It didn’t take long for all of us to make our way back to the ballroom. Lord Malcolm walked away from us, speaking to a guard I assumed was a captain of some sort, and barking orders at him. Lady Davina, Callum, and Magnus all walked over to the long table situated in front of the windows on the side of the room, taking their seats. Callum strode over with the confidence and grace one would expect from the son of a high noble, while Magnus lumbered his body over like a beast, taking his seat with a loud thump. Lady Elsbeth and Senga chose to take their seats near the central stone path. This made the most sense to me, as the feast wouldn’t occur till later, and it was common for our family to welcome the guests. Mother took a seat at a table near Lady Elsbeth, but shot a glare in Lady Davina’s direction, who didn’t seem to notice.
It wasn’t long until the room filled with nobles and wealthy individuals from Dousin as well as neighboring towns and villages, who began trying their hardest to converse with any of the Frosta family, doing their best to curry favor with either Lord Malcolm, Lady Davina, or Callum, who most considered as Dousin’s heir apparent. However, some did come to speak to Mother, likely to get in her good graces in case anything happened to my older brothers, or if I actually managed to prove my worth in the future. Most of what they had to say was nonsense. Senseless drivel that mainly included compliments to Mother’s beauty as well as my skill and handsomeness. I might’ve been swayed by their honeyed words if I was a complete idiot. It was then that I noticed Magnus laughing with a few nobles from a nearby village, a wide grin on his face. I shook my head slightly, not at all surprised by his proclivity to false praise.
I began scanning the crowd, looking for a way out of having to deal with the few nobles that came my way. That’s when I spotted the short bearded man I had seen standing with Sean, a glass of wine raised to his lips. I waved off the pestering aristocrats around me and made my way to him.
“Excuse me, sir!” I called out to the man.
“Hmm… Ah! What do you want, brat. Can’t you see I’m busy with my drink!” he yelled, barely bothering to take a look at me.
His insult didn’t bother me, but it came rather unexpectedly. Most wouldn’t dare insult a noble, not even other nobles. Veiled disrespect was common, but outright calling me a brat was extremely bold.
“Sorry to bother, sir,” I said politely as I got closer to him, “I was just wondering where I might find Sean.”
“What are you talking about? You are–” he cut his slurred words off after turning and getting a good look at me.
His eyes grew wide in realization as he took the sight of me in. The bearded man dipped his head in a deep bow, almost spilling his drink, “I’m so sorry m’lord! I mistook you for my friend's son! Please, I’ll do anything to make up for this insult.”
“It’s fine,” I responded, stifling a chuckle at the man’s complete change in demeanor, “I just wanted to know if you knew where I could find Sean. I saw him standing with you earlier.”
“Ah, he went off that way m’lord. Said something about not wanting to smell my drunk ass. I ‘oughta teach him a lesson about respect one of these days. Ah, sorry m’lord!” he said, his head dipping down once again.
“Thank you, sir. And please, just ‘Blair’ is fine.”
The man nodded furiously to me as I walked away in the direction he said Sean went. I felt a tightening sensation in my chest as I spoke to him. The way he slurred his words and went about marveling in his drink reminded me of the memory I had witnessed this morning. It wasn’t something I wished to think about again. Though, I doubted the man in my dream would ever bow to me and apologize like the bearded man did.
I walked in the direction he had pointed, over towards the mural that took up the entire side wall. There, a large crowd of men and women had gathered. Most of them were silent, just simply admiring the carvings, but none of them had come over here to actually appreciate its masterpiece. They had come to get close to Lord Malcolm. He was staring intentionally at the image of the First King, not responding to anyone that dared to try and speak to him. I saw his gaze linger on the great sword the old king held valiantly in the air, signaling to his men of a triumphant victory. His fingers gently traced the smooth edges of the carving, taking in its craftsmanship with glee, but only giving away his emotions with a small, almost unnoticeable smile.
As he took his hand off the mural, his eyes immediately fell onto me like I was the only one there. He swiftly made his way over to me with an elegance similarly held by Lady Davina, but more sturdy and confident.
