Page 8 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice (Under the Werewolf Crown #1)

eight

The Kingdom of Eternal Ice

*AZADEH*

M y eyes focus on what is in front of us. In the very far distance, I can see the outline of a town. This must be the capital or, rather, the royal pack! Maybe we can still make it.

When I can hear a few screams behind us, my heart sinks though. “Don’t look back, princess,” Royan pleads. “And don’t worry, your friends are safe. Our warriors are protecting them.”

“But what about your warriors?” I pant.

Royan tosses me a curious glance I don’t quite understand. “You are worried about them?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

He doesn’t say anything, but he smiles shortly. “We are going to make it,” he says with conviction. “Trust me, princess.”

My eyes focus on the town in front of us again, catching how there seems to be two figures riding towards us. For a second, my heart stops beating. Are we getting attacked from the front, too?

“Royan, who is approaching us?”

Royan follows my gaze, his eyes widening. “Backup is coming!” he calls towards his warriors and my men.

The two figures are coming closer faster than expected; they must be fantastic horse-riders. “King Gillean,” Royan breathes out.

Wait… what!? My eyes widen at his words. The king is coming in person?

“My king,” Royan bows his head when King Gillean approaches us while still keeping his pace. For a moment, he and the man with him ride with us.

“Cut the formalities,” the king waves him off. “Who cares when we are dead?”

“Inspiring as usual, my king,” the man with him, his general, or whoever he is, says.

“Shut up, Quinn, this is all your fault,” King Gillean frowns. “You said it would do me some good to leave the palace and go for a ride. Something about it being relaxing.”

“But it does you some good,” Quinn argues. “This is a fantastic workout.”

The king narrows his eyes to a glare while Quinn just smiles before he turns around and leaves us to help some of the warriors fend off the bears. King Gillean shifts his horse slightly to look back, his eyes darkening. It is as if I can feel the air around him pulsate. Royan lowers his head, almost looking submissive for a moment.

“The princes,” Ita blurts out as more people approach us.

Wolves are amazing, I realize; they can see and hear over such long distances. To me, it’s just a few blobs on a horse. I pull my cape and scarf even tighter around me as the icy wind feels like little piercing needles against my skin due to the speed of our horses.

“Gamma!” One of the princes shouts. “What happened?”

“Prince Caelan,” Ita answers promptly. “A surprise attack.”

Another prince turns towards Royan. “Keep an eye on the princess,” he says. His tone is angry but less hard than the first one.

“And we’ll keep an eye on the bears,” the third prince says, sounding confident and almost like he is smirking. “Good thing we had a gut feeling something would go wrong.”

Royan keeps his hand tightly around my reins while the princes follow King Gillean. “Princess Azadeh,” Royan says earnestly. “Now, please take my advice and don’t look back. Keep your eyes on the horizon, please.”

I find myself nodding, dumbfounded. Behind me, I can hear the noise of some cracking and then growls and hisses. One of the bears roars loudly. There are more cracking noises to be heard and more roars.

“They are retreating,” Ita yells from the back.

Royan tosses a glance back and sighs in relief. “There is nothing to worry about anymore, Princess,” he says, and the smile in his eyes convinces me that it’s truly safe. We don’t slow down, though, and instead ride towards the capital swiftly. Warmth fills me at a certain point, like a blanket is stretching over me.

“What is this?” I can hear Simin’s voice.

“A spell,” Ita explains. “It’s to keep the capital safe from mythical intruders.”

“Like the woman in white?” I ask.

It’s quiet around me. Ita seems to want to say something, but Royan is faster. “Yes,” he says simply.

“What does she know about the woman in white?” It’s one of the princes, the first one, with a slightly rough tone in his voice. I shift my gaze to look at him. Now that we have reached the capital, we are slowing down, and I can finally take a few glances at the king and his sons.

“We had an incident close to the borders,” Royan explains.

“What kind of incident?”

“For Goddess’ sake,'' the prince with the sassy smirk intervenes. “Let them arrive before you start interrogating them.” He rides closer to us, and his red hair sparkles in the sun. He winks at me. “You are scaring the princess, Caelan.”

“I’m not scaring anyone!” Caelan grumbles.

They start to bicker slightly, while the second prince rides to my side. He looks at me worriedly. “Are you alright, Princess Azadeh?”

“Yes,” I stutter, finding myself mesmerized by his silver eyes. I have never seen eyes like that before.

