Children of Night and Snow

15. Stories Of The North

Alexander did make it to the book. He was a traitor to the king, a villain of the story about friendship and the values one must keep at heart to survive the eternal winter. To me growing up, Alexander was a hero, he was an inventor, a great leader with vision who didn't want his people to spend their lives in the darkness and so he stood up to the cruel Ice King and escaped the Winterlands. He braved the Frozen Wastes and found a new home for us in Moonvalley, a town built on a beautiful lake. He let his people roam free and start other settlements, mingle with humans and inhumans alike and brought peace and prosperity.

In the tales of the North, Alexander was no hero. Nor a leader. He was a bitter man who couldn't bear losing to his best friend, the King. He wanted to rule, he was ambitious and greedy and when he lost, he sought revenge by killing King's mate, the Ice Queen. He didn't leave for the Summerlands because he wanted a better life for his people, he was exiled there because through all the pain and grief, the King couldn't bear to kill him. This decision cost the King his throne, when another challenged the broken man and took his title from him, killing him in the process. It took me a few days to gather my wits about that story. What it was trying to tell. It was so brutal, so heartbreaking I couldn't even imagine teaching it to my children if I ever had any. But as I read on, I learnt that all of these were.

I grew up with tales of heroism and happy endings. There was always light at the end of the tunnel, the bad people always got punished by Gods, love and peace always prevailed. But northern tales were different. They spoke of loyalty, of survival. They taught not to trust blindly, to not rely on others more than you rely on yourself. To always put your kind first. That only the strong one live to see another day. That the Gods are not here to solve our problems and punish our criminals, but to guide us towards the solutions instead. But they also spoke about how who you were born didn't define who you'd become. Northern law wasn't rooted in heritage. Alpha wasn't a title you were born with, it was something you had to win. And in a land, where towns were protected by tall walls, where sun almost never came up and freezing winds roamed the roads, it made a lot of sense. But nothing was ever black and white. If it was, how could a traitor and a murderer also be a legend and a hero? How could someone willing to kill his best friend's mate built a place full of peace and love?

By the time I was finished with the book, my leg was almost healed. Yes, it still had this dull ache in it, but the wound was closed, infection was gone and so were the stitches that the girls put there to keep it closed. I also finished my antibiotics. As a result, Devan told me to meet him in the basement next morning. He didn't say much else which is why I was now standing there awkwardly in the middle of the room, looking at him and praying that whatever the plan was, I was going to live through it.

"Okay, let's fight," he stated and I swear there was amusement in his otherwise empty stare, when he noticed my panicked reaction. I've never fought before. Not as a human anyway. The only time I came even close to a fight was the very incident which got me exiled.

"Are you going to just stand there?" he asked me, his arms crossed at his chest. I gulped.

"I don't know how to..." I admitted quietly.

"Well, give me your best shot," he replied with a sigh. If I felt pathetic before, I don't know how to describe what I felt then. But I also didn't dare to deny him. So I did the only thing I could think of, which was run towards him, making some grotesque growling sound, not really having a single plan as to what I would do once I reached him. Thankfully, he had an idea, because he knocked me on the floor before I could even touch him. Or see the move he used for that matter. I was lying on my back, my breath lost on impact for a second and he appeared to not move at all.

"Get up," he ordered and I did. Much slower than he would have liked though, because I was back on the ground before I could do so. Next thing I knew was his fist landing right next to my head and me covering away with a squeal. When I deemed it safe to stop covering my face and look up, he looked positively annoyed. And I just wanted to hide.

"Okay, let's try something else. Shift," he said, clearly trying to find something, anything about me that wasn't useless. But I just stared at him. Shift? What did he mean? "Come on, we don't have the whole day for this," he carried on.

"I can't..." I admitted when I realized silence was not going to get me out of this one.

"What do you mean you can't? I saw your wolf form. I brought you here in it," he said, looking at me like I was insane.

"I can't shift on command," I replied. "I didn't even know you could," I added. Devan now looked like he had a lot of emotions and even more questions to sort through.

"You can't shift on command.  You can't fight. Your senses are probably worse than any human I have met. Who are you and how in the World are you still alive?" he asked me, at this point completely astonished and not in a good way.

"Would you believe me if I said I was a sheltered kid?" I asked with bravery I didn't know I possessed. But my response made him laugh which was good? I guess?

"No. But nice try. At least you have a sense of humor, given the predicament you're in," he replied, clearly amused by my response. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose, probably trying to think what to do with me. I just stood there, studying the floor beneath my feet, debating whether I had a chance of making a break for it before he indeed decided to kill me since I was so useless. But after what I've just seen, how easily he took me down, I shot that idea down as fast as it came to me. I stood absolutely no chance against him, let alone all five of them. I was completely at their mercy and giving them anymore reasons to be angry with me was the last thing I wanted to do.

"How old are you?" he asked me after what seemed like an eternity. I debated whether or not I should answer. Telling him my age was harmless, right? What could he possibly do to use that against me?

"Almost eighteen," I replied truthfully.

"Okay, so we have time to fix this still," he said as he paced around me.

"Look at me," he ordered and forced me to look up to see him awfully close, staring down at me. "I don't know where you came from or how are you still alive, but the fact you are means that there is something to work with. You have about a year, maybe two if we are lucky, to catch up and learn. I can teach you, but it won't be easy. It will hurt and you'll probably wish you could just quit at certain times. But if you want to stay here with us, it will be your only option, because we won't carry dead weight," he told me.

"Why?" I replied without thinking. "Why even offer?" I added to clarify my question. I needed to know why this complete stranger was offering to basically save my life. None of them knew me. He even admitted to that.

"My sister said you'll make a good thief. And we
need one. I'd rather teach you, build you up and get a loyal member of the group, than hire someone who may end up stabbing us in the back for their own selfish means. Besides, I like the challenge," he shrugged, "so, what do you say, Freya? Do we have a deal?" He gave me a smirk that made me both excited and really scared at the same time. Could I do this? Whatever he was offering, could I do it? Did I really have a choice? If I had to leave, my only choice would be to return to the tunnels. Or die outside in the unforgiving land of snow. And I didn't cross the Wastes and survive two months in the tunnels, eating rats and garbage just to die now, not if I had a chance to do something about it.

"Yes."

***

I have been extremely busy lately which unfortunately prevented me from posting on schedule. This may be the case for the next month or so as well before things go back to normal. If you're reading my story, please know that I appreciate you very much! I posted two chapters today to hopefully make up for lost time a little bit. I will likely stick to this for the next few weeks, because I don't want to leave you in the dark. Thank you once again for reading this far and please let me know what you think as I always appreciate some feedback.

-Manon