There was snow in the room.

Lumi's eyes zeroed in on the piles of snow that had gathered from the open side doors. Clear piles of it, like stacks of crystal.

She had only touched it the one time when she and daddy had been exiting the carriage. It had not been enough time in Lumi's opinion and she had wanted desperately to touch it again.

She had tried last night to open her window and maybe grab a few as they fell, but the sheer coldness had made the frame stuck in place.

Now her every focus was on the piles and piles of it.

She could vaguely hear the King's voice in the background.

Even in the back of her mind, it sounded like a cloud of thunder thrashing together, and Lumi thought it was probably better not to listen and feel the full threat of his words unleash on her.

Their one encounter together had maybe...just maybe frightened her.

She did not like to think she was someone who could be frightened easily, but even Lumi could read the dark void and emptiness that expanded in the man's eyes.

And for some reason, the snow was just so...pure...

It just grabbed her attention so much that she was unable to focus on anything else.

The voice of the King seemed to grow louder and louder but Lumi only sighed and made her way to the piles before her.

Until the sword of a guard stopped her in her path.

"I just wanted to touch the snow!" She protested.

A look of surprise filtered across the guard's face before he regained control of his features.

She turned to look at the King.

Ah.

Maybe she had been avoiding looking at him because of this.

He still was just...so handsome. Lumi felt a deep urge now to touch him instead of the snow.

But even from the distance that she stood, she could still read the deep anger that was flashing in his eyes.

"Come here." He pointed to the spot directly in front of him.

She lowered her head and obeyed.

The image of a scolded puppy seemed to flash through everyone's mind as the princess approached the king.

He evaluated her, the anger still apparent and there on his face.

For a long time, he did not speak. There was nothing but silence.

The silence stretched and her eyes seemed to just naturally stray back to the snow.

"Look at me," he snapped.

He had somehow lost the composure that he had demonstrated the day before. When they had first met, he had been like a block of ice. Unmovable, unfeeling. Now all she could see was a burning man full of raging blue fire as his anger burst forth upon her.

Her eyes quickly darted back up to stare at him.

"You left your room after being ordered to stay."

"Yes," she admitted easily.

He leaned further to her, his hands curling around the armrests of his throne.

"I can have you killed."

Her heart seemed to stop. His words were not a joke. She read very clearly that this man found her annoying. He found her a waste of his time and in disobeying his orders, she had become a problem to him.

Suddenly she became very, very still, realizing now was not the time to be infatuated with the snow or the color of his eyes.

He was serious.

She said nothing and continued to stare at him. He did not even seem satisfied when he read the fear in her eyes. His body only leaned back, letting his face be covered halfway in shadows.

"You are returning to the room. And you are staying there."

Lumi felt her breath grow uneven. Her hands were shaking, both in fear and in anticipation of what she knew she was about to say.

"I..." she swallowed thickly, raising her head and straightening her back. She had been a princess damn it. A royal. She had stood upon balconies, waved to adoring crowds. She had indulged in 12-course meals and had presents of solid rubies sent to her from the spring Kingdom.

She could stand up to this man.

His eyes seemed to be daring her to speak. Almost a silent threat asking, do you really want to say anything?

But she did. She had to.

"You might as well kill me."

Okay.

That was not what Lumi had actually wanted to say and the shocked noises from the guards behind her summed up her own inner reaction as well.

What the hell?

Oh no.

Oh no, oh no, oh no!

She stood her ground, watching the sword at the King's waist to make sure it actually stayed in place.

She spoke before he could respond or follow through with her words.

"I can't live that way. I can't stay in a room my whole life. I came here to be yours yes...but...but I have to actually do something...I don't care if you make me a servant or take my body or even make me do the hardest manual labor but please..." now she was begging. Begging. But Lumi knew this was the core to her soul. To herself. "Please don't make me stay there for life. Because if you do I'll die in there, with or without you killing me."

There was a silence following her speech.

The King stared flatly at her. Lumi was not an expert on reading his face yet, but even she could tell he found her words to be...well...dramatic. And pointless.

"You."

He stood then and walked down the steps that separated them.

Lumi felt the chill coming over her from his closeness. The iciness of his body as power rushed into the room.

The snow from the doorways seemed to move, and swirl around them.

Lumi tried to not take a step back. Her own powers of summer were useless in this land. She had no way of shoving back against his display.

"You think you have any say?" his whispered words might as well have been shouted at her. She felt tears come to the surface of her eyes. Tears she had desperately been holding off as he looked down at her, a face of blankness showing as he ripped away every shield she had tried to protect herself with.

"You think you can command me?" His words only rose slightly in volume as he stepped closer.

"You...are...nothing..." he was breathing down at her now. She wanted to step back. She felt small and insignificant with them only a breath apart. She had to crane her neck up to look at him. Her face only rose to the level of his chest. How tall exactly was he?