“Let’s get her into the safety and warmth of the castle,” King Gillean orders. Everyone follows his order swiftly, the princes falling behind and giving orders to the warriors. Shayan stays with our men to keep an eye on them while Royan leads Simin and me to the castle. I can see some of the locals looking out of their windows. They wave at us and greet us, and I can feel their curious glances on me, but it’s not making me feel uncomfortable.

Royan helps Simin and me down from our horses, hands the reins to a few stable boys and ushers us inside. I have barely time to even look at anything, because the instant we step inside, an elderly lady and a few maids surround us. “These poor girls,” she shakes her head. “They are freezing! Hot chocolate for them!”

I’m still trying to process everything while the lady hurries away, and the maids lead us to a small room. “That’s the private dining room of the royal family,” Royan explains.

Soon enough, the lady returns with mugs full of steaming hot chocolate.

Royan’s eyes gloss over. “King Gillean will be coming any minute.”

*FLINN*

“Trust Caelan to make the worst first impression.” I’m still wheezing at the way he went all alpha on the poor princess.

“She saw a woman in white,” he argues. “I just wanted to know what it’s about!”

“We all do,” Endellion shakes his head. “But I agree with Flinn. Your timing sucks sometimes. I don’t think she was terrified, though.”

“We’ll see,” I say, feeling a tad curious. She set foot into these lands and was already attacked twice. Isn’t that too much of a coincidence? Whoever she is, this is certainly going to be interesting.

“Let’s make sure to meet her properly,” Dad’s voice comes from behind us. “She is waiting for us in the dining room.”

Meeting the princess sounds promising enough for all of us to hurry inside. Dad takes the lead and opens the door to the dining room. Gamma Royan is standing next to the princess, who is drinking something warm, while her friend is next to her.

Her friend raises her gaze, her eyes widening slightly. The poor thing almost looks terrified for a moment. I should have realized it would be a bad idea for us four alpha wolves to waltz into the room this way.

Dad pretends like everything is as usual. “Princess Azadeh.” He shows her a dazzling smile that looks more creepy than anything else, and approaches the princess. Man, I almost feel bad for him, for his inability to look good while smiling.

The princess is covered by a huge blanket or cape that hides her away from our eyes. I can only see her face. If she is scared, she doesn’t let it show. She gets up politely to greet him. Her posture is regal and strong, but also on guard. “King Gillean.” She lowers her head.

Dad accidentally steps on her ridiculously huge cape. When the princess moves slightly the cape gets stuck beneath his feet. “Oh,” she exclaims, as the cape is landing on the ground.

“I apologize!” Dad blurts out, overdramatically so.

I can’t believe it , Caelan grumbles. And I’m the one who made a horrible first impression?

The sly old man , I realize. Princess Azadeh is of mesmerizing beauty. She is tall with caramel skin and long, dark-brown hair that cascades down her back in waves. He is definitely hoping for one of us to be starry-eyed . When I look at Endellion, I realize one of us really is.

The sly old man did well, it seems.

“Please, I apologize, Princess,” Dad picks her cape up and hands it to her.

“It’s alright.” Azadeh smiles nervously. “I’ve warmed up enough.”

Dad smiles at her, and this time I can see the genuineness in his eyes. “Welcome to the Kingdom of Eternal Ice, Princess. We are all honored to have you here.”

For a moment, relief flashes in her eyes, but her regal and stoic expression is back soon, and she nods solemnly. “It’s an honor to be here, King Gillean,” she says.

“You don’t need to be so formal,” Dad says casually. “I hope we will become friends. I want you to feel at home here. So, whatever you need, don’t hesitate to ask for it. I will make sure my sons and daughters show you around as much as you want. And Gamma Royan will make sure to protect you.” He pauses. “General Shayan, of course, and your friend here – Simin, was it?”

The young girl at Princess Azadeh’s side nods shyly.

“They are welcome to stay.”

The princess looks surprised, and for a moment, the hint of a smile curls her lips. “Thank you.”

Endellion seems to wake up from his trance as he approaches the princess. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Endellion,” he says. “These two men are my brothers, Caelan and Flinn.” He smiles. “We are triplets.”

“Really?” The princess blinks and I can see some honest curiosity in her eyes.

“Triplets are rare,” Dad says proudly.

“Or rather weird,” I add with a grin.