“The ice was cold, wasn’t it?” He asked quietly as he stood beside me.
“No. No it wasn’t.”
“Hmm. Then why did you stumble at the end of my speech? Were you confused? It didn’t seem to me that you were.”
His voice wasn’t accusatory in any way, nor did it carry the anger I had seen in his eyes earlier, but actually sounded genuinely curious. Not knowing how to respond, I kept my mouth shut.
“So it was the cold then,” He said after a short silence, “It’s fine, Blair. Frosta’s are immune to the cold, but not without practice. I don’t blame you. You’re young, but you’ll learn to bear with the pain eventually.”
I turned and looked up at him. I didn’t know much about my father. After all, I rarely got to see him, but I wasn’t expecting to be forgiven for my mistake during his speech.
“Of course, I’m not going to punish you, but I’m afraid the same can’t be said for your mother. We both know how she is.”
I let out a shrill sigh. I began to think this was mercy, rather than forgiveness.
“It was nice to see you Blair. Keep up your training. It looks to me that you’ve been doing well,” He turned away and left, heading back to inspect more of the mural.
It didn’t take long for me to spot Sean after that, once again talking to the two young children I had seen earlier. At first I almost walked away, not wanting to bother him, but I decided it wouldn’t hurt to meet the other two kids. After all, if Sean liked them, then I probably would too. I called out and waved in his direction, getting his attention. I watched as he scanned the crowd, a wide smile forming across his face when he laid his eyes on me. He looked back down to the two kids and pointed his finger sternly in the other direction. The boy hung his head in defeat, while the girl simply smiled, waved, and walked away, tugging the boy behind her. Not long after, Sean started making his way towards me.
“Oh, perfect,” I heard a sweet voice say off to my side.
I turned to see Lady Elsbeth sitting at a table with Senga, surrounded by countless noblemen from the surrounding villages. I sighed, knowing why so many of them were surrounding her. Many people would jump at the chance to marry into the Frosta family, and with a daughter of the fair Lady Elsbeth as well. It sickened me to even think about the grown men surrounding the two of them, vying for my not even eight year old sister’s hand in marriage. I recognized a few of them from previous Frost Feasts, the greed and selfishness oozing off of them like a disgusting musk, filling the air just like last year.
“Blair, would you please walk your sister around the feast with you? I would hate to have her sit here and listen to me talk all afternoon,” Lady Elsbeth said, a pleading look in her eye.
I nodded, “Sure, Lady Elsbeth. I would love to.”
Senga practically jumped out of her chair after I accepted, walking over to me and grabbing onto my shoulder. Lady Elsbeth nodded in appreciation at me as we walked off, then continued her conversation, clearly annoyed at the many hounding would-be suitors. I was thankful to her for being such a kind and thoughtful woman. I didn’t even want to know what would happen to Senga if she was Lady Davina’s daughter, or my mother’s.
“Thank you,” Senga said to me, still holding onto my arm tightly.
“It’s no problem. Besides, I think you might like my friend that we’re about to meet.”
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“You have friends?”
I gently flicked her in the head at her comment, which she responded with a quick jab at my side. I let out a small grunt in pain, then heard a voice come from in front of me.
“Wow. Remind me not to mess with her,” Sean said under his breath, likely not meaning to say it aloud.
Senga looked Sean up and down, taking his appearance in. She looked back up to me, her face clearly giving me a look of disappointment.
“I thought your first friend would be a little more… neat. Are you from the outer part of Dousin? A farmer’s kid?” She said, turning back to Sean.
Sean didn’t respond to the insult, only rubbing his shoulder and averting his eyes from us. His long white blond hair had been combed and tied at the back, looking a bit unkempt compared to everyone else. His vest was nothing special, but is white undershirt was fairly tattered, having small tears near the cuffs. He didn’t look awful, but it definitely wasn’t what you’d expect from someone invited by a Lord or Lady. I gave Senga a quick jab to her side, causing her to let out a small yelp.
