Aw shit just broke 1,600 followers wow I’m super impressed thanks everyone for putting up with my bullshit on a daily basis (even if probably about half of you are bots but whatever I’m not complaining)
It was a rather cold day outside. Ereshkigal could tell that as soon as the maids entered her room to wake her. She did not fuss when they opened the shades to let the sun into her room. What little sun there was. The entire sky was covered in dark clouds. Even at the age of eight she knew what that kind of cloud meant for her country. It was going to snow later. And even though it was her birthday, she did not mind. The snow always calmed her.
The young royal sat up in her large bed and flipped the covers off of her before scooting to the side. She stretched her arms for a moment before sliding off of the edge of the bed and landing on her feet. No sooner had her feet touched the ground did the two maids in her room usher her toward the wardrobe. She watched as they opened the doors and pulled out a new dress, one that she had never seen before. It must have been a birthday gift from someone, and it was to be her outfit for the day. Well, one of them at least. She wondered if someone else would give her a dress and she would have to change into that one later.
Regardless, the two maids carefully began dressing her, first starting by taking off the slip she wore through the night. Then they put on the layers of undergarments and finally the dress. The final touch was taking her hair out of the braid it was in and styling it up into a bun. However, her bangs and a few strands near her face remained free.
Fully dressed, she walked with one of the women who woke her up to the dining hall where her breakfast was already prepared. Her dinner was going to be more extravagant. She knew without any doubt there was going to be plenty of dessert. However, her breakfast was normal for the most part. The only difference she noticed was the extra fruit. One of which she stared at for a few moments before using a spoon to eat some of the green inside. She wanted to pick it up and look at it closely like a child, but that wouldn’t have been very lady-like of her and she had to work on her manners. The flavor of the fruit was sweet and tart at the same time. Neither flavor over powered the other and she found it strange. Looking at the outside of the fruit she could tell that it was strangely fuzzy. She would have to ask her advisor where it came from later. It definitely was not native of Aestelta.
Another bite of the fruit was taken and her face scrunched together in response to the taste. That bite was definitely tarter than the last.
A child’s giggle echoed from one of the kitchen entrances. Ereshkigal’s icy blue eyes turned to stare at the young boy who stared back at her with wide eyes before ducking back into the kitchen. Her brow furrowed and she debated going over to find him, she’s seen him before. No doubt he was one of the maid’s children. However she stopped when her advisor walked into the room.
“When you are finished with breakfast we have studies to continue from yesterday. The sooner we finish your studies the sooner we can get to the festivities” he informed her as she continued to eat. Even if it was her birthday, that was no excuse to miss a day of learning.
However, it was not just her birthday, was it? Everyone knew that. She might have turned eight, but it was also the eight year anniversary of her mother and father’s death.
Which was more important depended on the person asked.
When she was finished with her food she walked with her advisor to the library, where she would spend most of her day studying. As was the norm, it was subject after subject. Luckily, in the middle of them they put her music lesson, which required her to play the violin. And after music, was her break. She ate a small meal and then proceeded to walk through the hall near the garden with a maid following her. However, before she was even allowed near an open window Ereshkigal was covered with a fur lined cloak to keep her warm during the walk.
She walked up to one of the open doors and looked outside at the snow covered garden. Having noticed Ereshkigal’s interest in being close to the outdoors the maid walked up to her and handed her mittens for her hands so that she would stay even warmer. It wouldn’t do to have her get a cold. Another servant walked up and caught the maid’s attention before they began talking to each other. She paid no mind to them, why should she be interested or worried in what they were talking about? From their hushed tones, it was not something that they exactly cared for her to hear. So she would not listen.
A small puff of air left her lungs as she walked out into the snow, her feet leaving imprints on the ground. She was sure the maid would keep an eye on her and eventually follow her out. If not, then she would call for her to return inside soon enough. But the cold fluffy snow muffled the noises and she loved the smell of the cold air.
A snowball flew past her, slamming into the statue next to where she stood. She jumped, startled from the impact and object. Blue eyes stared at the remaining snow on the statue before she turned them to the origin of the snowball.
“Sorry! I didn’t see you there, you’re being real quiet” the boy said, his nose and cheeks red from the cold. He must have been out playing for a while.
Ereshkigal remained silent as she lifted up her hands and pulled her hood onto her head. “I will consider your apology, although I think you should be apologizing to the statue…” she said as she looked up at the figure of her father. A memorial to him. She supposed there must have been one at each of her sibling’s palaces. Her eyes glanced at the one nearby of her mother. That one she wasn’t sure about. After all, they didn’t all have the same mother.
