Winter's Chill [1x1]

[Flygoedla]

T he W i n t e r K i n g

Ander's stirred slightly as Arianna called out his name. It was a strange feeling waking up, for time ever in his life, his body felt very warm. In comparison to how he usually felt, he was extremely uncomfortable. The fever one in the longest felt as he was slowly burning from inside. Anders laid there with heavy eyelids as he watched her tugging at his clothes, revealing the bite on his shoulder. The skin around the bite was swollen and irritated, and very sensitive to touch. As Ariana left the room, Anders tried to reach out to stop her - but his arm fell back at his side after giving up. His energy levels were low, and she was preoccupied.

The voices of both Ariana and Kara carried through the hall, but were difficult for him to make out what they were saying. Anders closed his eyes to rest, until she came back and woke him up. He gasped as she had startled him awake when she began to speak. Her cold hands brushing hair out of his face. "Stay safe" He spoke, his voice weaker than it had ever been. As she held on of his hands, he pulled hers up to his cheek and reveled in how refreshing her hand felt against his feverish skin. When Ariana pulled away and left, the castle felt empty without her.

It was a two day journey back to the Summer Kingdom, plenty of time for the Summer King to hatch a plan. Anders grew weak back at his castle, the enchanted rose frosted over petal by petal until only a few lay unfrozen. Despite the ominous message given to his Queen, he was still alive. However, soldiers of the Summer Kingdom had been deployed just before Ariana's arrival, and they had their eyes set on the Winter Kingdom.

In the meantime, Kara and some of the other servants chipped away at the ice in the west wing. They carried down blocks to lay by the king, trying to keep his fever at bay. As his condition deteriorated, his powers were going haywire in the castle. The room soon resembled an icy cavern instead of a living room. The staff were too frightened to enter the room, as one of the had already been injured accidentally. With all the ice, it kept the room cool enough to keep his fever from rising. Kara found herself pacing around the castle nervously, hoping that the Queen would soon return.

ooc: added a bit to the end.

[frosted smoke]

◆ Later that night, Ariana walked around the Summer castle in a trance. She was trying to wander to get her mind off of what was eating away at her. When her father told her that Anders was dead, she did not take the news well. The rest of the day she was an emotional wreck, and her father suggested that she stay in the Summer kingdom for awhile. He reminded her that going back would cause bad memories and would prolong the healing process. Ariana was so thankful that her father was comforting.

Ariana was numb now, and her eyes were swollen from the crying but she didn't care how she looked. It was late and she doubted she would run into anyone anyways. She didn't understand why she felt so devastated, like her world was taken away from her. The Winter Queen hadn't known the King that long, and the majority of the time he wasn't all that kind to her. But it was the moments they shared right before she left which had left the most impact on her view of him. She truly thought she could help him, and that one day they would both be sincerely happy together.

The Queen paced the halls, the faint glow of lanterns leading the way to the medicine room. She arrived in the empty room and went straight to the cupboards where the medicine she had came for resided. Ariana grabbed the small vile in her hands, looking at it until sorrow tried to creep back into her. She quickly stashed the vile in her pocket and left the room.

As she made her way back to her chambers, she heard voices and saw a dull light coming from an isolated room. Curiosity got the best of her like always and she quietly walked towards the commotion. She was still a distance away and couldn't quite understand what was being said until she heard the words 'Winter King'. Ariana bit her lip and trailed the wall, getting just close enough to hear what was being said. "It seems like the plan is finally falling into place," said a familiar voice. Ariana figured it to belong to her father. "As you can see there are only a few more petals of the rose that have yet to ice over before the curse is fulfilled and the Winter King's heart freezes over, but it won't be long now." The Summer King sat in front of his council, with a rose on the table that was identical to the one Anders had. "Your Grace, it was lucky that your daughter came back when she did so that she wasn't there for the ambush," said one of the council members to the King. "Yes, I agree that did work out for the best. She wouldn't have seen it coming, she never does, and I gave the General orders to kill whoever they needed to in order to take over the Winter Kingdom, my daughter included," said the Summer King. "Besides that, now there is an empty throne and an unclaimed Kingdom with her here and her husband on his death bed." The King continued, "The timing of the marriage was perfect, though, and she had no time to develop feelings for him, so I'm sure I could have convinced her to hand it over to me either way."

Ariana was frozen, unable to believe what she had heard. This was not the father she had known, not cruel and heartless like she had just heard. He wanted the Winter King to die, and he didn't care if his daughter died as well. To him, she was just a pawn, echoing Ander's words from one of their first conversations where he accused her Kingdom of using women as property. She was now aware that he was right. It took a minute to process everything, but she had remembered her father mentioning that there were still a few petals left to go, meaning Anders couldn't be dead yet. The Queen remember the vile in her pocket. Now time was limited, and she had none to spare. She ran down the hallway before she could be caught and soon was out the doors of the castle. Ariana found her horse and before she knew it she was heading off under the cover of darkness towards the Winter Kingdom, praying she could make it in time to save Anders.

















