| Chapter Two | Snows of Sorrow |

  A butterfly drifts through the wind, flapping from wildflower to wildflower; the flowers range from white to purple to yellow.  The insect lands softly on the cheek of a sleeping Adara, her singed hair blowing in the wind.  It crawled over her blood streaked face, her lashes flutter open and it flutters away, her eyes follow until it lands delicately on a flower.

  Adara could have stared at the butterfly for hours more, but a gold-plated boot lands atop of the small insect.  Jerking her head up, she watches as the infantryman continues walking towards a horse, tying a bag to the saddle.  They don't care about anything but their kings' wishes.  It is disgusting.

  Her eyes flick from one horse to another; almost all of the fires has since been smothered by the earth around it.  Any sign that the men had taken up residence in the valley was stripped away apart from food scraps that laid on he ground, discarded.  It was as though they touched nothing.  After all, they burnt Juula to the ground and no one was left to say what had happened. 

  Adara knew.  She had seen everything. 

  She flexed her feet back and forth, digging her toes into the cool dirt; she hadn't realized until then that she had lost a shoe.  Her fingers wiggled awkwardly at her sides, a numb feeling in her fingertips.  Her entire body ached as she sat tied to the tree, the chains still pulled tightly over her, adding the to growing pain in her chest.

"Good morning," a deep, male voice says in an almost chipper tone.

Adara looks up and squints around the sunlight at the dark skinned man that stood in front of her. She made a point of not acknowledging the man despite his attempt at something almost like friendliness. He knelt down beside her, holding a small case of what she could only assume was water.

"It is mighty warm in these parts, so it is best you drink to avoid sickness," he suggests, moving the lid to her lips; she could only press her lips tight together as the liquid dropped down her face and chest. Her father always told her never to take food or drink from a stranger; who knew what they may have done to it?

"Miss, you really should take at the least a sip, it is in your best interest," he rises an eyebrow as he glances at someone behind her, but she ignored him. She wouldn't take a thing from him; she did not need it. She would sooner die. He tries once more to give her water, but it drops down her chin and chest once again.

She did not mind the coolness of the liquid on her hot skin, but she knew it was not wise to waste it, should it be water. Water was scarce around not only at Juula, but all of the glass kingdom. Not that they would know that; she did.

"What is the meaning of this?" Another voice rises to her side, and she gazes into the two oddly colored eyes of the prince. He snatches the case from the kinder man, gazing into it he bends down in front of Adara with a blank, calm face.  "You are too good for our water?"  He asks, his voice unwavering.

  "I want nothing from you," she glares at him, pulling against the chains.

  "I do not give two shits what you want from me, but you are going to drink, you are going to drink because you have to be alive when you meet my king," he continues, his posture tense as he matches her gaze.

  "I will not."

  He began to laugh, a low, sickening laugh that made Adara's stomach drop.  He pointed at the dark man, gesturing back at Adara.

  "Hold her head."

  She brought her leg up, kicking the man in the chest and knocking him to the ground, her upper body tense against the chains; she couldn't move.  The Prince smacked her roughly across her face, a stinging sensation crosses her cheek, knocking her head back onto the tree.  Adara tried to bring her foot back up, but the man grasped her head on both sides and tilted backwards.

  The Prince stood over her, out of the way of her legs which bunch up almost beneath her as her arms strain beside her as he shoves the container into her mouth.  Water forces itself down her throat, she wanted to cough.  To spit it up.  To get whatever poison he has placed inside of her, out.

He pulls it away and clamps a metal hand over her mouth, she coughed and her chest heaved as she has to choke it down. He waits until she stops struggling before removing his hand, watching her cough up what was left in her mouth. He thought it was pathetic, but he kept a straight face as he stared down at her.

"You may think that you have a choice in all of this, but you do not, consider yourself a mere nothing, because no one will miss you when you are held in a cell until your execution before the entirety of the golden kingdom," the prince sneers at her before walking towards a heavily armored horse.