They were almost pressing against each other, but she knew his display was one of dominance.

"Get out of my sight. And stay out of it."

She couldn't move.

It was a clear dismissal but she only shook her head.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Sight."

Again, Lumi shook her head, not breaking their eye contact.

He visibly bristled as she disobeyed him not once, but twice. Without any warning, his hand came flying.

She had actually thought he would not harm her.

The sting against her cheek was something that took her breath away.

"Take her downstairs."

He turned his back to her and walked out of the room.

The guards quickly rushed to grab her arms and lift her, but Lumi did not resist.

She only whispered one word, knowing the king would still be able to hear her, "coward."

* * *

Lumi looked at the chains around her wrist. The golden bangles that encompassed her wrist had been uncomfortably pushed up her forearm.

"This is a little dramatic," she said, waving her hands and letting the noise of the chains rattle.

The guards ignored her.

She stared at the one on the right but did not call Maros' name out. She sighed, knowing he would be wishing desperately for her to ignore him and not acknowledge his presence.

"How long am I going to be kept here?"

Again they ignored her.

She laid back against the wall but hissed at the searing coldness. Everything in this little prison was like fire. A horrible fire. Her skin was numb and ashy.

She felt alone. She had done the wrong thing in defying the King. She should not have done that. She was here, after all, to pay as tribute to her struggling kingdom against the taxes that were waged by the North. She should be grateful that he had even accepted her as an actual payment instead of the usual large sum of money that was expected.

This now gave time for her family to find the money that would be needed for next year's payment.

She missed her home. Lumi felt the deep hollow ache for it as she thought of the ocean that surrounded the southern borders, the fields of wildflowers and the people in the main city who knew her by name and called out to her.

Without any thought, she began to sing the ancient songs of her land. It was an old language, one that was soon being forgotten in the southern lands. But Lumi's mother had been from an ancient tribe that held tight to customs. She had thought it important to teach her children the sacred ways and language, even if only a handful of people could speak it.

Lumi felt tears coming to her eyes when the thought came to her that here in this land, she was the single only person who could understand the language she spoke.

The guards jumped at the sudden broken silence, exchanging shocked glances before the soothing deep tones of the princess washed over them.

It was a language neither of them understood, but the words were spoken with so much sorrow that one guard found himself clearing his throat repeatedly to stop the sudden emotions that came over him.

They did not interrupt her, and for that Lumi was grateful. She continued her songs. Songs of hardships and defeat. Songs of rising up against oppression. Lumi even sang songs of hope and joy. Those of freedom. Since she was the first daughter of the royal family, she had helped her mother in many of the ceremonies, performing some herself even.

Her singing came to a halt when the arrival of more guards came, followed by the King himself.

The two guards who had been watching her stood more at attention, but the King's quick voice came over them.

"Leave us."

Without hesitation, all left except him.

Lumi continued to stare at him.

He paced in front of her cell for several minutes before finally stopping and staring down at her.

"Don't sing."

Lumi only shrugged.

An irritated look came over him.

"Are you taking away my voice now as well?"

She thought she heard a break in his facade- a low growl of irritation- but the King's face remained blank and impassive.

"I can slit your throat."

This time Lumi stood, quickly approaching where the King stood and wrapped her hands around the bars of her cell.

"I already gave you permission," she hissed.

He blinked at her, and she felt as if maybe she had caught him by surprise.

"I'm not something that can be caged," she continued.

"But you are caged," he countered.

She had no response to that. She really was. He had broken her words so easily.

"I caged myself," she whispered, "I can allow that much, but...don't....don't put a cover over me. Don't take away the little freedom I have."

He stepped closer, his hand going up to touch one of her fingers. Just a single stroke. But it was like touching one of the walls to the cell. So cold that it felt like it was burning her.

He immediately stepped back, his face showing nothing.

"If I give you freedom, you could escape."

Lumi angled her head to stare at him.

"The Winter Kingdom is not so weak," he spat out.

Ah...Lumi felt her own flare of irritation when she realized this could all have been caused by some male pride. How, if she had escaped and managed to go anywhere, she could then tell the other kingdoms or even her own, that the very King of the North- the one that they paid heavy taxes to in order to keep them safe from the threats that lied upon their borders- could not even contain a little girl in his own palace.

Lumi felt like rolling her eyes at all the politicalness that had been wrapped in his single sentence but she restrained herself.

"You can leave the room," he whispered. He almost seemed as if he were only talking to himself though. "You can leave...but only to the throne room."

He stared at her hard, waiting for her to protest.

Lumi said nothing.

She felt the heaviness of the chains around her and tasted the freedom in his words. She would say nothing.

But she knew what his words really meant.

She could only leave the room, if he was watching her.

I apologize for the day late update. There will be an update tomorrow (hopefully) but these are crazy times so hang in there with me. How is everyone doing? I hope you all are staying safe and well and taking care of yourself ♥ Thank you for reading.