Vetur: Cyan

"Please don't make me do this again. You know how it'll end. I feel nothing for him," I pleaded.

The woman who birthed me, The Queen-no one dared use her real name-didn't even spare me a glance. She just crinkled her nose, as if smelling something rotten, and continued to fiddle with the tray of food set on the table in the center of the opulent room. I'd only had minimal input on the décor, but I liked it. From the mound of decorative pillows on the couches to the heavy drapes covering the windows, shades of purple from soft lavender to dark eggplant were sprinkled everywhere the eye touched. I waited, anxiety ridden, wondering if she would respond.

Her, my father, my entire clan, all expected me to join with one of the coveted Glacier Warriors and reach the full potential of my Vetur power. I was determined to do no such thing, but as the only daughter of The Queen and King Damon-perfectly fine to use his name-it was up to me to continue the bloodline. I'd been trained to hone my skills and had exceled in all of my learning, but then I'd plateaued and everyone knew why. I needed my mate to balance me, to keep me from being consumed by Vetur. Not just any mate would do though. My power had to choose him. He had to be my equal in strength and cunning. It was up to him to be strong enough to survive a joining, then become a mate who would cherish and protect me-or forfeit his life. That was the part I struggled with. I didn't want to kill anyone, especially not our warriors.

"Do not ask for things you know you won't receive, daughter of mine. You know what is at stake here," The Queen finally replied. She didn't wait for me to respond before whisking away to the door and calling for my main attendant.

I glanced out the window. Of course, I knew what was at stake. I also knew how much none of this mattered. I wouldn't find my mate today. I would just kill another of our men, leaving one of our few women without a protector. Among my people, the Talvine, the women held the most power and were sacred. Rare. Those of us with the power of Vetur were even rarer. A girl being born only occurred every decade or so, leaving my people with an unusually high male to female ratio. This forced our men to remain alone for the entirety of their lives or form a household with one woman and multiple men. Even though The Queen was married to my father, she maintained relationships with three others in her royal guard. My father had been the first to be able to match her power. They'd discovered each other long before her power became destructive. This fact only served to prove how superior she believed herself to be to me. The only other alternative for our males was to mate with females of different races and cultures. Doing so wasn't frowned upon, but the inherent need to keep the royal bloodlines pure required that we mated with only our kind. A miserable practice that I wanted no part of. And who could truly blame me? It didn't matter to me who or what I mated, as long as they wanted me for me and not for my power. I knew my mate would not be amongst the Talvine. I had already killed three of my clan's most elite warriors by trying to prove that.

The first time was my 18th birthday, Christmas, of all days. What a gift. Every year since then I'd been forced to attempt a joining. I remembered the last one vividly. Daneth, a highly revered warrior, had staked his claim. He'd been certain that it was he who would break my annual slaughter-his words. He'd been wrong. So devastatingly wrong. I could still remember his eyes as they froze in their sockets. The look a horrific combination of shock, fear, and anger. I hadn't understood his anger. I'd warned him. Begged him not to touch me, but he'd insisted. I'd done everything in my power to dissuade them all, even going so far as to try and run away from my home. No one listened. And a small part of me had wondered. Wondered if he could be right. Wondered if he could be the one to end this nightmare. He'd been stronger than the two who came before him. His was prowess legendary second only to my best friend Kormen, the best Glacier warrior we had. I wouldn't have minded if he'd been my mate. He'd been somewhat kind. Handsome. He would've made a decent mate. A bigger part of me had known though. Known that it wouldn't be him.

Resigned, I hadn't tried to fight when I was discovered trying to secret my way out in the middle of the night through the hidden tunnel at the back of the estate. My parents hadn't even bothered to go through with the actual joining ceremony. Daneth had been brought to me. I'd let him touch me. If he'd been my true mate, Vetur would have surged between us and combined our essence. He wasn't and it hadn't. It'd registered him as a threat and immediately attacked. I'd watched his eyes as he caressed me. Watched as stark realization dawned in them. The smug smirk he'd worn had begun to fade, but stopped, frozen in place. I'd known without looking at his hand that it had frozen on my neck, the only spot that had been uncovered enough for him to touch. I'd known that as he struggled to remove that hand, his body had already begun freezing on the spot. I knew everyone had seen the frost flow along his limbs, his torso, his face. I'd caught sight of it once it reached his eyes. Eyes that had once been a warm chocolate brown had the color leeched from them until they glistened a light caramel. I hadn't taken my gaze away from those eyes, not wanting to see the horror that had surely sprung up on the faces of the onlookers.