  She felt speechless as she stared after the prince; she set her jaw tight.

  "If you had done what I had said, you would not have angered the prince," the dark skinned man scolds, which makes Adara scoff.

  "Your prince has the temper of a three year old and is incapable of reason, your prince is a mere child leading lost men," she sneers at him; her chest heaves as she pulls herself back against the tree.  Her body felt drained.

  "You are right about the fact that he has a temper like that of a child, but he has not ever truly been a child," the man gazed across the field at the prince who steers his horse a ways further than the rest of the men; he was scouting.

"I do not care in the manner of which he was raised, nor do I care in the manner of how he became such a vile creature, I solely wish to know how he thought it an idea to burn an entire village to the ground," Adara sets her jaw tight as the man begins to unchain her from the tree. He kept his mouth shut.

He worked in silence as he unchained her from the tree and hoisted her up by her upper arm; her head ached and her knees buckled under her. The man drug her over to his horse, hoisting her up onto it before climbing into it himself. She pulled her leg over to straddle the horse, her robes bunched around her upper thighs and exposed her long legs; the man behind her stiffened.

"A lady should never expose herself to men outside of their private quarters," the mans deep voice vibrated across her back as she leant up against him. She rolls her eyes at how he sounded like her mother; how her mother used to sound.

"I care not how you beasts gaze upon me," Adara stares ahead as the horses in the field begin marching forewords after the prince. As soon as they were gone, it was as though none had touched the fields in centuries.

  "No doubt, but what the men may do is what I worry about," he murmurs, and Adara grimaces as she remembered the man from the night before.

  "I am well aware."

  A silence fell upon them.  Birds chirping.  Bugs buzzing.  The small chatter of men was all that could be heard.  Adara clears her throat.

"What do they call you?"

The man glances towards the prince on his horse. "My men call me Baron Taledius, I rule over the land on which the Keep lies," Taledius stares ahead before glancing down to Adara.  "Is there a name that fits your face?" He asks quietly.

  "You would wish to know wouldn't you?" She smiles faintly, noticing the curiosity in his voice, but she kept her mouth closed.    She knew there was something between Taledius and Leonidas; Taledius did not seem too keen to the prince.  She would keep herself from them, as they kept themselves from her.

  The horse suddenly comes to a halt, Adara looked forewords to see several men unmount their own steeds.  Taledius frowns and stares ahead at the prince, grumbling under his breath, he climbs off of the horse.  Adara grimaced as he caught her around her waist and helped her off of the horse.

"There is only one thing I hate more than traitors, and that is J'anthas," Taledius frowns and runs a hand over his sweat covered head and neck. Adara had heard of J'anthas -- the invisible path between the two kingdoms. She had also heard of the stories that circulated about men murdered on the mountain path by a creature from the surrounding forests.

"Have you ever felt threatened living so close to my people?" Adara asks quietly, stepping carefully over large rocks, her feet sore on the hot and sharp rocks.

"I do not feel threatened because we have always respected the forests as a territory line," Taledius murmurs. "The road from my lands to the Gold lands is far longer than the mountain from my lands to yours, and I am more threatened by my king than your kind."

Adara gives a small laugh as they continue forewords; if only they knew how her King really was.  A brutish monster.

  She hisses as a rock slices her bare foot, she clenches her hands into fists at her sides as she continues slowly forewords.  She and Taledius lag behind the rest of the men, but he keeps his own mouth closed about it.  He hooks a gentle arm around her to help her walk; she almost thanked him.

  The stinging of her foot was almost as noticeable as the pain in her side.

  Adara felt the hairs on her arms rise as a cool breeze washed over her, blowing her tendrils of hair behind her.  They walked on for what felt like hours before the rocks beneath her feet morphed into a thick, hard ground.  She glanced up towards the tops of the small trees to see the tip of a large castle.  She smirked.

  "For a man so conserved, you sure know how to flaunt your riches," Adara says quietly.

