Frostbite

Chapter Three

Those were the words that changed Eira's life. Those were the ones that saved it. Those were the ones that ruined it. It was strange how a few minutes could completely change one's present and future. How only an instant could decide so many years of a life. How it could decide even an entire lifetime. Sometimes change is a gradual thing that you do not notice happening -- and yet, sometimes it happens in just a mere moment. If she had considered what she would be doing as an adult, she would have carried out her longing to be a bookshop owner. It would have been a simple life -- which, even at her young age, she had always wanted immensely. Now, there was no chance of that. Now her life would be driven by the ice that lay within her veins. 

The ice. She had powers. She was one of the Permafrosts. It was nigh on impossible for her to believe it. However-- she had no option but to do that very thing. If she stayed in denial, it would surely make things much worse for her. She was surprised at herself -- that she could rationalise at a time like that.

And now, a grave air had settled over the house's inhabitants. Moira tried to put on a smile and was happy for Eira -- but she seemed pained in doing so.

Graham and Owen were still in a state of shock and the Testers were stoic as usual. But, that wasn't what affected Eira. It was Cerin's face. He bore an expression of devastation. A look that showed he knew he would probably never see his only friend and adopted sister again. She hadn't seen him look so doleful in all the years they had known each other. 

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She wasn't even sure if she'd said it aloud. If she had-- it certainly was too quiet for anyone else to hear.

She was sorry because it was inevitable. She would leave Cerin all alone. 

That day,  she'd be taken away to the centre where the Frosts trained their bodies and honed their magic. Somewhere she knew nobody. Somewhere where she would be forced to become a different person entirely. Somewhere Cerin could never go to. 

 At that moment, she could no longer hold back. She hadn't even realised she had been until then. Hot tears began flooding down her cheeks -- and for once, she was so glad of the heat. 

"You have fifteen minutes to pack and say your farewells," the Tester who had tested Cerin stated. "Be quick." 

Fifteen minutes. She only had fifteen minutes left with everyone. Cerin, Moira, Graham and Owen: the family who took her in when she had nobody left. Had she even told them how grateful she was? Had she ever even thanked them? Had she told them how much she loved them? Was it too late now? She was going to be torn away from them in a matter of minutes, and there was nothing she could do about it. If she didn't, they would all get thrown in cells or even hanged and she would be taken regardless. The world they lived in was cruel -- a fact she had learned on that freezing December night when she'd lost her parents.

She covered her eyes with her hands, trying to hold back her sobs. And then she left.

She ran upstairs to her room to pack her few belongings. It was too hard to look at their faces. Moira's fake smiles. Graham and Owen's shock. Cerin's pain. How did they feel knowing the girl they considered family was going to be ripped away from them? Had they prepared? She knew she should have. She should have known that this could have happened. Should have known she could have been one of the Frost. Perhaps it was because she didn't think of herself as someone who had a chance of being special. Yes. She had always considered herself dreadfully unlucky. 

Her room was exactly as she'd left it mere hours earlier. Her book and blanket lay discarded on the rug by the stove. The fire had burned down to its embers. Her bed lay unmade and rumpled and her clothes from the day before were folded on the back of her desk chair.