Cluttered Shelving

Want to start at the beginning? - Ice, Part 1 -- Wilham made his way lightly over uneven stones and debris. The further they went, the worse the condition of the hallways. “Why did you come up here?” Domani finally asked. “To see what was here.” “Father is going to be mad.” Wilham blushed a little. He seemed genuinely affected each time their father scolded him for disobedience, yet it never seemed to act as a deterrent when new chances for adventure presented themselves. “So don’t tell him, please.”

Want to start at the beginning? -  Ice, Part 1 -- “Can the fire be any bigger?” Domani had not minded the cold on the trip - out in the wild, snow and trees on all sides. It had actually been exciting, something to keep her mind sharp. But here in her room she’d expected to have a chance to warm, instead the cold seemed to be penetrating her more, gripping at her bones, making it a labor to do more than sit and shiver. “I’ve already had words with the maids who didn’t think to warm your room for you before your arrival,” Aleanna, Domani’s keeper, carefully took garments out of the travel chest and hung them in a wardrobe, “It will take time to heat a space this big, but it won’t be this cold always. By tomorrow you’ll be toasty in here.” “It seems there are a lot of unexpected things to get used to.”

Want to start at the beginning? -  Ice, Part 1 -- The Guardian’s cave was lit by sunlight that shone through dozens of imperfections in the rock. Each crack was adorned with a cluster of icicles that held the light, magnifying it and casting it into the many corners and crevices of the cave. The ground too, was covered in icicles, tall, thick icicles that thrust upward into the cave’s cold interior. In the far rear of the cave, so deep that shadows fought against the icy light, an ice flow spanned from ground to ceiling. The boy sat in the cave listening to the whispers of his brothers and sisters who had passed into the ice. They were children so old, so full of the ice magics that guarded their home, that they had become rooted to the land, locked into the ice flow at the far interior of the cave. They seeming as cold and unmoving as the river that formed their boarder. But just like that river, deep below the surface life still flowed, and in quiet moments they spok...

Want to start at the beginning? - Ice, Part 1 -- She didn’t believe her father when he said the keep was close. Perched on the bench of the wagon all she could see in any direction were trees and snow. Behind the wagon, in a long train that reached so far back she couldn’t see the end of it, was her father’s household staff and the carts and wagons that carried their cargo to his new home.  Her father was mounted on his great black and white steed talking to his Marshal, sometimes tossing his head back to address his children in the wagon.  “The first order of business will be to make my presence and character known to the people.” 

This post is a quick reference to help readers navigate the stories already posted.  Emma -  Emma, Part 1 Emma, Part 2 Emma, Part 3 Emma, Part 4 Emma, Part 5 Emma, Part 6 Emma, Part 7 Emma, Part 8 Emma, Part 9 Emma, Part 10 Ice -  Ice, Part 1 Ice, Part 2

He stood at the river’s edge more often than his brothers or sisters.  The others tried to stay back, hidden in the trees, but he liked to watch the small forms travel down the distant road.  The river was still, the rapids frozen in place, white heads of foam suspended in air as they bounced over huge boulders.  It ran on for miles, a long strip of blue-white cutting through the snowy ground. Deep below the frozen surface water still ran, a slow trickle that caused strange sounds to echo up through the ice. Pops and cracks and moans rang through the open expanse, carried by the rock walls on either side of the snowy field. Those who travel the road could hear it, even from so far away.