Taledius laughs, "Wait until you see where the king lives, his entire city is made of gold."

The ground becomes a cobblestone road, several small houses with small yards full of chickens line it. A large stone and wood gate lies ahead, two armed guards stand tall in front of the giant doors.  As the men see the prince, they rush to push the doors open, they open slowly.  Too slow for the prince's liking.

  "Don't you slugs know how to open a simple gate?" His loud voice booms over the horses and the chatter of people who came to inspect what was going on with all of the commotion.

  They enter a large open area, animals and people crowd the area.  Those who previously were going about their day were now watching the spectacle in front of them.  Adara flinches as someone throws a glass bottle onto the ground beside her, shattering.  Taledius keeps a firm hold on her.  He swore he could feel her tremble.

  Food, rocks, and bottles were thrown at her as she walked beside the men. Glass shards cut her feet as she walks forewords, most of her weight is held up by Taledius who kept quiet as they walked. Several men take the horses to the side, allowing for them to reach the gate to a large building where the king likely stayed inside, he prince stood in front of the door.

"I want her in full chains -- she is not to be left alone, she has killed men, she will kill the king given the chance," prince Leonidas barks out to two guards at the doors who take Taledius' place, large chains in their hands. Adara bites her lip as the men begin to chain her.

Chains encircle her ankles, connecting together. More chains wrap around her chest, holding her arms down. Another around her neck. All the chains connect to a larger one which a guard held tight in front of her. She was an animal to them. The thought made her smirk. It meant that they were afraid of her.

  The other guard, with his hands free, opened the doors and allowed for the prince, Taledius, Adara and the other guard to enter.  Adara gazed around the large room, her eyes flicking from the smooth marble floors to the large candelabras that line the walls.  It was beautiful to her.  The prince thought it dull.

  "Take her to the cells until the king is prepared for a meeting," the prince growled before stomping away through another door inside the Keep. A small step echoes through the hall, and Adara's eyes land on a girl who stands on the spiral staircase, her hair as dark as night. The girls' eyes widen as their eyes meet, her gasp audible in the silent stairwell, the girl nearly falls backwards.

"This way," the guard snaps, pulling the chains roughly and almost knocking Adara to the ground. She follows the man, her eyes widen as she is pulled towards a boarded door; it opens slowly, revealing a torch-lit stairwell which spirals down, built out of cobblestone bricks.

They walk slowly, her feet cold on the dank stones, her shoe on her foot had nearly fallen off as it wore down in several places from her extensive walking. As they reached the bottom, they met another door; the guard unlocked it with a set of skeleton keys. Adara smiled.

Keys mean a way out, and she knew that the best way out is the way you went in.

  They enter a narrow walk-way with cells down the sides of the room, at the end is a small wooden chair for a guard to sit.  The sounds of coughing and dropping water fills Adara's ears.  The guard opens a cell towards the middle of the room, pulling Adara inside.  He grabs her upper arm and helps her get to her knees before securing the end of her chain to the floor.

  The chain was pulled tightly to the floor, so tight she had no room to move, she had to stay on her knees as he closed the cell door and locked it.  She listens to his footsteps until they were cut off by a slamming door -- the men made up for the silence.

"When was the last time you have ever seen a lady down in these cells?" The older man asked.

"When was the last time you ever seen anyone in so many chains?" The younger one laughed.

  Adara could only laugh at their words; her chest hurt to do any more.

  "What did you do to end up in here, little lady?"

  She was silent.  These people were down in the cells for a reason; they were not her friends.  They might not have done worse than she has, but they still can't be good.  She wasn't good.  She jumped as a hand reaches into her cell, it's so close to her face that she could smell the broth on his fingers, his fingers take her hair into their hand.

  "It isn't polite of a lady to ignore a man when he speaks to her," the younger man frowns.

  Adara sneered, jerking her head.  "I've been hearing an awful lot of what a lady should and should not do." 

