White Force

The King of Vengance

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.

- Frost

TORO

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"Kill them," my father cried, his shaking hands involuntarily clasping at my bare chest. "Kill them all..."

Every single night, I heard my father's pained sobs escape from his mouth as he lay before me, dying. The quick and desperate breaths he'd managed to take as his eyes bore into mine always left me choking. I could barely even survive the memories.

His death always echoed in the distance, providing me fuel to continue my mission. It was his will that I destroyed Iceland as retribute for all the lives they'd taken. And I'd promised my father I would make them pay.

But tonight, I heard nothing. Not even the ghost of a whisper.  Cora's sweet voice was all that accompanied me as I sat in the dark. She was beginning to restore my hope in mankind.

It reminded me of my mother, whom always said, "For if your sorrows was a bed of dryland, a flower would still bloom."

Cora was hope. She was passion. She dreamed about bringing our two lands together in a profound way. She fought for peace and believed in it enough to risk her life for it. She was also relentless against the stubbornness of man. Of me. And she broke right  through my barriers.

I wanted to go back to her room and continue holding her for the rest of the night. I wanted to be the warmth on her cold skin. I wanted to make her sigh in bliss as I took away her grief. I wanted to tell her that I would bring no harm to her prince or to her people.

I wanted to, and yet I couldn't.

The promises I'd made to my father forbade me from making peace. I was on a mission to infiltrate the Ice kingdom. I was sworn to avenge my people for the years of torment they endured at the hands of the Ice nation.

The plan had once seemed so simple: overthrow the king, find Titus's weakness so that I could control him, and kill the prince, along with anyone who stood in my way. 

But then I looked into the eyes of an innocent girl, dying alone in a frozen prison cell. Those shadowed, silver eyes still had fight in them, even when the rest if her body was broken. Those eyes had also looked to me for help.

When I first gave her my warmth, I felt a shift in the air. A whispering in the wind that spoke to my inner most being. Cora had needed me, and I had wanted to be needed by her.

I wasn't sure how long I had stayed up thinking about her, but the moment my eyes opened and the day's light filled my vision, I dressed and went to her door. Something in our platonic relationship had shifted and I had to be near her.

Thankfully, her door wasn't being guarded by knights. King Titus must have finally decided that they weren't needed.

I didn't bother knocking as I opened her door. She hadn't been afforded much privacy, anyway. It was my duty to make sure she wasn't up to any foul play. It was also my duty to get her to trust me so that I could learn the location of Prince Sebastian. She had no idea how deep I was into avenging my people.

My guilt-ridden eyes shifted to the ground as I took in the sight of Cora sitting on the ground, scrubbing the floorboards. Her head quickly popped up, her eyes narrowing as she took in the sight of me.

I glanced at the bucket of red water, frowning at the oddity of it. Was that blood?

I quickly searched the parameter of the room, looking for signs of an intrusion. I stopped at the closet door, my hand reaching for the handle...