LOGINShare
The Icy Barrier
publish date:
2021-04-02 13:42:45Adalia’s Journal
Day 2,412.
I stared at the ceremonial gown laid across my bed—a heavy expanse of black and red lace, stiff corsetry, and impractical silk. Mother insists on the corset, no doubt to ensure my wings don't burst through the fabric and carry me straight back to the South.
I had the urge to draw my dagger and shred it to ribbons. Instead, I let the maids pull, lace, and pin me into submission. Now, stepping onto Northern stone in glass slippers when I should be wearing combat boots, I am seconds away from facing my future husband.
I do not want a crown that cages me. But if I must yield to duty, I pray the Northern prince is at least a man who respects a blade.
Adalia dragged her heavy ceremonial skirts along the pristine white marble as she stepped down from the royal carriage. She grunted softly under her breath, every step a reminder of how tightly her mother had laced the corset.
Her brother Randi fell into step beside her, a subtle smirk in his eyes hiding a layer of genuine concern. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine,” Adalia muttered, keeping her gaze lowered to the jeweled train of her mother’s dress.
Normally, she walked with her head held high like any seasoned soldier. But today, the weight of the betrothal made her feel unnaturally exposed. A few more paces, and she would be standing face-to-face with Prince Archer.
Queen Leora halted, curtsying gracefully before the Northern royal court. Adalia followed suit, sinking into a deep bow before slowly lifting her gaze.
There he stood.
Archer’s silver-white hair caught the sunlight, framing a strong, angular jaw. But it was his hazel eyes that caught her off guard—they held a quiet kindness, punctuated by a sharp, silver intensity. His left hand rested casually on the hilt of his broadsword, while his right fingers twitched subtly, as if aching for the grip of a bowstring.
He was undeniably a warrior. Wide shoulders, imposing height, and a commanding presence. Yet the faint, polite smile on his face suggested a patience that surprised her.
At least he looks like a man who understands honor, Adalia thought, suppressing a sigh.
Still, a quiet part of her prayed the elders would reconsider and pair Randi with the prince’s sister instead.
Across the courtyard, Archer felt a nervous phantom tingle beneath his shoulder blades—his wings reacting to the sudden shift in the air.
When Queen Leora stepped aside, Archer got his first complete view of Princess Adalia. Her jet-black hair fell in stark contrast against her pale skin, and her dark eyes burned with an unmistakable, stubborn fire. She was striking—flawless enough that a vain man might have fallen for her on sight alone. But Archer saw the guarded edge in her posture, the silent defiance simmering beneath her formal gown.
Archer took a step forward, exchanging a quick nod with Randi before stepping directly into Adalia’s space. He bowed with crisp royal precision.
“Your Highness, it is an honor to meet you,” Archer said softly. He gently took her gloved hand, pressing a brief, formal kiss to her knuckles.
As he leaned in, he sought her gaze, searching for a spark of connection—the unspoken recognition his father had always told him about. But when Adalia’s eyes met his, he was met with a wall of sheer, frostbitten distance.
“It is an honor to meet you as well, Prince Archer,” Adalia replied smoothly, instantly withdrawing her hand.
She gestured for him to lead the way into the palace. As they walked through the towering arches of white stone, Adalia felt a sudden tug at her waist. Her scabbard had slipped from its concealed strap beneath her thick skirts. She caught the hilt just in time, awkwardly pinning the weapon against her side to keep it from clattering onto the marble floor.
She tried to slip toward her father’s side to fix it, but Archer’s fingers lightly caught her elbow, halting her progress.
Adalia spun on her heel, her skirts flaring, an insult rising to her lips—until Archer leaned in and whispered close to her ear.
“I believe you might want to secure your blade in here,” he murmured, pointing subtly toward a private powder room just off the main hall.
Adalia felt a hot flush creep up her neck. A smug, faint smile played at the corner of Archer’s lips. He had caught her—but he had also spared her a public scene.
“Thank you,” she muttered, ducking quickly into the room.
Latest chapter
BRED FOR DUTY The Frozen Chamber
Adalia’s JournalDay 2,450.A month has died outside my window. The sun rises and sets, indifferent to the carcass of the life I built. They ask me to open the door, as if daylight would not burn what little of him remains inside this shadow.Adalia stood motionless before the leaded glass of her bedroom window, her cold forehead resting against the icy pane.She had not crossed the threshold of her chambers since the night they dragged her back from the Northern border. She refused official audiences, ignored the king’s repeated summons, and threatened to strike down any well-meaning servant who dared attempt to clean the room or draw back the drapes.For weeks, the heavy velvet curtains had remained drawn tight, suffocating the vast space in absolute, oppressive gloom. No ray of golden sunlight was permitted to touch the dark stone floor; no fresh mountain breeze was allowed to stir the heavy, stagnant air. The room was a tomb, preserved in the exact cold state of her broken heart.
