Frost Legacy: Ascension

Chapter 3

Uncle Kalen picked her up and swung her in a circle before setting her on her feet again, kissing her forehead. When she stepped away and our gazes met, all my fears faded. I couldn't think of anything else but hugging her. We moved at the same time, dashing forward to close the distance between us and threw our arms around each other before crashing to the stone floor in a heap of sobs. She kissed the top of my head over and over, rocking us back and forth. I don't know how long we sat crying, but no one separated us and when I looked around the dungeon, I realized we were alone.

"I told Dannick to get the others settled before we came upstairs." She pushed hair back from my face. "My dear sweet girl... your eyes. The Awakening has started? We have so much to do. Are you okay?"

"No." My eyes heated again, and I fought the sting. "I'm not." Her arms were surrounding me again. "I thought I'd lost you and then we did lose Chad. I don't know what I'm doing." She didn't interrupt as I emptied my burdens on her and told her all my fears. She patiently listened while I got it all out.

"Shh. It's going to be alright." The rocking started again. "We're together now and we'll get through this. We're the three Musketeers, remember? There isn't anything your Uncle and I can't help you with."

"Even the princess part?" I wiped my nose on my sleeve and sat back. I was tired of the melodramatic soap opera my life had become.

"I can help with that, but what is this I hear about finding your two soulmates?" One of her perfectly shaped brows lifted as her lips spread into a huge grin.

"Ugh." My eyes rolled into my sockets, but they snapped back onto her. "Did you know about Ryn?"

"I may have seen his mark when he was training some new recruits right before I moved to Serenade Falls with you." Her teeth chewed at her bottom lip.

"And you didn't think to say something when you saw my markings?" I stood up and paced in front of her. "What were you thinking when you sent him to Frost Manor? Uncle Kalen almost killed him!"

"Well, I was thinking about your protection. You're his soulmate. He won't allow anything to happen to you." Her index finger tapped her chin. "But maybe I should have thought about his protection."

"Yeah...between Uncle Kalen and Caden, he needs the bodyguards, not me." We both laughed and she rose to her feet.

"Let's go see your new home." She waltzed to the door and pulled it open. Was I really going to do this? I only hesitated a moment and one step turned into two, but she stopped me at the door. "I want to warn you that life as a royal will be different and extremely trying most of the time, but you can do this. Don't let the pomp discourage you. You'll learn what's expected and master it quickly. I believe in you." That made one of us.

I stepped through the door into a stairwell which led up to another heavy door with ornate sea carvings. At this door, we walked through together and two guards in armor holding spears stood at attention and then bowed deeply as we passed.

"This is the main hall." She pointed to the left. "That direction takes you to the front entrance and the right leads to the kitchen, ballroom, dining room, library, and gardens. The smaller hallways lead to servants' quarters, bathrooms, and out to the soldiers' quarters plus their training grounds. Follow me." She turned left toward the entrance.

The main hall was more like a cavern than hallway. It held long tapestries depicting battle scenes positioned between tall marble columns which were carved to look like giant dolphins. A continuous thick blue rug ran the length of the hall and turned down the smaller ones without end. Blue flags with the Seelie symbol of a golden sun hung above us and arched windows filled with stained glass sea scenes filled the hall in dazzling colors. I swallowed hard, afraid of touching anything.