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[Flygoedla]

T he W i n t e r K i n g

The next few days were rough in the Winter Kingdom. Kara and some of the other staff waited, hoping and praying that Ariana would return soon with a cure. Ander's condition stayed stable, but he was still feverish. Locked away from everyone, beyond a hallway full of ice was the west wing. Inside the rose slowly frosted over, leaving only two petals left. It had been several days since Ariana had left, and no one had heard from her. Anders spent his time resting on the couch, not wanting to move up to his chambers.

Early on the fifth morning guards hurried into the castle. "Your Majesty! We have Summer troops storming the Kingdom!" One of the guards yelled out, hoping to get anyone's attention. Kara jumped awake from the chair she rested on. She ran down the hallway to the entryway trying to shush the guards. No one outside of the castle knew the king's dire condition. "M'am, we must speak to the King at once. Our lands have been breached!"

"The King is in no condition to discuss these matters. Surely you have someone appointed for such a situation?" She pleaded, signaling with her hands for them to lower their voices. The guards looked at each other with concern, but nodded before leaving the castle. They mounted their stags and ran around the castle blowing on horns to alert all other guards. Quickly they headed towards the outskirts of the kingdom. Village folk began to flee towards the castle and leaving their belongings behind. Not a single one questioned the guard's ability to defend the Kingdom, and hoped the fight would be over soon.
Before anyone could speak, the Summer Kingdom's soldiers began to attack. They outnumbered the Winter Kingdom's soldiers as they were joined by Spring's army. Slowly the Winter's soldiers fell, causing the remaining soldiers to retreat further into the kingdom. Victory was in sight for the Summer Kingdom, and the people began to worry. The soldiers of the Summer Kingdom did not abide by standard war tactics, they went after anyone they could - and as they broke the ranks of the Winter Guards - the castle door shot wide open with a huge gust of wind.

Anders walked out of the castle, and the citizens separated to allow him passage. With heavy stomp of his foot, ice shot along the ground and formed beneath the winter soliders. Many of them stumbled due to the unfamiliar surface. Everyone watched in awe, never having seen such magic. The King made his way into the heart of the battle, and using his magic to clear a path. He would send blasts of ice towards the Summer and Spring soldiers, and their armor provided them no protection. As he would pass by an enemy soldier, he withdrew his sword and would face them head on. The more Anders exerted himself, the more worn out he got - and the more unpredictable his magic became.

As he tried to defend his soldiers, his magic fizzled out - and the Summer soldiers took note of this. "GET THE KING!" One of the generals ordered. Quickly the Winter guards swooped in to defend Anders, who fell to his knees in the marketplace. His chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. The sky above the Kingdom grew dark and cold. A thin layer of sweat covered his skin . The temperate quickly dropped. Villagers took sanctuary inside the castle, fearing the worst would come to pass.

[frosted smoke]

◆ Ariana could tell she was nearing the Winter Kingdom because the temperature was dropping steadily the further she rode. She was near the border when suddenly the sky become dark and the cold had gotten much worse too quick to be normal. The Queen was too busy looking up at the sky that she almost fell off her horse when it suddenly stopped. "What's the mat--" she was suddenly cut off when she looked down at the ground. She had came across a gruesome battle, with bodies everywhere of soldiers from the Winter, Spring, and Summer kingdoms and even some Winter citizens who were trying to flee but got caught in the cross-fire. Ariana gasped and put her hand over her mouth.

She quickly shook herself out of the shock. Ariana remembered that she was on a mission and tried her best to not think that she was too late. She rode deep into the kingdom, hoping that the darkness would camouflage her arrival. The Queen quickly rode up to the castle, hoped off her horse, and ran inside. "Where is he?" she demanded.

Winter guards burst in the doors behind her, helping Anders who was weak now. The guards had retreated back to the castle in fear that the King might have gotten hurt and they wouldn't have taken no for an answer, even if it meant a scolding from the King later. They helped him to the couch and Ariana rushed behind them. She hugged him lightly, careful not to touch his wounds and not caring what he thought or did. "I thought you were dead," she said, relieved. Oddly, the Queen was really happy to see him even though the two weren't exactly the closest. Ariana reached into her bag and pulled out the vile of medicine. "Here, drink this. It should help clear your infection and your wounds should heal up quickly," she said, offering him the vile.




















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