Icebound (Legends of the Shifters Book 2)

by J. B. North

  I unwrapped the parchment and pulled out a sky blue dress and a pair of white heels.

  “She said she was certain that they would fit you.”

  I held the dress up and let the rest of the fabric fall to the ground so that I could study the whole thing. I was relieved to see that it looked nothing like Dame Guthrie’s dress last night. It was a simple design, but pretty.

  The maids drew up a bath and then ushered me into the bathroom. After bathing, I wrapped myself in a plush white robe and opened the door only to be pushed into a chair in front of the mirror. The head maid approached me with scissors.

  I studied them apprehensively. “What are those for?”

  “Your hair, of course,” she said as she brushed through the tangles. “I’m only taking a little off.”

  Before I could protest, the snipping started, and I watched out of the corner of my eye as hair fell to the ground. In only minutes, she was done and my hair was three inches shorter. Then, she began to style it as one of the younger maids began to apply powders to my face.

  “Is that really necessary?” I asked, leaning my head away from the makeup brush she was using.

  “Yes. Now hold still.”

  The last maid finished taking care of the mess in the bathroom and started trimming and filing my nails.

  About thirty minutes and lots of poking and prodding later, they declared me ready.

  They pushed me toward the closet. Do I dare look in the mirror?

  Reluctantly, I did and stared in awe. My face was free of blemishes, my mouth looked fuller, my cheekbones sharper, and my eyes bigger.

  “You look striking, milady,” said the head maid, smiling at her handiwork.

  I frowned. The person in the mirror was beautiful, but it wasn’t me. It didn’t fit.

  “There’s only three minutes before breakfast begins,” she said as she hurried me to the door. “Do you know where the dining room is?”

  “Um…I don’t think so,” I answered.

  “I’ll take you there, then.”

  She led me down a hallway, back toward the entrance of the castle until we got to a pair of closed double doors.

  I opened one, giving way to sounds of forks against plates and chatter. My eyes had to adjust to the brightness of the room before I could focus on finding a seat.

  The king sat at the head of the table, with a son on either side of him. Studying them, it was hard to tell which one was Prince Matthias and which one was his brother. They both had the same close-cropped sandy hair.

  A woman sat at the side of one of the brothers, and Alyss and Grix sat across from each other at the end of the table. The only seat left was the one beside the last prince, and I assumed it was Matthias, judging by the way he watched me as I walked toward him. I wished that my hair were down so I could hide behind it.

  King Giddon didn’t even look up. “A little late, Ivy,” he rumbled through a mouth of food. “I’m glad you could join us.”

  I knew it wasn’t the best of manners to talk with food in your mouth, but I supposed for the king, it didn’t matter.

  “I trust that you slept well?” Prince Matthias asked.

  “Yes, thank you,” I said as I sat down and picked up a fork.

  The king finished chewing and swallowed. “Now that we’re all here, maybe we can discuss the rest of our plans. To briefly cover what you missed, Ivy, I’ve decided to let Grix and Alyss train with my soldiers for the time being. I see that my cousin, Drake, might have been a little…overzealous in his ways of punishment.”

  I looked up in surprise, nearly dropping the fork. “Headmaster Drake is your cousin?”

  The king took a sip of his drink and sat back in his chair. “Yes, unfortunately. On my mother’s side. Her sister married a trial wizard, and Drake was the result. I was never really close to her side of the family, but Drake became a soldier and climbed rank so quickly that I was forced to recognize him. He was the one that came up with the idea of a school for rare second forms. Before that, all of you just floundered out there in the world, without an appointed job.”

  Is that such a bad thing? I thought to myself.

  “Enough about him, though. Let’s talk about the plans I have for you.”

  I nodded for him to continue as I pushed scrambled eggs around on my plate.

  “Today, your skills will be evaluated.”

  I accidentally let my fork clatter to the table, sending egg flying in all directions. My face burned. “Evaluated?” I asked.