“N’aw, he’s fine. Could have hit ‘em harder. You just surprised me, so it threw off my arm” he said with a smirk.
She studied the boy for a moment, curious about his attitude. However, she was even more curious about something else. “How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Make that…ball out of snow.”
“Oh, a snowball? You’ve lived with snow around you all this time and you’ve never made a snowball?” he looked at her with a brow raised, genuinely surprised.
“No, I have not” she stated matter-of-factly. How or when would she have ever made a snowball? Why would she have made one? There was no reason for it. From what she could see they could be thrown nicely, but what would she have done with something like that?
He shrugged very animatedly. “Well, guess I could show you… My lady? Princess? What do I call you? Ma’am?”
She opened her mouth to speak, but found herself unable to say anything before he began talking once again.
“You’re name’s…Ereshkigal, right? So what about…Resh?” he asked, giving her a moment to say her thoughts. However, he did not wait that long to begin speaking again. “Resh it is. I’m Taner. Now, the first thing you want to do is get a good handful of snow. Then you kind of want to shape it in your hands. Don’t push too hard on it, ‘cause it’ll break. But you want to pack it enough that it’s gonna stay together.”
Ereshkigal was baffled by the boy’s behavior. He knew who she was and yet he treated her like any other kid. She knew if her advisor became aware of it he would get into a lot of trouble. And it wasn’t as though she enjoyed being treated like a normal child. She was royalty and should only be treated as such.
But…maybe just this once wouldn’t hurt? It would keep her mind off of what the current day represented.
Slowly she walked over to where he was, watching as he picked up some snow and began forming it into a ball shape. Once he held out a finished snowball she picked up some snow and tried to form it together just as he had. But she pushed too hard and most of the snow fell out of her hands. Her brow furrowed as she let the remaining snow fall to the ground and picked up some fresh snow to try again.
“Wow. You gotta be more gentle, never thought I’d tell a girl this… but you’re using too much strength” he said as he set the first snowball down and made another so she could watch again.
Ereshkigal frowned at his comment, finally finishing her first successful snowball. “There!” she said as she held it out. The boy shrugged and then clapped. “Now what do I do with it?” she asked him, which he grinned widely at.
“You throw it, of course!” And with that, he took the snowball in his hand and threw it at one of the sculptures.
She watched him for a couple of moments. He threw both of the balls he had made and then proceeded to make a couple more. Her eyes glanced at the statues and objects she could throw the small ball at. She caught the eyes of her mother’s statue and before she knew it, the snowball was flying out of her hand. It smacked the figure right on the forehead and her eyes grew wide, surprised that she had even hit the thing.
“Wow, nice throw! I didn’t even think you’d hit anything!” Taner said excitedly. “I bet you can’t do it again.”
Ereshkigal looked back at him, a light smirk on her lips. She would show him. Leaning down she picked up more snow and carefully formed it into another snowball. She lifted up the ball, eyes on her target and… Something smacked into the back of her head. She froze before turning to look at Taner who was laughing rather loudly.
“Your face is priceless!”
Without even thinking, she threw the snowball in her hand. It hit Taner perfectly in the face and she couldn’t have been any more pleased with herself. He stared at her, unable to find any words as she just smirked cockily at him. However, once he was over the shock he quickly grabbed more snow to make another ball, which prompted Ereshkigal to do the same. In the middle of her craft, he threw his ball and hit the snow right out of her hands.
“Ha! Bet you can’t hit a moving target!” he yelled as he turned and ran.
Quickly, she grabbed some snow and began sprinting forward once the snowball was made. Moving target or no, she was going to hit him again. The game quickly became a form of her trying to make snowballs as fast as she could and throw it at him. He seemed to only throw snowballs back at her while she was standing still and trying to make her own. “Get back here!” she shouted after him after he landed a hit on the side of her head. He hid behind a tree, causing her throw to miss. After a while, the snowballs stopped and it became a game of catch.
She hadn’t noticed the woods. Nor had she noticed the trees getting thicker. Or the snow starting to fall as the wind began to pick up. All she noticed was the lack of Taner. Their game of tag turned into hide-and-seek, and he hadn’t found her. “Taner?” she said loudly, listening for a response. Her blue eyes glanced over her surroundings before she shut them tightly as a strong wind blew by. Both of her hands lifted up out of the cloak to hold her hood in place. She didn’t recognize the area she was in. The wind and snow had covered her tracks.
