Perpetual Winter

CHAPTER THREE-1

CHAPTER THREEThe Foolish Prince

I’d spent my life wishing to leave the island. But not for marriage to a stranger. The notion terrified me. I hid myself long before the battleship’s hefty anchor splashed into the gentle waters of our quiet bay as it nudged closer to land. Bliss flushed me from a remote linen cupboard with promises and then threats.

“My bodyguard will come for me!” I spat as she hauled me from my dark corner. “He always does.”

“Not this time, Estefania,” Bliss huffed. She pushed the door closed with the heel of her slipper. “Forlornn will guard you now. This is your destiny.”

“It isn’t!” I shrieked. Kicking out at her, I caught her shin with my foot. She released me and I tumbled to the ground. “My bodyguard will come,” I insisted. “And he’ll punish you all for this.” I made the threat while knowing he wouldn’t. He’d spoken the words with his own lips.

I escaped as far as the path to the walled gardens. Hesitating, I contemplated taking the track which skirted the cliff and led to the other side of the island. I could hide in the cove no one else ever visited. I knew it well from late night forays to meet with the only male I’d ever seen outside of my clan. He’d promised to return two suns before my sixteenth summer. He was already late.

Making my decision, I hoisted my skirts and broke from a walk into an ungainly run. The track meandered before me and I moved with more haste than grace. Turning the first corner, I screamed and crashed into a dark figure. He gripped my wrists as I bounced off his wide chest and fell backwards in an undignified sprawl. His grip saved me from injury and a wide smile stretched across a dark, handsome face. “Lady Zinnia?” he asked, his tone questioning.

I shook my head, awed by his height and build. He dwarfed me and the black of his clothing appeared stark beneath the azure sky. “I think you are,” he stated and his brown irises twinkled. “Your new husband is looking for you.”

“I’m not Zinnia.” I straightened my spine and fixed him with a glare guaranteed to melt a palace boy’s resolve. Fear ticked in my breast as I saw it had no effect. “I’m not!” I maintained. “She’s my sister.”

“I’m the prince’s personal guard.” The man bowed but didn’t relinquish his grip on my wrists. “You should greet him.”

“There’s been some terrible error,” I began, my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth. My guard told Bliss they came for me, but perhaps he’d misunderstood the Melitto king’s order. “Release me and I’ll find Zinnia.” My mind worked through scenarios at lightning speed. I could hide in the cove and wait for the anticipated gift from my secret love interest. After he’d stolen my first kiss on the night before my sixteenth birthday, he’d promised to return with my surprise present. We could row to safety while everyone celebrated Zinnia’s marriage. I would run away as I’d always dreamed. Then I could use my time to explore the full extent of my Bee-nature without constant interruption.

I tugged at my wrists and flexed my arm muscles. “Let me go!” I insisted. “My shin kicks are famous and I’m told I have an irritating, high-pitched scream.” My eyes flashed a warning.

The Forlornn guard laughed. “I’ll cope,” he said. “I’m not letting you escape.”

Injustice roiled through me. “You can’t laugh at me!” I blustered. “How dare you!”

“Get used to it, Princessa,” the guard said. He dipped his head and bent at the knees, releasing my wrists at the same time. If I thought him ready to bow, then I was wrong. The back of his head hit my stomach and he hoisted me over his shoulder like a sack of vegetables. “You will meet Prince Kuiti of the Forlornn,” he stated. “And I need not hear your opinion about it.”

He carried me to the beach path, ignoring my fists beating on his back and my famous screams. When I resorted to kicking, he hoisted my legs away from his chest and tilted me further, so I feared I might hit the ground face first. And that’s how I first met the Prince of Forlornn, feet first with my bottom in the air.

Haughty eyes narrowed in irritation at my physique as the guard set me on my feet. Kuiti’s noble lip curled back on itself. “She isn’t as pleasant as the girl you promised.” He aimed his comment at the Melitto king’s negotiator and his words cut me. I reeled as though struck a physical blow. “I expected something more suited to childbearing.” The prince postured before me, a showpiece of perfect masculinity. I hated him already. Dark curls formed an elegant halo around his head and bounced as he twisted to peer at the negotiator. Bliss released a sigh of appreciation at his looks, and I shot her a silencing glance. “No.” He shook his head. “This won’t do.”

I opened my mouth to offer a biting retort, but the blond negotiator glared me into muteness. The look of venom shocked me. I inhaled and readied a stream of unpleasant sentences to regale him with, but Bliss dug a finger in my ribs. “Estefania, no!” she breathed in my ear. She bobbed her head and her chins wobbled. I saw consternation bud in her eyes. The following jabs to my waist and spine from her pudgy fingers continued like an erratic drum beat.

“I will not stand for this!” I hissed. “They’re mocking the daughter of the king!”

The prince ignored me, raising his voice to debate my suitability as a bride. He berated my father’s negotiator for his negligence. “The substitute is too boyish. I wish to see the other girl,” he demanded. “The one promised in the letter.”

“The Princessa Zinnia is unwell, but both kings wish the allegiance to continue, Lord Kuiti,” the negotiator stated. He tossed his glossy blond hair and looked down his nose at the tribesman-prince. “The Melitto king and your father made an agreement.”

Kuiti took a step back and ran long fingers through his hair. He eyed his guards sideways and waved a dismissive hand towards the negotiator. “Must I bargain with a twelve-year-old?” he spat. Kuiti’s guards laughed, encouraging the arrogant prince through a hollow boost of ego. He bloomed beneath their admiration like a flower opening to a false sun. I cringed, recognising my own haughtiness in his behaviour.