  “We already have obstacles set up for you in the Erabyn arena,” explained the king. “We’re going to see just how talented you are.”

  “When was this decided?” I asked woodenly, reaching for my fork again.

  “Long before you came. But I decided last night that it would happen today.”

  I nodded and took a bite of egg that refused to go down. I had to swallow it with a few sips of water.

  The king gestured to the son on the other side of the table. “Have you met my son, Prince Edwin yet? Or his wife, Princess Clara?”

  “No, I haven’t,” I said as I put the cup down and smiled at them politely. “It’s nice to meet you both.”

  “Likewise,” said Prince Edwin.

  Princess Clara, whose brown hair was braided over her shoulder, only gave a nod before her blue eyes flicked away.

  Now that I took the time to study them, I saw that Prince Edwin had a little more weight on him than Prince Matthias. He gave me a half smile, but like his wife, he wouldn’t look me directly in the eye.

  “Princess Cecile was going to join us, but this morning she said she’d taken ill and preferred to stay in her room,” King Giddon continued.

  “A shame,” said Princess Clara. “She’s a great conversationalist.”

  I picked over my plate until everyone else had set their forks down.

  An uncomfortable silence settled over the room until the king stood and set his napkin on his plate. “We’ll all continue to the arena at around two. Ivy, I’ll have someone escort you there early so that you can get your bearings before it starts.”

  Then, he left. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, as I backed the chair from the table and said, “Excuse me.”

  I pushed through the door into the hallway. To the right, I saw the back of the king as he turned the corner. I found it hard not to be annoyed by this man that suddenly wanted to control my every action, but I kept my face blank as a servant passed me by.

  I hurried to the left, in the direction of my room. It wasn’t long before I heard quiet footsteps behind me. It could have been a servant, but something told me that wasn’t the case. I turned around quickly to surprise the follower, relieved to see that it was only Alyss.

  I waited for her to catch up.

  “Is your room this way too?” I asked when she was only a few feet away.

  She shook her head and looked up and down the hall before saying softly, “I have something I want to talk to you about. In your room.”

  “What is it?” I asked, lowering my voice to match her volume.

  “Something about the king,” she said, so quietly that I could barely hear.

  With my curiosity piqued, we continued until we reached my door. It was open with the three maids still cleaning up.

  “I’ll finish that for you,” I said as I entered. “You can leave now.”

  The three maids looked at each other as if they had been affronted.

  “As you wish,” said the head maid.

  Each of them walked past with their head down, and the last shut the door behind them.

  I turned to Alyss. “What was it that you wanted to tell me?”

  She took a deep breath and walked a little further into the room before turning back, wringing her hands. “Well…I think the king is planning something.”

  “Something more than the obstacle course?” I asked, eyebrows raised. “How do you know?”

  She shrugged. “I just get this…feeling with peopl
e. And Prince Edwin and Princess Clara were friendly and talkative before you got there, but then they went strangely silent when you came in the room.”

  I thought about it for a moment. “Wouldn’t that just be because of the evaluation?”

  Her eyes darkened. “It could be, but…I have a strong feeling that it isn’t.”

  I sat on the edge of my bed. “What do you think he’s planning?”

  She looked away. “I don’t exactly know. I just wanted to tell you in case something happens.”

  I picked at a loose thread on my dress, deep in thought. “I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”

  She nodded and headed for the door.

  “Alyss?” I said before she shut it. She peeked her head back in. “Thank you for telling me.”

  She smiled and closed the door.

  -Chapter Sixteen-

  At half-past one, Sir Lochlan came to retrieve me. As we walked, he glanced over and asked, “How are you settling in?”

  “What’s the point of settling in if I’m going to leave in a few days?”

  His gaze returned to the floor. “True… Are you ready for the challenge?”

  Another surprising question. Why did he care? “I can’t be ready for something I don’t know anything about.”

