Daughters of the King |✓|

Chapter Twenty-One

In the winter months, the wind came howling like a beast outside and the house creaked endlessly. The cold was always seeping through the old walls, so we were forced to keep the fires going day and night, and storms would come to shake the house, turning the outside world into a complete whiteout that felt like a continuation of myself.

Snow girl, Bjorn would call me if he were here.

The ground was blanketed in so much powder, it felt like we were living on a cloud, high up where the air was thin. Zelle and I didn't go for any more walks, even though her foot was healing well. Winter in the mountains was too harsh and we preferred to stay huddled indoors, where our housemates and our idleness could slowly drive us crazy.

Then we heard the news.

"A major," my mother announced to all of us, standing in the den holding up the letter she'd received from the capitol.

"Why is he coming here?" Narumi asked.

"To check up on us," my mother said. "Bohdai will communicate with him, and the rest of us will have to wear our headscarves at all times in the house."

I groaned. I thought we'd gotten rid of those grievances when we came to the mountains.

"When is he coming?" Bo asked the next question that was on all of our minds. "And for how long?"

"I've been told to expect him next week. No duration was specified."

I suddenly felt short of breath. That could mean anything. We might end up stuck with a major in the house indefinitely, this place becoming like a prison just like the palace had been. Trapped by our safety.

"You don't seem too excited," Zelle noted in a whisper, leaning close.

"Super excited," I drawled sarcastically.

I caught my mother glaring at me from across the room. There was a growing distance between us that was getting worse every day.

Once the rest of the household had filed out of the den, she crossed the room to speak to me. Zelle excused herself to give us privacy, her absence leaving behind a gaping emptiness. It was rare not to find her at my side these days. The savage albino and the dutiful redhead. We made absolutely no sense together, and yet she'd become the most important person in my life.

"Don't be difficult, Olya," my mother warned.

"I thought we'd come here so we could be left in peace."

"We have. But that doesn't mean they're going to forget about us entirely."

I just looked away.

"Olya," she said softly, her tone changing. "Think of it this way: The king is sending us a major to watch over us. A major, Olya."

It didn't take much guessing to see what she was getting at. "You want me to marry him?"

"The king wants you to marry him."

Panic gripped my heart. "Is it already decided?"

"No." She shook her head, her eyes glinting in that way they always do when she's plotting. "But it will be soon."

"What if I don't like him?"

She shrugged. "We get rid of him somehow."

I didn't dare ask how. I left to find Zelle instead, and we sat in my room with our favorite books, looking out the windows at the frosted world.

"What are you thinking about?" Zelle asked, after I'd been sitting with my book closed in front of me for a couple of minutes.

I sighed, knowing I couldn't tell her the truth. "Nothing important."