My dearest snowflake

"My dear, please stop for a moment and take a breath! Everything is going just fine!" the white haired man begged as he was following his wife down the corridor.

It was a beginning of what seemed to be a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly above the horizon, waking up the world and the people of the North. Within minutes everything and everyone stepped into a new day, starting their daily activities. Quiet streets of the capital were flooded with merchants preparing their goods; children playing with each other, delaying their arrival at schools; and elders going to the baker for fresh bakings which smell hovered in the air of the streets, calling everyone in. With each minute more and more sounds could be heard bringing the city back to life after its nightly rest. Craftsmen were warming up their tools and steel, getting ready to amaze the buyers with new metalworks; smiths were already forging new shoes. Various window displays were decorating the streets with fine china from the far east, rare black stones brought from the depths of the western moutains and countless amount of colorful seasonings, some of which typical for only the southern regions.

The day started off as a calm and cheerful one in the city, but it was just the opposite for the court.

"How can you say that, Jack?!" the woman shouted back, but never turned around, still rushing down the corridor, "your son is getting married and you're telling me to calm down?!," she threw her hands up and shook her head in act of irritation, "there is no time, you hear me Jack, no time to slow down! Maybe if we had the time controlers within our walls, but let me remind you, we do not have them, so there is no time to...," she started to blab but was stopped by the pull on her wrist and warmth on her lips. A hand wrapped around her waist pulling her closer and a sigh escaped . When they pulled away, the floor and walls around them were covered in icy patterns resembling roses. The woman giggled but quickly collected herself and pushed her husband further away, "how can you be so calm, darling?" she asked the man in front of her softly, shaking her head. "My dearest snowflake," he whispered, admiring the woman in front of him," we still have some times left, everyone knows what they have to do. Why would I bother so much? I had enough worries, we all had. All of these just seems so... unworthy of being stressed over. We should celebrate not go crazy," Jack explained, pushing a loose streak of hair behind the woman's ear. She knew exactly what he was talking about. The Great War; the cause of it. Instead of going deeper into the conversation she decided against it. There was no need for it. "But Suho deserves the best wedding one could get," she whispered, leaving a soft kiss on her husband's cheek and turning around, rushing towards a big wooden door that held many golden ornaments.

The man just sighed and with a small smile followed the queen.

"Yixing, my dear, what color of roses do you prefer?" the queen asked, eyeing many baskets of flowers in front of her. The boy next to her tilted his head a bit, letting a sigh. "My apologizes, my queen, but I am not really fond of roses," he confessed, bowing to the queen. "Yixing! How many times have I told you to, firstly, stop bowing to me; and next, what have I told you about calling me queen?!," she looked at the young boy with daring eyes, expecting a quick answer. "Not t-to call-l you t-that," the dark haired boy stuttered, looking at the floor. "And how are you to address me?", she asked again, her voice still stern but her eyes were soft and there was a smile on her lips. "M-Mother," Yixing replied, his cheeks getting hot. The woman smiled brightly and brought the boy into a warm hug. "Please, do so, Yixing. You'll be my son by law anyway," she whispered, her breath cold against the boy's bare neck. "I am sorry," the boy mumbled, his face buried in the light hair of the queen. She frowned and held him tighter, "what for, Yixing?" "I'm sorry for falling for your son. I know you would prefer someone more suitable for him, probably someone who would give an heir...," he started to speak but before he could finish his mouth was frozen. He looked at the queen, panicked at the terrible cold and disability to move his face. "I will keep your mouth frozen until you stop gibbering, understand?", she explained and then turned to the servants that brought the flowers in, "take all of the roses out, we won't use them." They all bowed deeply, collected the rose baskets and headed to the entrance from the great hall. Just as they reached the door they opened, reveling a new comer.

