Dorsey’s POV

  It had been worth following Felipe’s trail, worth the blood and frost, the silent march through ash and mud. Earning a place beside him, even for a fleeting battle, was enough to secure his trust. And in return, I found what I sought: the Polarboy that Claudius described. Odd eyes. Athletic frame. Skymint Polarion—the Polarboy who found my presumed-dead cousin.

  So Arie must be here too. Hidden among the carriages, buried beneath layers of deceit and snow.

  I’d gestured to Felipe earlier, promising to summon his stationed guards from the Glacia Gates, and he’d agreed, too arrogant to suspect I might act on my own accord. I’ve always been disciplined, methodical. But obedience has its limits. My intent was clear: find the carriages first.

  The horizon split into motion, three wooden vehicles creaking over the frozen plain. I ran, ice whispering beneath my boots, and unleashed frost toward the nearest wheel. The carriage jolted to a stop. I froze the door’s handle before it could open, and when it did, I coated its frame in ice. Only Freshan guards inside. They stiffened, frozen mid-motion.

  I tore a bronze shield from one of their arms—insurance. In case Arie dared to fight me with her own frost.

  Two carriages down, one left.

  A figure leapt from the last as I turned, a girl with a turquoise bun diving cleanly into the sea, her form vanishing beneath the waves. A Seagirl. Let her swim back to her glittering Aquamarine Kingdom. I had no time for her.

  The next carriage waited, shrouded in silence. The horse, though unmoving, snorted, its breath turning to vapor. I froze the coachman, then wrenched open the small window. No frost struck back.

  Inside lay Carrie, unconscious, her skin marred by thin, cruel scars. When her eyes fluttered open, I saw terror there before voice.

  “Where’s Arie?” I demanded.

  She trembled. “I don’t know! I don’t know where! Please—please bring me back home.”

  “Calm down,” I said, lowering my tone but not my guard. “That Jamaico creep left a wound on you. Have you seen our cousin?”

  “I don’t want to talk about her,” she murmured.

  “Since you’re one of the only girls who still trusted me after my false imprisonment,” I said, retrieving a stack of ice bills, “I’m letting you go to Fresha.”

  Her eyes widened.

  “Immediately ride a ship, and nothing else. Understand?”

  “Um… okay.” She accepted the frozen bills and fled, her boots slipping across the frost as she made for the water’s edge.

  I dropped the bronze shield—it was only slowing me down—and made my way toward the Glacia Gates. They stood proud and monstrous, a monument born from Felipe’s paranoia. The one thing I could admit he had done better than King Domestan: fortify the kingdom.

  The Wolfmen guards bowed as I approached.

  I fixed them with a cold glare. “Send however many soldiers are needed to aid Felipe. He’s fighting four fruit masters.”

  Without hesitation, they moved. A line of armored figures formed, their boots striking the ice like war drums, until they became a living wall advancing southward, toward the outer village, toward battle.

  By the map’s reckoning, the Ice Palace lay to the east, the Sand Palace to the west. But facing the open snow, I knew I was heading north, and the desert burned somewhere far behind me.

  At the Port of Glacia, I caught sight of Carrie’s silhouette boarding a ship. Good girl.

  Then I turned back. The gates yawned open before me, and I stepped into the city of glass and winter. The path of ice stretched from mud to marble, reaching outward into the horizon, where crystalline towers rose like frozen flames against the dying light.

  Arie had nowhere left to run, the staff at the port would recognize her, and the alternative was the ocean. But she was only human, unless she dared to enchant herself, to breathe underwater like the Seagirl.

  Hopefully, the Polarboy would be enough of a distraction for Felipe. I needed to find her first. Before they did. My eyes swept across the crowd, searching for that familiar wavy blue hair, the color of a winter dawn, that brushed just below her cheeks. Only if ice could be sensed—that cold, lifeless element—perhaps I would’ve found her the night she vanished.

  The city unfurled before me, glittering with structures carved from diamond-ice, a lattice of frost and light. Every reflection shimmered faintly with the glow of Glacian hair. People here didn’t acknowledge strangers unless they were royal, wealthy, or beautiful. Fortunately, I was all but lacking one of those, I had power, not friends. Still, I preferred this quiet indifference to the noise of other kingdoms. I loathed Finnian for that reason alone.

