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Jade startled at the stranger’s voice. She was so absorbed in the conversation that she didn’t see the person sneak up on them.
This was the second time someone snuck in their conversation undetected. She had a blind spot for Aeron.
“Who are you?” Aeron demanded.
“I am a rebel from the north,” the stranger said. “People call me Callahan.”
“How do we know you aren’t here to harm us?” Aeron asked.
“Ask him,” Callahan said.
Jade saw the person who came and stood next to Callahan and couldn’t help exclaim, “Kyle!”
She saw him not too long ago, but it felt like a different lifetime.
“What’s up, Jade?” Kyle said with a smirk. “Finally came to join us?”
“How did you know where to find us?” Jade asked, surprised.
“Corvin and Raven told us to expect you,” Callahan said.
“Corvin and Raven? Does that mean they made it safely to the rebel base?” Jade asked.
“Yes,” Kyle said, smiling. “They won’t stop talking about you.”
“And Prince Aeron too,” Callahan added. “Especially how he rescued Corvin and got him out of the palace.”
“You got him out of the palace?” Jade asked Aeron, surprised. “How?”
That explains why he was missing that day, Jade thought. Cinaed suspected it was Aeron, and it turns out that he was right.
“I did it with Yamin’s help,” Aeron explained. “He took Corvin past security through a secret underground passage out of the palace. Yamin lied to Cinaed and kept it a secret from his brother for me. I owe a lot to him.” He turned to Callahan. “I am glad to know that Corvin is safe.”
Callahan nodded. Jade was speechless.
Aeron is humble. He is underplaying what he did for Corvin; she thought. And Yamin was very brave to help them.
“Callahan, we came with Yamin and Teman, but they haven’t returned,” Aeron said, worried. “My brother’s soldiers ambushed us and the twins stayed back to fight. Did you see anything or know anything about what happened to them?”
“My scouts saw a great blast not too long ago. They went to investigate and found a lot of casualties,” Callahan said. “I am sad to say that the twin brothers died, but they took out eight other soldiers with them.”
Jade gasped. Teman and Yamin were dead? They both died protecting her and Aeron.
Her heart shattered.
Aeron closed his eyes, upset, after hearing the news.
“I didn’t know they were your friends,” Callahan said. “Again, I am sorry.”
Jade felt numb. They hadn’t even reached the ice queen’s palace and had already suffered such a great loss.
“What happened to the rest?” Aeron asked.
“They made their way back towards the fire realm with their leader,” Callahan said. “Someone named Gonan.”
So Gonan was still alive? Jade felt a blinding rage towards him, but knew he wasn’t the only one responsible.
Gonan was following Cinaed’s orders.
That heartless coward, she thought. Cinaed waited until they crossed the border, but why? What was his plan? And he was Aeron’s brother... Why did he want to kill him so badly?
Jade could never imagine hurting her sister. Even the thought made her feel ill.
What was wrong with the royal family of the fire realm? Why were brother against brother and why was the king not looking after his people?
Did it all really happen because of the curse or was greed to blame?
“We should go back to them,” Aeron said. “They need a proper burial.”
“I will go, too,” Jade said.
“We can’t all go. It is too risky,” Callahan said. “I will go with the prince. Kyle can take you to our campsite and you can rest there. We will catch up to you later.”
Jade tried to argue, but neither Callahan nor Aeron would listen.
She looked towards Aeron, but he said, “We will come back as soon as we can, Jade. Please go with your friend.”
When all this is over, I will return and pay my respect to Teman and Yamin, Jade promised herself.
They left jade alone with Kyle. He led the way to the outpost, talking animatedly, and she followed reluctantly. She kept looking back to where Aeron and Callahan had gone to, and Kyle noticed her being distracted.
“It is just you and me, Jade,” Kyle said. “I hope you are not disappointed.”
Kyle almost sounded bitter. Maybe he is just joking, Jade thought.
Jade sighed. “I just want it all to be over. I want to go back home with Kia.”
Kyle frowned. “Who is Kia?”
Jade was astonished. He didn’t remember her sister?
But then she hadn’t either.
Jade updated Kyle with all had happened since she left home, including telling him about her sister and the snow queen.
“I can’t believe I don’t remember your little sister,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “How old is she again?”
“Ten,” Jade said. “You gave her a card on her birthday.”
“I remember meeting you,” Kyle said. “When I try to remember anything else, it becomes a blur.”
“It’s the ice queen’s spell,” Jade said. “I forgot about Kia too, and it was the worst feeling. I felt hollow... it was like forgetting how to smile.”
“But why would the ice queen go through all this trouble?” Kyle asked. “She has taken other children, but their family still remembers them.”
“I don’t know,” Jade said. “I don’t know what is different this time.”
Kyle was silent. He didn’t seem to have an answer, either.
“You are working with the fire prince?” Kyle asked after a few moments. He frowned, like he didn’t like something. “Why?”
“I already told you why. The oracle told me to find him,” Jade said.
Kyle is definitely being strange, Jade thought.
They walked in silence all the way to the campsite. The campsite had a few tents already set up for them, complete with sleeping bags.