"Lily, I want her in white when she meets her betrothed. Come now, we don't have much time." The Queen's voice brought my gaze from the snow-covered landscape beyond the window and my attention back to the room. Lily lowered her head in acknowledgement before moving to me.

My spirits lifted some when lily met my eyes through the mirror. I had to quickly stifle a giggle when she stuck her tongue out at my mother's back. I'd cried for hours after the incident with Daneth on Lily's shoulder. Her comforting words the only thing that got me through that difficult time. She'd told me not to carry his death on my shoulders, to put the blame right where it belonged. At my mother's feet. I smiled softly when she briefly squeezed my shoulder before picking through my plethora of makeup. I didn't know how I would have made it all these years without her and Kormen. They were always there to cheer me up and take my mind off the 'training' my mother put me through. Lily was the one to treat my wounds and patch me back up. To bring me food and water even when the Queen forbade it. Kormen had always been quick to distract my mother so I could have a moment of peace.

"I expect her to be suitable when I return."

I brought my attention quickly back to the Queen as she came to a stop behind me.

"This is for the best daughter, you'll see." She turned and sailed out of the room the guards quickly opening the doors for her.

As the guards exited behind her and the doors closed, I looked at Lily, shocked to see her shoulders shaking.

"What is it? Are you okay?" I asked in concern.

"Girl, had she started singing mother knows best I would have lost it!" She choked out, shoulders shaking harder as she leaned against my vanity.

A giggle escaped me as I pictured my mother breaking out into a classic Disney song and dance. Soon we were both laughing as quietly as we could, tears streaming down our faces as we held onto each other.

Sighing Lily stood up and wiped the last of the tears from off her face. She knelt at my side and took my hands.

"Listen, you know I'd never lie to you. This is going to be hard and it's going to be sad and it's going to make you angry. But you can and you will get through this. You're so much stronger than your mother knows. Than even you know. It will be okay."

She held my gaze with hers waiting while I took a deep breath and nodded.

"Good girl," she murmured approvingly. "Now let's get you ready."

For the next two hours I sat obediently while I was primped, primed, and made beautiful, all in an effort for me to commit murder. When I was finally deemed perfect by Lily, The Queen appraised me with a critical eye. A few minor adjustments were made before I received approval for my appearance and we were on our way.

As we were escorted to the throne room by a retinue of The Queen's guards I silently considered her earlier warning. I definitely knew what was at stake. The future of the royal line. The livelihood of my clan. The certainty of my life. This year I would be 22 years old. If I didn't find my mate soon, Vetur would destabilize and become unbearable. In the history of the Talvines, there had been two occasions where the princess had not found her mate in time. Both times held accounts of pure destruction, near annihilation. Both princesses had nearly decimated their entire clan before they were killed.

I didn't want that, but found myself wondering if death wouldn't be the better option. I didn't want to kill another warrior. Nor did I want to become another abhorrent history lesson. If I thought I'd get away with it, I'd try to run again. Unfortunately, since my last attempt I'd been more heavily guarded-for my protection, of course. The heavy wooden doors, inlaid with marble and ivory, and bearing the image of Talvine warriors locked in battle, swung open on silent hinges, pulling me from my thoughts. I hadn't even heard our arrival being announced, but I caught the end of it as hundreds of pairs of eyes zeroed in on us.

". . . The Queen and The Princess," the herald finished with a flourish and a bow. Every male present dropped to one knee; their heads bowed in deference. Those closest to the few women scattered throughout the room offered their hand so the women could half curtsey and dip their heads.

"My name is Cyan," I mumbled.

