Chapter 0 - Frozen Rose

It was late at night, no one knew how late it was. I was placed as a sentry on the wall of this fort, the Fort of Hurlin. It was very cold and very dark, we could hardly see and we were tired. John told me he couldnt stand anymore, and just lied on the cold stone floor to sleep. Ferdinand tried to stop him, saying that if he fell asleep there and then, he would probably never wake up again. Even though we were friends, i didnt care, atleast not then. I simply didnt care, i was too cold and tired to think. Right then, John told us to look up. It has been snowing for the last 12 months, and each day that passed, the snow got thicker and the wind blew stronger and colder. We all remmembered when we were a troop serving in the coast. We all dreamed of seeing snow, for we were hating the heat of there. Now there was nothing we could hate more than this white snow. It has been about 5 minutes that John lied down, and he was already, mostly white. The snow was falling fast. He was covered. We helped him up and wiped the snow off of his armor, just to see the snow covering his shoulders and head again. I looked at the wall we were standing on. It was white. The only places that the snow didnt fall on were the places we were standing on. I saw a couple of footsteps that we left as we walked back and forth, the footsteps were disappering rather fast. Then a piercing wind blew on us. It was cold, so cold that i could feel my soul shiver as the frozen wind bit through my face. I closed my eyes because of the coldness, and I thought of the days when I was leading these half frozen men, standing with me on this wall, in battles in our homeland. We were undefeatable, we were known as the black knights because of our black armor. We were respected and admired by our allies, and feared by our enemies. But now we are nothing, just freezing in this frozen wall guarding a fort that not even insects would care to look at, not that there are any insects around. Before i came to this fort, Id heard rumors that the nobles were fearing that we would take over, and that the king was also starting to worry about us. Maybe that was the reason, maybe not, im not sure. But one thing im sure of is that we were sent to this fort not to protect it, but to die in it. The fort was empty, the only supplies that we had were the ones we brought with us, there were no living beings in this fort. It was an abandoned fort, and the deserters had taken everything away with them. We tried to leave couple months ago, but on the borders of every village and on every bridges there were either enemies or our the king's troops guarding the place making sure we didnt leave our posts.
Then Will started to sing faintly. It was a song from our little hometown. We sang it after every victory, every loss, and every special event. All the freezing men started to sing with him. As I started to sing, I could see the grass fields of our homeland, I could see the trees shaking gently with the gentle warm wind of Spring time. Then all the sudden it was silent. I couldnt hear anymore, tears were gathering up in my eyes. I wiped them off quickly so it wouldnt freeze my eyes, then i could hear again. I heard the snow cracking. At first i just stood there staring at the air, not knowing what the sound was. Then all of a sudden i noticed. It was the sound of the snow being stepped on. I stopped and payed more attention, my men stood still looking at me. It was gentle steps, being made with heavy leather boots, the steps were small. It was only one person, but it still amazed me, that someone would come close to such a place. I walked toward the edge of the wall slowly. The sound had stopped. I had my eyes closed, and hoping i would see someone standing on grassy fields. When i opened my eyes, i could not believe at what i was looking at. Though it was dark, i could see clearly, it was as if light was coming out of the person. snow covered her shoulders and the top of her head, she was wearing a red dress, she was probably a noble. She looked young, pale, frozen, pretty, but content. She stood there staring at me, without even blinking once. I did not know who she was or why she was standing there. I didnt know what to do or what to say, my men were looking at her with me without saying a word. Then without thinking i waved my hand, she smiled. It was the first time in 12 months that i felt a warmth in me, as i looked at the Frozen Rose in the snow.

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