  "Maybe if you acted like you should, we would not have to say it," he growls back, his hand grabs her apron, pulling her body to the side as far as the chains would allow.  She winced in pain. 

  "Let go of me, right now," Adara writhes in the chains.

  "I haven't seen a woman is so long, you don't realize how much of a treat this is," the young man laughs.

  "If you lay another hand on me, I will slaughter you as I did the armed men of gold, do you understand the words that come from my mouth?" Adara warns the men.  A silence drifts over them.  A door opens.

  Footsteps.  Slow.  Adara grimaces as two guards stand in front of her cell. They unchain her. A rat scurries by, his tail visible for a moment as he runs past the torches. One guard holds her chain tightly in front of her; the other walks behind her, an axe pushes into her spine, urging her on.

They climb the stairs. It was so quiet Adara could hear the blood on her feet stick to the floor. She suddenly felt as though she weighed a thousand tons as she walked towards a large door -- the royals lay behind it. Her shoulders sank.

"Within the hour, my axe will split your head from your neck, I hope you look forward to it as much as I," a guard smiles.  Adara bit her cheek.  It was a possibility.

  The doors are opened slowly, Adara squints as the brightness of the torches in the throne room meet her eyes.  She's shoved forewords roughly.  She stumbles into the room, a long line of white velvet lead towards a long-table in front of the thrones -- the royal family sits high above her. 

  Each step leaves bloodied footprints on the white cloth.  The room was covered in bright jewels and gems, and she was covered in ash and dust.  The king, the queen, the prince, and the girl from the stairs-the princess.  Their eyes were merciless and cruel.

  "Your majesties," Adara mocks, curtsying to the sound of her chains clanking together.  She grimaces as a guard hits the backs of her knees, knocking her to the floor roughly.   She hisses in pain before glancing up at the royal family.  The princess was the only one amused.  Adara smirked.

  "Your name?" The king Oros's voice booms in the hall.

  "My name is Adara Nightsong of the glass kingdom," Adara smirks, "There is no introduction needed for the mighty king and his family."

One of the guards pushes the axe roughly into her spine. She winces.

"She may rise," the king orders, the guards release the chains which clank with the ground.  They pull her to her feet, her body aches as she walks forewords to the long-table.  She stares at the finery atop it.

  Golden goblets.  Rubies, sapphires, and emeralds embedded in the rims.  She ran her fingers over the jewels.  They were dazzling.  She walks slowly.  She runs her fingers over the wooden table -- not a single splinter.  The wood was fine, unlike the kind that she had in Juula.  Rough, splintered and poor.

  She pulls her chained hands back in front of her.  Her kingdom could only dream to be so rich.

  "Adara Nightsong of the glass kingdom, we have graciously spared your life so that you may aid us in our near future," Oros begins, and Adara glares up at him.

  "You spared my life?" Adara scoffs.  "That is what you call it?"

  "What would you have it be?" He stares down at her.

  "You murdered an entire village of people- my people- and I would have rather died with them."

  The room grows silent, and for a moment, the king looks shaken.  He recovers quickly.

  "You brought me here out of nothing but greed, and for what, to help you plan something against my people?" Adara mocks, and the king glares.  "You are severely mistaken if you think that I would help the likes of you."

The prince stands quickly from his seat, slamming a fist on the table and knocking several glasses to the floor, his other hand grabs her chains and pulls her forewords. She winces as she is pulled into the table, his breath on her face.

"You have been brought here to aid in the destruction of your king, and from my viewpoint, you do not have any other choice but to help us unless you wish to end up with your head on the end of my sword," he spits. His body looks over her own, his voice cold.

"The way that I see it, your majesty, is that you have no choice other than to listen to my demands," she smiles. She pulls her hands free of his grasp. Adara grabs a goblet and sips the red wine from it. "Believe me when I say I have a great many demands," she laughs. She can't help but smile as she sets down the goblet.