Wintertide Read online

  Once more my father turned, though this time his eyes were warm and danced with pride as he crossed the room. I knew it was my sister that approached. He would escort her to her seat as he always did, though the thought never crossed his mind to do so for me. I stared straight ahead, refusing to turn and acknowledge her as I bit the inside of my cheek and urged myself to not say anything that I would later regret.

  They rounded the table and at last I looked up as they stopped next to her seat, my father pulled it back for her and helped her sit. My stomach sank as I noticed her gown, I should have known she would pull something like this.

  Alayna wore ice blue, the one color I had purposely avoided, and the silk blended perfectly with shimmering white darts down the length of the skirt. Hung from her ears were long crystal earrings, a perfect reminder of the ice shards I so unwillingly created.

  My father beamed as he helped her sit and pushed in her chair. My mother stood at one end of the table as my father moved to the other. At the same time they both took their seats and my father nodded to the maid to begin serving dinner.

  This would be a long drawn out affair as it always was, course after course of pointless food being served that would neither fill me nor satisfy me and would only send me sneaking off to the kitchens to find food later.

  The first course was served and I glanced down, holding back my groan as I recognized the nasty cucumber soup they liked to call a palate cleanser placed in front of me. I forced a thin smile on my lips as the maid stepped away and waited for my father to begin before reaching for my spoon. I knew I had to play along tonight, if there was any hope of recovering anything from today.

  My father watched me like a hawk as I lifted the spoon to my mouth, missing the snide smirk that Alayna sent my direction. The soup hit my stomach like a stone and I forced the revulsion aside as my father cleared his throat.

  “Now, I don’t like to discuss such matters at dinner, but considering we have no other choice, we must overlook certain preferences to attend to a few matters at hand,” he stated firmly, as he lifted the spoon to his mouth, seeming to have no care in the world.

  Again, my sister smirked and I bit harder on the inside of my lip, instead quietly nodding at his words.

  “We have spent an incredible amount of money to ensure this family's safety, yet you have failed to do your part, Evangeline. As any parent would be forced to do, you must face the consequences of your actions,” my father continued eating. I stared hard into my bowl, the swirls of green matching the rolling feeling in my stomach.

  “We don’t want to do this, but you have left us with no other choice,” he continued, sounding as if his mind were already made up. This was completely unfair. While I knew that his decision was final, he had also said we were going to discuss my future, I would be damned if I would just sit by and not say anything at this point.

  “Father, you said we would discuss this. Please at least hear me out,” I insisted, lowering my spoon, meeting his steely gaze.

  “There is nothing more to discuss, the decision has been made,” he replied harshly.

  My skin began to tingle and the silver spoon in my hand fogged over, little icicles darting away from it across my soup. I jerked my hands back and pulled them under the table onto my lap, still gripping the spoon as I clenched them together and willed my powers to remain at bay, hoping that this one time they would actually listen.

  “How can a decision have already been made when we have not even talked about anything?” I reasoned, my voice straining as I struggled for control.

  “There is no discussion needed, Evangeline. We have given you every opportunity, yet you have still not done your part. For the safety of our belongings and our daughter we must send you away,” he stated.

  My gaze darted frantically around the table, there had to be some mistake. My sister sat across from me, her face schooled of all emotion, of course she wouldn't want my father to see how much pleasure this brought her. It was supposed to be a great shame on the family and it wouldn’t do to show otherwise.

  Wordlessly, my mother swirled her spoon around in her soup, her only sign of agitation, and I knew I would receive no help from her.

  The lack of everyone's response had me snapping. If they had already made up their minds, there was really not much worse that I could do at the moment anyway. “This has to be some kind of fucking joke,” I said to the table at large, my fury growing that they couldn’t see my sister for what she was.

  “If anyone should be sent away, it’s that bitch across the table. If it weren’t for her, none of this would even be an issue. Yet you remain blissfully unaware of the monster that she is. Either that, or you don’t give two fucks enough to see it,” I was practically yelling now, but I didn’t care. They needed to hear the truth, whether they accepted it or not.

  “You will be quiet or you will regret it,” my father ground out between clenched teeth.

  “Regret what? The decision has already been made, hasn’t it? The only thing I regret is that I was born into a family that is too damn stupid to see the truth when it’s right in front of their very eyes,” I spit out, the spoon in my hand now encased in its own block of ice.

  My father's hand shot out as he backhanded me, the sharp sting of it ringing through my ears and echoing through the room. I sucked in a breath as I gripped the ice in my hand hard, fury rolling through me now that he would strike me.

  I shot to my feet, the chair flinging back from me and clattering to the wooden floor. I threw the frozen spoon into my bowl and the wretched green soup splashed over the edge, instantly freezing in its motion, never hitting the table, as its little waves froze mid-splash. In hindsight, it would have been comical, but I was too damn pissed off to see the humor in it at the moment.