As a stranger clothed in black walked in, a spark of electricity could be felt rushing through the room. He had dark, ruffled hair that was pushed back, uncovering his milky complexion, and eyes as dark as a night, fixed on the queen, standing in the middle of the room. With each step he took, people around were backing off, trying their best to avoid any contact. For the first time since the Great War there was a member of the royal family from the West within their borders, not mentioning the castle itself. People were terrified. The young man was casually strolling down the carpet, closing the distance between him and the woman, a smirk adorning his face, matching perfectly his sharp bone structure. “Your Majesty,” the boy said stopping in front of the queen and bowing deeply. “Prince Jongdae,” the woman acknowledged, slightly stepping back. It was a hard situation for her, hosting the prince within her walls, but as it had been previously agreed on, stabilizing the relations with the West would only bring good to the people of both nations. Therefore, it was decided that the Royal family of the West should be invited to the wedding. But only one was sent and it was the prince. The storm bringer, as everyone knew him. There were many doubts encumbering the queen’s heart. Doubts as well as sorrow and pain.

Just when she was to speak up again, trying her best not to offend the young prince, the heavy doors behind her opened and her husband came in, accompanied by a young man. “Prince Jongdae!,” the man shouted, coming closer, “what a nice surprise you’re actually alive!,” Jack laughed, nodding his head slightly. “Jack!,” the queen scolded him, her eyes growing bigger. “Don’t take it personally, boy, what I meant was that we were expecting you sooner and I started to worry, anything can happen after all, right?,” the king explained and Jongdae stood there, too amazed by the way the man was speaking, to reply. “How old is he to speak like that? 15? Is he truly the King of the North or is it a prank?,” he was wondering, eyeing the man in front of him.

He had an arm thrown around the queen, which provided an opportunity to see the great contrast between the Royal couple. The queen stood proud, her back straight, her light hair perfectly done. There were no emotions on her face, her eyes icy blue, “probably just like her heart,” Jongdae thought feeling the struggle the queen was facing with him in her castle; her lips were a thin line, hands slightly crossed on the level of her waist. The queen’s dress was a mixture of blue and white, stretching from her shoulders to the ground, no stain or crease on it. Everything was just perfect. And then there was the king, standing casually, slightly taller then the queen, his white hair ruffled, as if he had paid no attention to it at all. He had a loose, dark blue shirt on his upper part and some brown pants reaching his calves. There was a massive smile on his face and, in contrast to what Jongdae had been expecting, the smile seemed sincere and welcoming.

Jongdae took a good look at the couple, focusing his attention on how white was the complexion of both royal’s skin and how icy their eyes were. “So the stories were true,” a small voice rang at the back of the young prince’s head and immediately a face of the newly met stranger, Xiumin, appeared in his mind. “Please, do not mind my father,” a soft voice next to him spoke, pulling Jongdae out of his thoughts. He looked to the left and saw a young man, maybe around his age, smiling at him, “he has a very specific way of… being,” the boy chuckled as he was watching the couple quietly fighting. “Oh, that explains a lot,” Jongdae nodded, but still could not wrap his mind around how someone like this can rule a country. “My name is Kim Junmyeon, the Prince of the North, but everyone calls me Suho, so please do so as well,” the boy introduced himself, bowing deeply in front of Jongdae. “The master of water, am I correct?,” Jongdae asked, his eyes fixed on the boy. “The storm bringer, am I correct?,” Junmyeon only replied, and Jongdae smirked. “I am Kim Jongdae, the Prince of the West,” he retured the introduction and bowed as well. Just then did he notice a slim boy standing behind the queen, his back against the wall and mouth covered with a layer of ice. He frowned upon the sight and turned to Junmyeon, “what happened to that boy?” he asked, gesturing towards the boy by the wall and confusion painted his face when he saw how big the other boy’s eyes grew and his mouth started to open and close. Jongdae had to suppress a laugh as the boy suddenly reminded him of a fish. “Mother!,” the boy shouted finally, gaining everyone’s attention, but he did not seem to mind. He rushed towards the boy, grabbing him by the wrist and bring back to them. “What have you done to Yixing?!,” he shouted again, his voice rising up a few octaves. “Oh, that,” the queen looked at the boy, “I totally forgot.” “Elsa, you do not go around freezing people’s mouth!” the king said, walking up to the boy and covering his mouth with his hand. When he removed it, the ice was gone as well, only a few drops of water remaining. The boy took a sharp breath, obviously relieved. “Thank you, Your Highness,” he whispered, still swallowing big gulps of air. “I did that because he started to gibber,” the queen explained, shrugging.