Jade thought that Kyle was done with questions about Aeron, but it seemed he had only been festering on the inside.
“You were in the fire realm and in the fire tournament with Aeron?” Kyle asked. “And now you are going to the ice realm with him?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I don’t think you should be near him,” Kyle said. “There is something wrong about him, Jade. I can feel it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Be careful around him, Jade. I don’t trust him.”
“Kyle, Aeron hasn’t done or said anything to make me suspect he would hurt me.”
“You seem to have a blind spot for him,” Kyle said heatedly. “I wonder why that is?”
“You sound like a jealous boyfriend,” Jade said, irritated. When she saw the expression on Kyle’s face, she gasped. “You are. You are jealous of him..”
“I don’t like that he is spending so much time with you,” Kyle admitted. He took her hands in his and said, “Forget him, Jade. We can do this together instead of him.”
“You are unbelievable!” Jade said, removing her hands from his. “I am worried to death about my sister and all you can think of is your love life!”
“I am worried about you, Belle!” Kyle said.
“I told you, I am not Belle.” Jade said. “I am not talking about this anymore, Kyle.”
“So you won’t talk to me now?” Kyle said. “Because of him.”
“I will talk to you when you make sense,” Jade said. “I will talk to you once you remember how to be a caring friend and not some lovesick, jealous idiot!”
Kyle looked like he was slapped. Jade didn’t wait for him to say anything else that would infuriate her. She took quick steps to get away from him and hope that he wasn’t foolish enough to follow her when she was this angry.
“Kyle never knows when to stop talking. It is both an annoying and endearing thing about him.”
It was the rebel leader, Callahan.
Jade was relieved that it was neither Aeron nor Kyle. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to see either of them at this moment.
“Right now, it is tipping heavily on annoyance,” Jade said.
“I understand. It is a trying time for us all,” Callahan said. “I hope you don’t judge him too harshly for being worried.”
“He is my best friend... or was my best friend,” Jade said. “I am the only one who seems to remember that.”
“Sometimes, we can’t control our feelings just as we can’t control the weather,” Callahan said. “It is best to let the storm blow over and wait for things to calm down on their own. Kyle will realize it, too. He has too much sense to keep pushing something that is not wanted.”
“I hope that is true. I don’t want to lose him as a friend,” Jade said. “Can I ask you something, Callahan?”
“Sure,” he said. “That is why I came... so I can answer any question you may have.”
“You call yourselves rebels, but you don’t want a rebellion?” Jade asked.
Callahan shook his head.
“What is your purpose, then?”
“Peace.”
“You are peaceful rebels?” Jade asked. “Wouldn’t that be a contradiction?”
“With both the ice and fire kingdoms dead set on killing one another, peace is the most outrageous outcome anyone could hope for,” Callahan said. “And we need you to help achieve it, Jade.”
“That is not what my father wanted,” Jade said. “Peace was never an option for him.”
“Your father had a different plan, but he lost that vision when your mom died.”
“He did?” Jade asked, surprised. “What was his plan, then?”
“He wanted to break the king’s curse with no one being hurt.”
“He got himself killed instead,” Jade said bitterly.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen, believe me,” Callahan said.
Jade didn’t believe the rebel leader, anymore than she believed her father.
“I am asking you to trust what I am saying. Will you join us, Jade?” Callahan said. “You will be a great asset to our cause.”
His reply caused Jade to lose her temper. “An asset? You sound just like my father.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Callahan said, apologetically. “I only meant—“
“My father stopped seeing me as his daughter and saw me only as a weapon. He trained me nonstop through gruelling hours with no end in sight. I wasn’t a person, but an object to be molded and sharpened for his war,” Jade said, fuming. “And here I am, being asked to be an object once again. What will I be this time? What will I be for you? A weapon, a leverage, or a platform for your agenda?”
“Forgive me for my poor choice of wording earlier,” the rebel leader replied. “You will be our comrade, our sister, and our friend. You have the ear of the most powerful man in the fire realm. Together, Jade, we can save our people and our world.”
Callahan sounded sincere in his apology. Jade calmed herself down.
“You have misplaced trust in me,” she said with bitterness. “King Cyrus will not listen to anything I have to say.”
“I wasn’t talking about King Cyrus,” Callahan said.
“Then who?”
“The fire prince that came with you,” Callahan said. “I am talking about Prince Aeron.”
“Why would he even listen to me?” Jade asked.
“Aeron cares a lot about you,” Callahan says. “With matters of the heart, it would surprise you how much a loved one can influence someone.”
Jade refused to believe what Callahan was telling her.
She shook her head. “Aeron barely tolerates me.”
“He risked his life to save Corvin. This is the same prince who hid and went into exile because he didn’t want to deal with his family or his powers,” Callahan said. “Aeron is different after he met you.. and he can change more still.”
Jade didn’t know what to say to him, so she changed the topic. “What makes you believe the war can be stopped?”
“History dictates it so,” Callahan said. “I believe we can find the answer in the past.”
“What do you mean?”
“The people of Aeron’s realm had abilities that were more than just fire, they were like those of the sun prince. They could heal, grow plants much faster than normal, to appear and disappear like smoke, and some could even fly. His people lost those other powers when Aurelius disappeared,” Callahan said.
