Chapter 8

Throwing her hood over her head she rushed to the door, the tiny creek it made as she opened it echoed through the empty hallway.

The night hid her clandestine movements but unfortunately, didn't mute the hurried patter of her footsteps. The candles in sconces attached to the walls illuminated the way.

After misplacing her way a good number of times she skittered into the grand hall and headed for the blue hall.

Sure enough, a cloaked figure came rushing towards her. Ochen grabbed her hand and led her through the hall into the last door,and then they climbed an extremely long staircase.

Just when Dea was starting to think there was no end to the continuous stairway they entered a hall.

The candles on the walls revealed the red carpets which they strode upon. There was a point where the hallway branched off at both sides, Ochen led her through the right opening.

They walked hurriedly, trying hard not to make a single sound.

Ochen pulled open the doors to a room, then shut it slowly when they had entered.

Dea removed her hood and gazed around the room, an abandoned solarium.

With a whisper Ochen led her to a side of the room where moonlight seeped through the glass 

Ochen sighed and withdrew a book from her cloak, Dea stared at in confusion.

"Its a sketchbook." Ochen explained.

There was silence between them as Ochen slowly opened the sketchbook.

Dea was amazed for the drawings in the book were perfect and almost life-like.

In her drawings Dea saw a woman who looked exactly like Ochen, she was seated on a high backed chair with a book on her laps. She appeared to be dozing. In the background of the picture there were faint outlines of books packed together. Dea guessed the woman was in a library.

The next page showcased a little girl.

Ochen chuckled, "that's Snow."

The little girl, Snow, had her hands filled with berries, on her face was a mixture of emotions; fear, mischief and excitement.

Ochen whispered, "that was when she stole from head witch Coruscate's stash of berries."

Dea giggled. "You were there as well, weren't you?"

Silence.

Dea lifted her head and looked at Ochen, her face was ashen, and it had nothing to the with the moonlight on her face.

She looked visibly ill. "That..." She whispered, "I drew that a few days before she did it."

She cleared her throat nervously. "You see,I can... I can draw future events."

Dea blinked at Ochen, "well, that's a really unique gift. But, you're loathe to have it." Dea said, more like asked.

"No its not!"

Dea flinched and looked around as if Ochen's loud outburst would immediately bring guards rushing into the room.

Ochen apologized and reduced her voice, she continued brokenly, "when I was little and found out about my ability, I told my mother. She said I should keep it a secret and to not tell a soul. I asked her if I could continue drawing because I felt a connection to it, and she said I could."

Ochen breathed in shakily, "so, I continued drawing, predicting what my mother would do, we would laugh about how I drew her making faces behind head mistress Snowfall's back, or when she dozed off in the library.

Then... then I started drawing the future events of my caste witches, I drew Snow stealing berries, Lumi trying desperately to stop sucking her thumbs, Faina trying to steal head witch Billow's kohl."

She breathed our heavily and licked her lips.

"They were all minor offenses, really. Until I drew Eirwen setting fire to head witch billow's office and inherently burning her familiars as well. I...I didn't know what to do, in a haste to find Eirwen I left my sketchbook out in the open."

Ochen cleared her throat. "You see, Eirwen, is the daughter of our head mistress and I should have realised that even if she was caught, a minor scolding would be her only punishment, but I was too shocked at what I drew that thoughts of hierarchical privileges fled my mind."

Ochen gazed into an empty corner of the room. "I finally found Eirwen, alongside my sketchbook. And of course she threatened to tell everyone about my secret abilities if I so much as uttered a word about her plot to set aflame the office. I pretended to agree with her about not telling anyone about her plot. But when I was about to get my book from her, she withdrew her arm and a gleam appeared in her eyes."

Ochen swallowed thickly, "she said she wouldn't tell anyone about me on a condition to show her all my drawings. She said that she would be a fool to pass up the ability to tell what everyone was doing, before they even did it. So that was that." Ochen said, smoothening down her skirts frenziedly. "I would draw what everyone would do and show them to Eirwen. She would take in everything with shrewd eyes and request I draw more events.

All that stopped when I.... when i--"

Ochen choked and sniffed in loudly, her shoulders heaved violently. "When I predicted my mother's death. I hid the book away as if it would somehow stop my mother from dying. Eirwen threatened to tell on me if I didn't give her my drawings, but I was past the point of caring."

Ochen hurriedly wiped her tears away and tried futilely to stop crying. "She found the book when my mother died, and... she told on me."

Dea tasted something bitter in her mouth and realised it was disgust and anger.

She put her arms around Ochen and held her as she cried and spoke between sobs.

"Everyone blamed me, and rightfully so, for I knew when and where my mother would die and did nothing about it."

"Its not your fault." Dea cooed, rubbing soothingly at her back. "Its no one's but fate."

