Now, he did no such thing. Jack seemed content to ignore Elle as she had done to him. She allowed him to have his space. After a while, Elle started hearing voices from the living room.
Exiting the bedroom, she suddenly felt there was a party she had not received an invitation to. The room was crowded, overrun with immortals. Hermes, Angel, Triton, Ajax, Hera, Apollo, Eros, and quite a few other individuals had arrived.
Elle recognized a lot of women, who happened to be the wives of Triton, as well as a dark-haired woman who Elle was placing a mental bet was Apollo’s twin, Artemis. The two looked deep in quiet discussion. The woman, in contrast to her blonde brother, had hair as dark as night, a pure pitch-black. Her eyes were the same as Apollo’s—electric blue. The young woman wore simple jeans and a fitted white t-shirt. What made her stand out compared to everyone else was the long black tattoo of Greek words snaked up her left forearm and bicep. She wore a very large quiver full of arrows on her back. A large black bow was in her arms. As soon as the young woman caught Elle’s gaze, she flowed over to her before releasing a great bow of her head. “I am Artemis, my princess, but you may call me Ara.”
“Hello,” said Elle cautiously, unsure what to make of all the people here. “It’s, uh…nice to meet you,” she said, finding it utterly bizarre she had known Apollo for years and yet never knew he had a twin. Then again, she never knew he was an immortal with superhuman abilities, either.
“I believe the same.” Artemis smiled warmly. “’Tis a pity it has taken us so very long to finally meet. From what my brother tells me, you two are very good friends.”
“Well, I thought we were. Though Apollo isn’t a very good friend for not telling me I supposedly die in multiple prophecies,” Elle said quietly, not being able to hide her bitterness as she watched him. Hermes must have tipped him off to Pele’s reveal, for Apollo did not return her gaze as he watched his kneecap with what appeared to be guilt.
Artemis chuckled methodically. “You will have to excuse my brother for he does not believe in anyone knowing too much about their prophecies prior to receiving them.”
Elle nodded in mock agreement. “Yeah. Wouldn’t want anyone to know they die ahead of time,” she muttered, thankful all the gods and goddesses seemed preoccupied in talking about some type of plan.
Artemis gave a small nod. “You must take the prophecies with a grain of salt,” she answered briskly, surveying the room.
“Does that mean they’re not true?”
“Oh, do not mistake me.” Artemis smiled. “A grand majority of the time, they hold plenty of truth. I mean to say, Princess, sometimes things do not go exactly as prophesied. They can occur differently, if you will.”
“You’re not very comforting,” Elle muttered, causing Artemis to smile.
“My father often says I am his only daughter who lacks an ability to grant comfort to someone,” she replied airily. “I am simply a realist.”
Not feeling any better regarding prophecies, Elle sighed. “What’s everyone doing here?”
“’Tis a meeting to discuss events before Boreas’s death ceremony,” Artemis explained quietly. “It will look too suspicious if you and Jack do not attend. We are all here as a guard, if you will, to make sure no harm comes to either you or Jack in the presence of Queen Oritya or her comrades.”
Elle nodded, glancing around the room to spot a couple of unfamiliar people who sported kaleidoscope-colored eyes similar to Eros. Next to a tall man with mocha-colored skin and an overly muscled Asian man, Elle saw Voluptas, to her vast dismay. It took her great restraint not to roll her eyes as the goddess sat herself down on the couch beside Jack.
“Oh, c’mon…why is she here?” Elle hissed. “She once tried to stab me.” Artemis looked to where Elle was glancing.
“Do not worry, Princess. The daughter of Cupid will not be daft enough to try anything in front of the multiple individuals who wish your safety,” she reassured. “Besides, she cares for Jack Frost. She would not do something to place him in front of any harm.”
Elle’s chest ached uncomfortably just from hearing Jack’s name. She couldn’t think about him without remembering his near tearful confession from the night before. Currently, Jack was at the far side of the room while deep in conversation with Triton, Hera, and the horrible Voluptas. Hearing that the daughter of Cupid cared about Jack caused Elle to feel a strong tinge of annoyance as she thought about the two times she had witnessed the goddess draping herself over Jack like a curtain.
