Frost Burn
Page 31
Idok was quiet as he escorted her down the halls of stone and wood until they gradually became halls of ice and stone. The cold was still uncomfortable, and Darha shivered as she gazed at the magnificent halls of ice, but at least it wasn’t painful. She did pause, however, when she saw a group of Fire and Frost Nation children being escorted by a teacher, who was instructing them on history. She grinned seeing the unruly, red hair of Emma. Her heart warmed. This was a thing she never thought she’d see in her lifetime. Fire and Frost coexisting side by side.
When the children were gone from sight, Darha was guided through the throne room, which was still under construction. Frost magic users milled about, and most nodded politely at her as she passed. She heard a few whispers that mentioned her and their Commander Cas, which made her blush. A few conversations broke out about her using the Wild Fire that took out more than half the enemy army, to which Darha blushed even more. She hadn’t meant to summon it. She hadn’t even known she could; it had just happened.
Finally, Darha was led behind the throne to a set of open double doors. Idok stepped into the large office area and bowed. “Queen Aradel. Queen Darha has arrived.”
“Thank you, Idok.” Aradel said.
Idok stepped out and the doors were closed. Crossing her arms over her chest to try to keep warm, Darha made her way over to the wide desk behind which Aradel stood. “Your officials drafted the peace treaty quickly.”
Aradel smiled before she went to a nearby closet. Reaching in, she pulled out a heavy wool and velvet cloak of a stunning deep purple color, and handed it to Darha.
“Oh, thank you,” she said, wrapping it around her shoulders quickly.
“There was no need to draft it,” Aradel went back to her desk with Darha close behind, and pulled open the top left hand drawer. “I had just begun to sort through Queen Vesna’s things and found this.”
Aradel pulled out a document and rested it on top of the desk. Leaning over slightly, Darha peered at the parchment and scanned it quickly. It was a peace treaty already drafted.
“Look at the date,” Aradel said.
Examining the top right hand corner, Darha saw it was dated just one day after the very first meeting between the Fire Nation and the Frost Nation.
Darha’s jaw went slack, then she looked up at Aradel. “Queen Vesna knew.”
Aradel nodded. “She always seemed to know.” She dipped a feather into an inkwell and handed it to Darha with a smile. “Shall we?”
Darha grinned, took the feather from her, and signed her name. She handed it back to Aradel who did the same. Both women took a deep breath and sighed heavily at the same time which made them laugh.
“This was long overdue,” Darha said.
Aradel nodded. “It was.”
Darha smiled and went to the window of the office that overlooked the Frost Nation’s land toward the north, toward home. Aradel joined her.
“Did Kirill agree to head up one of the teams to rebuild the bridges?” Darha asked.
“He did. He claims he’s just doing his job as a Frost Nation commander, but I think he wants an excuse to visit Thea and your future nephew or niece after Vlid is rebuilt.”
Darha threw her head back and laughed. “That makes sense. Coor also agreed to head up a team.”
Aradel’s eyes got wide. “Those two working together? Without Thea to keep them in line? This should be interesting!” Both women laughed. After it settled, Aradel said, “Oh, before I forget…” She returned to her desk, pulled out another piece of paper, and handed it to Darha.
Darha’s eyes got wide. “It’s a permission document for Cas’s leave,” she whispered in astonishment.
Aradel smiled. “You can’t very well cultivate love and a relationship if he stays here while you return home.” Tears filled Darha’s eyes. “If he wants it, he may take it and return with you to the Fire Nation. He will always remain a solider of the Frost Nation, but the Fire Nation will be his home.”
Darha nodded once and wiped her eyes. “Thank you, Aradel.”
Aradel rested a hand on Darha’s shoulder. “Of course, Darha.” A knock on the door commanded both of their attention. “Come in,” Aradel called.
Idok entered and bowed. “Tallus, son of Yorten, has arrived, my Queen.”
Aradel smiled down at Darha. “See him in please.”
Darha smiled a little mischievously when a handsome, curly-haired southerner, with sky blue eyes and dark brown hair walked into the office and bowed. “You summoned me, Queen Aradel.”
Darha instantly saw the shift in her fellow Queen to one of deep softness and love as she gazed upon him. This was clearly the man she was speaking about when meeting in her tent a few weeks back. Darha could tell from his posture that he was a humble person. Yet he wasn’t mousy in his movements. He had a subtle confidence, and a soft smile.
“Indeed. Tallus, this is Queen Darha of the Fire Nation.”
Tallus bowed at the waist again. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, majesty.”
“The pleasure is mine, Tallus.” Darha responded with a nod.
“Tallus, if you could wait in the hall, I’ll be just another moment.”
“Of course.” He smiled at Aradel once more before leaving the room.
Darha met Aradel’s eyes and saw her smiling in a way only love could provoke. “After years of strife between our people, I believe it’s time we made ourselves a different future.” Aradel started toward the door with a brilliant smile. “Tell Cas to take the leave and not come back.”
Darha chuckled. “I’ll pass the message along.”
Aradel nodded. “Good. I shall see you at dinner.”
She disappeared out the door and Darha was left gazing north toward her homeland. So much work needed to be done. But with this new peace, and this new man by her side, she was looking forward to it. There was nothing the Frost Nation and the Fire Nation could not do together as allies, as friends, as lovers, as partners. Everything appeared hopeful and bright, and Darha could not wait for their new, shared future to begin.
Notes from the Authors
Readers,
Welcome to the end of yet another adventure! The reason this was unique? We live on the other side of the country from each other. That’s right, we wrote this amazing adventure together thousands of miles apart. Which is amazing if you consider it but not impossible in the world of technology and unfailing determination. We combined our individual writing strengths, world-building to action scenes, to bring you the action packed fantasy adventure you just finished. Don’t want the adventure to end? Take a moment to do a review, send us an email of encouragement, or tell all your friends about. If it becomes popular enough, who knows what could happen!
Thanks for reading,
Nichelle Rae and K.T. Munson
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K.T. Munson
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Nichelle Rae
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