“That’s rude Senga. Sean’s perfectly normal. I doubt Lord Malcolm would invite just anyone to the Frost Feast.”
“I guess,” Senga said, shrugging her shoulders, “So why are you two friends?”
“He’s the one that taught me magic,” I said in my most thankful voice, trying to praise Sean as best I could.
“He did? This grubby kid taught you magic?”
“He did,” I said matter of factly.
“I did,” Sean said as well, still looking a little sheepish at Senga’s presence.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked him, remembering how loud he was when I had seen him a week ago, “You seem off.”
“There’s just a lot of new people. Plus, I don’t really enjoy being insulted by a little girl.”
“Little girl! I bet I’m waaaaay older than you! You're what, six?” Senga yelled, despite Sean clearly being taller than her.
“Nope, he’s older,” I said.
Of course, I knew he was technically younger than her, but taking into consideration that he’d lived a past life, Senga was definitely the loser in this argument.
It was then that I felt a strange feeling in the air. It was similar to what I had felt earlier, when the mage had given my father the magic stone, but it felt just a bit heavier and more powerful. The entire room went dark, and I could hear startled cries come from the crowd, wondering what had happened. As everyone scrambled to figure out why the room was now pitch black, a strange blue light enveloped the room. Above me, I saw the ocean. Or, what looked to be the ocean. Beautiful blue waves of water crashed above me, like I was looking down at them from the sky. I felt the mist from the crashing waves fall down onto me. I could see light shining off of the new sea, like the sunshine was reflecting off of it and lighting up the room. I felt like I was at the beach, something I hadn’t gotten to see at all in this new world. I had no memories, but I knew exactly what it was like. I wanted to go. The whole experience was like a dream. It was incredible.
The floating ocean remained for a few minutes, before slowly receding back towards where I left my mother. There, a man in a blue robe with a short, black beard stood next her, the water drifting into a large sack he carried at his side. Once everyone else noticed the man, they began to clap for him. Even Mother clapped, a wide grin on her face, one that I actually thought was genuine. I saw her talk to the man, her face unchanging and even growing more excited as she did so. It was incredibly strange. I had never seen her like this. I immediately started to walk away from whatever paranormal disaster was happening, but Sean and Senga had other ideas. Sean started making his way over to the both of them, and Senga pulled me along with them.
“What was that?” Sean asked the man when we arrived, excitement and awe coming through clearly in his voice.
He had interrupted Mother, a horrifying thing I would never dare do, but she simply smiled at Sean and said, “This man is Mr. Restivus. He had heard that I was looking for a new mage in my court, and I simply asked him to demonstrate his abilities. To put it mildly, I was impressed.”
“What she said, kid. Now can we get back to talking about my pay while these wonderful bundles of joy get the hell out of here,” Mr. Restivus said, shooting all three of us a bushy browed look of disgust before turning back to my mother.
“Oh of course. Not to worry, Restivus. You will be paid what you’re owed as a mage of my court. Plenty of gold will be lining your pockets soon, so long as you do your job. However,” Her voice changed slightly, letting it become a bit sharper, “I must ask that you refrain from calling my son and his friend ‘brats.’”
I expected Mr. Restivus to turn as white as the marble mural to his back, but instead, he simply smiled.
“Oh! Your son and his friend! I apologize my lady,” he exclaimed, dipping into a bow, “I’m afraid I have never been good at dealing with children, but I assure you that my prowess at magic will continue to blow you away, and your gold will be well placed in me.”
“I surely hope so. You may want to get used to children though, you may see them more than you think.”
At this, Mr. Restivus frowned slightly, “So long as I’m paid,” he muttered so that Mother couldn’t hear.
“Thank you for such a wonderful conversation and display of magic, but I do need to talk to my son. You said you’ll be returning to Dousin in spring, correct? I’ll be awaiting your return. Hopefully we can continue where we left off before you leave, though.”
Mr. Restivus gave my mother another bow, and left without another word, headed over to grab a drink from some servant.
“What did you think?” Mother asked us, her eyes on me and ignoring the other two.