“I will be your guard for this afternoon, Princess,” Artemis, said, sparing Elle another bow. “Until then, my stepmother will prepare you for the ceremony.”
Chapter 5
A mere two hours later, Elle found they were all back at Winter’s throne room, with quite a few people watching Elle in a protective manner. Hera had dressed Elle in a long tunic of a rich black silk decorated with diamonds and other small gems indicating royalty. Hera wore a similar dress, as did Amphitrite and Triton’s wives. Royal funeral clothing, Elle thought. Similar to how regular people would wear black at an actual funeral, every immortal seemed to have the same plan in mind as they wore Greek clothing that revolved around the color black.
Only Hermes stood out from the group. His odd choice of clothing by wearing a black Twenty-One Pilots tee and black jeans made him stand out like a sore thumb. His feet were covered in black combat boots. Elle found herself smiling at Hermes for his lack of care clothing-wise, even while Hera scolded him for his clear disrespect.
“Why should I care how I’m dressed?” Hermes scoffed. “I have no respect for Oritya, and Boreas is too dead to care.” He shrugged, causing Hera to watch him with a reproachful stare. Elle found the Queen of the Gods watched Hermes as though he was her harebrained child she constantly needed to scold to keep in line. The queen of the gods scoffed at his shaggy blond hair and tsked at his inability to look presentable anywhere he went. It was only as Hermes slipped on a black blazer to cover his shirt that Hera was seemingly satisfied for the moment.
Elle found Jack was dressed in a strange grey outfit that resembled a godly version of a tux. It showed off his authority of being the heir to Winter’s throne. Jack held his familiar blank expression as he walked nearby. Elle found no humor on his face, and he replied to others with no sarcasm as he was prone to do. Having gotten somewhat talented at predicting his moods, Elle felt strongly Jack was currently deep in thought as he ignored everything and everyone around him.
She knew something was wrong when he said nothing to the stupid things being said by Hermes and Ajax as they excitedly spoke about what type of foods would be served at the “after” party. That was surprising. Elle thought for sure Jack would make some rude yet sarcastic comment about the excitement the two gods had for chicken fingers.
Jack soon caught Elle’s stare, and their eyes locked briefly as Hera spoke about the day’s plan of action. Trying to develop a bit of courage, Elle spared him a small smile, one that was not returned. Jack soon diverted his gaze, acting as though they never made eye contact. That small moment hurt more than Elle wanted to admit.
The rest of the day went by in similar fashion. Jack never glanced at Elle, and he spoke very little. For Boreas’s ceremony, gods and goddesses held candles in memorial of the dead king. Boreas’s burning corpse was pushed off into the Arctic sea in a long coffin that was thickly decorated with an ice theme. After that, the candles the hundreds of gods and goddesses held went into the water with him. It was plenty obvious this was a death everyone had one day come to expect long ago.
Contrary to human funerals, no one cried as a strange piano type of funeral music carried on. Even though Boreas’s wife and children looked solemn and upset, none of them cried. Artemis quietly explained to Elle this was because everyone had long ago been expecting Boreas to die since he himself cast aside his immortality at only ten thousand years in. Elle felt strangely alone as she dabbed the small tears that sprang up in her eyes. She couldn’t help crying
at funerals, even though Boreas technically had kept her here against her will.
Elle quietly watched Jack place his frosted head down as the funeral went on, looking the saddest she had ever seen him when he and his brothers and sister used torches to ignite Boreas’s body in flames. Jack watched his father’s body go off into the sunset, a stony expression cast on his face as his eyes swam with unsaid words. He didn’t return Elle’s gaze.
Elle had forgotten night came sooner in the arctic than it did in other places. It was nearly dark even though it was still afternoon. The funeral went by slowly; Oritya spent a great majority of it talking about her beloved husband and expressing how much she would miss him. Elle couldn’t keep her glare off her face as she watched the goddess. If it were not for Hera and Zeus, the Winter queen would have demanded both Jack and herself to be mercilessly killed for a murder neither of them committed.
