I’m breathing hard as I rapidly blink, snowfall hitting me softly, some landing in my fluttering lashes.
This is the first time in my life that I’m stunned into silence. When I hear a crack of thunder, I flinch, my mind still trying to tell my body what to do.
Like breathe, for instance.
“Whoaaaaa, so raaaaad!” I hear Kyitt beside me, her breath visible in the cool temperature.
It’s nighttime, I realize, and all I can see is a massive ice wall a hundred feet into the air with a giant opening, fit for the ancient gods. This can't be real…
I look up and gasp, my hand covering my mouth.
A massive glowing planet is visible in the sparkling night sky, illuminating everything with shades of blue, giving the white snow a magical appearance. It’s so close that I can actually see the atmosphere moving around it.
“Look! Holy…”
“Sister...so bitchin’. Yeah, that’s what gives this planet its freakin’ magic! Like, it powers this planet with so much energy,” Kyitt says, mouth open, then pulls on my coat.
“Look. We are at a camp in front of the sanctuary. We are waiting for the Xilleth men to get here to escort you to the palace! They didn’t trust the monks to deliver you.
“Too much evil lurking in these valleys. They call them The Shadows, dark fighters that terrorize the people in the North and South. Possessed and resurrected souls from that evil witch-bitch.”
I look around and see lots of men and women everywhere in furry snow gear and wide-brimmed hats that tilt downwards.
I spot a large eating station where it looks like they are serving up hot food, the steam visible in the night air. The camp is massive, and I can see snowy lands as far as my eyes will let me.
It looks cold and barren, but still oddly beautiful, the snow glittering like diamonds in the snowdrifts.
I pull my coat closed, feeling oddly… perfect.
This fabric must be insanely insulating.
I see Kyitt using her left hand as if she is typing. “Ohhhh—nice! They updated the system, so much easier to use!”
“What?”
“I’m talking to Pierce and typing, silly sissy,” Kyitt says, giggles, then nods to the left.
“The monks are Air Benders and can make ice tents from the energy in the atmosphere. Every kingdom travels with at least a few Air Benders cuz they provide instant shelter.”
I see stunning ice dome structures in the snow, lots of them scattered everywhere.
Incredible.
“That is your tent while you wait for the army to get here.” I see a large ice dome with white curtains hanging on the outside.
“Oh, and your name is Hiro Suko. Suko being connected to some of the oldest and purest bloodlines—you being one of the last besides your father.”
“Thanks, that’s important to know.” I look at her. “Good agent work, Kyitt.”
She looks at me. “I was just reading off your file that Pierce uploaded.”
“Oh... well, good reading, then.”
“Thanks, sister friend.”
A man walks up to us in a long brown furry cloak, resembling Asian descent, and looking older with his graying hair. “Princess Hiro, your ice hut is ready. Please come out of the cold.”
He bows, hands out in front of him. How cute is he!? I tamp down my giddy response.
And crazy how we automatically speak their language! I’m just so excited about this adventure; I can’t even contain myself.
“Thank you so much!” I say a little too excitedly. “This place is so stunning!” I look around the camp, not believing that I’m really here.
He gives me an odd look.
I feel Kyitt push me.
“Ahhh!” I gasp and hold my ears. “You just—”
She just talked in my head!
The man grabs my arm, eyes wide with worry. “Princess, is everything alright!?”
He draws his sword, looking around, and whistles in the air, causing multiple men to draw their swords, yelling at each other to get into position.
Crap!
My ancestors are cringing.
I laugh, blushing in the cold. “Oh—yes I’m fine, I’m sorry,” I say casually. “You can lower the weapons! I just saw something—er, a rabbit—over there.”
Rabbit!?
He is frowning at me, sword still raised.
I shoot a glance at Kyitt, tamping down my irritation. “Then what does?!” I whisper.
The man holds up his fist and the rest of the men lower their swords.
“Princess? Let’s get you inside,” the man says with concern in his dark gaze. “I’m sure you’re just nervous about the long journey ahead.”
Perfect.
Great start.
Princess Hiro is a cucumber.
I nod at him, feeling eyes on me.
I’m led to a stunning ice hut, and my eyes widen when I walk in, stepping on a large fur-skin floor and seeing an ice bed with fur draped all over it. Then I look to my left and see an ice table and chairs.
“Whoa…” There was even a large pot with burning embers, warming up the room, making it cozy.