  “Send me away. I would rather be anywhere than here,” I turned and fled from the room, ignoring my father's demands that I return. I raced up the stairs, the floor beneath me turning to ice along my path and shards of crystals crept up my arms. I wanted nothing more than the solitude of my room. At this point, what would happen was determined anyway, there was no reason I needed to put on a front any longer in an attempt to alter his decision.

  I reached my room and flung myself on my bed, tears freezing like little drops of diamonds as they fell to my bare mattress. Crying would do me no good, but it did make me feel better to let some of the frustration out.

  I had no clue how long had passed since I had darted from the family dinner when a soft knock sounded on the door before it was pushed open. I sat up as I thought how ridiculous it was that my mother still knocked as it was simply a formality, not a courtesy. I glanced out of my window, if the lowered sun were any indication, hours had passed, they probably finished their meal despite my outburst. Appearances were everything after all.

  My mother stepped into my room, her face sadder and more concerned than I had ever seen before. She studied me for a moment before quietly shutting the door behind her and crossing to me. “We need to talk,” she said quietly.

  “Mother, there is nothing more for me to say. Father has reached his decision, and you will not disobey him,” I replied, hurt that my own mother would not stand up for me.

  “If you have nothing to say, then you must listen,” she eased herself down on the corner of my bed, still out of arm's reach from me. She might be off tonight, but some things never changed, her fear of me being one of them.

  “There is much about our family history that you are unaware of, yet it might be of importance in the future,” she took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. I had never seen her like this before so I sat and waited quietly for her to continue before she decided to clam up.

  She pulled at her skirt, straightening it before she began to speak. “Your Great Grandmother was a very powerful sorceress, one that could control the snow and the ice. Not only did she wield a great deal of power, she was also the Snow Queen.”

  I sucked in a breath at her revelation, b
ut remained quiet, hoping she would continue. Not to mention, I had no reason to doubt her words as I could tell how much it pained her to be telling me this.

  “She was lonely and desired love, yet no one wanted anything to do with her for fear of her power. In a desperate attempt to find love, she kidnapped a young boy from a local village. In time he grew to love her and she him. As most do when they are in love, they decided to seal their union, and that marriage, a simple human man, and the most powerful sorceress of all time, changed our family line forever.

  “They had a single child together, and though that child had very little magic, she was loved beyond belief. That child was my mother,” she paused again, gathering her thoughts. I searched her features for any sign that she was not telling the truth, but I was unable to find any. What reason did she have to be telling me any of this now though? After all this time she had ignored my existence and sided with my father about the shame my power brought our family.

  At last she spoke again, “She knew that she must have a child born with great magic to ensure our family line, and the magic that was born with it. It was not going to be possible from her union with a human, so in order to do what was best for our family, and for the people she ruled over, she was forced to give up the man she loved, and enter into a loveless union.

  “She remarried, this time to a sorcerer with a strong affinity for elemental magic. His control over electricity rivaled that of even the Snow Queen’s control over ice. While she ruled the North, he ruled the South and she was forced to move to his home.

  “The Snow Queen resented herself for choosing power over love, even more so when she had to leave the only home she had ever known. They did eventually conceive a child together, though she too had not an ounce of magic.

  “My grandmother was angry, her life was coming to an end, and not only did she not have the powerful heir to take over her reign, she had lost the love of her life. She disowned my mother, unable to face the hard truth that she had given up everything and yet gained absolutely nothing in return.

  “My mother married a human and I was born, yet I never met my grandmother as they never reconciled. My grandmother passed away when I was very young so I was never able to take that opportunity, though from the stories told, she would have never allowed it anyway as she was so intent in the end to find power.

  “Her castle was left abandoned, with no heirs to take over, it was left to ruin. I know you know that part of it as it is the history of our people. What you don’t know is what came of the other child,” my mother looks at me, a tear rolling down her cheek. I wanted to reach out to her, but I was too afraid of rejection and somehow knew there was more she needed to tell me.

  “Why are you spilling secrets now, Mother?” I questioned, wondering why the sudden revelation. My fate had already been determined, none of this mattered as I was being shipped off to a boarding school, I just had yet to find out which one.

  “I’m telling you this because you need to understand how important it is for you to control your gift,” she snapped before she shuddered out a breath, visibly calming herself.

  “You were never told about the opposite side of the family line. The one that descended from the sorcerer. There have been rumors that the magicless child the sorcerer had with your great grandmother married into power. From their union they bore a child of immense power, one that chose the darker path of things. And he too has a son,” she informed me, searching my face for understanding.

  “I don't understand, Mother. What does any of that have to do with me?”

  “If they are as dark as is rumored, they will be out to take advantage of those with power. The results will not be pretty. More so, if you don’t have control over your abilities. I fear they may already know of your existence,” she watched me as the words sank in.

  If I thought I could feel any more uneasy about being sent away, I had been wrong. “I understand mother,” I told her as relief washed across her face. She started to move toward me, and I thought for a brief moment that she might hug me, but instead she backed away and gave me a curt nod. The same cold woman I had grown to know in front of me again.

