XX
A Letter

Another month passed and that meant it was time to go to Bely Glacier once again. Nova had dressed up this time. She wore a cream colored dress that sparkled as bright as her smile. She had a gray cloak that went over her shoulders with white embroidered swirls. The dress was long sleeved, her cloak clasped at the base of her neck, it drags at her feet, and has a train behind her. Her hair is in a low bun with two braids that start from the side of her face to twist into the bun that is at the nape of her neck, that holds her blonde hair taut. I fixed my hair with some hair gel to flick it into a quiff. I pull brown trousers on, a red long-sleeved tunic that has white puffy ends at the end of the sleeve. I pull on my brown leather boots that rest right underneath my knees. I have a brown cloak that has a fur lined neck that ties at the base of my neck. I pull on my brown fur lined leather gloves, Nova and I decided against wearing headpieces because again, that was just going to be too much around other royalty.

The journey isn't long at all, especially since we are taking off from the peak. It's about an hour to the border where we are meeting the others. Kígyó isn't a big fan of seeing white dragons again or other dragons for that matter, especially gold. Reds and Golds have never got along for that matter, it really was a shock when my Aunt Eniko got a mating bond with the Crown Prince there. As far as I know, Eniko is the only Royal born who never bonded to a Dragon. We are the first ones to arrive at the border, the Vasiliev couple coming right after. I watch a gold dragon land in the snow and I have to keep Kígyó on a tight leash. The gold dragon rider is actually my cousin, Crown Princess Calaso Elmi of the Dahab Mountain Kingdom. She is the Kingdom that lives north of Black Soul on the map. The next dragon that lands next to my cousin is a copper dragon, the dragon rider is Crown Princess Lapis Badawi of the Alsada Shadow Kingdom. On the map, they are east of the Lost Kingdom, and right underneath the southeast part of Red Blaze. Just like Black Soul, the Alsada Shadow Kingdom can wield shadows, as can their Copper dragons. I hop off Kígyó same as Nova as she gets off Charys. I look at my dragon and raise an eyebrow up at her.

'If I have to send you back to the peak, I will, Kígyó. You better behave.' I tell her in all seriousness as she huffs at me in annoyance. She doesn't respond and that's because I think she knows better than to push me on the matter at hand. We all walk to the middle of the glacier where all of us meet at the long pieces of wood that seem to resemble benches. There's two campfires that is running and there's a huge tent for us to walk in after meeting so we don't have to deal with the bitter cold of Bely Glacier.

"Crown Princess Lapis Badawi of Alsada Shadow and her dragon, Malyk." I look over to the announcer of the Kingdom and then over to the Princess. Her skin is a beautiful caramel color, and she obviously prides in it. She has long and straight black hair that rests at the middle of her back, her eyes are a dark brown, borderline almost black. Lapis is about the same height as my sister, maybe a little shorter than her but around the same height. I look over to Malyk, it's her copper dragon. Copper dragons have short faces and Malyk is no exception to it. He has cheek ridges that point backwards, as well as frills on the back of his lower jaw. They have two long, smooth horns that started at their brow plates that extended backwards. According to my books, if I was close enough to him, he would smell like the ancient stones that are all around Eclia. He's a beautiful copper color and his turquoise eyes aren't shining bright just yet but they are getting there.

"Crown Princess Calaso Elmi of Dahab Mountain and her dragon, Hodan." I look at my cousin and my cousin is beautifully mixed between my aunt and uncle. Her dark hair is in a buzzcut but she wears a gold headpiece that makes her look ethereal. She has dark skin, almond-dark skin. Her eyes are dark brown and she is the same height as Lapis and my sister. I then look over at Hodan, my cousin's gold dragon. Much like Malyk, Hodan has a short face as well. They have long and smooth metallic horns that sweep back from its ear holes and brow, as well as neck frills that are on both sides of its neck, along with going down the back. The Gold Dragon staple would be the ruby red eyes that keep staring at me. If I was close enough to Hodan, he would smell of metal and incense.

"Queen Anastasiya and King Consort Rurik Vasillev of Bely Glacier, along with their dragons, Malyna and Vera." Malyna seems to be Ana's dragon and Vera seems to be Rurik's dragon. After hearing his story, Vera and Rurik just seem a whole lot scarier, especially if Rurik still holds any anger towards his parentage. White dragons are the smallest of the dragons, smaller than said Black dragons. Instead of a body full of scales like every other dragon, white dragons have more of a leathery skin because of the arctic temperatures that they prefer. They only have two horns that are straight with a slight dip. They have sharp spines underneath their chin, and their wings seem to be frayed at the edges. Their head and necks seem to blend into each other, and they smell like a chemical plant.

"Princess Nova and Prince Pluto Kardos III of Red Blaze, along with their dragons, Charys, and Kígyó." Kígyó seemed to like the introduction but I noticed the way Kígyó and Hodon seemed to stare at each other. It was no secret that the two different types of dragons couldn't seem to stand each other. That just being in each other's presence was enough to set them off. I snapped at my dragon and she huffed, looking away from Hodon.

"Prince Pluto, it is nice to see you once-"

"Crown Prince Orion Kardos II and his dragon, Nyíl." Just as I was crossing the glacier to say my hello to Queen Anastasiya, my brother came flying on his red dragon, landing in the ice. He hops off his dragon and smiles when he sees Rurik in his sight.

"You weren't going to have a party without me, were you?" My brother seems to smile knowingly at his foster brother and I just have to roll my eyes at my older brother.

"Wouldn't be a party without the party bastard of the century." King Rurik only smiles at Orion and jokingly huffs at him.

