Chapter 2: Khione

I sat on my bed in a now empty house, crying tears no one would see. I would be moving away to a kingdom that I had never seen before, and I was quite frightened to go. I was going to miss my frozen home very much, with its snow-covered pines and the little snow foxes running around. I would miss the smell of fish roasting over the cookfires and the sound of women gossiping about who knows what. However, because of this mark on my arm, I would have to be a leader of my people and join the new Council. The Smoke Whisperers had said that I would play a major role in the decisions of the continent, but what role they didn't say.

As I finished packing up my things, there was a knock on the door. When I opened the door, I made a sigh of disgust. It was Aqualon, my bodyguard for the trip and a constant annoyance. He seems like he has a huge infatuation with me and can't leave me alone. To see him at my door wasn't a surprise, but rather it was an nuisance. "Khione! Long time no see!" he exclaims as he tries to invite himself into my house. "Are you ready for your trip? Because I know I am!"

"What are you doing here Aqualon?" I demand as I stand my ground against his advances to come in. "The trip does not begin for another hour and yet you are here with all your things."

"I wanted to spend time with you," he suggests slyly. "You are going to be the person I protect for the rest of my life, so I need to know a little bit more about you."

"Well, for starters," I reply. "I am not available. So, go find someone else to woo." After this, I try to shut the door but he puts his hand out and stops it.

"What do you mean not available?" He cries. "We are both Ice Nomads, so I don't see the problem."

"I'm about to become the Ice Nomad Council Member." I try to explain. Obviously he's too thick-headed and dumb to get the point." Which means I will have to marry the Nightwalker Coucil member and become his Wyverness. There is literally no chance for you."

"Oh," he replies, sounding extremely disappointed. "Well, I'm gonna go now, so I'll see you later."

"Goodbye!" I shout, a little too excited, before slamming the door. I go back to my room and heave a huge sigh. I don't know how I am going to put up with him being the only other person around for a long time. Taking one last look at the place that was no longer my home, I picked up my bags and my giant dragon plush and walked out the door.

I drop off my bags at the entrance of the Chief's home. When he found out that I had been chosen for Council, he sent me a letter saying that he wanted to talk to me. I go up to the door and give it a knock. Almost immediately, the door opens and I walk inside. When I walk in just far enough so that I won't get hit, the door closes and I am stuck alone in a giant hall. "Ah," said a voice somewhere above me. "So this is the little girl that has been chosen to speak for our people. Honestly, I was expecting you to have become a little bit more… Ice-Nomadish."

"I am sorry that my skin color is not to your satisfaction," I spat as I whirled around to face the voice. " However, I don't think that it'll really matter when it comes to making important decisions."

"Touche," said the voice which I could now see belonged to the Ice Nomad Chief. My father. The man that had left me and my mother when I was no more than a young child and the man that I grew up hating for leaving me to take care of me and my mother. When my mother got sick, he didn't send help. He stayed silent and didn't do a thing. After she had died, he sent me a letter giving his condolences and inviting me to come stay with him and his family. The audacity of this man. Immediately, I went over to my home's central fireplace and burned it. I never responded. However, he continued to ask until I sent him a letter saying that I would never want to live under the same roof as him. I never saw or heard from him again until the letter I had received about my position. I had stopped recognizing him as my father and now only saw him as my chief. "How are you, my daughter?"

"I am not your daughter, and I haven't been since you left me and Mom."

I wish I had not sounded so childish. However, that little girl had disappeared a long time ago, and the pain that she felt had not. I have kept it locked up, never having the bravery to let it loose. "By the way," I jeered. "Why did you leave in the first place?"

"You know why." As he said this, I could almost say that I saw an emotion similar to embarrassment flash across his face before it was quickly replaced by a mask of indifference that I hated so much. If there was one thing I remembered about my father, it was that whatever I did to try to please him, he would always look at me with that face. That face is something that would make the little girl run away to her room and cry. However, I was no longer a little girl. All his face made me do now was make me more angry. "I couldn't stand your mother. She was always taking care of you and never dealing with anything that required work. I was always the one that did the chores. It was only a matter of time before I had my fill."

I was almost crying at this point."Then why didn't you take me with you? You seem like you had a problem with Mother, not with me. If she wasn't taking good care of me, you would have done a better job at that."

"I couldn't have at that point. I was young and saw you as the root of my problems. I was tired of doing everything and I wanted to blame somebody. I am sorry I blamed you and that's why I wanted you to come live with me here after your mother died."