  She turned and started walking out of my door, stopping as I called after her.

  “Can I ask you something, Mother?” I blurted out. She looked at me blankly and so many questions raced through my mind. “Where am I being sent?” I asked at last.

  “Shadow Isle Reformatory,” she murmured before turning and leaving my room without another glance in my direction.

  I had been concerned over being sent away to Academy, now I had good reason to be not only downright scared, but completely terrified. With that name, it was official, things could not get any worse.

  Chapter Three

  I sat in the back of the van and scanned the file of the newest prisoner I was picking up. It was best to be prepared for my transports, especially when my work dealt with magic users that were deemed bad enough to be sent to Shadow Isle.

  The van bounced up and down and shifted me in my seat as the papers slid across my lap. “Damn it, Sergio, watch the potholes,” I grunted loud enough for my voice to carry through to the front seat. While we were separated by thick iron bars, I knew he would still hear me.

  The entire back of the van was lined with the thick iron bars, a secondary precaution to ensure none of our transports escaped. The first line of defense was me and the binds that I tied to the person, keeping their magic immobile. If for some reason I was overpowered, or we were in an accident and the driver or myself were to be incapacitated my magic would be rendered useless, and with the types of people we transported, there was no taking chances without risking deadly consequences.

  I gathered the papers back together and read through. “Prisoner number six, three, five. Elemental sorceress. Snow and Ice, considered extremely dangerous, quick to anger and seek retribution. This woman was accused of attacking her father and trying to kill him,” I read out loud from the file, paying no attention to the name as it wasn’t necessary for my job. I read further down and noted that she had also attacked her sister in the past with no provocation and showed lack of remorse.

  I let out a small huff, she was no different than any other transport I had done in the past few years. Perhaps she was one of the least dangerous, even considering her profile, and damn, I could use an easy transport today.

  After a long week of attempting to work with the prisoners in my class to improve themselves so that they could return to society, only to meet wall after wall with them, I was bone tired and needed a break.

  As correction officers, we were supposed to work on reforming the prisoners, but ninety percent of them didn’t give a fuck. It would have been great if the warden would have listened to my ideas of a separate class for the ones that showed promise, but just like the rest of Shadow Isle, he didn’t give two fucks.

  Every single day I had to break up fights between prisoners, over stupid shit, and everyday I found myself wondering what the hell I had been thinking when I took this job. I ran my hand over my face as I thought about why. The noble idea that I could help people stuck in the system, help them where it had failed my brother.

  He had gotten himself in with a bad crowd and ended up at Shadow Isle. His addiction to the new psychedelic herbs that were all the craze on the streets, twisted his mind and took away any sense of reality for him.

  In his haze induced stupor, unable to differentiate what was real, and what was drug induced, he had killed a young woman. He should have been sent for treatment, but instead he had been sent to a place where he could get not only the herbs he was addicted to, but get introduced to much worse ones like pixie dust. After he found that new addiction, they considered him a lost cause, and he died without ever getting a chance to redeem himself.

  The experience made me realize that these reformatories were a fucking joke and pressed me to learn everything I could about them. I swore on the mass grave they had tossed him in, along w
ith the others that they had considered unworthy of a proper burial or even marking their graves, that I would do everything within my power to prevent the past from repeating itself.

  Years later and I still struggled to even make a dent in the system. Between the dickhead warden and the dirty correction officers, I hadn’t found a way to stop the pixie dust from getting through. Let alone been able to make much progress with the so-called reform that they boasted for their prisoners.

  Every time I thought I had taken a step forward, I was tossed five steps back. A fight or some stupid shit would happen, and the prisoner would be penalized with some unreasonable punishment, or whatever else the sadistic assholes could come up with to get their rocks off and make more lives miserable in that hellhole. Slowly the hope drained from the prisoners and they gave up. Everyday I felt the same way, only I was allowed to leave the island.

  I ran my hand over my face again. “I’m fucking burnt out,” I muttered to no one in particular as we neared our destination. Sergio stopped at a large ornate gate and I heard a muffled response through the intercom. As we passed through the gates I could barely make out the designs etched on them, but it was enough for me to know that this was just another spoiled rich kid that we had been sent to pick up.

  “Ready for this one?” Sergio asked as we pulled through. I knew he would accompany me for support, but he wasn’t very skilled to actually get involved if shit went south.

  “Yeah. Just watch out for her hands until I get them bound. I wouldn’t want you to get hit with a shard of ice. Who would drive me around if you ended up with one eye?” I tried to joke, hoping to lighten the mood and rid myself of the funk I was in.

  The van came to a stop as Sergio parked and turned off the engine. I waited as he came around the back and the keys jingled to let me out. From the inside of the van there was no way to let myself out, and that coupled with the iron fortified doors, I was better off just staying in my seat until he opened the doors.