BRED FOR DUTY The Phantom Breath
Archer’s JournalDay 2,425.They say the dead cross into light, but I know the threshold is made of leaves and dark earth. I drag air into lungs that refuse to expand. If this is death, it is cold; if it is life, it is a punishment because she is not here.A brutal pull yanked at his spine, dragging his upper body through weightless fog, but Archer could not discern where the current was carrying him. His mind floated detached from his limbs, suspended in a thick, numbing daze. Every nerve in his frame throbbed with a dull, persistent ache, as though his flesh had been crushed and pieced back together by unsympathetic hands.When his eyelids finally fluttered open, the sudden, violent glare of unfiltered light pierced his retinas. He blinked against the searing white, expecting the vaulted stone arches of his royal bedchamber or the blood-soaked soil of the border clearing. Instead, the blinding glare resolved into a jagged canopy of vibrant green leaves swaying gently against an uny
BRED FOR DUTY The Silence in the Hall
Adalia’s JournalDay 2,424.They dragged me away from his body, but they could not drag my soul from his side. They tell me he is dead because his blood was on the ground. But a bond like ours does not break just because men are too cowardly to search the dark.King Lionell reluctantly turned his horse away from the red clearing, his heart remaining entirely behind with his son’s lifeless body. The retreat was forced; the remaining rebel archers were calling from the treeline, and to stay was to invite the total slaughter of both royal lines.Adalia fought violently against Xander’s tight, crushing hold the entire way back. She twisted, kicked, and clawed, but in her weakened, hysterical state, she was no match for his strength. She didn’t stop screaming—screaming Archer's name until her throat was raw and bleeding—even as the surviving garrison pulled away from the clearing and rode furiously back toward the kingdom borders.When they finally passed through the iron gates of the Sou
BRED FOR DUTY The Shadow's Strike
Adalia’s JournalDay 2,423.A single heartbeat separates life from the abyss. I watched the shadow move, trapped in the ice of my own terror, and in that silent second, the world shattered into pieces I can never fit back together.The minutes that ticked by in the quiet woods seemed like absolute hours. But finally, a scout was sent into the brush to retrieve them.Adalia and Novia helped Randi walk when he felt too weak from blood loss to keep his feet. Adalia watched as her brother and his young bride whispered incomprehensible, comforting things to each other in quiet gasps. Watching them, Adalia’s heart thrummed—she couldn’t wait to do the exact same thing with her Archer the moment they were clear of this nightmare.They finally emerged into the main clearing, where the once-green grass was now littered with bodies and painted dark red.Archer stood right in the middle of the field, waiting for them. His once-clean white tunic was heavily soiled, and his iron armor was smeared w
BRED FOR DUTY Blood in the Forest
Adalia’s JournalDay 2,422.We paint war in glorious colors when we dream of it in quiet rooms. But on the field, glory is just the coppery smell of open veins and the cold reality that love cannot shield a man from iron.Archer wasn’t sure how he was going to find his sister in the vast, dense woods, but he silently thanked the heavens that he had insisted on her learning how to defend herself before she ever left the North.Every couple of seconds, as they rode, his eyes would drift sideways toward Adalia. He needed to know she was still right beside him. He didn’t know how he was going to fight knowing that she was in equal, deadly danger, but he would simply have to divide his attention and stay absolutely sharp. In a way, they were riding straight towards death in the cooling twilight.It only took them minutes, after riding their horses sour, to reach the ambush site.The battle was still raging in the dirt. Men were shouting, steel was clashing, but there was no immediate sign
BRED FOR DUTY The Sound of the Trumpet
Adalia’s JournalDay 2,421.Truth is a weight carried in the chest. I made promises in the dark when I felt alone, but light demands clarity. I cannot live a lie with the man who holds my heart, even if the past still tries to drag me backward.“Don’t do that.”Archer was slowly getting irritated by Adalia’s guilty expression each time their path crossed with Xander’s former post or when his name was spoken by the guards. It made Archer feel as if she didn't truly believe what they were doing together was right. However, to him, holding her felt completely perfect.“Do what?” She squeezed back the warm tears threatening to spill over her lashes.“I don’t like it when you make that expression,” Archer said gently, pressing both of his broad palms against her cool cheeks, forcing her to look straight into his hazel eyes. “Like what we are doing is wrong?”She reached up and pulled his hands down to her chest, holding them tight. “What we are doing isn’t wrong. But what I did was. I sho
BRED FOR DUTY CHAPTER TWO
Adalia could feel his gaze on her and it made her itch all over. “I learned from the best,” she said as made her rounds around the wounded men. “They must have known we were coming here, why else would they attack.”“They wanted to get rid of all of us at the sa
BRED FOR DUTY CHAPTER ONE (B)
Archer saw the door crack open. He saw Adalia’s dark hair hanging over her dress. He wanted to laugh but stopped he didn’t want anything to draw attention to Adalia. But it seemed someone else had spotted her.“Don’t be a sneak, come in. You are already half way in an
BRED FOR DUTY ADALIA
*Dear Diary,Mother says I should act more like a princess and less like a gladiator. A princess is never heard, she says. She’s supposed to be delicate and as sweet as a song bird. But how could I, if I was father’s son for the first two years of my life. I watched him train wit
BRED FOR DUTY ARCHER
*Dear world,My little brother Noel was born yesterday. His birth brings the tally to six boys and three girls. I think father is making certain that there is an heir and a spare (and a few spares for both the heir and the spare). I remember when I figured out my role in this world, as the f
You May Also Like
His Caged Princess
Moonlight Muse276.3K viewsFlames Of Hate and Retribution
That Guy26.8K viewsDragon's Misplaced Mate
Pravs_3618338.8K viewsHow to Avoid Death on a Daily Basis
V. Moody30.4K viewsIN LOVE WITH HIS CURVY HYBRID ENEMY
Omah Bee77 viewsRejected Luna: Rise of an Omega Queen
Maryann Ejike300 viewsChained to My Hybrid Alpha Prince
Mayummie177 viewsThe Billionaire's inheritance son of the richest family
Prince ovunda 476 views
