"Maybe you're right." Lyana had heard of the Ice Kingdom. Allegedly, the royal family simply
abandoned their people, making it a popular place for criminals. But since people didn't like to talk
about this kingdom, she hadn't even known how close it was to her own. "I just want to take a quick
look at it before we turn back." As soon as she had said that, she was already galloping towards the
forest with her horse. Hadia followed her, albeit more compulsorily than voluntarily.
When they reached the forest, Lyana jumped off her horse and left it on the meadow. The border of
the two kingdoms was marked by the beginning of a white powder laying on the floor.
"This is snow, princess," Hadia explained to her, who seemed to know so much more than she did.
The princess carefully touched the snow and flinched. "It's cold," she mumbled more to herself.
Curiously, she dared a few steps into the forest, her maid always close behind her.
It got colder and colder the deeper they entered into the forest. Lyana could even see her own breath. Yet she was so enchanted by the beauty of this forest, which was so very different from the forests in her kingdom.
She went to one of the trees and touched it. It was wet. It actually seemed like the tree was melting
under her hand. "This is ice," she exclaimed in surprise and turned to Hadia. "These trees are made
out of pure ice." That had to be the reason why the whole forest began to glitter in the most dazzling
colors with the slightest ray of sunshine.
"Your Royal Highness", her maid looked at her with concerned eyes, "we really should go. I don't
want to be here when it gets dark."
Lyana nodded slowly and the two young women turned around. They had just reached the end of
the forest when they heard a faint crack.
"Well, look who we got here. What are two girls from the Sun Kingdom doing in our cold forest?"
A tall, thin man stood in their way. Three more men followed him. They were all dressed in dirty
clothes and smelled like they hadn't bathed in weeks.
"We were just about to leave," Lyana explained, holding her head high.
"Really?" The man in front of them looked at them doubtfully. "I don't think so. You know, girls as
pretty as you are going for good money on the slave market."
That wasn't good. Lyana had grown up much too sheltered to know what to do next. So she did the
best she could think of. She grabbed the hand of her frightened maid and ran into the woods.
"Follow them!" She heard the man shout behind them. Lyanas heart was beating incredibly fast. A
quick look back showed that the men were not far away. If only she'd listened to Hadia. She had
told her that it was too dangerous to go into this forest.
The princess noticed how she was slowly losing her strength and her lungs burned with every breath
that she took. The men would catch up with them and, in the worst case, kill them.
Another look back showed her that her lead was decreasing. She was about to turn around again
when she ran straight into something broad and hairy.
Startled, she stumbled back slightly, still clutching her maids hand. The hairy thing turned out to be
a coat out of fur and the broad something that was wearing the coat was a tall man who looked at
her with ice blue eyes.
"Princess", Hadia shouted shrilly and pointed to the men who had not only caught up with them, but
also surrounded her. Some had drawn knives, others seemed to place more emphasis on blunt
violence through their fists. It seemed as if the amount of men had even increased.
"Princess?" Repeated the tall man Lyana had run against questioningly. Their eyes met again and
she felt as if her heart would freeze to death. But what happened next seemed so unreal to her that
she briefly wondered if she was actually dreaming.
One of the men who had been chasing them rushed towards her with his knife and both Hadia and
Lyana closed their eyes screaming. When they didn't feel anything, they opened their eyes again.
The big man in the animal fur had drawn a sword that glittered as if it were studded with red diamonds. But on closer inspection, she realized that the sword wasn't that red by nature. It was because it was covered in the attacker's blood.
Time seemed to stand still. None of those present dared to take a step. Then one of the attackers
broke the spell and pounced on the stranger. This one, completely unaffected, thrust his sword into
his chest.