The Queen cut me a sharp look, the brown of her eyes glazed just slightly enough to let me know that her Vetur was surging. I considered lowering my gaze, but decided against it. My little act of defiance would surely piss her off more, but that was exactly what I wanted. I knew that I was stronger than her. Even without my mate, I was lethal, as evidenced by the litany of extra warriors strategically placed throughout the room. They expected me to fail with this joining just as I had at the others, so even here at the revealing ceremony, they'd upped the security. If I could provoke The Queen to lash out, the ceremony would be cancelled.

"Do not tempt me, child," The Queen warned.

"You insult me, my Queen. I would never," I goaded, a saccharine smile playing about my lips.

The Queen's glare could have frozen glaciers. Her mouth opened to lash out, but the clearing of her advisor's throat curbed her response.

"My Queen, the clan awaits," he implored, his eyes pleading with me to speak no more.

Forcing a deep breath, The Queen turned and began to move, her dress trailing behind her. Biting back a sigh at being thwarted, I followed at the customary five steps behind and to her left. We made our way to the front of the throne room where my father waited, his First Guard hovering nearby. I kept my head and eyes straight forward, fighting the urge to lift the hem of my dress. Even after years of making this walk, I still felt as though I would trip and fall. It wasn't enough to have my dress reach my ankles. It had to sweep the floor, never allowing my feet to peek out when I moved. A crock of shit if you asked me. No one asked me though, so there was that.

When I noticed no one other than my father upon the dais, it occurred to me that my betrothed wasn't present. He should have been there already. No one would be allowed to enter once The Queen had arrived. As if prompted by my thoughts, the doors to the throne room closed with a muted thud. A quick visual sweep of those surrounding the dais, brought me up short. For the first time since I'd come of age, strangers were present for a part of the mating festivities. And not just any strangers. Beautiful, intense, ruggedly handsome strangers, who didn't seem to get the memo that this was a black-tie affair. All brawny and burly, an air of menace surrounded them, enhanced by the wide berth my clan was giving them. Their eyes remained on me, not once acknowledging The Queen. Well shit. Their eyes were on me. They weren't kneeling or bowing. Instead they stood as though they didn't have a care in the world. The fisted hands resting against their chests, right where their hearts would be, was the only sign of respect they showed and even that was directed at me. The one on the right had a shock of red hair and his lips curved slightly when he caught me watching them. The one on the left was as blond as they came. He winked when my eyes met his and I thanked my creator for the dark skin that hid my blush. The middle one's hair was pitch black and while they were all hulking giants, he dominated in height and width. He did nothing but stare and that bothered the hell out of me.

Something about him called forth a challenging light in me, commanded my attention, but I wouldn't give it so easily. How dare he think he could command me or challenge me in any way. Vetur stirred within me and I tore my eyes away. I couldn't let myself get distracted and I realized how ridiculous it was that I was getting this worked up from his presence alone.

I trained my eyes on The Queen's back as my father stepped forward to help her up the stairs of the dais. Normally, I would follow with the help of Lily and be seated to the right of The Queen, but since this was my joining ceremony, I would remain where I stood. Once seated on her throne, she turned to me. As much as I wanted to rebel, I knew now was not the time. Dipping my head, I curtsied.

"Your majesties."

"Rise, my princess," she declared, her voice carrying throughout the cavernous room.

Doing as instructed, I turned to face my clan.

"Rise, Clan of Restari, and welcome."

The Queen would never speak directly to her subjects. That duty was left to King Damon or me. Senseless, but a power play was everything to the monarch. If I lived to make it to the throne that would be one of the first rules I would get rid of. Looking toward the herald who had somehow appeared to my left, I gave him a nod indicating he should start. I tuned out his words, but kept my face interested. Appearance was everything. Besides, he would only be spewing out our history and how important it would be for me to find my mate to ensure balance. I speculated if this year's spiel would include the horrors awaiting me should I fail to mate with whomever they'd chosen this time. The Queen would never allow that failure. She would be ashamed that her daughter, the heir to the throne, was an utter disappointment where it mattered most.