Insane.
The man leaves me, but not before giving me a lingering hesitant look. I glance at Kyitt and grab her shoulders, shaking her. “You talked in my head?! Warn me first!”
“Yes, silly—I think that old fart thought you were on some drugs.” She laughs. “They do have that sort of thing here.”
He probably did! I look around the room, astonished. “How is the ice not melting?”
“It’s enchanted. Air Benders are like this world’s carpenters. The more experienced the Air Bender, the longer the enchantment. Some structures can last forever—like the ice palaces.”
“Wow,” I say, walking around, feeling the ice wall. It’s not even that cold, not like I expected it to feel. “I’m never leaving this place.”
“Yeah, this is one of the more radder places I have traveled to.” She looks around, picking up some sort of blue fruit off the table and taking a bite like an apple.
“So,” she chews, “this could be an easy win if we’re careful. Like, you have to hide your talents. I mean, we don’t want your bro breaking off the engagement.”
“Right,” I say, wishing I didn’t have to hide it. “How do I find the sword in the stone?”
“I’m sure you can ask your future hubby. Your bro is taking you to his castle, and I think the King of Petra will travel there to claim you.” She looks at me. “You guys can get NASTY!!”
“Shhh!” I hiss, hoping no one heard that. “Stop with that voice!”
“What voice? Screeeeeching SKELETONS!!!” She uses her fist as a mic and starts to headbang, looking ridiculous in her shape-shifted disguise.
“Kyitt!” I hiss, praying no one comes in here. “Shhh!”
She stops, breathing hard. “I’m a big deal.”
“Princess?” I hear from the doorway.
I jump up. “Yes?”
The same older man peeps his head in. “His majesty’s army is arriving.” He bows before leaving.
My pulse jumps. “Thank you,” I murmur.
“And the adventure begins!” Kyitt says, clapping. “Let's go see! They ride their large polar bear pets!” As if on cue, I can hear roars and grunts from outside.
I take a breath and walk outside through my curtains, and my heart stops. The wind hits my face as I take in the scene.
I see at least fifty giant polar bears making their way into the camp—like three times the size of Earth’s version. I see one bear whip its massive head around, agitated and roaring, until the man riding him gives it meat.
The men look waaaaaay different than the monks—and my Asian origins.
These must be the Gaelins.
Most of them have shades of silvery blond hair, very elegant. I see some with darker hair, but most have pale coloring.
I want to pinch myself, seeing something Earthlings would never even think possible.
My gaze traces over them and sees the monks and other military-looking men grabbing the bears’ reins, securing them to posts embedded in the snow. I can’t stop staring.
They are beautiful beings, but intimidating—they are large men—I probably would reach their chests.
I look at Kyitt. “Their eyes glow blue?”
So cool.
“Yeah, only some of them do, also depending on the bloodline,” she whispers, looking equally as enthralled. “I think only the high-ranking Gaelins do.”
I glance back, and my breathing hitches.
My eyes go immediately to a man on a polar bear, his saddle gleaming silver in the moonlight as he sits with confidence. He suddenly dismounts, talking and pointing to some of the Gaelins.
I can’t pull my gaze away as I watch him turn toward me, not caring that the beast he was just riding roars so loudly my heart stops for a moment. The bear’s head is bigger than the upper half of my body—terrifying.
I watch as he turns entirely toward me, and our gazes instantly collide. It feels like someone punches me so hard in the gut that I can no longer breathe air correctly.
I take a second for my mind to catch up with my eyes. I let out a slow breath, feeling my pulse jump to life.
This man is extraordinarily—incredibly—handsome, with luminous ivory skin and a mesmerizing hooded gaze that glows in the darkness. The strong bone structure of his face will probably never be rivaled.
I’m sure of it.
What a treat it is to see a male specimen like this. And to think I had to leave planet Earth to witness it. I feel genuinely honored for this experience.
It’s like seeing a unicorn for the first time.
Air rushes back into my lungs before I pass out right in front of this angelic creature.
I’m surprised his whole body isn’t glowing with his gloriousness, or that he doesn’t suddenly sprout large white wings and fly away, never to be seen again.
My ravenous stare eats him up, every inch of his god-like stature. How would it feel to be with someone like that?
I notice he has not taken his gaze away from mine either, watching me almost curiously. The Angel wears a black and white fur coat that extends to the ground, making him look like some royal kin—
“Sissy!” I hear Kyitt beside me, pinching me hard. “What are you doing?!”