  “One thing I can tell you—the arena will be overflowing. It usually is when the king holds a challenge.”

  “Does he do it often?” I asked.

  “Maybe once or twice a year. I got to give some input on the obstacles this time.”

  “Oh, really?” I stole a look. “Did you take it easy on me?”

  His mouth broke into a secretive smile. “Not in the slightest.”

  After emerging from the castle into the bright sunlight, he led me up to a carriage and helped me inside before settling in across from me. He knocked on the ceiling and we heard a hyah! and the crack of a whip as the horses were spurred forward.

  I gazed out the window as we neared the docks. The ship we’d come in on was still there, with not a soul on it. Around the palace gates, there were guards, but only a few villagers gathered along the road. “It’s strange to see it so empty out there. They know the king is coming, don’t they?”

  “There will be more soon,” he answered, resting his head against the wall.

  It didn’t take long to see that he was right. Many people were walking by the road even before we hit Erabyn. Some waved at the carriage as we passed.

  Erabyn was a strange city. Unlike Achron or Redrune, even the heart had wide, open streets and buildings spaced far apart. The closer we got to the arena—which appeared to be a smaller, round replica of King Giddon’s castle—the more people clogged the road ahead of us.

  Ahead, the gates opened, and crowds began to pour in. I heard the carriage driver shouting, “Make way!” as he slowed the horses to a walk.

  We entered in those same gates and skirted around the side of the building until we were at the back, where a single black door stood, dwarfed by the sandstone wall.

  Sir Lochlan pushed the carriage door open, stepped down, and held it for me. “Quickly,” he ordered.

  I climbed down and he slammed the door shut behind me, ushering me toward the black door. It opened into total darkness.

  “The servants must not have gotten back here to light the lanterns yet,” he remarked.

  “I guess not,” I said, squinting. Slowly, my eyes adjusted to the darkness enough to see faint, flickering light bending around the curved tunnel.

  We walked toward it, soon finding two servants who worked quickly to light the way.

  “This should have been done half an hour ago,” Sir Lochlan grumbled as we approached.

  The younger servant blanched while the older man bowed and said, “I’m very sorry, sir. This was unexpected.”

  “Hurry up and get them lit before the king shows up.”

  “Yes, sir,” he replied as he turned back to his work.

  We continued until the tunnel split into two separate paths, one to the right, going up a set of stairs, and one to the left, going down. We went left and walked on until Sir Lochlan turned into a giant arched opening in the wall. I peered through, but my eyes searched in vain. There was nothing to see except black emptiness, everywhere.

  “What is this?” I whispered.

  “The cage,” Sir Lochlan replied. “It’s formed by wizards. To everyone outside, the walls aren’t even here, and the darkness seems like gray fog. They will be able to see everything, even when you can’t. These illusions will be able to hurt you, so don’t slack off in combat.”

  Why do all trials have to involve wizards? “How long is this going to take?” I asked.

  “It won’t stop until you’re broken,” was all he said in reply.

  “Broken?” I asked as I turned to him.

  All I saw was his retreating silhouette, outlined by the torchlight in the tunnel. “It starts in ten minutes. I suggest familiarizing yourself with your surroundings.”

  My heart quickened when a black wall materialized where he had gone, pitching me into total darkness. I stretched out my hand as I walked forward, trying to feel for the wall. As soon as my flesh met the liquefied shadow, it seemed to take hold of me. Before I knew it, it was crawling up my hand, reaching for my arm. I jerked back, but it held fast.

  With all my might, I pulled until I tumbled to the ground.

  Though the hand that had touched the wall was completely numb, my other hand felt the cool grass I’d fallen on. Grass that I was certain hadn’t been there before. As I pushed myself up, the room became brighter until I gazed upward at a full moon and stars, shining through a meadow that continued to grow taller around me. The dark corners in the sky were the only things left that hadn’t been taken over by the illusion.

