FROST- Jotun Chronicles #1

Secret Garden

Loki took me to the gardens afterword, just as he’d promised.  As we entered the red gates I let out a breath. It was everything I’d imagined.  Before me the ground was covered in rings of flowers, each ring in a different color, like ripples on a pond. In the very center a Japanese maple grew, it’s vibrant leaves standing out even among the rainbow of colors surrounding it, it’s crooked branches bent over the ground beneath it, guardian of the flowers.

A stone walkway looped around the middle and branched off, one side leading to a shimmering fountain, the other to a stone bridge that passed over a small stream.

“It’s beautiful,” I forgot how sore I was from the horse riding and stepped forward into the garden, breathing the sweet air in deeply. Everything was so fresh and green here. I had no idea how much I’d missed this.

“It’s no ice palace,” Loki grinned, “I’ll tell you that.”

“It’s way better,” I headed down the stone pathway straight for the fountain. Something about the noisy splashing and bubbling drew me to it. The sound was soothing. We sat down on the stone bench, and I was instantly mesmerized. The bottom of the fountain, a shallow rock basin, was lit by tiny beams. First the waters turned purple, then blue, then pink. A sparkling show of fairy lights.

“Do you like it?” Loki was a warm presence at my side. He was sitting so close that our legs were touching.

“I love it,” slowly I took in the rest of the garden, drinking it in like I might never see it again. And who knew, maybe I wouldn’t. Things seemed to happen to me without warning, so I was going to enjoy this.

We sat in silence for several minutes, until we heard the distant, metallic gong from high on the castle wall, the signal for dinner. Loki stood up, and I followed him back down the path slowly, shuffling my feet, reluctant to leave the garden.

Loki turned to me just outside the gate. He must have seen the look on my face, because he chuckled, “don’t worry, we can come back, every day after riding if you want.”

Every day riding. That made me groan. Of course I would have to have lessons every day. I had to learn to ride the stupid thing before the battle. As if it wasn’t bad enough that I had to go challenge the Queen, but I had to worry about staying on the horse too.

Dinner was totally informal, as was every meal ever eaten by the fire jotun. You pretty much picked a table, the food was served, and you elbowed as many people out of your way as you could and tried to get your share. It was sort of a mix between a sit down dinner and a football game. You tackled your neighbor to get a good slice of roast beef, but there were no hard feelings after dinner was over. It took some getting used to.

As usual, I shared a table with Charlotte, Becca, Stacey and Margaret. Marian sat at the end, watching us chatter with her usual amused expression. Loki sat with us, but Erik was off at another table, trying to settle a dispute between a frost jotun and a fire jotun, something about the last dinner roll. I wasn’t paying much attention.

“I hear you’re having trouble on a horse,” Charlotte teased me, “I hear you almost fall off just walking around the ring.”

I glared at her, “just because I never had lessons…”

“I never had lessons either,” Charlotte shrugged, “just rode once at someone else’s birthday party. My foster parents didn’t bother spending that type of money on me. I’m just a natural I guess.”

“Good for you,” I muttered, and took another enormous bite of roast, that way I wouldn’t have to answer any of her comments.

Luckily the girls began talking about how big the horses were here, and I was no longer the topic of conversation.  Just as I was lifting another forkful to my mouth  I felt a gentle pressure on my shoulder, Erik was leaning over me,