"After you left, I was the one that took care of Mother and myself." I confessed with tears coming out of my eyes. "I had to get three jobs just to support the two of us. Kids as young as I was back then aren't even supposed to have to do that at all! You caused me a lot of pain and put me through things that I wasn't even supposed to experience."

"And I'm sorry for that," He admitted as he walked down the steps from the balcony he had been on. "I hope that over time, you will come to forgive me and see me as your father again." He walked over to me and tried to put a hand on my shoulder, but I quickly stepped away from him. He reluctantly put his hand back down on his side and sighed. " Well, would you like to come meet my family before you go? This may be the only time you see them."

"Sure," I mumble as I follow him up the stairs to the family chambers. As we walk, I hope his new family are not as bad as he is. He knocks on the first door on the right and I hear a muffled "come in." When I walk into the room, I am in awe at the sheer magnitude of it. This room was at least three times larger than the size of my room. In this house of a room there is a desk, a bookshelf, a fireplace, and a large bed with a girl about my age laying atop of the mattress. "Father," she mumbled. "Who is this?"

"This is your step-sister, Khione. Khione," he states. " this is your step-sister Mynx. I will leave you two to chat while I go get my wife." As soon as he shuts the door, Mynx springs out of her bed and walks over to me. "Hello," she exclaims. " It's nice to meet another girl my age. I never leave this place, ever. I feel like I could go insane if I was kept here any longer."

I smile at her statement. I was thinking this girl was going to be cold and snotty, like step-sisters usually are in books. Thankfully, she was different. I feel like even though we were related, that we would be really good friends. "I can see why. If you get any news in this fortress, then you must know that I am going to be the Wyverness and Ice Nomad Council member.

"Oh!" she suddenly gushed. "Father told me I was going to accompany the Council member there, but I didn't know it was going to be you! I am so glad we get along, otherwise, then I guess we would be in trouble."

"Yeah," I replied as I looked at the bookshelf. It is bursting to the brim with books of all colors and sizes, including some dictionaries and encyclopedias. "Have you read all those?"

"At least twice," she jokes. "Being cooped up all the time gives you a lot of time on your hands."

"No kidding." At this we both start laughing. " Well, if you are coming with me on this 'epic adventure', have you a wardrobe to take with you?"

"Oh, yes! I made sure to pack every type of clothing in case the occasion arose, including some fancy dresses for feasts!"

"I think I packed one fancy dress," I whisper with a big smile on my face. I didn't like to wear that type of clothing unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Didn't Father tell you?" Now she looked a little puzzled at my statement. I gave her a confused look back and she seemed to understand. "I guess he didn't. Well, the people there will design all your fancy clothing, since they have to accentuate your features."

"Oh," I mumble embarrassed. Of course Council members would have a personalized wardrobe. How could I have been so stupid? " Well, that problem is solved. I am not too keen on wearing fancy clothing, so the dress I have isn't very intricate."

"You're funny," she remarks. "Even though we may be related, I think that we will be very close."

"Me too," I reply. "It's about time that I got a friend. If you can't tell, I am not very good at making them."

She laughs at this. "Me neither. Not like I have the opportunity to anyway."

At this, there is a knock on the door and it opens. "Father" walks in along with a woman that I can clearly tell is Mynx's mother. Thinking about it a little ;harder, she looks like an older version of Mynx. "Khione, this is my wife, Penguin," he said. "Penguin, this is my daughter, Khione."

"It's a pleasure," she says coldly. How could Mynx and Penguin possibly be related? Mynx is nice and bubbly while Penguin is stiff and cold. "My husband has told me that you will be our council member, correct? And that my daughter will be accompanying you?"

"Actually, I was just about to tell her," he butts in. "Mynx will be going with you on your trip and will be staying with you as your companion."

"She already told me," I retorted coldly. Mynx notices this and tries to make it less awkward by saying,

"Thank you Father, for letting me go. It is a pleasure."

"Anything for you my daughter," he replied with a smile.

Again, the little girl inside of me feels jealous. He never gave a smile once, and here he is giving her one like an elderly woman giving out free seal jerky? Who is this man?

"I believe it is time to go," I blurt suddenly. "Shall we go, Mynx?"

"Of course!" she quickly exclaims, noticing my need to leave. She hurries over to my bed and quickly pools out some chests that are under her bed. "Father, could you send up a couple of servants to carry these to the carriage? Thank you." She gives her father and mother a quick hug then heads out the door. I follow close behind her. "What's wrong between you and Father? Did something happen that I should know about?"