  I got to my feet as the growth of the grass slowed to a stop and a few dead trees pulled themselves into existence beyond the field. Eyeing the trees warily, I started forward. I found a large tree and pushed my back up against it until I heard a small voice that must have come from outside the cage.

  “Settle down, everyone! The trial will start in about a minute.”

  Fear clenched my stomach, cold and bleak, as I counted down the seconds.

  Fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven, fifty-six…

  Three.

  Two.

  One.

  The low sound of a horn echoed through the cage, but…nothing changed.

  Then, I heard them. Footsteps coming up behind me, silent as the whispers of grass. Quickly, I unsheathed my sword and struck. Blade met flesh and a scream pierced the air, ricocheting off the walls of the cage as the body of a black panther melted into the earth.

  I looked up to meet several pairs of glowing eyes. Wolves, cougars, lions, tigers, hyenas. All warrior forms. They snarled as they closed in on me.

  A lion with a thick black mane got to me first. I struck at him, but he dodged to the side and lunged forward, tearing through fabric and skin. I narrowed my eyes as I pushed him off with a growl.

  The sword got in the way. This would have to be a test of might.

  I threw my sword to the ground and bent my knees, hands held at the ready.

  Through the walls of the box, I could hear the faint sound of a laughing crowd.

  The lion lunged again, thunder rumbling from his throat, but this time, I caught his front leg with my hands and swung him into the line of enemies. His body crushed two wolves. While their broken remains sunk down into the earth, the giant cat got up again, limping, his lip curled in a fierce snarl.

  The tears on my shoulder and hands throbbed as they started repairing themselves.

  I didn’t hear the crowd laughing anymore.

  I was anticipating his next move when all the warriors began to shift into their human forms. While their bodies and features looked normal, their eyes were pupil-less and void of emotion. I reached down and grabbed my sword’s hilt, waiting for someone to strike.

 
The man that had shifted from the lion acted first. He swung his ax at me, but I dodged the blow and easily sent the tip of my sword through his heart. When I slid it back out, there was no red, no dripping blood. The man sunk to the ground and melted just like the two wolves and the panther had.

  They’re not real, I repeated in my mind as I focused on the rest of my enemies. Illusions.

  More closed in on me, but my fear was ebbing. I broke into full attack mode, hacking through armor and flesh, melting all the warriors down into the earth like wax until only one female warrior remained.

  We clashed blades together in a volley of movements. Within seconds, my blade slid into her stomach. She stared at me with gray pupil-less eyes, and to my horror, began to speak. “You think you’re finished,” she said in a monotone voice, “but I have more brothers and sisters. They’re coming for you.”

  I jerked the blade out and the woman sunk into the earth. As soon as she was gone, warriors appeared throughout the field, too numerous for me to count. Unlike the last ones who were slow to attack, these ran at me, weapons drawn. I narrowed my eyes and shifted into the phoenix, hefting myself into the air with a stroke so strong that the first line of attackers was blown back.

  I dodged spears and arrows that were aimed to ground me.

  The grass is dry. The trees are dead.

  It was obviously the wizards’ intention for me to set the entire cage aflame. So I did.

  I swooped downward, flame erupting from my beak as I drenched the warriors in fire. The grass caught easily and began to spread. Within minutes, the blaze stretched high and hot, consuming everyone until the last fighter fell to the ground.

  My heartbeat jolted in my chest when a sudden explosion of light lit the sky accompanied by an earsplitting clap of thunder. My ears rang as rain poured from the sky and my fire sizzled into smoke. The storm got stronger and stronger until the wind seemed to gust from the ceiling, working with gravity to push me to the ground.

  Except there was no ground. Instead, I was plunged into the tossing waves of an ocean.

  I tried to make my way to the surface, but the swirling current held me captive until I was dizzy with the lack of air. As a last resort, I shifted back into first form, and kicked as hard as I could. Finally, I broke through, flailing and spitting up sea water.