Crowns of Flame and Ice - Book One

(13) A Light in the Dark

By mid-afternoon, my shoulders and lower back were beginning to ache from being curled up in the armchair for too long. Stretching out my legs and rolling my neck I stood, clutching the notebook and pencils under my arm. Only the faint glow of the fire and various lit torches around the library illuminated the room as there were no windows in here. I often wondered if the light ever were to touch these books if they would just crumble. Some of these editions had to be hundreds of years old and likely, based on the thick layer of dust that coated them, hadn't been touched in that long either. I sneezed as I passed one of the shelves, grinning brightly at the old librarian who had almost jumped out of her skin. She glared at me, aggressively slamming a copy of "The Might of Vauxhaven" onto her desk. I rolled my eyes and walked past her doing my best not to stab her with one of my pencils, it'd be a shame to get blood on the numerous piles of books that sat next to her.

Grey stone walls greeted me as I exited the Library, the halls a flurry of motion and swishing skirts. Everyone was on edge since the arrival of the King and Prince of Crevah, their presence was a reminder of what was happening outside of the sheltered space inside the wall. It was an ugly monstrosity of brick and stone, one that had been built by my great grandfather. I'd read it had been built during a time of revolution when the people of Vauxhaven were getting tired of starvation and poverty while the ruling families lived in luxury. It made me sick sometimes, especially times like right now when I saw the fine clothing of the lords and ladies bejewelled in everything from pearls to emeralds. During times like these, I allowed myself to dream of a kingdom united, where its people roamed freely between lands, where we didn't need the wall to separate the people from the castle and where people were happy. I'd seen the happy and gleeful faces of the people in the dome where they danced and mingled with each other but there was always this shadow that loomed over the land. I wanted to see the castle burn, watch as the royalty were forced to leave the safety of the wall.

Swerving out of the way of a servant carrying a large bowl of what appeared to be various fruits I headed towards my rooms. I took the lower halls that were mostly used by servents, the last thing I wanted was to bump into my sisters or worse, Quilo. I hadn't seen him since that day he'd slipped into my rooms and given me back the sword. I'd tried my best not to think about it too much, how he'd come into my room thinking I was asleep to give it back. The fact he thought I'd be asleep told me he hadn't come to taunt me about James's death unless he'd come to kill me of course. I doubted it though, there had been pain on his features when he'd arrived and a hollowness in his eyes I understood too well. That was what confused me the most, Quilo never showed any emotion whatsoever. If I was being honest that scared me more than any threat he'd ever made on my life.

Bright buttery sunlight greeted me as I stepped into my room and I smiled as the warmth from the sun hit my face. I hadn't been outside in a while, not since that day I'd gone to the dome. I swiped a soft cream blanket that was draped over a nearby chair and untangled the book I'd been reading last night from my bedsheets. I cursed when I realised the bookmark was missing and most definitely wasn't in the book. I frowned, finding it on the floor towards the end of my bed. why were these things never where you left them? I tried not to look over at my plants as I walked towards the door clutching the book and blanket. I knew what I'd see, clay pots and saucers that had delicate painted flowers climbing up the sides. An image flashed in my mind of James with red and pink paint streaked through his short hair, clay clinging to his large fingers. Fingers that had later teased and taunted me until I'd come for the first time. I really didn't want to think about that, and I really didn't want to think about what he'd admitted to me. What he had said with his last breaths, that he loved me. James had been a fool to love me, but I'd been a fool to allow it to happen. I'd known that anyone who loved me, anyone who I cared for would end up dead and yet id just let it happen. I'd as good as killed James myself. What good was love anyway? It just brought pain and death.