Blood and Elixir - Curse of the Old Gods

Alyssa

She straightened out imaginary wrinkles in her white gown, her indigo hair falling in stark contrast against the white. She smiled, feeling the silk fabric of her gown neatly spread on the ice. It was an attire for a queen.

Curse.

Being the queen of this land was an even bigger curse than the one she had been born with.

But then, he had made her queen. And how could she have ever refused him?

"Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?" a voice imbued with warmth and kindness; kindness she had never encountered previously, caught her off guard as she was carving wood. These were the rare times when she got out of her cave and tried to soak in as much of the red sun as possible.

The winters made sure there weren't enough people around to mingle with or be scorned by. She enjoyed the loneliness, or so she told herself.

Never in her entire life had someone asked her something so normal.

Who she was? Yeah they asked her that all the time. Even whispered 'witch' behind her back.

Why were her eyes green? She didn't know why. Maybe her mother had them. Or her father. She never knew who her parents were, so how could she answer that?

Why did she have blue hair? Same form, different question. But again without an answer.

Never before had anyone inquired about something so frivolous.

So the man caught her attention. As such his eyes were screaming for it.

"You have wandered into Iscyrian highlands, Sir. I can only wish you have your warm clothing with you, or you'll freeze to an early death." She told him plainly.

The man's blue eyes twinkled, and she had to fight the urge to drown in the azure pools. She slammed herself for even thinking such a wretched thought.

"Why do you think an early death? How do you know I deserve to live longer than what the cold allows me to?" He asked.

This man was deranged. He seemed to be mocking her or maybe he knew who she was and was using her as a source of amusement. Either way she needed to put an end to this.

"Have a pleasant ride, Sir." She answered, not wanting to exchange anymore useless pleasantries with the man. She collected the wood she was working on, placed her knife in its leather holder, and made her way away from the man.

"Will you do me the honour of marrying me?" He asked, and she stood frozen, paler than her pale skin could allow. She couldn't believe her ears. Was he for real? Was all this for real?

She turned around, with what she assumed was the fiercest glare she could muster. She called upon her orbs for protection, something she hated doing to these people, but they never seemed to understand the severity of her powers.

"You have no idea who I am. How dare you meddle with me?" Her orbs were waiting in command, and she was dying to let them free on him.

"I know who you are, Alyssa. I just never expected you to be so alluring." He told her, and with that, he turned his horse around, kicked it, and left her.