  The crowd gave me space. Always did. Since the trial, their eyes carried the same scent—distrust, cold and stale. Let them look. When I ascend the throne, I’ll make them regret questioning me.

  Frustration burned beneath my skin as I crossed to a nearby tavern, Tedris’s usual haunt.

  The warmth inside was almost offensive. Amber lights bled through the birch-oak walls, casting long, gold shadows across the tables where wealthy patrons murmured over spiced drinks. Glances flickered my way, then quickly fell. They knew who I was. Everyone did.

  Except Tedris.

  He sat at the far corner, his gloved hand wrapped around a steaming mug of coffee, the Bear Revolution lying open before him. When I approached, his chair scraped back. He stood, bowing low.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “What can I do for you, Princess?”

  “Continue your studies later,” I said, voice sharp as cracked frost. “We’ll gather real evidence by abducting her. She and the Polarboy were rescued from the Sunstar Colosseum. Felipe’s fighting them now, but she’s gone missing. We find her before anyone else does.”

  I turned for the door, Tedris following close behind. But before I could step out, a hooded figure appeared in the doorway.

  A girl.

  She lifted her head, and I froze.

  “Dorsey…” she breathed. Her eyes shimmered, heavy with tears. “I’ve been following you because I’m lost, and I don’t even know why I’m here.”

  For a moment, I couldn’t move. Her voice trembled, not from the cold, but from the weight of something fragile, almost human.

  “Princess, we should bring her,” Tedris murmured.

  I caught her wrist before she could falter, pulling her close. “Stop being emotional,” I snapped quietly. “You should’ve told me—if you weren’t hiding anything.”

  Her lips quivered. “Or do you think I killed my father, huh?”

  “No, Dorsey,” she gasped. “I—I was hesitant because of the trial. I thought… you wouldn’t want to see me again.”

  “I really do,” I said simply. No filters. No hesitation.

  We entered the carriage, Arie first, to make sure she wouldn’t bolt, Tedris next, then me.

  “To my mansion,” I commanded.

  Without a word, the driver obeyed. The wheels rolled over the frozen street, carrying us through the silent city, where the glow of ice shimmered like ghosts beneath the surface.

  I looked at Arie sitting across from me. She untucked her hood, revealing her disheveled hair, a fractured sheen of blue, like an iceberg on the verge of breaking apart.

  “Elaborate on how you don’t even know why you’re here,” I said, my gaze fixed on hers. “Be direct. I don’t tolerate fabrications.”

  “I was in the pyramid,” she murmured, “but I don’t remember my last moments. When I opened my eyes, I was already entering the gates of Glacia.”

  “And how did that happen?” I arched a brow, though her confusion already told me the answer.

  She looked down at her hands, fingers intertwined tightly in her lap. “Unfortunately, I can’t remember it either. It just happened, and it’s happened before. I’m supposed to be with Skymint.”

  “Ah, the Polarboy.” I smiled faintly. “I pity him, for ever meeting you. He wouldn’t have been caught in your mess if he hadn’t.”

  Her lips pressed into a trembling line, but I went on.

  “Do you know how worried everyone was when you vanished? The great disappearance of the Ice Princess, every corridor whispering your name while I became their favorite villain. They said I should’ve treated you better before you died.” I let out a small, bitter laugh. “I was miserable, and now here you are, appearing before me like some divine joke, asking for help. Ridiculous.”

  Arie kept her head lowered. Tedris, silent as ever, didn’t move.

  “Anyway,” I continued, voice flat as frost, “you’ve given me proof that you’re still alive. Congratulations.”

  Maybe I had gone too far. “You’re allowed to speak,” I added, softer. “Don’t be entirely discouraged, I still have a little faith left in you.”

  She rubbed her eyes with the hem of her cloak, then met my gaze again.

  “I don’t know what else I could say,” she said, voice trembling with something too gentle to be guilt. “You’d never forgive me, no matter what. It’s your decision. You could hand me to Felipe right now, and I wouldn’t hate you for it.”

  Almost sweet. Almost sincere. The tone of someone who didn’t understand how sharp mercy could cut. I could never be like the Ice Princess.

  ***

  The sun was low when we stepped out of the carriage. The trimmed grass gleamed gold against the chill of dusk, the air heavy with sea salt and silence.

  Claudius was leaning against the quartz wall of my estate, a stack of books resting beside him and another open in his hand. His glasses caught the dying light, flashing briefly before he looked up, startled, as always, to see me.