I think I tell her to shut the F up—or for her to leave me alone with my eye-candy bliss—angry that she would ruin this once and a lifetime moment for me.
I’m witnessing an angel in his natural habitat.
I wish I had a camera.
She grabs me and whispers in my ear, “Stop eye-fucking your brother!”
Brother.
Nope.
Not ringing a bell.
Kyitt pinches me again, whispering more. “That is your BROTHER, King Andreas of Xilleth—the one who is here to deliver you to your engaged target!” She hisses the whisper.
I break my eye contact with the angelic being and look at Kyitt in horror, my world falling away bit by bit. I was checking out my brother!? What. The. Ever. Loving. Hillbilly.
I turn suddenly and head back toward my hut, embarrassment staining my face.
Did he notice!?
“Where are you going?” I hear Kyitt behind me.
I have crazy eyes.
I can feel it.
Kyitt eases my hands from her throat.
“I didn’t know!” she hisses. “But I now understand the drama around Andreas. Sister—like, the reason you’re in an arranged marriage is because of Andreas.
“Like fifty years ago, Andreas slept with the King of Petra’s two wives. So to settle the score, Andreas is now offering his sister, a rare Aekos, for marriage.”
I stare at her. “Wait—he slept with both? At once? Together?”
She giggles, nodding.
I’m having naughty images flood my mind’s eye. “Fifty years ago? How old is Andreas?!” My mind is reeling, misfiring, and stalling.
“Like a hundred,” she says, “but Gaelins live long—”
“He doesn’t look like me though. How is he my brother? I’m Asian—an Aekos.” She must be wrong. He can't be my brother.
“Well, you are related by marriage, obviously.” She looks at me like I’m stupid. “Your father married the Queen of Xilleth—Andreas’s mother—when you were like five.
“That’s why you are a princess now; otherwise, you would not be Xilleth royalty. Andreas had only seen you once when you were younger—or so FGI implanted into his memories.”
I back away from her, closing my eyes. “Oh, thank God that we are not blood-related. I was about to run away—far, far away.”
“He is still technically your brother,” Kyitt points out.
Then she turns her back to me and wraps her arms around herself like she is making out with someone.
My face flushes as I watch her. “It was not that bad.”
She’s covering her mouth, laughing. “Sissy, you need to take him out to dinner after you visually molested him. That poor man.”
Kyitt will die.
I was about to tackle her, but I felt a presence behind me, causing me to freeze before executing Kyitt’s untimely death. The color drains from my face. My intuition kicks in.
I slowly turn to see him—MY BROTHER—standing in the doorway. His large frame and fur coat seem to take up the entire hut.
Breathe.
“Little Hiro,” he says, and his sexy low baritone voice has me reeling. “The last time I saw you, you were in pigtails.”
I hear Kyitt make a noise.
She will still die.
Mark my words.
I do a slight bow, knowing their traditions automatically. “It’s good to see you again…” I pause, not knowing what to call him.
I can’t call him Brother.
Can’t.
Seems wrong.
“Andreas,” he offers with a smile—and of course, his white teeth are perfect.
I feel my sanity leaving. “Andreas.” I can feel my face heat like a schoolgirl’s.
This is soooo bad.
I was not expecting this; completely blindsiding me.
His vivid blue gaze traces over my face for what seems like forever, then down my body—slowly. I feel like I can’t breathe as I watch him, wondering what he is thinking.
When his hooded gaze finally meets mine again, I expel a quiet breath.
“You look beautiful, Hiro. I can see that you are a woman now and will make our family proud with honor by this marriage. We will finally come together with the South, pushing back against the darkness.”
I force a smile.
~
Andreas glances at Kyitt with narrowed eyes, then at me. “You’re telepathic?”
My eyes widen.
SHIT.
I was about to say NO! Then—
“Interesting,” he says with a slight pull of his mouth. “You will be riding with me, little Hiro. The pass to Xilleth will be dangerous.” He looks at Kyitt one more time before he turns to leave.
I exhale another breath, my brain suffering from lack of oxygen.
We both look at each other.
I have to ride with Andreas—like, sit with him …super close?! I can feel my face burn, wondering what I did in my past life to deserve this torture.
Kyitt sighs. “It could be worse.”
We both know it can’t.
