but because Prince Kao's body was pressing into mine when I suddenly stopped causing him to bump into me.

"H-Here we are..." I said, still blushing from that mini body collision.

"Knock the door, Rainha. It is you who she knows so it would be better if you are the one that she will see once she opens her d---"

But the Crown Prince did not need to finish his sentence and he actually doesn't because the door suddenly opens and a plump old woman a head shorter than me shows up to us looking at us with a frown on her face.

"What are you---"

"It's me! Rainha!" I automatically said to her and she stopped talking. She gasped when she realized who I was then her eyes went to the man behind me.

"And who is that? Your boyfriend?"

"Ah... He is---"

"Let us get inside," she then said and pulled me into a hug the very moment I entered her house. I was caught off guard at the gesture but I returned her hug out of respect. Kaylie's grandmother smelled of wood polish and probably coffee beans which to me were pleasant scents.

"Kaylie finally succeeded in luring you here," she said to me as she motioned me and Prince Kao to her huge, potato-shaped couch. We both sat there while she went on to her kitchen saying that she will make us cups of coffee.

"Rainha, tell her about why we came here immediately," the Crown Prince said to me in an undertone. "You have to treat your wounds immediately, remember?"

"Oh right! I already forgot that I was wounded!" It was true. I could not feel the pain in my back anymore!

I saw the Crown Prince's face when I said that and I am sure that he was trying his best to hold his laughter. I don't what amused him though, and I did not want to ask him because what if it would embarrass me more than I already am? I think I'll just pretend that I knew what caused him from trying to hold his laughter back so it was a good timing when Kaylie's grandmother returned to us with a tray containing two cups of steaming hot coffee.

I told her what we came for. "I was attacked," I said briefly, finishing my story that started from arriving home and noticing that my Aunt was not there to the part where several men came to attack me. "I could not think of anywhere else to hide."

"Good gracious, what is happening?" It was clear that she was panicking at what she just heard from me. She almost dropped the cup of coffee that she was holding, especially when I told her that my Aunt was still nowhere to be found. "Milca do not have a social life. That, I know and I am sure of it. So I could not think of a place where she would go voluntarily in the middle of the night. She was definitely kidnapped by those men that came to your house."

"They were trying to kidnap Rainha too," said the Crown Prince who was also drinking the coffee with such passion that it made me wonder if this was the first time that he had coffee. That would be possible too since coffee is an extremely rare product that could only be bought once every ten years due to the fact that it is a type of crop that is hard to grow in an underground greenhouse with only heat from Columbars to compensate for the dismal sunlight that our kingdom receives. It's not like tea that grows abundantly in the greenhouses, making it a lot more popular and more common than coffee. But Kaylie's grandmother, being the eccentric woman that she is, might have coffee beans that she had planted on her own as I knew that she used to have a greenhouse somewhere here on this forest too.

"And who could you be? I think you haven't formally introduced yourself to me."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that," the Crown Prince said. It made me nervous when he suddenly stands up and removed the coat that was covering his face. When Kaylie's grandmother saw his face, she dropped her coffee cup on the floor. "My name is Kao. I am---"

"My goodness!" shrieked Kaylie's grandmother and then she immediately went down to her knees."The Crown Prince! You are Prince Kao, aren't you?"

Prince Kao scratched the back of his head as this was obviously very embarrassing for him. "Well, yes---"

"Oh my God! I did not expect---! Your Highness! To whose pleasure do I owe your presence in my humble abode---?" Kaylie's grandmother was ecstatic and genuinely surprised that the next in line to the throne of Aure is here in her home.

"Please stand up," he said to her gently though I could see that his cheeks were blushing. It looks like he's not used to scenes just like this and to me that just made him a lot cuter.

"Just call me Mitaur, Your Highness!" said Kaylie's grandmother. I did not know what her real name is, so it surprised me when I heard it. "I am honored to finally meet you!"