The queen droning on for over forty-five minutes was not the worst part of the funeral for Elle. A lump had risen in her throat the moment she saw a familiar woman dressed in a revealing black dress gently rub Jack’s arm as she stood beside him. Voluptas did not leave Jack’s side for most of the funeral, and he didn’t seem to be in any rush to push her away from him, either. It was when Voluptas locked arms with Jack in a comforting gesture that Elle tried to tune out her jealousy.
After the funeral wasn’t any better. Oritya tried staging an uproar that Jack and Elle dared disrespected her husband’s memory by showing up, only for Zeus to release a massive storm of lightning bolts outside indicating he did not appreciate the ice queen’s unnecessary hostility. It paid to have the queen of the gods as your godmother. Elle listened as Hera then threatened to send her giant guardsmen to feast on the bones of Oritya’s lovers if she dared to lay a single finger on Elle. She reluctantly added in Jack’s name as well. That was strangely enough to call off the bounty for the heads of Elle and Jack. Even though the wicked Oritya said she would remove the bounty immediately from her head, Elle was hardly reassured to have the queen off her back. No one threatened Zetes or Calais, and they were just as dangerous, if not more so.
The rest of the evening passed by in a very boring fashion. People ate, drank, and then when they got bored of conversation with each other, they ate and drank some more. Elle contemplated having a sip of one of the bottles of wine but thought better of it. Immortal alcohol was most probably a lot stronger than alcohol humans consumed. Elle could only imagine herself wailing about on the floor, raving about prophecies, Jack, and missing her beloved sweatpants with a picture of Cookie Monster on them.
Angel watched her across the room for the longest time, occasionally attempting to pull Elle into conversation until Artemis would wiggle her finger in disapproval before making Elle stay in one place. The same thing would happen if Eros attempted to talk to her. Artemis would hold her ground, explaining that as Elle’s keeper for the night, she was banishing any love-gods from speaking with her.
“Er…thanks,” Elle said quietly, causing Artemis to nod.
“I do not believe in forcing someone to love another,” she said quietly. “’Tis a waste of a woman’s potential to force her to have to chase after any man or woman for affection.” Not having anything to say to that, Elle just nodded. Even when Apollo approached, Artemis cut him off. “As if you need to interfere any more in the prophecy of the Fire Princess,” she scoffed, crossing her willowy arms.
Apollo’s posture stiffened. His eyes narrowed. “Interfere? You know who you’re speaking with, right, sister?”
“Why, yes, in fact, I am speaking about the man who was stupid enough to annoy a toddler Eros into shooting him with an arrow a couple millennia ago. Do you remember Daphne?” Artemis smiled cruelly. “I do, brother…”
“Oh, come off it,” Apollo snarled. “How long are you going to shove that in my face?”
Elle grew tired listening to their silly squabbling. The back and forth bickering went on for ten minutes, the twins seeming to have forgotten Elle was even nearby. She was annoyed with Apollo the more time she spent with him. If Elle were fully honest, she liked him better when he was her human friend rather than the god he really was. Nowadays, Elle really wasn’t in the mood to converse with Apollo since he technically knew about her supposedly dying all this time.
That was at least something else he could’ve given her a heads up to. Couldn’t he have at least left her a text message about it? A Post-it note, perhaps?
Jack ventured out onto the balcony, and Elle decided him being alone was the best time to say she was sorry for his loss. She quietly followed him out, watching as Jack overlooked the large silver and crystal city.
“What is it, Evangeline?” said Jack quietly, not needing to look to see if it was actually Elle behind him. She blinked. Elle had grown accustomed to his silly nicknames. Using her full name just showed Elle he genuinely did not wish to talk with her.
“I wanted to say that I’m sorry for your loss.”
Jack remained silent, a brief nod of his frosted head showing he heard her. Silence took over, causing Elle to wonder if she should leave or stay put. “Is there anything else?” he asked as he stood overlooking the marvelous view of the winter city outside of the castle.
Elle noted his clipped voice and lack of eye contact. “I just…wanted to see if you needed someone to talk to.”
“Why do you feel I wish to seek comfort from you?” Jack countered gruffly.
