The Hidden King's Stolen Wife
Chapter 108: Ice-Filled Room

Chapter 108: Ice-Filled Room

Soleia froze. "...What did you hear?" Surely her sister didn’t know about her being a nullifier. Reitan wouldn’t even know about this concept.

"Something about you conjuring ice to fling at Florian? No wonder you felt so ill afterward, but good job on that. I’ve been wanting to do that for ages."

Soleia’s shoulders relaxed imperceptibly. "Oh, that..." She laughed awkwardly, her fingers twisting the fabric of her dress. "That was really an accident I don’t know how I did it―"

"Well, I know how I did it. The answer is the stone that hangs around your neck." Celestina gestured to the glittering aquamarine, and all of a sudden, the stone felt more like a collar that was weighing Soleia down than a jewel to showcase. "Does Father know?"

"No, of course not!" Soleia said. Her blood felt hot and her face was flushed. "Father mustn’t know. Not yet."

"Whyever not?" Celestine asked, placing both hands on her hips as she cast Soleia a look of doubt. "He would be so proud. You know how much he has been hoping you will awaken your powers one day."

"I know," Soleia said. "And that is exactly why he must never know."

Not until she figured out how to control it. Soleia stared at the palm of her hand. Even with the aquamarine around her neck, she could not feel even the slightest bit of magic that she felt when she conjured it at the alleyway. There was no tingle, no buzz― just painfully normal.

She had tried time and time again in the past few days, using the stones that Sir Ralph had given to her, but she felt nothing. None of the crystals — high quality or not — seemed to resonate with her. She could barely even conjure a snowflake, much less ice.

If Soleia felt no magic, then the aquamarine was nothing more than a piece of rock, nothing more, albeit flashier. She had a whole pile of it lying in her room. This beautiful necklace wasn’t going to be any more useful than those.

"I have not been able to recreate it," Soleia confessed. "I have tried a few times... all have led to failure."

Those failures also included the various experiments and tests she had conducted. She had just about run every possible analysis but to no avail.

"I am not surprised," Celestina said. "My magic grew stronger in the years away from Vramid. I could barely cast a small block of ice before my marriage. After I left, snowstorms became the norm."

She laughed as she reminisced about her days, shaking her head as she held out her palm.

"Here," Celestina said. "Let me show you―"

Before Soleia could stop her, magic crackled at Celestina’s fingertips. In a shot of pale blue, ice burst forth from Celestina’s hands, causing Soleia to dart back in surprise. Her sister had not just created a block of ice or a small flurry in the room. Instead, she had caused an ice explosion that encased most of Soleia’s room in a layer of ice.

The room dropped several degrees in temperature, and icicles hung from the ceiling when Soleia finally opened her eyes and looked up. When she exhaled, a smoke of white cloud left her lips, and most of the furniture had a layer of frost covering them.

Despite the cold temperatures of the room, Soleia’s ears felt hot. She raised her hands and touched her lobes, brushing just past her earrings only to realize they were scorching. Her hands jerked on reflex, but when Celestina looked her way, Soleia gritted her teeth and clenched her hands around her earrings, quickly removing them from her ears before shoving them into her pocket.

"Sister, are you alright?" Celestina asked, hurrying over to Soleia, who had fallen back down on the floor. "Oh dear, I didn’t realize― I am so sorry! Here, let me try to undo this―"

"It’s fine, Celestina," Soleia hurriedly said, stopping her sister before she could create a bigger disaster. We can handle this later. Aren’t we joining Father for dinner?"

"No, no," Celestina said. "I have to. By the time we return, the ice will’ve melted and your room will be flooded!" She looked pointedly at the parchments that were frozen beneath the layer of ice, and Soleia pursed her lips.

"Well..."

"It will be just a moment," Celestina said, and she raised her hands.

But... nothing. Nothing changed. Her own aquamarine earrings didn’t even so much as glow. The ice remained just as it had been, covering every inch of Soleia’s bedchambers.

"That’s odd..." Celestina muttered under her breath. She raised her hands again and swiped across the air, but nothing happened. "This usually works a lot better―"

"Are you two ready? Father is calling for us." Bellaflor’s voice came from outside, and Celestina and Soleia both turned their heads just in time to meet with Bellaflor’s wide-eyed gaze. "Soleia, your room! What has happened here?"

"I was just showing Soleia some magic," Celestina explained. "It went a little out of control."

"That is an understatement, dear sister," Bellaflor said, wrinkling her nose. She carefully made her way into the room and dragged the two of them out. "But whatever it is, it will have to wait for later. We need to go. Now."

"Alright, alright," Celestina said. She followed Bellaflor down the corridor, looking at her hands as she walked, muttering under her breath, "That is so strange..."

Soleia trailed a little further behind. She turned back and looked at her chambers when her sisters had gone off a distance ahead. When she was sure they were out of sight, Soleia turned back and headed to her room.

Even just standing outside, she could feel the chilly temperature creep into her skin. But more than that, her hands tickled, cold nipping on her fingertips. When she looked down, the necklace that Celestina had her wear was glowing.

A bold thought entered Soleia’s mind, and she stepped closer to the room. She held her breath as she reached her hand out for the door; the knob was encased in ice, which made it impossible to turn. But the door couldn’t remain open, not when she had so many things in there that were meant to be locked away.

The ice had to go.

Soleia bit her lip and concentrated. Then, light blue mist slowly began to gather at her fingertips.