Jongdae stood there, watching the whole scene silently. He watched the king suddenly become more serious, the queen attempt to joke, or at least that is what he thought she wanted to do, and Suho on the side with Yixing, rubbing circles on the boy’s back and whispering something in his ear. Suddenly, the whole situation seemed to become very private and family-like. He felt like an intruder, keeping such a curious eye on them. But before he managed to excuse himself or focus his eyes on something else at last, the door he entered through opened again and everyone’s eyes turned in that direction.

A tall man came in, icy uniform covering his body. Jongdae clenched his fists, memories of the night when his brother lost sight flooding his mind, as he observed the man dressed just as their previous oppressor near him. But the man did not pay attention to the prince, instead he knelt in front of the queen, his eyes focused on the ground, his chest rising and falling rapidly indicating that he had been running. “My queen,” he started and looked up, still kneeling, “the expedition has arrived,” by the time he was finished the queen had already stormed down the steps and was running down the hall towards the door. “Elsa!,” the king shouted, but it did not stop her. He turned to face his son and quickly ordered, “take care of Jongdae and show him to his chambers,” after that he stormed out of the great hall, not once turning around to check whether his son had understood. “What was that about?,” Jongdae whispered as Junmyeon and Yixing neared him. “My brother,” Junmyeon replied shortly, as if that explained everything. But as he saw the confusion on the other’s face he continued, “twice a year my mum sends an expedition to find my brother, the missing Prince of the North. I am positive you know the story…,” “How can I not now it as it was the cause of the Great War and my brother’s disability,” Jongdae cut the prince off, his voice full of venom as deep inside he somehow blamed the missing prince for what happened to his brother, but above all, he still blamed the North, “my apologies, for interrupting, I should not have,” he apologized, taking a breath. Suho was watching him carefully with sadness in his eyes, “you have a full right to be angry. But let’s not let our anger stop us from moving foreword….,” “easier said then done, young prince,” Jongdae interrupted him once again, this time not even minding it, “you are not the one who lost everything.” Upon hearing that, Suho straighten his back, but before he could reply, a new voice join in the conversation. “He lost a brother,” Yixing stated calmly, looking at the foreign prince, “and his parents lost a child. And they carry the burden of the war with them each day. They are blinded by faith that one day they will find their son. That’s why they are sending the expeditions. And since the king has moved foreword and accepted the faith, the queen still has not. And she keeps getting her heart broken each time the expedition comes back barehanded. And there is no greater pain, my prince, than mother’s broken heart.” Yixing finished and silence fell upon them, words echoing in Jongdae’s mind.

“Elsa! Elsa, stop!,” Jack was shouting, running after his wife. But the woman did not hear him, her heart beating too fast to hear anything at all. The king caught her just in time as she put her hand on the front door. “Elsa, please. Please, don’t do it,” he begged, knowing what awaited them behind the door. “Jack! He might be there, they might have found him!,” she replied, trying to free her hand from the grip. “You say it each time, my dearest snowflake,” he whispered and his heart broke again as he saw tears coming to his beloved one eyes. But he took a deep breath and said the words the hated to say, but the ones she needed to hear, “he is not there. And he never will.” The queen broke down, heavy tears rolling down her face as she collapsed to the ground. Jack quickly caught her, wrapping his arms tightly around her and bringing her close to him.

The door opened slightly and a man in an icy uniform came in, a member of an expedition. Jack looked up at the man, holding Elsa tighter, not allowing her to look back, but the man only shook his head.

The king’s eyes rested on his wife’s small figure and yet again a sharp pain went through his heart.

A/N

Hello, dear readers!

First of all: thank you all so much for reading and subscribing and thank you the commenst and your lovely words!

Here we are with the second chapter, a small introduction of more characters!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, of course I encourage you to comment, subscribe and upvote if you liked it !

See you next time! 

Best wishes,

badblood.