Ice and Fury

Chapter One: The Crown Princess

Red lips curled up into a smile as Arden caught her sister's eyes in the mirror only for the lady attending to her to rap her none too gently on her nose with the edge of the brush.

"Miss Katriel, please sit still," Georgina griped. Arden had the good sense to look apologetic and held still as Georgina finished coloring her cheeks.

On the other side of the room, Reyna snickered as the ladies attending to her worked on fixing her hair into a braided crown atop her head. One that her diadem would look beautiful against.

"Which one are you wearing tonight?" Arden asked, closing her eyes as Georgina set about applying color to her eyelids. The brush was soft and Arden had to resist the urge to wrinkle her face too much lest Georgina get aggressive with the brush again.

"The golden one with the emeralds," Reyna replied.

"To set off the color of your eyes, no doubt," said one of the ladies who was attending to Reyna. Arden could picture her sister batting her long, kohl covered eyelashes at that and she suppressed a smile.

"It's a pity we can't wear matching ones," Reyna said, her voice implying the opposite. Her skirts rustled as she rose from her seat. Arden felt the air shift around her as Reyna came closer, the scent of her rose perfume drifting towards her.

She pictured Reyna studying Georgina's work, head cocked to the side slightly. Arden stuck her tongue out at her sister, careful not to move her face too much as Georgina set about lining her upper eyelid.

"That's not very ladylike," Reyna quipped, coming closer still to watch Georgina's handiwork. Georgina was a bit rough, but she was magnificent when it came to cosmetics.

"And who are you to lecture me on behavior becoming a lady?" Arden replied, raising an eyebrow. Georgina sighed at the movement and set about lining her other eyelid.

"Fair enough." Arden felt the air shift again as her sister circled around her in a predatory fashion. Sometimes it felt more like Reyna was her enemy than her twin. Perhaps Reyna had never stopped viewing Arden as the competition from when they had competed for the crown though Reyna had never wanted to be queen. She had only wanted to win because she loathed losing.

"Enjoying what you're seeing?" Arden asked, keeping her tone light. For some reason, her sister was getting upset and Arden could feel Reyna's emotions as they oozed over her skin.

"Truly, Ari, it's a good thing you aren't going to ever be queen," Reyna said, coming back to stand in front of her. Arden opened her eyes for the first time and looked her sister over.

"Oh? And why is that?" She asked, again keeping her tone light. She was the one who had wanted to be queen. She had studied politics extensively and she was the one her father had moulded to take the throne. It was a nasty shock to him when his more willful daughter won.

"You're too weak," Reyna said, shrugging her bare shoulders.

Arden felt the familiar anger rise up inside her and she shoved it down, instead letting out a little laugh. Georgina cast her a worried glance.

"Just because I don't spend all of my spare time sparring doesn't make me weak, dear sister," Arden said, rolling her shoulders back. She was stiff from standing still for so long. Carefully, she stepped down from the stool she was on and she forced herself to look her sister in the eye.

Reyna, to her credit, backed up a smidge before smirking. "You weren't strong enough to win the crown," she said, her pink lips pursing slightly.

Arden didn't respond and instead turned to look at Georgina. "Thank you," she said, her red lips turning up in a genuine smile as she inclined her head slightly to the lady.

Georgina curtsied in return and Arden felt rather than heard the sharp inhale of her sister. It was not customary to curtsy to anyone other than the queen. A fact Arden knew Georgina was well aware of.

Arden could feel Reyna's fury. It seared her skin with its heat.

"You're dismissed," Reyna said, facing Georgina. Her eyes were dark with anger and Georgina bowed her head in her direction before leaving.

Arden raised an eyebrow at her sister. She so often let anger rule her thoughts rather than logic or proper etiquette.

"Reyna," she admonished gently, "Lady Georgina is my attendant. In the future, I hope you remember that it is at my discretion that she is dismissed and not yours. Even as the crown princess, your powers have limits."

Reyna straightened her back and smiled at her sister. "In the future, I hope you remember exactly what limitations my powers have." Her voice had a slight edge to it and Arden felt the threat graze her skin. Arden didn't flinch though and instead returned Reyna's smile with one of her own.

"I know exactly what limitations your powers have, sister. Or have you forgotten that it was me who was primed to take the throne while you were busy mucking around with the stable boys?" Arden raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at her sister and looked her up and down. She willed ice into her veins and stare, not willing to back down from her sister.

Reyna exhaled sharply through her nose, nostrils flaring slightly. Arden knew she shouldn't push her sister like that. She was volatile and she could feel the rage creeping across her skin. Arden half expected welts to appear on her bare arms.

Arden flashed her twin a grim smile, baring her teeth slightly as she turned away from her and walked over to the mirror.

Georgina, as usual, had done a marvelous job. While Reyna had been made to look more demure for the meeting with the other kingdoms, Arden looked predatory. Fitting, she supposed, since she was now expected to be the new general. It was ironic, no doubt, that she would get that position when it was her twin who was more adept at the physical piece. And with the fire that licked at her fingertips, it seemed like Reyna was more fit for the battlefield.

Arden resisted the urge to sigh knowing her sister was watching her every move and she instead pulled a couple strands out of the updo Georgina had given her to frame her face. Unlike her sister's braided crown, Arden's hair had been pulled away from her face and tied back in a low, intricate knot at the base of her head. One she knew was a more regal version of the way the soldiers sometimes wore their hair before war.

"Even with your hair like that, no one will ever think you are fit to be the general," Reyna said, her voice thick with rage.

"Perhaps not, dear sister. Though I suppose even with a crown, no one will ever think you are fit to be the queen. That's why the meeting is being called. They want to marry you off to a stranger from a foreign kingdom so that they might give you more credibility as the leader of our nation. Father never had that plan for me. He knew I was queenly enough on my own that I would need no man or woman at my side." Arden turned to face her sister, her back straight.

Reyna's nostrils flared slightly again. How she was supposed to be the queen when her poker face was so shitty was beyond Arden's comprehension. Though their father had favored Arden for the throne from a young age and had taught her how to school her face into the picture of neutrality. He had been content to let Reyna run off and do as she wished.

"If you'll excuse me, your majesty, I need to meet father in his study to talk about how this night is supposed to go and to plan for what to do when you mess it up," Arden said when her sister gave no response. She dropped into a low, mocking curtsey, and left the room.

As she left, Arden felt her sister summon the flames that were the source of her power. She tensed her shoulders slightly as her sister slammed the flames into the mirror Arden had been looking into earlier, the glass shattering and the silver melting onto the floor.

Arden turned around briefly to see her sister staring at her with rage that made her heart stop. She glanced from her sister to the mess she'd created and gave a small smile.

"I'll call someone to come clean this up," she said, leaving the room and closing the doors behind her.