"You should eat something before we leave." He handed her a small linen package containing bread
and sausage. But he had completely ignored her greeting. However, that was fine by her and she
was very grateful for the food. She ate it all and then folded the linen and laid it down beside her.
King Ulric had been silent the whole time, but when he saw that she was finished, he gestured to Baridi and he stood on the sledge in front of them. With a command he made the animals run and the sledge in which Alisen was sitting also started moving.
They were only a few meters away from the bridge, when Lyana noticed that King Ulric was not taking his eyes off the wolves. "Is something wrong?" The princess had the feeling that something did not suit him. But just like when she was greeting him, this question was simply ignored. Instead he continued not taking his eyes off the wolves and after a while he called something to Baridi. He immediately stopped the sled.
The Ice King got out and walked up to one of the wolves and released it from its belt. Then he
spoke to one of his subjects and the animals were rearranged. Only then did he come back to Lyana.
Together with the wolf.
The animal jumped into the sleigh and lay down in front of the king's feet. Lyana couldn't take her
eyes off the animal. His bright yellow eyes met hers and he began to growl lightly. She winced, startled and turned away.
"Look into his eyes," the king suddenly ordered her. In contrast to her, he looked perfectly calm.
Since he made no move to set the sledge in motion again, she had no choice but to obey him. So she
looked down at the wolf, who growled again. But after a very short time the animal calmed down.
He averted his eyes from her and rested his head on his paws. Now the king gave the signal to continue the journey.
"Why did you bring the animal to us?", Lyana asked curiously, even if she didn't necessarily expect
an answer. But this time she was surprised by King Ulric. "His paw is injured. He could have gotten
hurt badly on the trip, so he should rest."
Lyana looked back at the wolf in astonishment. Only now did she notice that he actually licked one
of his paws extensively and stretched it out slightly.
Compassionately, Lyana raised a hand to stroke the animal, but then she let it be. She didn't want to
offend the wolf.
The king smiled slightly when he saw this, but said nothing. Lyana guessed that she had done the
right thing. They spent the rest of the journey in silence. She wanted to ask him more questions, but
if he didn't care, he didn't seem to think that it was necessary to answer her. But she wanted to
forgive him. After all, he had shown that he cared about the welfare of his animals. That actually
touched the princess a little bit.
They drove through the forest for quite a while until Lyana could see the first dwellings. "What are
the houses made of? Aren't the trees made of ice?" Asked the princess, because her curiosity was
too great after all.
The king sighed softly, but answered her. "The forest here is made of ice, but a few miles further there are forests with trees made of normal wood. They are covered with a layer of ice, but this is removed during processing and the wood is then dried first. Not everything here is made up of ice and snow. There are even flower meadows in the southern part of the kingdom, but growing flowers in this cold weather is not exactly easy."
If it was so difficult, why was there an entire garden in the castle? The Flowers that grew there were
also found in the Sun Kingdom and needed a lot of warmth and sun. Shouldn't that be impossible?
She would have loved to ask him about it, but that would have given herself away. "I would like to
see the fields," she said without thinking too much. She just wondered if they looked very different
from yesterday's garden.
"Who knows, maybe one day it will be possible," said the king and Lyana wondered what he meant
by that.
Since she didn't want to be silent any longer, she thought of another topic. "May I ask what we're
going to do in the village? I don't think you came with me to go shopping, you could have just let me go with Baridi and Alisen."
"I'm going to meet one of my counts today, you will go to the market until then."
Is that really all? In theory, Alisen could probably have done this all by herself. Even Baridi would have been able to buy her a few things. "Not more?"
King Ulric looked over at her. "The count will bring his children with him. You will take them with you, so they do not disturb us further."