Ice

6

I stare at my reflection in my ice, checking myself as I fix my hair. There is fear in me. Of course I need to leave at some time. Staying in a castle for the rest of my life and never once planning to take a single step outside is stupid. But why did I let that king talk me into going out? Everything will be different. 

I do not want to see the place that I love changed and destroyed. Change is normal but I should never have lived to see such a big change. I was never supposed to survive. I have seen men die from battle wounds, yet I survived falling from a height that should have broken every bone in my body. I did freeze myself to miss the fall, but this is not physically possible. To have survived so long.

My ice is slightly weaker now since I am out of practice, but since there are no other users of ice, at least amongst these people, I am strong to them. I was strong in my time, but I was still surpassed by some people. It feels strange to be the only person who uses ice like mine. Ice with such qualities used to be common but people have forgotten how to make ice like mine. I guess they didn't need to, so they stopped. Evolving with the times. They don't hunt or fight, they focus on knowledge.

I feel stuck in time. They keep moving and changing, I was never meant to see any of this come to pass.

"What are you doing moping around Snow?" An intrusive voice questions.

I do not bother to even look at him. "It's Nivia, not Snow."

"Well then Novia, let us go sightseeing," he laughs grabbing my wrist.

"Just learn my name would you and do not drag me around!" I scream.

I am forced to run along, desperate to keep up with his quick nimble pace. His hand leads me through the hallways of ice. Descending the stairwells in an untimed rush. It feels familiar, a child sneaking out to play in the snow in the light of the moon.

Each step is one closer to the modern times. I am dragged past the modern spectators of this place that are restricted to the lower floors, touring what was my home.

The doors are open. A bright light. We keep running until we hit it. Passing through the white shining light.

Then... I see it. Huge buildings of ice. In place of the ice homesteads, for those who wanted to live outside of the castle, they are there. They are immaculate. Obviously built before the legacy of my type of ice ran out. When I was here, the only large building was the castle. It was where meetings were held, and the central leaders stayed so they could meet quicker. There were others too. Now it's not the only one. Huge buildings are everywhere. It is amazing.

The style of these buildings... it is different. The castle is even different inside with some of the furnishings being altered and so on. But these buildings, they are so amazing. They are amazing! It is as if they were built to amaze people. Their cold, smooth walls that extend so far up. And the designs!

I cannot believe it.

A modern Northias. It is nothing like what I pictured the future to be. Although... I had never thought about the future beyond my life. I was never concerned about things like leaving a legacy or what my empire would become. I just cared about the war, my people, and making sure I was prepared to be the empress of a wartime nation. I didn't think things would change much if the war ended.

I follow the king into one of the buildings. No one pays attention to me, I guess they assume I am a visitor to the city. But him... they pay attention to him. As old as my clothes are, they still manage to blend in, being made to protect me from harsh winters and summers alike. He sticks out, a lot. His red and black clothes and the crown on his head. I would assume that they all know of him at least.

"Do you know what I love about this city?"

"The history?" I respond.

"No, the isolation, it means no crowding about me, when I get to visit this place I never turn down the invitation. The city is a huge deal to the ice empire. Its where it was founded-"

"I know that! My great grandfather and my grandmother were its founders."

"So father and daughter, that is really cool."

"What are you talking about? My great grandfather was the commander. My grandmother was his daughter in law. My grandparents developed feelings during battles, and he proposed to her in the middle of a fight commemorating one of their big battles. She beat him of course but agreed to marry afterwards. He was an idiot, letting his guard down like that, of course it was an opening for her to beat him."

"Your grandfather proposed in a fight?"

"Yep. It's anyone's dream to propose in a fight or be proposed to. If I fall in love, I want to propose whilst clashing swords."

"You might not want to say that in public," he whispers amused into my ear.

"What? Is romance frowned upon or something?" I fume.

"Fighting is not exactly romantic. Not in the era of peace."

I turn to stare at him horrified. Why would they end one of my favourite traditions! Sure not everyone got proposed to in fights, but it was great when they did. Of all the things they got rid of! There is nothing more thrilling than seeing two people fighting and in the heat of a fight, when fighting is at its height, there is tension and both are doing all they can, confessing one's love.

He grabs me. "Try not to look like you are about to murder someone. Times change, and extremely few people use their abilities for fighting. Some people use it for jobs or small things, but abilities are not really as important."

"Are you telling me not to fight?"

"Well you cannot fight."

"I will kill you," I seethe.

"Please do not. I do not want an international crisis. It would look extremely bad."

"So I cannot fight? What do you expect me to do!"

"Shh no yelling in the library!" A woman hushes me.

I fist my hands and walk up to her. "As far as I know this is a public building. There should be no regulations on how loud I speak and what even is a library."

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A/N

I just had to update. So double update!!!! Thank you all for your votes and support. It does not have as many reads as my other books yet but it has grown fast so I am so excited. This is the first new book I have published this year.

Like the rest it may still be edited at anytime. Also I really wanted to share a drawing I did. I wish I could resize pictures on wattpad to make them smaller and take up less space but oh well.