"I'll tell you about it when we are in the carriage," I mutter quickly as I pick up my bags.

"Do you need the servants to carry those bags for you?" She asks as we walk down the road from their house. "I believe Father can send some extra. He wouldn't mind."

"I can do it myself. Besides, I don't need him. I can do things myself."

"Okay," she mumbled. "Don't need to be so rude about it though."

My mind immediately came back to the real world after reliving an unpleasant memory of my father leaving us. "Oh, sorry," I apologized . "I didn't mean it like that. I was reliving a memory that I would rather forget, but can't."

"About Father?" She asked.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry." she muttered. "I didn't mean to be so snappy. I just get like that sometimes."

"It's okay. I get it. I do it sometimes too." I give her a smile to show that I mean it. She smiles back and suddenly gives me a hug.

"You seem to understand a lot more than my mother or father do. They always get on me for my tone, even though most of the time they are the ones that pull it out on me." She releases me from the hug and we continue to walk in silence. Soon enough we are at the crossroads. I can see Aqualon standing by the wagon and I cringe.

"You okay?" Mynx asks curiously. "You look like you've eaten a winterberry that was a little too ripe."

"It's that boy standing over there," I reply, pointing at Aqualon. He sees this and waves, smiling from ear to ear. "He drives me crazy and he doesn't seem to get the hint that I don't like him at all. He's clingy and likes to push my buttons."

"Well, if you don't like him, then I don't either." At this she folds her arms against her chest and makes a stern face. "This is kind of a big day for me," She admits with a smile. "I have made my first friend and enemy. Wow! I am on a roll!" She pumps her fist in the air and I chuckle. Hopefully I meet more people like this in the Nightwalker kingdom. I need this type of person to add some fun into my life.

As we approach the carriage, Aqualon comes up to me and exclaims his favorite line, "Khione!" in a high pitched voice. "And who is this?" he crowed as I took a step away from him and gave him a "you're weird" look.

"This is Mynx, and I suggest that you don't talk to her or else things will not go well for you." To add emphasis to what I just said, I cross my arms over my chest and give him my famous "death glare". It works and he backs off, going to the back of the carriage to "check on the luggage".

"Wow, you were awesome! I won't have to worry about him bothering me while you're around." Mynx opens the door to the carriage and gets in. I follow her. Soon enough, I see Father's servants carrying Mynx's luggage and they quickly put it in the back. Soon enough the carriage starts rolling along the frozen tundra with a sparse amount of trees. After a couple of minutes Mynx turns to look at me and asks the question I was dreading, " What happened between you and Father?"

"Well," I begin. "When I was young, all my mother would do was take care of me while Father would do everything else. He soon got fed up with us and left. This left my mother heartbroken and without an income to keep us afloat. Keep in mind, I was around the age of ten-eleven when this happened. I had to go get three jobs just to keep a roof over our heads and food on our table. A kid shouldn't have to do that at such a young age. To top it all off, my mother soon got sick and died. All Father sent was a letter saying how sorry he was and that I could come stay with him if I wanted to. When I needed him most he didn't do anything. He acts like he is my savior, even though I have been the one taking care of myself all these years. So, I just burned the letter and did that to all the letters he sent afterwards. The only letter I didn't burn was the one that said he wanted to meet with me after he found out that I was a council member. Evidently, he wanted me to meet you and come get you to leave. I don't need him in my life, and I don't plan on seeing him again."

"Wow," she replied. "That's a lot. I'm sorry for all the pain that he has caused you. However, I think you should try to make amends with him. He isn't so bad once you get to know him."

"He blamed me for all his problems since his wife was always putting me above everything else. No matter what I did to please him, he would always look angry and disapproving. Soon enough, I stopped trying and when he left, I had to put away the hurt, broken little girl so that I would have the strength to take care of me and my mother. What you saw back at the house only scratched the surface of all the pain I have felt."

"Oh, wow. I didn't know it was that bad. The man you call your father is very different from the man I call father. I never knew my real father. He left before I was born. Mother never talked to me about him, but I can tell that he was not kind to her. I am glad that he is gone and out of our lives." At this, Mynx turned back to the window and stared out in silence. For the rest of our trip, we traveled in relative silence, every once in a while engaging in small talk, but we mostly were deep in thought. I was kind of disappointed in it being this way, but I needed time to think. A lot had happened today and I had to interpret it all. If being a Council member had this much drama, I was going to have to do a lot of deep thinking.