Cici Tsumis

Chapter 13

I see me…in a lot of imaging. It was like watching a flashback in a mirror…

Garreth and I together-on the porch, taking a stroll…

Garreth and I with our girls. Spending each milestone together.

Their first word, papa…

Their first crawl on a grassy soft meadow…

Their first steps on the cool wooden floor of our home…

Their first food experience…with the sweet berries and mashed apples…

Their first swim in the cool refreshing river on a hot sunny day…

Their first birthday vanilla cake lit up with two candles…

Every day was filled with warmth and laughter and joy. It was like a beautiful dream that I never wanted to wake up from.

But I did.

And when I woke up, I remembered how everything went wrong…

---

The morning was ordinary.

Garreth went to take the girls by the river. Their giggling growing faint as they left further from the cabin. The birds in the trees singing in their place.

I stayed behind to clean up the kitchen. The same thing I had been doing for the past few months. Ever since, the girls had become more confident with their walk without wobbling over.

I had just finished drying the dishes, ready to meet them by the river on this warm sunny day and surrounded by the sound of chirping baby birds…

Wait…why are the birds quiet?

Thud!

I turned and immediately ice covered me from head to toe.

He was here.

He was here.

I don’t remember what happened next exactly. I was gasping for breath and trembling. My vision was becoming hazy.

Next thing I knew he was coming near me and reaching for me.

No! Over my dead body!

I turned towards the counter and threw the first thing my hands grabbed. The plates. They shattered onto him and around at contact. He cried out causing soldiers to enter the room.

Some rushed towards the king and some rushed towards me.

My hands blindly grabbed the next object on the counter. A bag of flour.

I grabbed it and threw it, making a white cloud of chaos and confusion in my wake.

I bolted through the back door.

Two guards were there, surprised to see me. Which made it easier for me to overcome them with my swiftness and struck with the dagger that Garreth gave me. He disapproved when he discovered that I always carried it with my person. However, he understood that I could never feel safe without it being secured on the halter strapped on my thigh.

Someone yelled something behind me. But the adrenaline blocked all the words. I didn’t care to look back.

I ran.

To the hidden shed. To the horses.

I saddled Garreth’s stallion and my mare in a rush.

I got them ready as fast as I could and rode off on the mare. Garreth’s stallion following behind.

“Garreth! Garreth! He is here!” I yelled as I saw him at a distance.

I stopped abruptly as I saw he wasn’t alone.

Another man was with him. He was wearing a black hood and mask. His sword drenched in blood. A body laid in between them.

Garreth cautiously stepped back. His eyes not straying from the other man.

Once he was near me, he handed me both girls one at a time. The girls were strangely docile for 2-year-olds. But for this situation it was fortunate.

Garreth softly called Stanton. His stallion obediently comes to his master. Garreth mounts him.

The man does not move the whole time. He just quietly observes Garreth.

Once Garreth was on the horse, he reaches for one of the girls. I passed Amanda to him.

After Garreth takes Amanda, the man flicks his sword. I flinch.

We don’t have our weapons on us. Only my dagger.

The man then sheaths his sword.

“Garreth, you know me. Let me help you and your family.”

“Garreth?” I asked warily. My mare, sensing my mood, shifts nervously.

Garreth nods. “Ok lead the way.”

The man sighs in relief and goes to his horse.

My husband looks at me and smiles. “It’ll be alright.”

We hear hooves in the distance.

“Follow me.” The man takes the lead and we follow.

But we were ambushed, they came from the trees, forcing us into the clearing. Arrows whistled by. Adrenaline pumping the blood in our veins hard.

A horse cried out behind me. I turned and saw Garreth fall onto the ground. It was like everything was happening at once but in slow motion.

His face was in pain and fear. The straps on the saddle broke open, slipping off the horse. I didn’t so much see them as I heard them. It had caused him to fall. Because if it was strapped correctly, not even an arrow would make Garreth fall, especially while holding on to his beloved 2-year-old daughter. He lost grip on the horse in favor of protecting Amanda. He cried out and she cried with him.

I stopped and was turning back.

A hand made to stop me at the reins. “I need to go. I need to go.” I argued.

“Hey!”

I flinched.

The man gripped my shoulders. “They will catch up with us. We need to go. NOW.” Underneath his hood, a hint of green blazed into my blue eyes.

I shook my head. “I need. I need-“

I gasped as a sharp pain pierced into the back of my neck, making my vision darken.

Garreth!

I wanted to cry out.

The last thing I saw were men surrounding Garreth. And the last thing I heard was Amanda still crying. “Papa! PAPA!”

---

“Mama! MAMA!”

I gasped awake. The smell of salt and pine invading my nostrils.

I was on the shore. My eyes widened as I saw the familiarity of it all.

Isle of Elah.

I was back on the Isle of Elah.

“Mama!” A whimper came in front of me.

I flinched as the dark figure reached toward me.

“Calm yourself or you’ll make me drop your daughter.” A deep-toned voice rang out.

I stopped struggling as I realized the dark figure was trying to hand me my daughter, Caroline.

I clutched her to my chest. Her whimper quietened quickly.

I stare at the man standing over me.

It was the man from before. In his dark clothing, though a hint of blonde hair peaked from under his hood.

Where is Garreth? I questioned.

But in a flash, it all clicked on what happened.

Garreth right behind us. Garreth holding onto Amanda. Garreth flinched as if struck, then crumpled to the ground. Garreth holding on and still protecting Amanda from the impact. Me trying to go back. But the man made me stop.

“I’ll find out what happened and send a message out.” The man’s voice brought me back to the present.

He faced the boat while speaking to me.

“You must live for Garreth and your child. And the child in your arms.”

I trembled as I rocked back and forth Caroline in my arms.

Garreth was dead. This somehow I knew but dared not to voice out.

The man walked to the boat and began to push the boat back to the waters, jumping in.

“My name is Taigerius Grant. I’m your ally in the shadows. Don’t forget my name.”

The man said before rowing back to Dove Lorraine.

Name?

---

A memory came to mind. When Garreth and I were conversing on the front porch while I was 5 months into my pregnancy.

We were talking about friends.

“What was her name?” Garreth asked.

“Her name is Katherine Ian.” I answered. “She was initially my rival but then we became friends.”

“Hmm…a rival?” Garreth pondered before continuing. “There is someone who views me as their rival.”

“And you don’t?” I asked confused.

“No. Though there are some things we don’t agree on like politics and the like. And when we spar, it tends to become more serious than friendly.

“Does he physically try to harm you?” I questioned with worry. For the last thing we needed was more enemies.

“No, he just wanted to get stronger. So, he would always challenge me in order to surpass me.”

“But he’s not someone you trust.” I stated.

Garreth chuckled. “The funny thing is…he is someone I would trust my back to in battle.”

“Oh? What’s his name?” I asked intrigued.

He answered, “Taigerius Grant.”

---

I don’t know how long I stood there on the shore. Caroline had long fallen asleep in my arms.

The dark clouds grew closer from a distance. A storm was coming towards Dove Lorraine. Matching the turmoil in my heart.

Taigerius Grant must have made it to the kingdom by then.

Once it was nearly nightfall, I finally turned to walk through the forest.

Where to? Some would ask. But here in Isle of Elah, there was only one place for me…

Back to the castle in the Northern Territory.

Back to the life as Bianca Regin, Ice Queen of the North…