  “How’s the city, Dorsey?” he asked, tone too casual to be genuine.

  “Followed Felipe beyond the gates,” I said, brushing past him. “Became his temporary sidekick.”

  Tedris moved ahead to open the tall quartz gate. Claudius hurried to gather his books, but froze mid-motion when he saw the girl beside me. His expression shifted from disbelief to stunned joy. He removed his glasses, then put them back on, as though sight itself might be lying to him.

  “Arie, you came back!” he said, almost triumphant.

  “I wasn’t expecting this either, Claudius,” she replied quietly.

  “Save that for later. Come in,” I said, gesturing them forward.

  The door closed behind us with a whisper of ice. The elevator awaited, our intended trap turned into an invitation. I watched the two of them from behind as the platform descended, the hum of machinery filling the silence.

  It was almost poetic, I thought. We had once planned to bring Arie here by force. Instead, she came willingly—like fate itself had decided to mock me.

  “Where have you been, Arie?” he asked. “I thought you were supposed to stay in Fresha.”

  “Recently escaped the Sunstar Colosseum. It’s complicated to explain, but I don’t know how I got here.”

  “Sounds familiar,” Claudius said, beaming faintly. “Like subtle magic spells.”

  The platform shuddered to a stop, the sound echoing through the narrow chamber. When the metal door parted, a cold gray room revealed itself, its walls bleak and smooth, brushed with violet light from the hanging lanterns. A single long table stood at its center, layered with papers that looked as if no one had touched them in years.

  Tedris glanced at me. I gave a single nod.

  “Kindly sit here, Ice Princess,” he said.

  She obeyed with quiet grace, sitting like someone who had practiced elegance even through ruin. Her beauty still clung to her like frost that refused to melt. I clenched my teeth. The metal binds coiled around her wrists, ankles, and crown of her head, whispering shut.

  “Activate your special ability. Now.” My gaze fixed on Claudius—hard, unyielding.

  “What? Which one? Why—”

  “The one that blocks magic spells.”

  Arie’s head lifted, her expression desperate. “I thought you still have faith in me.”

  “Yes,” I said evenly. “But that’s only a slim percentage. Now, be a good cousin and do as I say.”

  “Dorsey, this isn’t right,” Claudius argued. “You said my phantom abilities can be bad, and this is exactly that.”

  “We’re doing it for a purpose,” I countered. “That’s different from what you did during Aerol’s coronation. Why can you do that for him and not obey a simple request?”

  “Because it requires more power than confetti!” His voice cracked. “I’m not just teleporting clouds, Dorsey, I’m blocking everything.”

  “We made a vow, Claudius. You agreed to help me, to do everything to uncover the truth. You can’t shatter that now, not after I lent you my trust.”

  He hesitated, his hands trembling slightly as he adjusted his spectacles. “It wasn’t as bad on papyrus. And now, seeing her like this, I regret approving it. You should’ve found another phantom user. Maybe I’m here just because I’m the only one who could set her free from those chains.”

  My hand flicked. An ice spike hissed through the air, grazing his ear and bursting against the wall behind him. Shards clinked to the floor.

  “You’re exaggerating, Claudius,” I said coldly. “You know that was a warning. I only asked you to block her magic.”

  He exhaled sharply. “Fine. I’m calming down.”

  A haze of purple smoke spilled from his body, rolling across the room until it coiled around our feet like mist.

  I turned my eyes toward Arie. Her lips were pressed together, trembling slightly. Her head hung low, hair curtaining her face.

  “Arie, are you alright?” Claudius asked. His tone made me want to strike him—how could he sound so gentle after what he’d done?

  Tears welled in her pale blue eyes and began to fall, quiet, unblinking. She didn’t sob, she simply leaked sorrow, like a wound reopening.

  “My hunch was right,” Claudius muttered. “This was a bad idea.”

  Then came the sound—a laugh, high and slicing, unraveling into hysteria. It rose from her throat like something long buried clawing its way free. Her head slammed against the wall once, twice, the sound sharp and hollow, as if she were trying to purge herself of something unholy.

  When the laughter broke, she stilled, then raised her head. Her gaze caught us, bright and venomous.

  “No,” she said softly, the corners of her mouth curling. “You’re wrong, Claudius.”

  Her tone was no longer hers, it was mischief wearing her voice like a disguise.