“So that is what he thinks?” Ezmeralda asked. Rolf shrugged. It had taken him just a week before he told her everything that Axel had said, though he was starting to wonder if he should have. It felt wrong to keep a secret from her, but at the same time he realized that he had broken the trust of a private conversation with his friend.

“So, I don’t have any reason to worry about you, do I? Is there a problem with you journeying with myself and Axel?” he asked. The two were laying down on either side of their small fire, the stars bright above. Axel had gone to sleep already and was snoring in his tent. Rolf knew the man wouldn’t awake and hear them talking, in their previous travels he had learned that Axel was a very sound sleeper.

Ezmeralda shrugged. “Aside from the fact that you’re endangering yourself by traveling with me, no. I don’t have any reason to be dangerous to you by myself.”

“I guess he is just paranoid.”

“Well, if I had my guess, he wasn’t just talking about the danger I pose in terms of magic, betrayal, or ulterior motives.” She said, shrugging. “He is probably worried about you, and well, our talks, and things…”

He blushed and hoped that through the firelight Ezmeralda would be unable to see his face redden. Then he felt some courage strike him, and though his stomach was twisting in knots when he spoke next, he still got the words out. “Well, that is what I was referring to as well. I shouldn’t be worried about that either, should I? I‘ve only known you a very little while, I know, but you’re…nice. Is it…is it any problem that I’m interested in you? That I think you’re intelligent and beautiful?”

Ezmeralda looked over at him, diverting her attention from the stars. She looked nervous, which was a break the normal confident and headstrong personality that Rolf always saw.

“Well, no, not really. It is a little strange though. I’ve just…well, I’ve never had any experience in romantic pursuits.” She said, frowning a little. “I don’t know what to think of it.”

“Really? I thought that noble’s socialized quite a lot, you know, dancing and courtships, and that sort of thing.” He replied. It had been his experience in Ursus that most of the nobility went to galas and meetings, and that arranged marriages were rather common. “When I first met you I thought that you were probably betrothed. That is why I started talking about the story of Isiya on the first day.”

“I know.” Ezmeralda replied. “You mentioned her being betrothed to the old emperor of Titan in the legend, and asked what I thought about arranged marriage. I figured you wanted to know about my situation, which is why I was so candid about it.”

Rolf felt his gut wrench a little and his heart well up. She amazed him and frightened him. She was always a step ahead. Every time he would bring up a subject, she was an expert on it, and everything that he had done over the past few days was obvious to her. She had been the one to initiate their current conversation, approaching him during his watch of the night. She had done that every night of their journey thus far, and they had discussed all manner of things from books to traveling.

“Isiya…you know some say she left Aericia to live here, after the king of Titan discovered her secret.” Rolf said. “That she was not human, but a dragon in disguise. Hey, you said the wizard we are tracking can change their appearance. Do you think that – wait, no, that wouldn’t make sense…You said you got their location from their mother. So you would know that they were a dragon or not. Perhaps someone with magic similar to dragons, or maybe with dragon blood allowing them to shapeshift?”

“Perhaps.” Ezmeralda said, looking back to the stars. She looked distant now, as if his mention of the wizard they had been hunting had turned her away from the conversation. “Celestial magic, the magic of the stars, is associated with many things. Changing appearances is one of those things. There are those in this world that are the descendants of dragons as well, who gave birth to human children while taking on human forms, but nobody knows of any that currently live.”

“The king has dragonblood in his veins.” Rolf said. He knew it had always been fabled, but after meeting the man in person he had become sure of it.

“I know that he is of the line of Sigurd, who founded this country, so he must be. I didn’t know if it still ran strong though.” She replied. “Tell me, what was meeting the king like?”

Rolf paused. He wanted to tell her, to reveal yet more details of a journey that in his mind was legendary. However, over the days he had realized that while she had inquired much of him, he hadn’t heard much of her life. She had just told him that she was not experienced with romance, but why was that? It wasn’t exactly fair if she learned all that there was to know about him and he listened to nothing about her.

“I’ll tell you, but first, I’d like you to tell me about what it was like to grow up in nobility. After you moved to Aericia. Why aren’t you betrothed? Does your uncle not want that for you?” he asked.

Ezmeralda didn’t look at him, and continued to look skyward. She seemed unfazed by the request, but Rolf felt nervous waiting for her answer. After a long moment, she spoke.

