30. The Crystal Forest
thirty
The Crystal Forest
*ENDELLION*
T he moment I lay eyes on Azadeh, I notice how drained and tired she looks, and have to battle my wolf not to rip Erin’s head off for having over-exhausted her. Erin seems to notice my death glare, because she turns to me with a gentle smile. “She is well, Prince Endellion,” she says. “I just didn’t expect her to be that talented.”
For a split second, Caspian and I think she is making fun of Aza, and I can feel my wolf’s anger seeping through, but then I see the sincerity in Erin’s eyes and how joyful Aza looks.
“I managed to make a connection,” she explains to me. “To Favian! That’s good, isn’t it?” she asks, looking at me hopefully.
My brothers react fast and insist it’s fantastic, but she keeps looking at me, and something in my heart tugs and swells at the way she is looking at me, wanting my opinion. A possessive feeling washes over me and wants me to pull her into my arms and never let her go again.
I want her to be mine!
Realizing she is still waiting for an answer, I swallow down my confusing feelings and smile. “I think it’s amazing,” I assure her. “Though I’m not surprised. I think there is something about you… a hidden power. You aren’t said to be the gifted princess for nothing.”
“You think it all comes together?” she asks.
I nod. “I think the fact that you can protect others is just one part of your gifts.” I offer her my arm, happy when she takes it.
To my surprise, Erin looks at me now, eyeing me curiously. I shrug it off though and turn my focus back on Aza. “You need to tell us everything, while-” I make a dramatic pause for one of my brothers to take over.
Flinn jumps at the opportunity immediately. “-while we take you on a little sight-seeing trip.”
“That is, if you are up for it,” Caelan adds, as usual, very considerate of what someone else wants. He looks as tough and serious as he is tall and muscular, but he is very sensitive. People just can’t see behind his build, which always annoyed Flinn and me.
Aza’s face lights up beautifully. “I would love to!”
“Are you ready to ride again?” I ask her. “We can also take a carriage.”
“No, let’s take the horses,” she says. “I’m not feeling my body aching anymore.”
At this, even my wolf Caspian is surprised. How can she heal so fast? I ask him.
No clue, but it’s amazing , he says. There are a lot of hidden mysteries about her.
While we leave Erin’s cottage, Aza twirls around to look at me. She smiles, and her smile sends goosebumps and tingles over my body. If only she would smile at me like that always.
Mine , Caspian growls unusually possessively. Although he doesn’t feel the mate bond with her, he wants her so much.
I’ve made up my mind too , I tell him. Even if–and that’s a big if–we have a fated mate somewhere due to the recent revelations, I want to set them free and ask Azadeh to be our chosen mate.
Yes , Caspian exclaims. We chose her. Even if others are going to tell us, it’s not real. I know it is.
I nod, fully agreeing with him. I know others will be telling us that it’s not comparable to a mate bond, but I don’t care. I know what I feel, and I know it’s real. No one can take this away from me, and I will make sure to protect and cherish these feelings. If Azadeh reciprocates them, I will be the happiest man alive. If she would become my chosen mate, I’d mark her and make her mine, severing the bond with my fated one. She would be my one and only then.
Azadeh’s hand on my arm feels warm as we make it to the stables. It’s yet another sunny day, and we can even leave our scarves behind.
“What are we going to see?” Azadeh asks us curiously.
“The Crystal Forest,” I tell her. “You have to see it.”
“It’s one of the most beautiful places in the kingdom,” Flinn says.
Azadeh looks both curious and expectant now. I hope she will be as fascinated by the Crystal Forest as we all were the first time we saw it.
*AZADEH*
It’s not a long ride, maybe one and a half hours until we reach a forest. The guys keep telling me about the Crystal Forest and my interest just keeps growing. We dismount our horses and leave them with two warriors, walking the last part by foot.
It’s a normal forest, lush and green and partly covered in snow, but I know the forest itself isn’t our destination. I’m not sure how long we walked, but eventually Caelan stops and steps aside for me to walk past him.
I inquisitively pass him and push aside a few thick branches to enter another segment of the forest. For a moment I even forget how to breathe, the sight in front of me more like out of a dream than reality. The Crystal Forest apparently got its name from its looks. The trees and bushes there are all white, even the color of their trunks looks silver, and each of them is covered in sparkling ice crystals, shining like diamonds in the sun. The longer branches have icicles dangling down from them and when I carefully touch them, they sound like little bells.
“This is unbelievable,” I say, feeling my heart thump against my chest. “This is… not real… this can’t be…”
“It is real,” Flinn insists, as he follows me into the forest.
Endellion lets his fingers brush over a few icicles and produces the sweetest melody from it.
I walk further and further into the forest, sitting down eventually to look at the magic surrounding me. I can’t even believe nature can produce such a miracle. It’s so beautiful, I’m not sure if I should cry or laugh.
The guys are beaming in pride at my reaction to this place, all three of them obviously happy that I like what they showed me. “Does it ever get boring to look at it?” I ask.
“No,” Caelan says. “Every time I come here, I’m surprised once more.”
“Yes, it’s like… I have a picture of it in my mind, but reality always shocks me again,” Endellion agrees.
They let me roam around, for I don’t know how long. I have lost my sense of direction and am glad that they are with me. We eventually reach the outer border of the forest.
“What is next to the forest?” I ask, while I gaze over the landscape. The Crystal Forest is romantic, like out of a fantasy, out of a dream. And now, next to it, there is another stunning landscape, albeit much scarier… but also breathtakingly beautiful. The land in front of me is empty, deserted, but not like a snow desert… It's full of frozen grass and trees. It looks like a storm once ravished the landscape. Similar to the sand dunes at home, where nothing really grows. I’m speechless at the fact that the Crystal Forest and this rough snow dune are existing next to each other.