She was lost without any sense of which direction to head in.
“Taner?!” she shouted, hoping to get any response back and unable to keep panic from forming in her voice. But there was nothing. She didn’t know if he was lost as well, or if he had simply headed back to the palace. A shiver ran down her body as she turned her back to the wind and tucked her hands back into her cloak, hugging herself to keep warm. She decided to head in one direction for a little bit, hoping that it would lead her out of the forest. A couple of times she shouted Taner’s name, hoping that he was actually nearby and just playing some kind of cruel joke. Which, if it was, he would pay severely for.
Ereshkigal couldn’t feel her nose anymore. Even with the heat from her body she could barely feel her fingers. And her feet had long been numb, making walking nearly impossible. The cold air, which she so enjoyed breathing, was now burning the entire way to her lungs. The snow was falling heavily, coating everything in another thick layer of snow and making it even more difficult to see.
A wolf howled in the distance and she stumbled forward, with her hands unable to get out of the cloak in time she fell. Her face was completely covered in snow as she sat up onto her knees and looked at the darkened sky. She brought one of her hands out of the cloak and wiped the snow off of her face, although she knew it wouldn’t keep her any warmer regardless. Was she walking in the right direction? She didn’t know. What she did know was that it was dark, she was cold and she was exhausted.
Scanning her eyes over the immediate area, she noticed a large tree with some tall roots above the ground. Those roots would provide some shelter from the wind. Maybe if she just warmed up a little she would be able to continue moving forward. Or call out for help. With how cold she was she couldn’t find her voice.
She crawled over to the tree, jumping when she heard another wolf howl, this time louder. It was closer to where she was than before. As quickly as she could she put her back to the tree and laid down, making herself as small as possible. What if the wolves found her and thought of her as a meal? She tried to remain quiet as she listened to her surroundings. But it was difficult to do when all she could hear was the wind and a ringing in her ears, no doubt from being so cold. She brought her legs up as close as she could to her chest, hoping to keep herself warm and unnoticeable. If she just warmed up, she could call for help. But she was so tired. So completely exhausted. There had to be someone looking for her, right? Maybe if she just took a nap she would wake up able to get their attention.
Yes, a nap would help reenergize her. All she needed to do was sleep and everything would be okay.
Slowly she closed her eyes, allowing oblivion to wash over her.
------
A baby was born, but there was no cry. She was breathing. There was nothing wrong with her. The nurses supposed that she was to be an unusually strong child. But the dying mother thought differently.
“Ereshkigal. Death…is the only thing that child will ever bring!” A voice like the hiss of a snake.
The baby’s ice blue eyes looked up at the nanny who held her before making a small, almost kitten-like, noise. And the mother took her last breath.
------
"Ereshkigal! Wake up! ...you are freezing."
She was being moved, she could tell that much at least. She couldn’t feel the warmth or where she was being held, only slight movement and pressure. When her eyes opened for a split second she saw the ground further away than it had been and the silhouette of someone lifting her up.
But her eyes shut again, unable to remain open.
"No, sister. You must remain awake. Do you understand?"
She was shaken, but she couldn’t tell if it was from the person holding her or the movement of the horse under them. The hoofs battered the ground as it ran toward their destination, forced to slow down at times to maneuver through the trees. The sound rang in her ears and her brow furrowed just the slightest. How was she supposed to sleep with that noise? She opened her eyes as best she could to look up at the person holding her who was concerned with the path ahead of them. Her eyes tired to focus, but were unable to do so. She grew irritated at herself and the other person.
Yet, despite her irritation she found her eyes closing once again.
“She is as pale as ice! We need to get her to her room! Warm drinks, clothes and blankets, now!”
“M-mom, is…is she okay?” A small boy’s voice squeaked in the middle of two more demanding ones.
That was a voice she knew, although there was much more urgency in it than she ever heard before. Her advisor was usually patient, even if he found that to be difficult he never shouted. At least from what she could remember. She was carefully being moved off of the horse. And it was only then that she could truly feel how violently she was shaking.
"No. I have her. I will bring her to her room."
With the light from the candles in the palace she could finally see the person holding her. “Nyph-Nyphestos?” she said weakly, her confusion evident in her voice. How did he find her? He wasn’t in Aestelta.
"Welcome back. Let us focus on keeping you conscious and alert, shall we?"