I hesitated, wondering why she cared what I thought about the greedy man, allowing Sean to speak first, “He’s amazing. The way he manipulated the water effortlessly, yet exerted so much control over it was phenomenal. I didn’t think something like that was possible.”
Mother smiled sweetly, taking her attention from me over to Sean. The way her face looked more like a porcelain doll than a human sent chills down my spine.
“I’m glad you think so highly of him, Sean. After all, it will be him teaching you and Blair magic come spring.”
I felt my mouth fall open at her words, “That guy?”
“Yes Blair, that guy,” she repeated, “While Mr. Restivus isn’t the most eloquent man I’ve ever met, he certainly makes up for it with his magic. I’m sure he’ll do fine. Now, I have many other people to talk to today. Go, and be good to Sean and Senga.”
The rest of the Frost Feast went on with no incident. Sean and Senga got to know one another better, which made me happy. After their rocky start, I hadn’t expected them to enjoy walking around with one another, but Sean matched her witty remarks well. While they weren't exactly nice to one another, neither of them seemed to take the other’s words to heart. Just walking around the celebration with my friend and sister felt so strangely… normal.
Father’s speech before dinner was extremely similar to the one he had already made earlier, almost word for word. After that, his guests enjoyed a hearty meal full of meat hunted around the mountains and fruits and veggies that had just been harvested and picked at the end of the season. It might’ve been the best I’ve ever eaten. Father wasn’t lying when he said Dousin had had one of its most prosperous years.
Afterwards, people slowly made their way out of the castle. Sean and his family were some of the first to leave, the bearded man I’d talked to earlier quickly rushing out, likely still worried I’d try and get revenge for his misplaced insults. It was funny to watch the short, stout man run, almost like watching some bear hobble around on its back legs. As soon as all the guests had left, Mother quickly collected me and we headed back to the western tower.
“You're aware that I haven’t forgotten what happened today, correct?” she said as we walked through the stone hallways.
“Yes,” I responded, keeping my voice low and not looking up at her.
“Seeing as I’m in a good mood, I’ll keep your punishment small.”
Her hand reached out towards me, her eyes barely looking my way. I felt the back of her hand slam across my cheek, my body jerking as she did so. Even with all of my training, Mother’s hits still felt worse than any abuse I’d taken from a sparring match. It was like the whole foundation of my being collapsed with a single slap from her. I watched as she rubbed the back of her hand, likely stinging from the force.
“I don’t enjoy that, and I’m sure you don’t either. Learn so that I do not have to do it again,” she said, to which I only nodded in response.
The night was cold as I walked into my room, the air bitter and dry. The only warmth in the room came from the fire that ran in the room outside, the heat barely flowing in. I wrapped myself in the blankets that a servant brought me, hoping the tenderness of sleep would take the cold away. It didn’t.
Dreams, or memories, surfaced as I slept, the cold air remaining as I drifted through them. Only, the air was no longer dry. Instead, it was humid, like I was breathing in a sheer mist. My eyes opened and I found myself walking down the street in some large city. Buildings lined the sidewalk I was walking on. They were tall, but they were nothing compared to the skyline I could see in the distance. Cars zoomed past me, splashing water up from their puddles and onto the sidewalk. It was raining hard, hundreds of droplets of water falling down onto my hooded jacket, soaking through and onto my clothes and skin.
It was daybreak, the shadow of night edging the sun’s light away, but I didn’t want to return home. My hands stung, reminding me of the memory I had regained earlier. I had been punching the bag again, but harder this time. I wanted more, but my instructor had found my punches wild and weak. He was unimpressed. I could feel my eye swelling up and aching thinking about how I had disappointed him. It only made me want to hit it more, to hit something more. The stinging in my fists had waned, only a tingling sensation remained. All I could feel was pure, hot rage. I hated it. It wasn’t me. The memory felt like a trap as I continued to sleep, pulling me in deeper, making me feel all the emotions I had once forgotten. All I wanted to do was wake up. All I wanted to do was be free.