Thread: Winter's Kiss (Ursus Peregrinus & Candy_demon21)

Prince Nikolai Ilyich Kostchei Listening to Odette move through his castle, Kolya thought on her words and how they rankled. How dare she? How DARE SHE speak to him that way? He had killed for less. Kolya pressed his bare hand to a stone wall until it cracked, frost riming the black granite. The only thing keeping Odette alive was his hate for Moriwin. Killing her in a fit of pique would be too easy. He had other plans for Odette. Plans that would drive home his vengeance like an icicle thrust into Moriwin's belly. Oh Odette, you will learn. He said to himself as he climbed the steps of his tower. His quarters were as bare and stark as the rest of his castle, furniture that had been antique in his father's day and a bed covered in heavy furs. The hearth, though, lay empty and cold. It had been long since he had bothered with a fire. Looking out the window, he closed his eyes and reached out with his will, called one of his pets from the towers on the outer wall. The raven flew to his window and he tossed it a scrap of dried meat from a bowl on his desk. I have a task for you, little one. Take a message to an old acquaintance of mine. You will have to find her. Tell her that I have her daughter in my power, and my hand is wrapped around her heart. Tell her that, my friend, and return here. The raven finished its treat and croaked at him, then turned and took flight, disappearing into the night sky on its mission. Kolya didn't go to bed, he only rarely felt a need to sleep anymore. Instead he wandered the lonely halls of his castle like a ghost. Making his way down into areas he had not visited in years, perhaps even decades, he summoned up cold winds to blow the dust and frost away. It was time for the Kalte-Herzberg to waken. It was time for him to do more than brood alone in the darkness. Everywhere in his fortress, the lights woke to life. Blue-white flickers brightened until they were as bright as any lamp. Ivan! Ivan, rouse yourself you lazy drunk! He pushed open the doorway to his castellan's chambers, a warm and cozy little area that had once been a guardhouse, quite near the kitchen. The senior living member of his tiny staff roused himself from his stupor and corked the bottle of aquavit he had been nursing. Ivan Morozov was an old man now, in his late fifties and with iron grey hair and beard. He was big, a great bear of a man, age had merely pared away the softness of youth and left him as hard as an old oak. Once he had been a lumberjack and woodcutter, helped to run his family's sawmill. His reasons for volunteering to make the journey up the mountain to this cold place were many, but included gambling debts and angry husbands. For almost twenty years now, he had acted as his Prince's chief representative. It was he who sent one or more of the handful of servants down the mountain to purchase supplies, he who saw that things in the castle were always as they should be... and he who drank just enough every night that he could sleep a dreamless sleep. Sire! What do you need of me? Morozov pulled on his fur cap and jacket, stepped into his heavy leather boots with the big silver buckles upon them. The smell of liquor on his breath was strong, his complexion florid from the indulgence. Everyone is asleep, but I will see to whatever you need. Kolya looked at the man. Remembered how he had given him a second chance. How he had marked him deeper than he did most of his guests. There was a drop of ice in Ivan's veins now, as there was in the hearts of all of his servants. His hold on them was more than mere fear and authority. They were as much his creatures as his wolves and ravens. More, in some ways. All this passed through his mind in the long seconds before he spoke. Our guest will be staying longer than three days. See that the cook and the maid are prepared. You have my permission to take someone into town to purchase additional supplies, but do not linger and do not dally in any taverns. You can drink when you return, Ivan. The warning was simple but the castellan nodded hastily. Of course, highness. Of course! I will talk to everyone at first light. We will arrange everything. The prince nodded curtly and turned to leave, letting the door swing shut as a night breeze caught it. Everyone who stayed here had their reasons, there were only four of them besides himself and his pets. Each one had nowhere else to go, each one offered to come to this place. He had weighed them, learned their secrets and their hearts and then he had given them a home. It was not an easy life, but it was a quiet one away from whatever they fled. And now he had a new guest. One who would not be leaving once her three days were done. One more who would stay with him. He would chill Odette's heart, take her away from her mother utterly. If he could not have the woman he once loved, he would have her daughter. Revenge would be sweet, Kolya told himself as he climbed back up to his quarters and sprawled in a chair, looking out at the night sky. Revenge would indeed be sweet. Sweet, and as cold as his heart. tag