Ochen finally calmed. Withdrawing from from Dea's embrace she wiped her face with her palms.

"There's one more thing I want to show you. I'll have to go and get it."

Dea smiled and nodded at Ochen.

When the door closed behind Ochen, Dea turned towards a large glass window. She stood there for a while.

The moonlight poured over snow trees, making the snow on their green leaves shimmer. She heard a faint howl within the woods.

Subconsciously, she heard the door open and close silently and thought it must be Ochen.

Birds flew past the rays of moonlight at intervals shielding part of its light from her, black and white flickered at the side of her face.

She soon forgot about Ochen.

She heard the faint howl again and stared into the direction it came from. She could only see darkness and touches of grey.

"This doesn't say a lot about you, now, does it?"

A familiar deep voice said, directly behind her.

Her heart missed a beat and quickened. She felt cold fingers playing at the base of her spine.

She turned sharply as stared into the hard face of the ice prince.

His face didn't hold the bored and uninterested look it always had in his office, instead it was now harsh and frozen, his eyes glinted menacingly and his ice glyphs glowed in the darkness.

The next thing he did surprised her, he lifted his hand to her chin and drew slow circles along her jaw, but there was nothing tender about it.

His cold fingers sent chills down her spine, it seemed to be freezing her body, along with her mind.

"Why are you here?" It was a silent demand.

And she, couldn't give a silent reply, and a reasonable one even less.

"I...I.." She croaked loudly. "Please. . ." she begged hopelessly.

Grazing fingers stilled and he folded his hands behind his back and paced slowly.

He stopped and went over to an ice sculpture. His next words made her pale visibly.

"This, was where half of my family died, after a fight with a black witch. This was where she sucked the life of my mother into a jar. At my mother's scream my sister came running into the room, she didn't stand a chance. Her head was severed clean from her body. And. I saw it all. So," he turned from the sculpture, "are you here to finish what she started?"

"No!" Dea bursted out desperately, "I'm not--"

"Really. . ." The prince drawled lethally, then roared. "Then tell me why you're here!"

Dea flinched and stumbled backwards as he strode towards her.

She almost cried when she felt the cold wall behind her. Before she could flee, the prince closed in on her. And it didn't help that she realised just now how huge he was.

He paused before her, unmoving. Their breaths were the only sound in the room.

He didn't say a word, she couldn't possibly speak.

They stayed like that in silence, her heartbeats calmed a fraction.

She didn't know what possessed her to speak.

"How... how did you find out...?" She whispered.

The prince stared at her. "I have guards everywhere."

He too, seemed to have calmed.

She squirmed under his frigid gaze.

He took a bold survey down her body and lifted his eyes to hers, his intense stare sent the unexplainable heat spiraling down her insides.

She averted her gaze and whispered, "what?"

His stare remained before he said, "nothing." Then he moved away from her.

"Go to your room." He ordered.

And she fled.

She made her way blindly towards her room, her legs subconsciously carried her towards her room.

Ochen jumped up from her bed and rushed towards her.

"I'm so, so sorry." She rushed. "When I came back to the solar I saw the prince and I got scared. I'm so sorry I left you there alone."

Dea nodded reassuringly, accepting her apology. She was still unable to form a single sentence.

Ochen helped her with her cloak, then pulled her to her bed.

After they sat, a while later Ochen brought out another book. Dea stared at it questioningly.

"In this sketchbook I draw the people I don't know." Ochen explained.

Dea nodded understandingly while Ochen turned to the first page.

Dea gasped quietly, the drawing was of the ice king, he looked younger, beside him was a female version of the ice prince, the princess sat beside the prince; her face bore feature's similar to the king's

As Ochen flipped the pages she saw more drawings of my the ice king... and the black witch. She had black hair like silk and cold obsidian eyes. Her demeanor was black, too; most drawings depicted sour expressions on her face.

She wondered how the king didn't realise the witch was evil and felt a pang in her chest as she remembered the broken expression on the king's face upon leaving his son's office. Indeed, the king found the witch was evil; but he deciphered it too late.

Ochen turned the next page and she couldn't hold in the horrified gasp that escaped her.

The princess laid haphazardly on the solarium floors, her limbs were bent awkwardly... and her body was indeed missing a head.

In another corner were the witch and the queen, the queen's torso was arched painfully and a substance was being drawn out of her and into a jar.

And peaking through the doors of the solarium was a little boy, she knew it was the ice prince.

She lifted horrified eyes to Ochen. "How could you bear drawing this?"

Ochen smiled weakly. "I drew it from experience."

Dea felt sad for Ochen. First her mother's death and then this.

It was little wonder why the king hated witches, and the prince...

Ochen stayed a while longer then retired to her room, leaving her to stare, wide awake, at the ceilings.