"Rurik, what would you do without me?" That was our cue to walk into the tent that King Rurik and Queen Anastasiya had set up for us warmer climate accumulated bodies. The tent got closed behind us, it wasn't a small tent by any means and it shut behind us with a zipper so that our body heat could heat up the space quickly. The maids and butlers in the tent, quickly start setting up the table that is in this tent. It's a table that luckily fits 8, so there's an extra chair in case anyone other than my brother decides to show up. Smart. It's a wooden table, made of cedar, of course. Cedar, oaks, and pine trees are the only trees that make up any type of forest or forestry at all here in Bely Glacier due to its harsh temperatures. Although, there's not much ice in the Kingdom, there's snow all the time, the temperatures can go as cold as -30 degrees fahrenheit, but it can climb up to 40 degrees fahrenheit.

"The chef made some fish soup for us, it's just warming up over the fire right now. We should eat soon." Queen Ana announces with a smile and I look over to Lapis Badawi, she's eyeing me up and down. She doesn't look upset, or distant. She looks at me with.. Wonder. Nova automatically notices and she grabs my hand, it's a comfort thing. As far as I know, Nova is more protective over me than Orion but Orion and I have that weird.. relationship now. Lapis doesn't stop at all, she just keeps staring and is making me feel small. What was I thinking? That I could all of a sudden be a Prince? That I would ever be enough-

"You know," Lapis starts and it's fluent draconei, "When Ana told me that the new prince was the son of the Ember King, I really did not believe Anastasiya at first because who was this new prince going to be like," She licks her lips and when she speaks, I notice that Orion stands on the other side of my sister, he doesn't trust her, "I heard of the stories of the Pluto that was at the side of the Acid Prince but hearing he was really a prince this whole time, it just kind of makes you wonder, what was the Ember King really trying to do?" She asks and instantly, it feels like the weather from outside had seeped inside. It was cold, unforgiving, and I could feel the bite of the wind.

"I don't really care for what you are insinuating, Princess Lapis." Orion speaks up and I look over, Nova is holding my hand and my brother is tightly at her side, a small hand on the middle of her back. We looked like a unit, a dangerous one at that. "You think my father was thinking of an ulterior motive when three hours before that, the Acid King you all like to praise so goddamn much, took his Mate? You think he was thinking let me give up my children for some vendetta? Have you no empathy?" Orion is quick witted and sharp when using his words as a weapon. King Rurik, I notice, is watching the room, same as Orion and Nova because they are all trained to do so. To assess the threats, and use it to their advantage.

"I do not care for what you are insinuating as well, Lapis. You come to my home, to attack the very royal blood that runs through him? I think we all remember the story very well as children. He took Queen Astraea in the middle of the day, distracted the very army of the Ember King, and took her," Queen Anastasiya slams her hand on the table and we are all stunned that it comes from her, "I didn't know we judged first and asked questions last, or is that only in your Kingdom, Princess Lapis? As if the boy hasn't been through enough. Now, you either try to befriend the very King he will be in months time, or you deal with the consequences on how far, and I mean how far, the Cha men are when it comes to their Mates or better yet, you deal with the consequences of the Ice Queen."

"King? What do- You're mates with Jaejin Cha?" Lapis whips her head back to me and I nod softly, just once.

"He is mine and in due time, he will find out I am his. So now, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I am Prince Pluto Kardos III, I have heard great stories of you and your family, but I would hate to think that I would have to tell my father or my mate of your disdain for me?" I ask her with an arch of my brow and she shakes her head.

"I apologize for my judgment. I hope you all can forgive me, I mean to make no bad blood, but just looking out for the very Kingdoms we all rule, yes?"

We ate the fish soup that was prepared by the chef's earlier that day. Things started to run smoothly, Lapis got better. She had a clear head by the time it was nightfall, we ate grilled fish over a bed of rice for dinnertime. They eat a lot of fish here in Bely Glacier, but I didn't mind the different flavors of fish every time they made a new dish. My brother was off telling stories of his time on the Peak and my sister was just making fun of how every new stupid rule was put in place because of said stupid story he was telling. It made me smile and then I watched my cousin, Calaso Elmi sit right next to me.

"Prince Jaejin came up to Dahab Mountain two days ago, he wanted to set up Royal connections, he had told everybody. When we met, he was kind, and boy is he handsome. He knows it too." She says and I smile because I know, I know my JJ, I know his soul, his heart, and god, that smile, how much I miss the different smiles he gives me.

"That's Jaejin for you."

"When we were alone in the Stables, I had shown off Hodan. Hodan is very smart, you see, and I thought Jaejin would be interested in that but as soon as we were alone, he gave me a letter and said if I ever found you while I was at Bely Glacier or visited Red Blaze anytime soon, I would give it to you. He's very worried about you Pluto. The boy looks like he hasn't slept since you left. He said if I find you, give you this letter, and also tell you that he's on his way to come get you." She told me and I quietly gasped, what is Jaejin.. It had been 4 months. He told me 3 months and he would come get me. I didn't realize that it had been so quick yet so long from him. How much I had gone through or how much I had grown since I last saw him. I wasn't sure if Jaejin was going to like or still love me as much as he used to. Calaso had slipped the letter in my hand and automatically I had opened the letter.

'Dear my little Pyro,

Calaso must've found you and that means you are safe, at least I hope that's what it means. I have to tell myself that you are safe, that this means you are. Kiara Naidu won't tell me anything other than that the Ember King didn't know who you were. I don't believe her. Kiara is a bad liar, always has been. By the time this letter reaches you, I am on my way to come get you. It's been four months and I have to trust that you've gotten all that you need from that Kingdom. It's time for you to come home to me, Pluto. I miss you.

Love, Acid Prince.'

Jaejin Cha was coming to get from the Red Blaze Kingdom. Gods, help us all for when my father meets the son of the King who took his Mate and my mother.