Movement in my peripheral caught my attention and I focused on it. Kormen, along with his sister and his parents, was here. I forced myself not to smile. It had been nearly three weeks since I'd seen him and if ever there was a day I needed my best friend, today was that day. Once my betrothed was reveal, we would move into the joining. He would be allowed to touch me and his fate would be fatally sealed. Kormen had been there since day one and though I couldn't touch him directly, he'd layer me in blankets and hold me while I fell apart. I wiggled my fingers slightly, our code for hello and in this case, 'I missed you.' His fingers didn't move and he didn't give me the easy grin he usually wore. His lips were ticked up at the corners and his eyes were bright and calculating. He didn't look like the jovial boy I'd snuck away and goofed off with all the time. He didn't look like my friend. He looked triumphant. Smug. His family, however, looked worn down. Which was weird considering they'd been on vacation in The Hot Springs, one of the warmest locations near Sault Ste Marie.

Kormen's mother covered a sob with her hand as her husband pulled her into his side. It occurred to me that I should tune into the herald just as Kormen took a step forward. And another. And another. Where the heck did he think he was going? He kept moving and it took me quite a moment to realize he was coming toward me. But this couldn't be happening. A gasp escaped me and I stumbled back. The Queen's voice barked a command, reprimanding me for sure, but it went ignored as I stared in horror.

Kormen. My best friend. My brother in every sense of the word except by blood. My confidante. My lifeline. And my parents had chosen him to be my next victim.

"No!" The word spewed vehemently from my lips. If they thought I would allow this then they knew nothing about me. I knew they would do whatever it took to ensure my ascension to the throne and if I were to think logically, I would see their reasoning behind choosing Kormen. He was the strongest amongst our warriors. The fiercest. Unparalleled in his resilience. If anyone stood a chance against balancing my power, it was surely Kormen. However, I was not in a logically thinking frame of mind. They would not make me do this. They could not. I loved Kormen.

Just as much as I loved my real brother, Dallon. It was not an intimate kind of love, but that of the closest friend possible. My feelings toward him were and would always be nothing more than platonic. In spite of his strength, I would kill him. They had to know this. They had to understand that this was a sacrifice not worth making. He wouldn't survive this. I wouldn't survive this.

My father's eyes narrowed in confusion as he looked from my face, a mixture of grief-stricken horror and incredulity, to The Queen's, pure stone. In that moment I knew that he'd been told I was okay with this. She'd led him to believe that I would actually go through with this atrocity. And he'd believed her. He took her word for it and never even thought to consider that she'd lied just as she'd done my entire childhood.

"My Princess, it'll be ok. I'm prepared for this. I can handle it," Kormen stated.

I stared at him, my mind reeling. One, I didn't remember Kormen ever calling me princess and two, he knew this would happen. He knew and he let me be blindsided. Ambushed. I could feel my hands frosting over, a chill settling over my entire body.

"You pre...you were...how did this..."

The words refused to come. Questions and sentences fractured within my mind before they fully formed. He'd agreed to this. He'd told me nothing. Betrayal-deep, throbbing, and consuming, coursed through my entire being. I tried desperately to calm myself, inhaling and exhaling deeply, but I could feel the chill settling in. A few gasps were heard in the crowd and I knew that if I could see them, my irises and pupils would be turning pale blue, almost ghostly white. I felt a cold breeze as it began to stir around me, letting me know that I probably wouldn't have to wait until after my birthday to lose control of my Vetur. In my anger, I would surely be the first princess to truly eradicate her entire clan.

"Cyan, calm down," Kormen pled as he took a step closer to me, his breath puffing out in small white clouds as he spoke.

The fact that he'd reverted back to my name wasn't lost on me. It actually made it worse.

"Cyan! You will cease this tantrum at once!" The Queen shouted.

Cease? Tantrum? I would not. The breeze grew stronger and in an effort to calm myself, I closed my eyes. It did no good. I heard the stirrings of panic in the yelps and shuffling of my clan. Opening my eyes, I turned to face them. Those closest to me scrambled away. Others stared in slack-jawed shock, unable to understand what they were seeing. "Leave," I screamed as I clenched my fist. From my feet a wave of ice shot out, blanketing the floor. It disappeared beneath the feet of my clan and froze some of them in place. Shocked and somewhat horrified whispers of The Vetur flowed through the panicking crowd. The men scrambled to help the women escape, bodily lifting some of them and running for the door. Some stayed to help their brethren free themselves from where they'd been frozen. The bravest of them all? Those stayed to face me. They formed a barrier of warriors between myself and those unwilling to risk the depth of my fury. Bravehearts. Had I been in control of my own faculties, I would've been proud of them. However, anyone with eyes could see that I wasn't remotely close to being in charge of myself.