“More than their abilities, when the sun prince went missing, the people lost their purpose. That, I believe, is the missing link and the key to finding peace among the two realms. If we find out what happened to the missing sun prince and daughter of the moon, perhaps then we can find the way to end this war.”
“What role does Selene play in this narrative?” Jade asked. “Doesn’t it have to do with Aurelius?”
“I have been reading all that I could find about the two original titans of fire and ice. Based on human historical accounts, Selene and Aurelius loved this world and would never have wanted war for their people. In fact, I don’t even think that they were enemies, like Fireborne stated. Fireborne was the one who gained the most by declaring war against the ice realm. He became king and gained a kingdom.”
“You are talking about a history that is thousands of years old,” Jade said.
“Yes, history that still influences today,” Callahan said. “We can trace it to the first fire king. Fireborne kept humans as servants in his realm.”
“I am aware of that,” Jade said. “I have been to the fire realm.”
“There’s more that is lost to the history books, especially in the fire realm. Fireborne did much more damage than that,” Callahan said. “He sowed the seeds of distrust and hate between humans and the ice realm. Fireborne was the one who hired human witch hunters to track and hunt witches.”
It was making sense. Jade could see the damage the sown discord could cause.
“The ice queen is continuing this war because of what they believed happened in the past, same with the fire realm,” Callahan said. “If we prove that neither Aurelius and Selene hated one another, nor that they want to harm the humans, then Queen Eirlys would have no reason to turn this world into a frozen tundra.”
Queen Eirlys. This was the first time Jade had heard her name.
“How do you know all this?” Jade asked.
“We have been spying for years, but recently we won over our strongest ally,” Callahan said. “Our informant is within the folds of the ice palace itself.”
“Who is it?” Jade asked. “Do I know this person?”
“I cannot reveal the identity without putting their life in danger,” Callahan said. “But it is someone entirely surprising. Once we are sure they have succeeded in their mission, we will reveal the name.”
Jade mulled over what Callahan told her.
“Jade, I know I gave you a lot of information, but I hope you consider what I told you,” Callahan said.
“I will,” she replied.
Callahan brightened. “I will leave you to rest. You can choose your tent for the night.”
“Thank you,” Jade said. She pointed to the one nearest her. “This one will be fine.”
“I will be around if you need me,” Callahan said.
“Callahan?”
“Yes?”
“Where did Kyle go?”
“You are not mad at him anymore, I see?” Callahan said, smiling.
Jade smiled, too. “I wouldn’t go so far.”
“Kyle ‘volunteered’ to do the night watch. Hopefully, it will give him plenty of time to think things over. You can talk to him in the morning.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Jade said, sighing.
“Rest now. You have a long and perilous journey ahead,” Callahan said. “Good night, Jade.”
“Thank you,” Jade said. “Good night, Callahan.”
Jade was glad about the solitude. She also needed time to think over everything that Callahan told her.
———
“Jade?”
Aeron’s voice broke her out of her reverie. Jade wondered if Callahan had talked to him too, but she was too exhausted to ask.
“What were you thinking about?” Aeron asked. “You seemed lost in thought.”
“I was thinking about my grandma and my little sister.” Jade said. “I miss them so much.”
“You love your family,” Aeron said. It was an observation rather than a question.
Jade nodded her head.
If only I could bring them together again, she thought.
“You don’t feel the same about yours?” Jade asked.
“Our relationship is complicated. Their affection is conditional,” Aeron replied and left it at that. He almost seemed embarrassed to talk about his family.
Jade knew about complications, especially with her parents.
“I didn’t have the best relations with my parents, though,” Jade confessed.
Aeron seemed surprised. “How so?”
“I didn’t understand my mother, and I didn’t always agree with my father’s choices.”
“His choice to be a rebel, you mean?” Aeron said. “With the state of the kingdom as it is, I can’t blame him. Things will only deteriorate if they go on without change.”
“You side with the rebels?” Jade asked, surprised.
“I don’t. Not completely,” Aeron said. “But I think I understand them. I can see where they are coming from.”
“How about your mother? Tell me something about her.”
“My mother was an angel. I don’t know where she got her patience from, because I certainly don’t have it.”
Jade smiled at his confession. “What happened to her?”
“Her heart stopped working one day,” he said. “I am sure having a madman for a husband and three disappointments for sons may have contributed to her health deteriorating that much faster.”
Jade didn’t know what to say in response to that.
“I am so sorry, Aeron,” Jade said. “My life changed so much when my mother died. My father was never the same.”
Aeron was silent for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. “The father I knew in my childhood is gone. He will never be the same either,” he said in a low voice.
Aeron seemed reluctant to say anything else about his father, so Jade didn’t push him to either.
“So Teman and Yamin... ”
“We buried them and the others in the land of the fallen,” Aeron said. “Callahan’s men helped.”
“My heart breaks for Teman and Yamin,” Jade said.
“Mine too,” Aeron said, sadly.
Jade didn’t know what she could say to comfort him, so she placed her hand into his and sat there quietly by his side, waiting for the sun to rise again.