Dragon's Ice

Chapter 11

FREYA

Sir Drake leads me out of my igloo and I notice that sir Jason is waiting for us not far from the entrance with a horse in full armour. What the actual hell?

  “Don’t worry, lady Freya,” my companion says while leading me to the horse, “It’s a tradition that a winner gallops with his lady on his horse to the ball. Also, it would simply be faster. Your…little house of ice is situated very far from the tent where the ball will take place. 

  He helps me up the horse and I have to say it’s not very comfortable to sit like that – with your legs on one side in a long dress… He jumps right next to me, sitting tightly at my back, and wraps one of his hands around my waist. Too tight, too close. I feel like many cheeks are getting a lot hotter by the minute. And for an ice lady that says a lot!

  Suddenly, I realize that I don’t even know his full name. How awkward. Should I listen to how people at the ball address him? 

  Come on, Freya! Just get it over it!

  “Uhm, sir Drake?” I turn to look at his face and catch his eyes on me already, which makes me even more uncomfortable.

  “Yes,” a faint smile appears on his lips.

  “Please, don’t take that as rudeness… But no one told me and I don’t know myself… What is your full name?”

  His lips part at that, he looks surprised.

  “You don’t know?” he asks coldly and I feel like I just made a big mistake.

  “No,” I confess and quickly add, “I am so, so sorry! I just…”

  “Desmond Drake,” he says, looking me straight in the eye as if waiting for my reaction. And how should one react? What if he is a duke of some sort? It seems like I am supposed to know who he is but – newsflash – I have no clue.

  “Nice to meet you, sir Desmond Drake,” I smile at him and he looks startled, but quickly regains himself and gives me a reassuring smile.

  “Let our evening begin,” he says and spurs his horse lightly. We enter a road paved by stone and illuminated by magical lanterns with fireballs inside of them. On both sides, people are cheering for couples who enter on foot before us. Probably only the winner can arrive by horse. 

  But as soon as people notice us they get quiet. Too quiet. The silence is deadly and pretty much the only thing that you can hear is the clatter of our horse’s hooves on the pavement. Weird. 

  However Desmond doesn’t seem to be bothered by any of it, his face doesn’t reflect any emotion whatsoever. The poor guy is probably used to this treatment, considering that this is very similar to how he was received at the tournament itself.

  “The starry sky is beautiful tonight,” I try to make some kind of small talk. The knight next to me seems startled just for a second but then a faint smile touches the corner of his lips.

  “Indeed,” is all he says, his hand tightens on my waist.

When we are next to the tent he dismounts his horse and helps me do the same. He looks at me with a tense gaze and is in no hurry to take his hands off me. We stand like this for a while and it gets awkward as there is a whole queue of people behind us. 

  “Uhm, everyone is waiting,” I quickly wave my head in the direction of the queue.

  “Really?” he gazes at them and for the first time, I see up close that his eyes do glow red in the dark! Withering, superior look.  Under his gaze, all the couples behind us suddenly change direction and some of them disappear completely.

  Oh, my god! What did I get myself into?

  “Let’s go, my lady”, he smiles suddenly and it’s like he is a completely different person. I put my hand in his and hold my dress a bit with the free one when we enter the tent. It actually would be an understatement to call that just a tent! I’ve been to the circus a few times and even their tents have nothing on this one in size! It’s enormous! And also it is magnificent. 

  I look up and see something amazing! The room is illuminated with magical illusions. On the ceilings trees made of light bloom and shining birds flatter from one branch to another.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this!” I say out loud and bite my lip. Damn it! Way to give myself out! I quickly look at sir Drake, but he doesn’t seem to be bothered with my words at all. A faint smile on his face as he watches my excitement.

  “Lady Freya, we need to greet the King,” he says and my blood freezes. Greet who? The King?! Me?

  But it’s too late, we are already walking down the red carpet in the middle that leads to… well, a man on a throne in a crown. I guess that’s the King. And behind the throne on the right stands… Troy!

  Shoot! Oh, well! I guess it makes sense. He is the Crown Prince after all. He looks me up and down indifferently and then stares at sir Drake as if he tries to burn a hole in his skull. But the knight next to me doesn’t seem to be bothered in the least. My god! What kind of nervous system does he have to handle all that so well?

  “Your Majesty,” he kneels, and I curtsy next to him, “Crown Prince.”

  We stay like this for what seems like forever, frozen in the center of attention.

  “Raise,” the monarch waves his hands and we both stand up, sir Drake offers me his hand again and I accept it, “You’ve done well, Desmond. The whole final fight was a spectacle like no other!”

  “You are too kind, your Majesty,” my escort says.

  “Come on, Des, just call me father,” the King says with a smile and I feel like my jaw drops to the floor. Did he just say father? Is sir Drake the king’s son? Like Troy?

  Oh, my God, oh, my God, Oh, my God!!!

 “This is an official event, your Majesty,” Desmond says with astern face, “How dare I?”

  “As you wish”, the King grits through his teeth and Troy snorts. This is not good! “Will you introduce us to your lovely companion tonight? It’s been a while since you brought someone to an event.”

  “It’s been a while since I met someone so…,” he looks at me and smiles, “Innocent and delightful.”

  His words make my cheeks flush.

  “Look at me, child,” the King says and I obey, “Since my insolent son ignores my desires, introduce yourself. What is your name?”

  “Freya Winter, your Majesty,” I curtsy once again just in case, and since nobody gasps in shock, I guess that was the right move.

  “Winter,” the King tastes my name on his tongue, “I thought all Winters are dead already. At least on the territory of our Kingdom of Dairon.”

  Hmm, it hits me that this is actually the first time I hear what Kingdom I am in. Somehow I never bothered to ask that. I was asking about the town we lived in and about the academy but never bothered to find out the name of the country.

  “I am very much alive, your Majesty,” I smile softly, pretending like everything s ok,  “And so is my little brother.”

  “Interesting,” the king rubs his beard, “Well, good news for us then. May I ask you, Freya, why did you choose to support my son at the tournament?”

   Something tells me that answering “because I hate your other son’s guts more”  would be a mistake. “Because my aunt made me” also not great. And “out of pity, because I thought he was poor” also should go to a bin. 

  “He stood out for me, your Majesty,” I speak the truth, even if it is partial, “I don’t know anyone here and I noticed him. It was my luck to choose the future winner.”

  “Is that so?” the King doesn’t smile. Something tells me that people are not cheering for one of his sons while going crazy about the other for a reason. From the corner of my eye, I notice that Troy is fuming. But that’s probably a good thing that I am with another prince. Now he cannot do anything about that!

  “Enjoy your evening,” the King of Dairon says, “You are the queen of tonight’s ball.”

  “Thank you, your Majesty”, I say and Desmond takes me away to the tables with drinks.

  “You had no idea that I am that infamous prince, right?” he says when he hands me a goblet of wine.

  “Not a clue,” I admit, taking a sip and looking around.

  “You did well though,” he praises me.

  “Well, it could be worse, right?” I snort, “You could be that dragon psycho guy!”

  A mischievous smile appears on his face, “Oh, and that would be terrible, wouldn’t it?”