"Cy, please! Listen to me, you have to stop. This isn't you, please don't do this," Kormen shouted.

I could barely hear him over the roaring winds that I'd created. I didn't want to hear him though. I didn't want to listen to him suddenly revert back to the friend I knew and loved. And my Vetur? It wanted nothing more than to face the challenge of taking out the warriors before me. Their numbers created a worthy opponent. Vetur surged through me, shocking my body into a numbing cold. My power had never affected me directly. That should have been concerning, but I was beyond concern.

"You think you can stand against me?" I challenged.

None of them seemed certain, but there was a resoluteness to them. They didn't want to fight with me. I was their princess, not a mean bone in my body. Yet here I stood, poised to take them out. And I would. I would destroy them all with no remorse if they attacked me. Vetur was in control and she swept through me, icicles forming sharp knives in my grips. They would regret the many days I spent suffering through their extensive training regimen. A cruel smile graced my lips. Vetur would revel in this and since we were one, I would do the same.

"What's happening to her? Why is she doing this?"

That voice. Deep and raspy, compelling and demanding. It sent a shock of warmth rushing through me and Vetur took notice, urging me to seek him out. That warmth felt extremely nice. Torn between exterminating the threat of the warriors before me and exploring the voice that I somehow knew belonged to the dark stranger, I was glad when The Queen spoke. This was her doing. She was at fault. She needed to be dealt with.

"This doesn't concern you, Valen. Stay out of it. Cyan, do not make me tell you again. You will stop and you will do it at once," she snapped, gathering her skirts and moving to face me.

I turned to her and leveled her with a glare that I knew she would have been proud of under different circumstances. On second thought, her shitty motherly instincts probably still made her proud. My father sucked in a deep breath, having never seen me like this, but he moved to stand closer to his mate. He seemed to think he could protect her. Yet no one seemed to think I needed protecting.

"Or what, Celeste?" I questioned as I made my way up the steps of the dais. She was no longer The Queen in my eyes. She was no longer sovereign. "What exactly will you do? Punish me? Starve me? Beat me?" All things she'd done or had ordered to be done to me at some point in my life. "Kill Kormen? No, that's what got you into this mess. So, what? Kill me?" I raised a brow in question, but didn't give her time to respond. "By all means, my Queen, please do. I have nothing left to lose. I'll never sit upon that throne. I'll never find my mate. And if you weren't too stubborn to see that you would've let me leave when I tried to. Instead you've doomed us all and left me no choice!

My last words came out as a roar as I swept my hands forward and up into an arc, sending a wall of ice rushing toward her. She threw her hands up in retaliation, palms facing outward, erecting a wall of her own to stop mine. As I knew it would, mine plowed through hers as though it were simply a pane of glass.

"Guards!" My father bellowed as he grabbed his mate, snatching her away from my line of fire. My parents' guards hesitantly sprung forward, but with a flick of my wrist, I pushed them back and closed them within a dome of ice. It wouldn't kill them, but it would keep them from interfering. My fury was reserved for her alone. I didn't really want to hurt the protectors of our clan. I would force her to protect herself though. I would force her to face what she had created. Being cold and icy was a pillar of our culture, but she took it to the extreme. While my brother Dallon had been coddled, supported, and encouraged, I'd been pushed and prodded, forced to stretch my limits more and more each time I thought I'd reached my breaking point. I'd spent countless hours in training, my mind and body starved for sustenance. No food, no sleep, and no interaction with anyone outside of my teacher. My mother. And my father had allowed it. Only in secret he came to me and showed me the kind of love and care that I craved. Vetur had allowed his touch. Hadn't seen him as a threat. At least not until now, when he'd sided with her.

"Your guards will not keep me from her!"