Frost and Flame

I watched out my bedroom window. Today was the day of my betrothal ceremony and it was all I could think about it. My eyes drifted to the wet landscape, unusual weather for this time of year. the air was humid and difficult to bear. I turned away from the window and my eye caught on a picture that hung from my wall. It was a picture of my mom and I sitting in the grass just outside the palace where I lived as the prince of my clan. My sister Calissa had painted it a while ago when I was just a kid and she was newly betrothed.

The memory of my mother's death was still fresh in my mind. I remembered the fever that had taken over her body and finally brought her to the end of her life. But I knew she was better off as a spirit, no matter how much I missed her.

I shivered as an unusual chilly wind drifted through my window, just lingering long enough to send a chill up my spine. Confusion spread through me and I peeked back out my window. A shadow zipped past the castle at almost inhuman speed. What the...? I stared out for a second and decided that I must have imagined it.

"Sir?" a voice at my side startled me so much that I swear I must have jumped six feet in the air.

"What is it?" I asked, tension obvious in my tone.

"His Majesty wishes to see you," the young servant girl said timidly, "a young girl has been found at the border, and it's believed that she is from the Ningues clan."

My jaw clenched. The other clan was the source of all my problems, the reason that Mother was dead. They were the ones who had spread the sickness that had taken so many in my clan. I nodded to the girl and walked out, struggling to hold in the flames that raged inside me, begging to be let loose. As I walked, for a moment I indulged my flames and let a flame curl across my palm. The orange colored flame was mesmerizing but I had to make it disappear as I reached the center of the palace: the Grand Hall.

That was where my father spent most of his time, working through problems of the citizens and doing paperwork. I rarely spoke to him, since he had never cared about me. His personality was cold and cruel, often treating our people with disrespect. Many times I hoped that I would not end up like him.

"What is it that you want, Father?" I asked tersely, slightly irritated that he'd summoned me yet anxious to have this chance to get revenge.

"I assume you know what this is about?" Father turned to face me. He was wrinkled, tanned skin and dark hair that went well with his dark eyes. The clothing he wore was the traditional Ignis clan chief's coat, a bright red tunic with a print of the now extinct Ignis dragon plastered onto it. Underneath his robes he wore a dark orange robe that was the same color as the Ignis dragon's scales. All in all he was definitely handsome, though I guessed that I was somewhat prejudiced against him.

"Of course," I said, sitting down across the table from him, "But I only heard a little bit from my servant, which tells me that you want to talk about something other than the problem," I leaned forward and stared into his eyes, "So what is it that you really want?"

"You know me too well," Father sighed and tapped his fingers against the table, "I think you have an idea of what I want to talk about but I'll explain it in further detail," he met my gaze evenly, "it's time that you get married. You've been betrothed to Ravenna for some time and I know you've been trying to avoid the marriage. Why is that?"

I did my best to hide the anxiety that immediately made me uneasy. Maybe because of how well you and mother got along, I thought sardonically, you treated the whole family like trash and you expect me to want to marry? But instead of speaking my thoughts out loud I held my tongue and said instead:

"I'll gladly marry her, Father."

Father narrowed his eyes, "Why are you so compliant? I thought that I would at least get a protest out of you."

"Perhaps it's simply better for me at this moment to comply," I said, my tone sharp, "and I always thought you wanted me to be a compliant son. Shouldn't you be happy that I'm agreeing to what you want for once?"

Father bit his lip angrily and I could tell that he desperately wanted to swing a punch at me. But there were guards in the room and he knew that I could now defend myself. His attempts to harm me wouldn't work anymore. And he could no longer harm my sister either.

"Well at least you're being obedient," Father said coldly, "The wedding is to happen in a week."

"A week?" I couldn't help the shock in my tone, "How are you going to put together a wedding so quickly?"

"It doesn't need to be elaborate," Father said, "It only needs to be a wedding. About the other matter; the girl."

I nodded, "I'll take care of her."

"That's not what I want," Father looked straight into my eyes with a piercing gaze, "and I want you to know that straight off. We are going to use her as bait. I'm sure that her clan wants her back, and right now we are at war. Having her here gives us an advantage."