“It's a wasteland,” Flinn explains. “There has been nothing growing there for many years.”
“The farmers close to this place always have problems with their harvest, as the climate is rougher and the forest doesn’t give protection like inside the country,” Endellion explains. “We send a lot of supplies here.”
“It looks beautiful,” I say. “But also terrifying.”
“In nature, these two often come with one another,” Endellion says. “Beautiful, but also scary.”
“Can I step onto these lands, or is it dangerous?”
“Go ahead,” Caelan encourages me. “It’s not dangerous. It’s just… dead.”
I carefully step onto the wasteland; the snow feels crunchy beneath my feet. Endellion is right… When we rode past the towns in the inner lands there were lots of greenhouses, even fields protected by fire and blankets. These people have found a way to harvest plants and vegetables in the snow, but Erin’s home town doesn’t have anything like that, and I assume other packs close by share the same fate.
“Why is it like this?” I ask.
“We don’t know,” Endellion says. “But there are a few legends surrounding it.”
“Legends?” I notice how Flinn and Caelan exchange a few gazes and even toss one at Endellion, but he ignores them.
“They say there was a war once between the dragons.”
The dragons!
“Dragons have powers over different elements,” Endellion explains. “I’m not sure if all of this is true, Aza, but I’m starting to believe that at least parts of it are. It’s said that the fire dragons burned these lands down while fighting the water dragons… They answered by letting their icy breath cover these fields. In the end, most of them died in this battle, and the lands never recovered again.”
“What did they battle about?”
“No one quite knows that,” Flinn says.
“And when did it happen?”
“Again, no one really knows. This is very close to the borders, so naturally, not many wolves lived here. It’s said there were riots when our father was still young.”
“Is this where the dragons lived?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” Endellion says. “If we believe the rumors, then-” He points at the mountains in front of us. “Then, they used to live in the mountains, stretching themselves from here over to our northern border.”
I follow the direction he points at and gaze into the distance. Large mountains stretch all over the area. It reminds me once more that we are close to the northern border of the kingdom. Even in the distance, the mountains look huge; it’s no surprise that the dragons were able to hide for so long if they stayed there.
“Alana is researching at a place close to it, isn’t she?” I ask.
“Yes, she, Ita and Tynan are further up North and closer to the mountains.” Caelan answers. “Not everything is a wasteland though,” he says. “The packs in the north-west have a lot of forests too.”
“Why are they in danger? Is it the location?”
“All packs at our borders are having it rough,” Endellion explains. “The only exception is the pack you passed through when you arrived. But, we are at peace with the Everlasting Desert, and the no-man’s land there is just a small strip of land.”
I keep walking around the area, but Caelan is right, it's basically dead land. My heart hurts some at seeing the destruction, and that nature wasn’t able to recover. Eventually, though, we move back and once in the Crystal Forest, I feel the warmth in my body returning and feel a little more at ease again.
The destruction of the wasteland lies in the past. Maybe we can find a way to one day fix it again. I feel my mood rising again, and when we are back with our horses, I’m happily making plans with the guys. It’s already night when we reach the inn again, a long day coming to its end, and we just have a swift dinner before we all head to our rooms to get some rest.
After my lesson with Erin, I felt drained, but spending the afternoon outdoors has given me some energy again. My mind feels fresh, just my body is tired.
I chuckle to myself. Who would have thought that the Desert Princess, locked in the castle for so many years, would enjoy the outdoor life?
My life has changed so much, and it’s thanks to King Gillean and my sweet triplets. I never expected to make so many friends, and to have people around me who accept me the way I am, with my secrets and weird powers.
When I close my eyes, I can see Endellion’s gaze in front of me. The way his silver eyes shine when he sees me, and how he smiles. I wish he would smile like that always… but only for me. I feel an unusual surge of possessiveness going through me when I think how he might look like that at another woman.
I want it to be me. Maybe that’s selfish, but I just want him so much. My heart hurts when I think of him, and at the same time, it sends butterflies through my stomach.
Thinking about Endellion calms my mind though and helps me doze off. In a way, I hope I can meet Favian and Favia again, but even if not, I now know how to reach out to them.
A giggle rips me out of my dreamless sleep, making me jolt upwards.
I feel disoriented. A gaze to the window tells me it’s still night.
I almost think I dreamed it, but then I hear it again. It’s a child! I swiftly jump up, putting my thick coat over my nightgown and slip into my shoes. Then, I follow the voice down the inn and outdoors. Everything is deserted, I thought one of the innkeepers liked to work at night and then sleep in. Well, maybe he changed his mind today.
For a split second, I’m confused about not seeing guards or warriors anywhere. As a pack close to the border, they have them stationed normally, and Endellion made sure they upped their security during our stay. Before I can linger too long on this thought, the child’s laughter pulls me out of my thoughts again. I turn around, seeing a small boy wave at me.
I run towards him. “What are you doing here in the middle of the night?” I whisper.
He shows me his toothy grin and takes my hand. “Come,” he says. “I need to show you something.”
I eye him curiously. He seems to be of school age, maybe seven or eight. Still young, but he doesn’t seem to be scared of the night. However, looking at him properly, I can see a lingering sadness in his eyes, touching my heart.
“Where are your parents?” I ask.
The boy just tugs at my hand. “Come…” he says. “Please.”