Father’s negotiator bristled. Not twelve, but eighteen summers marked his brow in tanned lines. His position reflected his intelligence, not his years. “I am the King of Melitto’s ambassador, Sir! My age or suitability for the task are not your concern,” he replied. He levelled a jabbing finger towards me. “You will take the Princessa Estefania. This is the price of peace between our nations.”

My eyebrows narrowed in confusion. Zinnia would have loved this arrogant prince. Her absence seemed even more mysterious. This man came for her but would take my freedom instead. Freedom. The word stuck in my throat. I’d never known real freedom.

Father’s negotiator offered his hand to Kuiti. “The King of Melitto wishes this alliance to benefit both nations,” he reiterated. “Accept his generous gift or prepare for our drones to attack Forlornn on the seventh sun from today. You already fight a war on two fronts between the Swift forces and the Vespae Wasps. Add a third enemy at your peril.”

The King of Melitto had used me as a bargaining tool. My chin sank to my chest at my lack of value to him. I’d hoped for more. My mind conjured up no memory of his face or voice. The fanciful image of a father figure died in that moment.

Kuiti sighed. “I can’t argue that the promise of peace with Melitto isn’t a strong motive. The weather changes at an alarming rate and Forlornn suffers great unrest. The Swift attacks have decimated our northern territories. But you’re wrong about one thing. My father has brokered peace with the Wasps. The Vespae have ceased their raids.”

The negotiator tensed and the bones stiffened in his outstretched fingers. “Peace with the Wasps?” His voice fell to a whisper. I frowned as he retracted his hand. “That changes things.”

The air seemed to heat and a dampness dappled my brow. I realised too late that pheromones leaked from my pores. Though the guard who had carried me over his shoulder appeared unaffected, the negotiator and Kuiti shifted in discomfort. Gravel ground beneath their feet and I held my breath.

“I will take her anyway,” Kuiti said, his decision made. “I have a sudden liking for her.”

“Stop, Estefania!” Bliss’ whisper contained an element of hysteria. “You must stop whatever you’re doing.”

But I couldn’t. The Queen Bee’s stupefying scent misted from me like invisible steam. The negotiator’s eyes rolled back in his head and his fingers balled into fists. “Your alliance with the Wasps nullifies Melitto’s treaty with Forlornn.” His jaw clenched. “The Princessa Estefania is no longer on offer.”

New scents assailed me, throwing my mind into turmoil. Smells and sensations carried from the world of Men. The shadowy haze of bristles nudged through Kuiti’s olive skin. His companions’ voices sounded harsher than I ever imagined and the smell of sweat hung around them like a tangible shroud.

They all bridled as the negotiator’s words invoked rage. He’d withdrawn me from the game like a pawn from a chess board.

Tossing my light curls, I seized my own fate. A huddle of foolish males would not decide my future. “I have a voice of my own,” I proclaimed, drawing myself up to my full height and puffing out my chest. A tight bodice compressed my ribs and my wince ruined the effect of maturity and poise. Kuiti’s gaze strayed to the tiny breast mounds propped up by whalebone and metal. The slightest smirk crossed his lips. I cursed my boyish figure and realised too late I drew more ridicule than respect.

Kuiti shook his head and dismissed my protest without consideration. “Where is the ambassador who summoned me for this union?” He put his hand on his hip and I heard a sword clank against its sheath. “I’ll deal with him.” An ornate hilt protruded from beneath his jacket and I flinched. Kuiti’s guards looked around them as though a mysterious third party might emerge from the landscape. The gentle swish of the wind whispered through the trees in answer and insects whirred translucent wings against nearby petals.

Father’s negotiator stepped closer and lowered his voice in a confidential tone. “I am the only ambassador here. The King of Melitto doesn’t reside on this island.” His voice changed to a snarl. “The princesses are here for their own protection. Your visit is permitted by royal license and no return to this island is allowed. Leave now and forget the route here.”

Kuiti lifted his chin. His eyes narrowed. “You fear kidnapping plots?” he asked. His gaze drifted across my face. “I can’t imagine why.” The uptick of my heart sent more sweet fragranced bee pheromones drifting into the surrounding air. Kuiti shook his head as though in confusion. “What was I saying?” he asked.

Bliss slipped her fingers around my upper arm as I opened my mouth to speak, her iron grip bordering on cruel. The threat of kidnap came as news to me and I wished to investigate the threat further. Bliss gave my arm another squeeze in warning and I clamped my lips closed. War and battle seemed a distant, unimaginable thing against the backdrop of our beautiful island.

As I moved to shake off Bliss’ grip, Kuiti narrowed his gaze and I swallowed at the way his pupils dilated. I struggled to still the chemicals raging through my blood, but I’d sealed my own fate. After a moment of inner wrangling and watching the slow grin of intoxication stretch across his lips, I decided it could get no worse. Fighting confusion and anguish caused the pheromones to bead at the pores of my skin and I held my breath. Whilst Kuiti appeared foolish enough already, I did not wish for the added complication of his lust and devotion. Danger hung over me like a shroud. I didn’t want to leave our island palace or find myself kidnapped by faceless enemies of my father. Inhaling the intoxicating scent of summer to give me strength, I prepared to call Queen Sonora. Surely she would help me by calling forth her formidable Bee army. One touch of the black queen inside my elbow and they would send the arrogant prince home wifeless and sore. His presence had upended my world. I wanted him gone.