WITH MY MIND SET into action I went down to the bottom wing to go in front of the Clan. Eeira had said it was partially their choice to keep me confined to my room, so I was sure they would be surprised to see me. I sent Bryndis away so she wouldn't be involved in my decision and get demoted or worse banned from the castle. This was my fight. I wasn't going to let anyone else take the fall like Calder had to.

As I approached the chamber door I noticed Thorne standing there guarding it. He gave me a puzzled look.

"What are you doing here?" he asked me.

"I could ask you the same question," I retorted, "I thought you were going to cover for me while I searched the library."

"That's what I'm doing," he informed in annoyance, "Eeira isn't the one you have to worry about if she finds you there. Can you imagine what the Clan would do? It wouldn't be pretty."

"It doesn't matter to me what the Clan thinks they could do, because I'm the princess. They may be advisors to the crown, but they can't control me. No one can."

I then grabbed the door handle to throw myself inside, Thorne warning me a little too late.

"Wait, Princess-"

I walked into the chamber with a loud bang of the door, all eyes of the Clan turning towards me.

"Why didn't you tell me my grandmother had visions when she was young?" I catechized them.

"How dare you barge yourself in here without consent!" the leader immediately shouted back at me, but I was unfazed.

I held the book up from under my arm for all of them to see before throwing it at their feet. "I found this book in the library that Gulbrand and possibly even you had kept from me. Apparently it was my grandmother's. She had visions and dreams of the future, just like I do. How? And why did no one tell me?"

"This subject is none of your concern," the leader spat back, "Madam Eeira lifted your confinement, Princess, do not jeopardize your freedom again. Leave this chamber at once."

As I glared at the old leader and he back at me, I took a quick shift of my gaze to the other members of the Clan. They were standing by their round table with a map and other papers sprawled out along its surface, with what looked like little figurines placed in battle formations. I shoved past the leader and walked over to it.

"What is this? A battle strategy? What are you planning? And why wasn't I informed of it?"

"This is a blueprint for the next step against the frozen queen," the woman explained, who's face now showed a large burn patch cross it under her hood. I mentally shuddered slightly remembering they had fought the iron knights in the village during Sylvi's attack.

"Shouldn't I be a part of this strategy considering I'm soon to be queen? I'm the one who has to lead these men into battle am I not? And what about Calder? We have to get him back before any men are put out in the front lines," I said.

"You talk too much, Your Highness, if I should be so bold," one of the men said, only angering me further.

"I would advice you not to be bold at all, Your Grace. In fact I want no opinions from any of you. My father may have come to you for guidance when he reigned, but I need none. Every decision is my own and what I say as princess and queen goes. And what I want. . .the only thing I want right now is Calder Hansen back in this castle."

"Captain Hansen is a traitor to the crown," the leader spoke up, "His feet will never grace these halls again."

"Just because he's the frozen queen's son doesn't make him a traitor!" I spat back rather loudly, tired of the senseless word. "He's on our side, my side, why can't anyone see that? He gave himself up for me! He's saved my life countless times!"

"That does not make his blood any cleaner," spoke one of the men, "He still has the frozen queen's blood running through his veins, a quarter of that being ephemeral."

I slammed my hands down on the table, the cool stone pressing into my burning palms. "So he's a quarter human. That doesn't make him any different from all of you who need I remind are half of that. You're just saying that because of her. Calder's lineage has nothing to do with who he is. He doesn't have the power or resistance Sylvi does, so he isn't a threat and you know that as well as I'm standing here."

"He is a threat against the crown either way," said the leader, "He could have been a spy for the frozen queen all the seven years he was here, spilling secrets right from under our noses to undermine the kingdom. He cannot be trusted."

"But he didn't!" I shouted, "He was loyal to the crown, did everything he was assigned as Captain! Without him I would be dead with no kingdom left! If he had been a traitor and was helping Sylvi, do you honestly think he would have saved me all those times? Are all of you so brainwashed to your own ridiculous ideals that you can't even contain a single logical thought?"

I knew then I had angered the Clan for the leader's expression grew dark at me much like Gulbrand's the day he burned me in his study.

"You have overstayed your welcome far too long," he growled. "Leave at once or I shall throw your body out of this chamber with my own hands."