I narrowed my eyes, "That clan deserves to feel pain."

"And they will feel it," Father's eyes glittered with malice, "Once we draw some of their men here. We will pretend to do an exchange. After we have some of their men in custody, we will kill her along with the rest of the men that we captured."

"Fine," I leaned back, somewhat disappointed but knew I wouldn't get anything out of negotiating with Father, "but just one thing. Won't that cause a war?"

"We're already at war, son," Father leaned forward, a cruel smile slowly creeping across his face, "the fighting just hasn't started yet," he laughed, "Soon, my son, our clan will show that it is the dominant force and you will rule over both clans as their king."

***

I struggled to walk as rough hands grabbed my arms. Thankfully my ice powers were limited by cloth and I didn't accidentally freeze them. But I could tell that I was generating a ton of cold air because the Ignis clan men that grabbed my arms were shivering, despite the humidity of the air. I was dragged to the heart of the Ignis clan, where I was met by more guards and a man who wore the regal clothes of a clan prince.

"I suppose you're here to give me my sentence," I said dryly. The man narrowed his eyes at me with obvious anger.

"I don't want to let you live but my father is insisting that I do," he retorted, "Now if you want to keep your tongue, I advise that you keep quiet."

"What would you do with my tongue, your highness?" I asked mockingly, "What would your precious father say? Whatever. Kill me. Do whatever you want. My clan was already going to kill me anyway." I tried to stop myself from looking at my hands but my gaze drifted to them anyway. The prince followed my gaze and narrowed his eyes, despite the uneasy look in his eyes.

"Why would they want to kill you?" he demanded, his tone sharp, "What have you done?"

"Nothing," I spat out the words, "Nothing that is technically wrong anyway. Just something that goes against the code of the clans. Supposedly I'm cursed." I said the word cursed with disdain in my tone. I'm not really cursed. It's magic. And magic is feared by the clans because the ancients once used it.

"What do you mean?" he gazed at me intensely and motioned to the guards. When I looked over at them I saw that they were holding chains. My hands weren't covered in gloves, so wrapping chains around my wrists would result in them finding out about my ice abilities. Panic spread through me and I backed away from the men.

"Don't touch me," I warned them. That only made the prince more suspicious.

"Why?" he gazed at me pointedly, "You're a prisoner. We have every right to touch you."

"Because," I swallowed and could barely form the words, "I don't want to hurt you. Everyone who has touched me within the past twenty four hours has... been killed." I hated saying the word but it was true. As I continued to back away, the prince walked closer.

"You're just using that as a tactic to get free," he said darkly and leaned forward quickly, grabbing my arm where it was bare, just below my sleeve. I yanked my hand away just after a patch of ice formed on his wrist. Panic spread through me and I gasped in horror. Thankfully it stayed only on his wrist and didn't spread.

"Ice?" he demanded sharply and when I looked up at his face I was surprised to not see any shock there. Instead he was angry and strangely curious.

"Just get away from me," I said in fear of what he would do to me. Suddenly I let out a blast of freezing cold air and fell to the ground, the force of the air making me lose my balance. When I looked up, I saw that the prince was on the ground, struggling to get to his feet.

"Please," I pleaded, "just let me go. I have a legend to fulfil and I can't do that if I'm sentenced to death for hurting you."

"Legend?" he echoed.

I tilted my head at him, "Are you ok? Because you kinda seem to be out of it."

"Uh, yeah," he looked away from me and at the guards, "Take her in. But be aware of her abilities. Wrap the chains around her clothing," he took in my dress and exhaled deeply before turning to walk away, "I have matters to attend to."

I watched as he walked swiftly away, his robes swishing around him as he walked. There was something that he wasn't telling me. And I was going to find out just what it was.

The guards led me to a cell where I was chained up and given only bread and water. Then I was left to await my sentence. But I had been prepared. Because I had a feeling that the prince knew more about the legend than he was letting on, and I would have to find out just what he knew before the entire Ignis Clan.