Deldion's wounds slowly closed in the coming days. In these days, sleep would constitute a majority of Deldion's schedule, and the old man would often disappear from the house as Deldion fell asleep. When the old man returned, Deldion would wake up to the smell of a rich and fragrant meal and occasionally a bowl of bitter tasting medicine.
Despite being in the body of an adult, Deldion had the mentality of a child, and he would try many ways to abstain from drinking the green and brown medical broth. Deldion tried clever ways into avoiding the drink, but every attempt to fool the old man resulted in a light beating from the old man. It almost seemed as if the old man had eyes on the back of his head!
"Bitter!? I'll show you what's bitter! Taste the end of my walking stick!" The old man would say when Deldion retorted on the medicine's taste. The old man never truly hit Deldion, at most it would be light taps from the wooden stick.
Today, however, was a particularly special day. In Deldion's hands was a piping hot bowl of medicine. The prince stared blankly at the bowl in his hands, before staring at the old man and turning his head to stare at the medicine once again. This occurred a few times before Deldion spoke.
"You can't do this!"
"I can't do this? Brat! Every time I give you a bowl of some quality porridge, you would gobble it up in a blink of an eye before asking for seconds! But when I give you a bowl of medicine after you finished the porridge, you would waste it in front of these old man's eyes!"
"As if you have eyes," Deldion commented on the old man's seemingly closed eyes.
"Hoho. One doesn't need eyes to observe their surroundings."
"So, you do not have eyes?"
"Eyes? Of course I have eyes! I just don't use them to see."
Deldion's face twisted in confusion as the old man lowered his voice in a mumble.
'How does the old man see then?' The prince's confusion was short lived as his attention was refocused on his medicine. Usually, the old man would give Deldion a nice meal before handing out the medicine. Today, the old man refused to give Deldion a meal before he drank his medication.
"This will cause the porridge to be bitter."
"It will end up in your stomach all the same, and that is final. Drink your medicine before I decide to ground you from porridge!"
The thought of not being able to have that delicious, thick, white porridge scarred the prince so much that the medicine in the bowl disappeared into thin air. The only evidence that Deldion consumed his medication was the swift aftertaste of bitterness that followed. His face contorted in shock and disgust as his left hand covered his mouth.
Strangely, Deldion felt fine. It was certainly an unpleasant feeling to consume so much in such a small span of time, but the medicine was not as horrendous as he anticipated. The feelings of disgust were shortly swept away as the old man placed a bowl of aromatic porridge in the prince's right hand.
The sweet and savory porridge tingled the senses of Deldion's tongue and drove away the lingering bitterness in his mouth. With a satisfied smile, Deldion finished his meal and feel back asleep. The old man grumbled at Deldion's supposed laziness, before leaving the room with dirty bowls in hand.
A few hours later, the prince opened his eyes from the unusually chilly room. The cold penetrated through the blanket that covered Deldion and invaded his healing body. The fire crackled with insignificant warmth as sounds of raging winds blew outside. From the window on Deldion's left, the prince witnessed snow the poured down almost like rain. Endless white dots would fall and fly before slowly layering on the piling snow. Memories of the past would seep into Deldion's mind as he observed the outside, reminding him that he was in a trial.
The snow reminded Deldion of his family's curse. Ever since the founding of the Jadeith kingdom, Jadeith Kings would lose their mothers at birth and would die at the age of forty. Deldion, Zinra, and their father was not excluded from this curse. When their father was alive, the king would remind the twins every winter of this horrible curse. After all, the princes' birthday was in the middle of this snowy season.
"The snow is beautiful, but also cruel." Deldion turned around to see the old man let out a whisper. For the briefest of moments, the prince had thought he had heard the voice of his father. It distracted and stunned Deldion from the freezing cold.
"Have you also lost something to the snow?" Deldion asked.
The old man remained silent as he came to sit on the bed. His crescent like eyes stared thoughtfully at the snowstorm before turning to Deldion. His forehead held slight wrinkles that reflected a sense of thoughtfulness from the old man.
"Everyone has lost something to the snow. I lost and found my lover in the snow." the old man explained slowly. Deldion's body trembled at the similarities between this man and his father.
"What did you lose to the snow, child?"
"I didn't lose too much. Just a mother."
A strange sense of understanding filled the atmosphere of the room. This sense of understanding stemmed from the simple reality of loss. They sat there solemnly as they stared at the ever falling snow.
Weeks had passed by, and winter slowly released its grasp of the land like an unwilling tyrant. The mountains of snow had retreated into the air, rivers, and ground. Small patches grass emerged from their germinating seeds as if they were setting a vibrant green carpet for a person of great importance. Splashes of water could be heard from a flowing river giving the mind a sense clarity and invigoration.
Deldion sat at the bank of this river and observed the flowing water. The morning sun had just shined its light on the earth, and a golden halo could be seen rising from the horizon. The birds sang their morning songs to welcome the sun as life began to fill the world once again.
Spring has arrived like a lady of purity and endless vitality. It was a new beginning for the land and a new chapter to Deldion's story.