The Elementals - The Ice Princess

Chapter 11

My dad has been concentrating on the road for the past two or three miles. He frequently checks the rearview mirror to ensure that we aren't being followed. The odd time, I notice him glance over at me. He is being very cautious, travelling fast enough to get us out of town in a hurry, but not fast enough to arouse suspicion by the police. Although, the police right now sound like they would be a good bet to help us, at least to me anyway. No one else seems to mention it, so I am going to assume that I am alone in this thought.

I look in the back and Alexander is asleep. Not just partially asleep, but completely out of it kind of sleep. All the jumping has taken a toll on him physically.

"He'll be okay." Dad says to me. "He just needs to get some rest, I think you should too, it might be hard to come by in the coming weeks."

"What is going on dad? Why are people after me?"

I watch him intently pondering this question. We drive further into the night with no other sound than the wheels on the pavement. Periodically, Alexander makes a noise in his sleep as if caught in a dream. Nothing he says is intelligible and he looks restless. I turn back to my dad waiting for an answer. It's almost as if he trying to figure a good place to start. For a moment, I think he isn't going to tell me, but that is when he takes a deep breath and begins.

"Okay sweetheart listen, some of what I am going to tell you, you may understand and some of it you may not. The important thing is that you're safe right now and I can explain everything later. It's important to let me talk and get this all out before you start asking questions. You are a descendent of a long line of royalty. You're not just any kind of royalty, but the only royalty that has ever truly existed. Kings and queens as you know them have just taken that title. They are no more royal than any other person. Their title of royalty doesn't mean the same thing as yours. Their job is to rule, to give a figurehead to a country or group of people, while your job is to protect. And many people have been protecting your kind since the beginning. No one quite knows when the beginning started, just that when it did, the elementals were there. Normally, the elementals can live peacefully and no one even knows they are there. That's when the world is at peace. But every so often, when the world gets 'angry', that means there is something wrong. Earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, those are mostly caused by elementals when something bad is happening, it could be an elemental that's been severely hurt or even killed. It's the reason we saw the tsunami in Japan in 2011, the huge earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia in 2004 and why from time to time we have unexplained solar eclipses. There is something out there that is hunting you all and it's growing stronger by the day. I have been tracking it and you're the reason why it is here. We need to find a way to keep you safe."

My dad sits quietly for a few minutes, keeping his eyes on the road while I digest what he has just told me.

"I don't understand. This doesn't make any sense and makes my head hurt."

"I know sweetheart. It's certainly not how I wanted to tell you."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You simply weren't ready. You hadn't even begun to develop your powers. How could I have convinced you that you are what you are without any of this happening?"

My dad makes a good point. The likelihood of believing this story is pretty far-fetched even from someone that I respect and love as much as my dad.

"So you mean to tell me that I am a princess?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. When your mother gave birth to you, you became the next in line to inherit the element if something were to happen to her. When she passed away, the world needed to rebalance itself while you grew into this role. You see, the world will always try to rebalance itself when an elemental dies, consider how much of the arctic ice caps have melted since your mother died. It's not because of global warming, it's because you weren't, aren't ready yet. This time, this transformation phase is also when you're most vulnerable and in need of the most protection. Eventually you will be strong enough to fend for yourself, but I think this is why dark things are moving against you. They know who you are now because of what happened at school and they know you're not ready to fight."

"I don't get any of this dad, how did I stay hidden for so long?"

"You know how we moved around a lot when you were younger, it was to throw the scent off. It was important that we stayed somewhere cold. Immersing you in your elemental environment can speed up the growth process and help you develop quicker. It shouldn't have taken this long. Your mom has been gone for years now and it should have happened by now."

"What is going to happen to me?"

"You're going to develop your elements. They are kind of like super powers except they are all based on your specific element."

"What does that mean?"

"You're responsible for a worldly element. Yours is ice. It means that you'll be able to do things with ice that no other person can do.

"Like?"

"I don't really know, that's up to you. Your mom was able to manipulate ice and snow. She could form balls of pure ice from the air in her hands that took hours to melt."

I sit pondering this as the car continues on its journey to nowhere in-particular. We can't be too far outside of Snowspell, maybe 4 or 5 miles at most. My dad has made multiple turns during this ride so that if a car were following us, he would know immediately. I look out my window and can still see the old water tower which helps me realize exactly where I am. We are almost back at Rock Glen.

My forehead lightly thumps against the window and I can feel my eyelids beginning to droop. Tonight, while although being one of the weirdest, most exciting and scary nights of my life, it has taken it's toll on me mentally and physically. I am bagged and my body is trying to tell me.

Almost as if my dad can sense it, he says, "Get some rest, we will be safe here for the night and I will explain everything else in the morning."

"One more question, dad. How did you know Alexander could jump?"

My dad looks most surprised by this question and a bit uncomfortable. He shifts in his seat a bit and looks over at me. "Like I said, get some sleep pumpkin and we will talk in the morning." He reaches over, takes my hand and kisses it. A soothing feeling washes over me like a cool shower on a hot day. I recognize this feeling immediately, it's the same feeling when dad would kiss me after a nightmare. For the moment, I am completely at peace and safe. Comforted by his words, I let myself fall into the waiting darkness not knowing that this will be the last night I sleep soundly for a long time.