Elle watched him keep his back to her, feeling at a loss for words. “I just assumed that maybe we had the tiniest hint of a friendship going on after last night…”
Jack finally turned to face her, his expression strange. His deep grey eyes were heavy and downcast. He looked the saddest Elle had ever seen him. She took a deep breath before continuing. “Just because I don’t want to pursue a relationship with you doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends…” she tried weakly, feeling a shiver as his penetrating grey eyes watched her intently. If she were honest, a clean break for them was probably better. Elle just couldn’t stand the miserable look Jack sported for the better course of the day. She couldn’t help herself; she wanted him to feel better.
Jack gently closed his eyes, sparing her a small shake of his head. “Do not make this more difficult than it has to be.”
“I’m not.”
“Then go,” Jack encouraged quietly, nodding his head toward the door. Elle slowly shuffled toward the exit, not feeling satisfied with leaving during this awkwardness.
“It gets better as time goes by,” she said lightly, watching her flowing black dress and not him. Jack’s silence inspired her to continue. “You’ll always miss your dad, but the more time that passes, it won’t hurt as much anymore.” Elle gloomily realized there was nothing more to say. She slowly began to walk away, only to shudder as she heard him speak.
“Perhaps the bright side is I’ll no longer have the old man restricting me from showing Oritya or my brothers disrespect,” said Jack, almost so quietly Elle had to work to hear him.
She turned around, slowly approaching as he made room for her at the edge of the balcony. “Wow,” she said softly. “I didn’t realize you actually listened to restrictions.”
Jack’s lip quirked in a small smile as he stared out at the large sparkling city. “’Tis a rare occasion, but Boreas was still there to provide them.” He nodded seriously. Elle gently smiled, trying not to shiver from the cold of the night. Taking a step to the side, Jack allowed his forearm to rest beside hers as he watched the city. “You haven’t asked,” he said quietly, not looking to her. “I think you are the only person today who hasn’t either accused me of my father’s death or asked if I’m doing okay,” Jack said, nearly snorting at the last part of his statement.
“Well, both are stupid questions,” said Elle quietly. “You didn’t kill your dad, and asking you if you’re okay is just dumb.”
“How am I not surprised you do not find me capable of caring my own father is dead?”
&n
bsp; Elle gently bumped his forearm while trying not to laugh at how wrong he took her comment. “I’m not saying you don’t care. I’m saying that asking someone when they’re okay when they’re clearly not is just a bad question. ‘Oh, your dad died and you look upset…are you okay?’” Elle shuddered. “It’s just one of those questions people tend to ask to be polite but don’t give any real thought about it before asking someone.”
Jack nodded slowly. “I shall place a guess this is experience talking?” he asked quietly, still intently gazing out at the far side of the city.
Elle gently nodded. “That, and I see you aren’t okay. Therefore asking how you feel on today of all days would be similar to slapping you and then asking.”
“Or hitting me with a frying pan,” Jack offered mildly. “I clearly remember that is your weapon of choice instead of a slap.”
Elle smiled gently as they both watched the city outside the palace. Silence soon took over. It wasn’t awkward, but there was just not much to say on today of all days. As she gently muttered that she would see him later, Elle turned to walk back inside before a cool hand grabbing hers took her by surprise. Without looking at her, Jack spoke. “You haven’t seen when a soul ascends,” he said quietly, not looking at her as his hand held hers.
Realizing this was the second time in the course of twenty hours that Jack was quietly vulnerable caused Elle to rejoin him. Jack still held her hand, slowly entwining his fingers with hers. She watched their clasped hands, silently wondering if holding hands was wrong. It was remembering they were at his father’s funeral that brushed off the thought. There would be other times to remember that their relationship should remain strictly platonic. She leaned up next to the balcony, returning the squeeze of hand pressure that Jack provided.
“What are we looking at?”
Jack sighed. “I forget…your vision is weak compared to mine. Hold still,” he warned, teleporting them to a new location. Elle found they were on top of a roof of what appeared to be the palace. Having her foot accidentally slip caused Jack to hook an arm around her waist before she fell off the very large roof.
Betrothed To Jack Frost Box Set Page 39