Of all the things that I did not expect, this was the most surprising. Mitaur is known to be an outcast and an hermit, which means that she rarely goes out of her house and interacts with people. But here she is, instantly recognizing the Crown Prince from first glance. I would have never thought that she knows how the Crown Prince looks like as she is almost anti-social.

"But what made you come here? And why are you with Rainha, Your Highness?"

We have no choice but to tell her everything. It was the Crown Prince though that initiated the story-telling. He told the old woman why he wanted to meet me, and why he asked me to accompany him to my Aunt. Then he also retold to her what exactly happened when we arrived at our house. Prince Kao did not leave any detail behind, (probably only the small talks) which Mitaur absorbed well.

Mitaur slumped to the floor after hearing the whole story, which made the Crown Prince and I exchange looks. "This is really happening... This is not what I expected..." she said that sounded like more to herself. "I have always thought that something like this might happen--- But I would have never guessed---"

"Never guessed what?" I asked as I was starting to feel anxious at the way she had reacted to the whole story.

"I would never have guessed that the Crown Prince will be personally involved in this..."

"But why not?" I asked her again.

"Perhaps I underestimated him," she replied but only looking at the floor. This creeped me out because she looks like she is losing her mind for some reason.

"What are you talking about?"

Then she stared at me. "Rainha, remember when I always told you before when you came here to play with Kaylie... Remember when I used to offer you to adopt you? You and your brother?"

That gave me a lot of flashbacks. "Yes. I remember. My brother liked that idea. He said that he would prefer to live here than our house. He hated my Aunt back in the day because she would always scold him for not working enough, or doing the chores. But I did not like your offer, no offense. I did not want to live in the middle of the forest."

"I know. But I only wanted to adopt you because I wanted to protect you."

"What do you mean?"

"Your mother was an Outsider," she said. "Which means that she was not from Aure. And what does that tell you?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. But the Crown Prince here thinks that she is part of the Luria, or more commonly known as the Snow Gypsies---"

"Because she is!" she said and I almost jumped in my seat from the sudden change in the tone of her voice. She sounded agitated and somewhat triggered.

"What? You also think that my mother was a Snow Gypsy?"

"Of course! What else could she be?" Mitaur said and looked sincerely at the Crown Prince. "You also think this way, Your Highness, right? You also think that Bruxan was part of that female-only tribe---"

The Crown Prince nodded. "I do. Just like what you said, there is no other explanation as to where she came from if she was not from that tribe. There are no other communities or kingdom outside ours in this region of the world. The closest civilization next to us is a million miles away, as they have avoided the Ruthless Blizzards. We are the only civilization in this part of the world, so I don't believe that she came from a distant land. There were news before of people from foreign lands trying to come here but none of them successfully found our kingdom thanks to the Ruthless Blizzards that serves instant freezing death to whoever encounters it. So I don't think that Bruxan came from a foreign land."

"Exactly! Plus, she speaks our language," Mitaur added. "People from distant places spoke a different language. But your mother was fluent with our language."

"So she really is a part of the Luria? And she was a Snow Gypsy?"

Mitaur nodded. "There is no doubt about it. Your mother showed all the signs that she came from that tribe. She also had her own beliefs that were strange for normal people like us. That's why when you were orphaned I wanted to take you in, you and Garreth. I believed that something was wrong with your mother, and that you would pay for it in the future. And now this has happened..."

I shook my head in disbelief. "No... I don't think that my mother has anything to do with all of this... I mean, fine, let us say that she is a part of that tribe. But so what? Does that matter? And what's that got to do with what happened to my Aunt? Why are you trying to link my dead mother to my Aunt's disappearance?"

"I'm sorry Rainha," said Mitaur, whose expression softened when she saw the frustration on my face. "I know that this is a sensitive and a personal topic for you but you have to know this... If your mother was really a Snow Gypsy, then she would be a very interesting person for lots of people, because if the legend about the Scarlet Phoenix is true, then she holds the secret to our freedom from this eternal winter!"

She had a point. "You may be right, but she is dead. We could no longer ask her about what she knows..."

But Mitaur shook her head. "But I don't think that she's dead, Rainha."