“I only got half of a real noble upbringing, Rolf.” She said, rolling her eyes. “I spent most of my time hiding away, being difficult for my uncle, and studying magic in secret. Mother had taught me a bit of magic when I was little. I used uncle’s library and those of other nobles to learn more. I never did partake in parties; I’d always hide away wherever our hosts kept their books and find the ones about magic. I stole a couple once. Every magician that came into Aruslan, I’d ask for their writings, and I’d pay them my allowances to be taught, instead of buying nice things like the other children. I had few friends, though I didn’t need them. Uncle…well, he was lenient. He had loved my father, his brother, dearly, and lamented his loss as much as I did. Uncle Aetri had already lost many people. His parents, his older brother and his wife. Losing his little brother and his sister-in-law was too much to bear. So he spoiled me.”

“That would be hard to take.” Rolf said, feeling saddened by the story. He’d had seven siblings originally and lost one when he was young to a plague that had hit Northstar, so he knew how hard it could be to lose a close loved one. To lose his whole family though, that would have been almost impossible to bear.

“It was hard for him, and he remains a broken man. His other brother had been a mage like myself and my mother, and so I think that when I took to the craft he let me do as I pleased because magic was a familiar thing to have around. He didn’t bother getting me taught anymore than the basics of how to act like a lady, and pampered me with anything that I wanted. It was nice, though sometimes quite depressing.” She explained.

“Did he know that you were starting this journey?”

She nodded. “Of course. He knew since the day I returned that I wanted to go back here. I’ve been planning this for a very long time. Since the day my parents died.”

Rolf felt a chill that wasn’t caused by the cold night or the ground below him. Perhaps she really was just out for vengeance. He didn’t mind that though, it wouldn’t be wrong in his mind. She deserved it, if anything.

“So, that is what it was like. To be a noble as a child. Now, you were going to tell me about the king?” she said. Then she turned her head toward him and smiled.

Rolfs mind reeled back. He was stunned for a second by her look. A sweet smile, the firelight dancing in her emerald eyes. It was mischievous and sad at the same time. It said ‘give me what I want’, and there was so much implied by it.

“So?” she asked, and he brought himself back to the conversation as fast as he could.

“Oh, yes, the king…the king. He was imposing. He was huge, menacing, but he also had a very kind demeanor. It was strange, but wonderful.”

“I think I know the feeling you are talking about.” Ezmeralda said. Rolf supposed she did. Perhaps she had met people of similar status in the past. After all, she had probably met the king of Aericia, or at least seen him, and that was a far more powerful country than Ursulam.

“They’re imposing by sheer presence. It is frightening, because you know the sort of power they hold, and it is almost as if that power is radiating off of them.” Ezmeralda said. “I’ve never met any royalty, but I did once meet a…well, a very powerful mage. They had an air about them that even made me afraid.”

“Oh, so you never felt afraid of anything till then?” Rolf said, smirking. He hoped the tease didn’t sound cheesy, or that she took too much offense. So far he felt he’d done well in speaking with Ezmeralda, inexperienced with romance as he was.

Ezmeralda sighed from where she lay. “Not really, no.”

“Hmm?” he asked, interested. “I’m sure there is something. Were you not afraid of the dark or monsters under your bed as a child?”

She giggled and shook her head. “Nothing important, I mean.”

“So you were afraid of monsters under your bed?”

“NO!” she said, and then covered her mouth with one hand when she had realized that she was being a bit too loud.

“That was a little too emphatic for me to believe you.” Rolf said, smirking.

Ezmeralda rolled her eyes. “What in heaven is that supposed to mean?”

“That you don’t want me to know you’re afraid of-”

“I’m not.”

“But you were.” Rolf replied.

“No, I wasn’t. I was afraid of really dumb and unimportant things as a child. I’m not telling you what those things were either.” Ezmeralda said. She sighed in mock frustration, but the smile on her face indicated that she actually enjoyed the exchange.

Rolf shrugged. Oh well, he’d have to make it his mission to figure out what one of the ‘unimportant’ things was. This was also a serious conversation though, so he had to focus its importance at the moment.

“The mage that you met…It wasn’t the mage that…”

Ezmeralda’s grin faded away. “No, no it wasn’t. That mage is powerful, but I am not afraid of them.”

“Ah, alright then.” He said. “I wonder what-”

He paused. Between the two sentences he had just spoken, he had taken a breath, and that breath had felt wrong. It had been too cold and biting. That sort of air usually came before a blizzard started, but there had been no signs of a storm coming. The sky above was still clear, and all day the animals had been out and about. There was none of the wind that usually accompanied a blizzard, he had checked on a nearby ridge just before they had made camp.

Rolf stood up, and then began scanning the darkness around their small fire. Without a moment of hesitation, he kicked the fire and then stomped it to embers in a couple moments. His eyes adjusted to the darkness almost immediately, and the full moon above made that task even easier.

Then, he could see something moving out in the darkness. The things that he saw looked like people, but as they neared the camp he realized that they were not human or animal at all. They were golem like creatures, made up snow and ice. They shambled forward with a slow but steady pace, and in their wake everything around them froze.