Veri: Prologue

A/N: Though this is in third person, the chapters will be written in first, possibly varying between two characters. Is that okay? And if I do use two MCs, do I have to add in something about the second one in the prologue, or just keep the one of most importance? 

Ten years earlier…

                The pulse of the messenger boy pounds in his head and through his limbs as he sprints down the icy path, clutching the last thing written by his deceased elder. He pulls himself up the steps of the ice palace and busts through the doors of the main hall. King Bryme’s personal guards prevent him from passing any further, urging the little boy to calm and state his business.

                “I need to meet his Highness’s acquaintance,” he gasps, waving the message in the air, “I have word about the Princess, from the late Miss Clint!”

                The guards stiffen at the mention of the last name, glancing at each other before allowing passage into the throne room. Picking up the pace again, the messenger boy speeds along the hallway and only skids to a stop before his Majesty, who meets him in the frosty walkway along his walk around the palace. He stumbles back a bit before regaining his composure and handing over the message.

                “Your Highness,” he drops to his knees, bowing, “My mistress sent me with her last breath. She spoke of your daughter and told me to rush. She said it was urgent.”

                Catching his breath, the boy watches with intensity as King Bryme unfolds the message. His eyes quickly scan back and forth before turning sorrowful. With a sigh, he folds the paper back up and slips it beneath his royal garb.

                “Dismissed,” he breathes.

                The messenger boy wastes no time, bolting back out of the corridor and the way he came. King Bryme gazes over the ancient ice carvings all over the walls of his palace before deciding to take care of things himself. He wearily waltzes up the frozen steps into the cavern he had sculpted for his daughter.

A weak smile spreads across his lips when he finds her curled up under the duvet, clutching her stuffed polar bear. She doesn’t even stir when he whisks his hand over her forehead and plants a kiss where her hair meets skin.

With a thought, light surrounds the two and reveals a dimly lit porch, foreign chills shuddering down the daughter’s spine as she sleeps. King Bryme brings her thin blanket tighter around his toddler and brushes his hand against her rosy cheek.

“It is for the best, my daughter,” he whispers, “Someday, you’ll realize that what I’m doing is for the good of all. Even if it means your beloved memories must be taken.”

He stands and backs up, the only tear he’s ever shed rolling down his cheek.

“You will be the hope we have needed for years,” he finishes, disappearing at the last word.

Moments pass before the door on the porch opens and an older woman walks out. She gasps at the sight of the abandoned child and glances around for any sign of where the guardian had gone. Tightening her shawl around her shoulders, she scoops the child up and carries her into the building. She lays her down in a crib and notices the golden chain delicately hanging from her neck. Looking closely, she reads the engraving and makes out the charm to be that of a snowflake.

“Sera… Such a fitting name,” she whispers to herself before turning and heading back up to the employees’ quarters.

The child stirs, clutching her bear closer, and shivers for the first time in her life.