"You wouldn't dare touch me," I sneered back, clenching my hand and feeling it turn cold at the ready to fire if I needed to.

The leader then gritted his teeth and grasped firmly onto my arm, and I had to bite back an exclamation of pain. He jerked me forward like a child and I screamed at him in my struggle.

"Let go of me!"

I quickly thought to react, using my free hand to clasp onto his and make my frost burn across his skin. He roared in pain, letting go and swiftly hitting me across the face. I heard the woman of the group gasp that mimicked my own as I stumbled back from the leader clutching my cheek.

Fire now burning within me I raised my hand to strike at him before he lunged and grasped both my wrists in crushing grips. I then was startled as Thorne burst through the door with a shout and halting the leader in his tracks.

"Hey! That's enough!"

He was by my side in a second, shoving the leader away and pushing me behind him. I was actually a little relieved that he had intervened, relaxing into his back.

"Is this how you treat your princess, huh? Your soon to be queen? You know she can have you banished to the human world with a single word. I'd watch your back. I'll be sure to tell Madam Eeira what happened should there come a time. So do you really want to push your luck further, pal?"

I watched as the leader along with his companions all scowled at Thorne before leaving the subject be.

"Get out of my chamber," the leader spat.

"Gladly," Thorne replied, swiftly turning and picking up my grandmother's book and grabbing my hand as he pulled me from of the room.

As we left I pushed him off in annoyance, knowing I had just gotten nowhere but with a sting of my face and bruise on my arm.

"I'm not done with them!" I protested, "I will not stop fighting them until Calder is brought home! They didn't even tell me anything on my grandmother and her visions, they just shut me down completely! They're in there making damn battle strategies against Sylvi, which they didn't consult me about, all when Calder is suffering!"

"They have their reasons to, Eerika," Thorne tried to defend, but I shot his argument down.

"And what reason is that? I only have one reason we need a strategy right now and that strategy is on how I'm going to get Calder out of there. Why won't anyone listen to me? I'm the princess with no power in my own kingdom!"

Thorne paused, crossing his arms over his chest as his face shown contemplation on wether to say something. "The leader of the Clan's daughter died last night. She lived in the village. She had sustained severe injuries when the iron knights attacked, and she finally let herself go. That's why he's being so harsh. He's been up all night with the other members making plans to take down Sylvi out of pain. Eeira told me after I left you in the library."

I was nearly speechless now at the news, feeling bad I had caused such an uproar. "I didn't know any of the Clan had families or children."

"Well did you think they were monks or something? Everyone here has or has had families, Eerika. Some live in the village, and some are gone by the hands of the queen."

His voice seemed a little irritated now, his icy eyes narrowed with something unreadable in them. "Everyone here has a story. Yours and Calder's aren't the only tragic ones."

I felt stupid, and embarrassed. I didn't want him to assume I was only thinking of myself and Calder's well-being. I understood everyone else had their own tragedies because of the frozen queen. I had seen it with my own eyes, even heard it from the creatures of the realm such as Halvard and Nilsine. But Thorne had to understand where I was coming from. Calder was a part of me now. He was like half of me, and without him here it felt as though my body wasn't fully connected. It was like my heart was only beating at half a pace, and only one of my lungs was breathing.

"I know that, Thorne. And I'm sorry if I made it seem like I didn't and I offended you because of it. But you just don't understand."

Thorne scoffed, turning his gaze away from me. "Yeah. Whatever."

Suddenly shoving my grandmother's book into my chest he then walked past me, leaving me all the more confused. I jerked around in his direction, feeling kind of angry now at his behavior.

"Hey, where are you going? Thorne. Thorne!"

I stood frozen in my place, my mind racing with a million different questions and no answers. I looked back over at the Clan's chamber door, slowly walking over to it and hesitating to go back in and apologize to the leader for doing what I did when he was just grieving. I rose my hand to knock until a burst of crying from the man echoed inside, and there were a few slams of items being thrown. I backed up from the door, clutching the book tightly to me as I hurried back to my chamber.

A/N: Some chapters are obviously going to be shorter than others because I want every book in the series to have a total of no shorter than 30 chapters. I've read some famous published books that only have one or two pages in a chapter so please don't comment things about the length. It's all part of the process. Thanks