“Creepy,” Caelan adds.

“Unnatural,” Endellion laments.

“At least, that’s what they used to say in school,” I say. “Until one of us would beat them up.”

“Don’t listen to these dumb people,” Dad grumbles. “I stick with what I say: It’s a miracle.”

“I agree,” Azadeh says, to my surprise. “Three healthy babies born to one mother at the same time, it is a beautiful miracle.”

“Do you have siblings, Princess?” I ask as we all sit down around the table.

“Yes,” she says. “A whole bunch of them.”

“Then it must be lively in the palace,” I say.

Something sad flashes in her eyes, but it’s soon replaced by her regal expression. “I’m very close to my older brother,” she explains. “But I don’t know all of my siblings, to be honest.”

Part of me is amazed by the strength and control she displays. She is a true royal by the way she carries herself, but at the same time I can’t shake off that lingering sadness I get from her. Dad was right, she is going to be tough to crack. Maybe I can take her out once, with Alana. A night of celebration and party is probably something she hasn’t encountered yet.

“Ah, Quinn,” Dad raises his head when his beta comes in, followed by Gamma Ita and the general who was at Azadeh’s side. “The fact that you are here means that we are soon getting served something to eat.”

“Are you cold, Princess?” Endellion asks when he notices her shivering hands.

“Actually, I’m slowly warming up again,” she admits.

The young woman next to her, Simin, takes her hands into hers and rubs them against each other. Azadeh smiles at her, and it’s the first real smile I’ve seen from her.

“You are soon going to warm up properly,” Endellion says. “The kitchen chef prepared some hot pot.”

Our private dining room is a comfortable place with a huge table and padded chairs, a fireplace and beautiful pictures which my mother had painted.

“You are already acquainted with everyone here,” Dad says. “Aside from my beta.” He gestures towards Quinn. “This is my beta and advisor, Quinn.”

Azadeh smiles at him politely. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise, Princess.”

“A beta is the second in command, is that correct?” she asks.

“Yes,” Dad beams, obviously happy she has informed herself before coming here. “The third in command is Ita; she is my gamma.”

“But, Royan…” Azadeh blinks. “He was called gamma too.”

“He is your gamma,” Dad tells her.

She turns her head to look at Royan, her eyes wide. “I told you, Princess,” he says with a bright smile. “I was chosen to be your protector.”

“I’m sorry that I lack so much knowledge,” she says. “I only had a few books available.”

“We have a big library here,” Dad says. “You can read as much as you want.”

“Endellion and Caelan are also pretty good with our history,” I tell her. “And with the local myths.”

Endellion nods, while Caelan looks flustered. The poor guy always turns into a Neanderthal in front of someone he doesn’t know. It doesn’t matter the gender; he is always helpless.

“You are very kind, King Gillean,” she says, and again there is a hint of sadness in her voice. “All of you are. Thank you.”

“You are a guest here,” Dad says proudly. “I told you not to hesitate to ask for anything.”

Before we can chat longer, though, the door flies open and my other siblings flock in.

“I hope you are good at remembering names.” I tease the princess.

“No kidding,” Endellion laughs. “We have a lot of siblings.”

“Oh, they are all your brothers and sisters?” she asks curiously.

“Yes, here, let’s go by age.” I point at Alana. “The fabulous redhead with short hair is our Warrior Princess, Alana. She is training under Gamma Ita to become an elite warrior.” Alana grins and winks at Azadeh and Simin. “Then we have the beauty in dark-blonde, the real princess, Kilah.” Endellion elbows me secretly at my little stab at Kilah, but no one else noticed, so… who cares? “And our smart genius, Nevyn. And last, but not least”-Eibhlin waves excitedly-“the crazy girl with the crazy looks.”

“Thank you,” Azadeh chuckles softly. “This kind of introduction will surely stay with me.”

“I guess that was his intention,” Alana laughs. “That and teasing us.” While the others sit down, she exchanges a few words with Ita. The two of them are good friends, and make plans to catch up later. Meanwhile, Kilah makes sure to sit down close to Azadeh.

It doesn’t take a genius to guess why. Azadeh is the living image of a real princess. She is elegant, regal and very beautiful, while appearing modest and a touch reserved. She is everything Kilah wants to be.

I doubt that’s truly who Azadeh is, though. She has just buried everything beneath this mask of perfection.

Man, this is going to be interesting!