Before she knew it she was in her room and her maids were quickly dressing her in something new, something warm. However, she didn’t want the clothing on her. She tried her hardest to keep the clothing off of her body. Even going so far as to try to remove it once it was on, but her movements were clumsy. As it was she needed help standing upright as she was being dressed. Her brother carefully scooped her up again and set her in her bed. She only frowned and tried to keep the blankets off of her as well as remove her clothes in response.
"Don't fuss. This is not up for debate. You must keep warm or the consequences will be dire."
His voice was sterner than it had been. She watched him for a couple of moments before allowing the blankets to be brought over her. With her back propped up by a large group of pillows she now sat upright, tucked into her bed with multiple heavy blankets. Ereshkigal watched as some kind of warm liquid was brought it. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to lift that to her mouth if they expected her to drink it. At least, not without having more than half of it spill onto her bed.
And it appeared that they were very aware of that. Instead of trying to hand her the drink, they had one of the maids take the drink off of the platter. She watched as the drink was carefully brought it up to her mouth so that she could take a sip. Once the liquid was down her throat she made a noise of disapproval. “What is that? It…it tastes horrid!”
"Judging by smell alone, I would say that is a bitter lemon tea."
“…Am I required to drink all of it?” she hesitantly asked, which he responded with a faint smile and nod. Her nose scrunched in distaste before taking another sip of the tea. “Why are you…smiling?” she asked, only pausing when a shiver more violent than the constant ones moved through her body.
"You are awake and speaking. Is that not reason enough? Now focus on remaining conscious at least until your body temperature is back up."
Ereshkigal grunted in response before taking a couple more sips of the tea. Once the glass was empty, another was brought in its place with the same vile liquid. She didn’t want to taste the disgusting lemon tea anymore. However, she knew that they were right, at least now she did. The way they were treating her was making more sense the warmer she got. However, there was still one thing she was confused about. “When did you arrive?” she asked her brother.
"I rode in just as dinner was being set."
She wondered if he must have started looking for her right away. She was lost by then. “How long was I out there?”
"Quite a long while. Nine hours, give or take."
She paused to think that fact over, her eyes turning to look at where her feet were under the blankets. It took them that long to find her. The weather conditions were definitely in none of their favor, no wonder it took them so long. For a moment, her mind ran over the thought of what would have happened if she was out their longer. There were parts of her body she still couldn’t quite feel, if she was out there longer…who knows what could have happened. Perhaps the cold would have reached her heart. Or maybe those wolves would have found her.
"Did you go into the woods of your own accord?"
Icy eyes watched those that mirrored them. What would happen to the boy if she told him? She could faintly remember hearing his voice when she first arrived back at the palace. At least he had made it back safely. “I… I thought I saw a fox” she finally answered as she moved her eyes away from her brother.
"...you were chasing a fox?" He looked skeptical as he spoke and listened to her.
“I thought if I caught it…I could make it my pet?” she sounded unsure as she spoke. Trying to think of a good reason as to why she went into the woods. She wasn’t sure if what she said would be taken as the truth. But she wasn’t about to tell him the complete truth. Not yet at least. Her eyes moved back toward Nyphestos when she felt his hand on her forehead. She watched him for a couple of moments before he removed it and another person came in to double check her temperature. They checked her hands and feet, seeing if the temperature was returning to them before they nodded toward the older royal in the room.
"Your temperature is healthy once again. You may sleep, now, and I will leave you to it."
“But I am much too awake to go to sleep now…” she groaned, a frown on her face as they tucked her back into the blankets.
"I offer my company until you are dreaming. We can celebrate your birthday tomorrow." As he spoke someone brought up a chair and he sat down in it.
Ereshkigal let out a huff as she shifted under all of her blankets. She remained awake for some time after her brother sat down. Unable to help herself from occasionally glancing at him. He definitely looked more tired than she felt. He must have been worried about her. Everyone must have. All for some stupid snowballs and some kid named Taner. How could she let herself do something like that? How could she put herself in a situation where she could get lost and almost freeze to death?
She was a fool. It would never happen again.
“I apologize, Nyphestos. I will not go around unattended again.” She doubted they would even allow her to do so after what happened.
It felt like an eternity before her eyelids became heavy. And no matter how much her brain wanted her to remain awake, her body was refusing to allow her to stay up any longer. Slowly, she slipped into a peaceful sleep. There was no dream, no cold seeping into her body. Just warmth and comfort.
