The Cryo Sovereign's Secret

"She's heavy!" Tera grunted, half-staggering as he lifted the unconscious girl onto his back. Elynas' arms dangled over his shoulders, her boots thumping against his legs with each step.

Merry huffed, hands on her hips. "Well sorry, we can't exactly ask her to float herself over, can we?"

"I didn't say we shouldn't help her," he wheezed, "I'm saying she might be secretly made of rocks—or guilt—like those scary statue ladies in the capital."

"She doesn't look scary," Merry replied quietly, glancing at the sleeping girl. Elynas' face was peaceful now, though her brows twitched every so often—like she was stuck in a dream that wasn't being very kind.

They made their way through the dirt path that winded back toward the village, the scent of flowers and warm bread greeting them long before the cottages came into view.

The wooden sign to Roselight Hollow creaked above their heads as they entered, and Merry pointed toward the sloped cottage by the well.

"Grandma Suri's place. Hurry!"

Tera didn't need to be told twice. Sweat trailing down his temple, he stumbled up the stone steps, then awkwardly shoulder-bumped the door with his free arm.

Knock knock! WHACK. ...Knock?

A pause.

Then:

"If that's you again with dead frogs for potion work, I swear I'll hex your dreams off your head!" came a rasp from inside.

The door creaked open—revealing Grandma Suri, hunched but fierce-looking, with white curls wrapped in a fraying scarf and tiny red glasses perched on her nose. Her eyes narrowed at the sight.

Then widened.

"Oh for the love of frost—what now?"

"She fell!" Merry exclaimed. "From the sky! A rift opened, and boom, she landed in front of us!"

Grandma Suri didn't ask another word. She stepped aside.

"Get her in."

---

Inside, the hearth was already warm, and a faint lavender scent drifted through the house. Tera carefully laid Elynas down on a woven cot near the fire.

Suri knelt beside her, fingers brushing over her forehead. Her wrinkled hand paused as it hovered over the girl's chest—right where her soul core should be.

"…There's something strange about her," Suri muttered. "Her heartbeat is off. And the aether around her—it's all… tangled."

Grandma Suri muttered something under her breath as she reached her cluttered shelf—half scrolls, half herbs, and fully threatening to collapse. Her gnarled fingers moved with practiced precision, plucking dried bluebell roots, a pinch of frost nettle, and three glowing seeds that clicked together like marbles.

She brought them to her grinding bowl and began to crush them with a worn pestle, the scent immediately flooding the room—sharp, cool, and strangely… nostalgic.

Tera scrunched his nose. "It smells like the time I fell face-first into that ice cave."

"That was your fault for trying to impress Merry by licking a glowing mushroom," Suri deadpanned, not looking up.

"It was glowing!" Tera protested.

Suri rolled her eyes and muttered, "So does poison."

Merry leaned over to peek into the bowl. "What are you making, Grandma?"

"An infusion," she replied. "Soothing for the soul. Grounding. Helps untangle the energy inside someone when it's been… warped."

She poured the mixture into a small kettle, added a few drops of something violet and viscous, then placed it over the fire. The flames flickered a pale blue the moment the pot settled in.

Suri returned to Elynas' side and gently tilted her head, placing her hand on the girl's chest once more.

"She's not hurt," Suri murmured, mostly to herself. "But her aether's folded—like too many stories told all at once. Dreams wrapped in memory, and memory pretending to be truth."

Merry blinked. "What does that mean?"

Suri didn't answer right away. Her eyes had narrowed.

"She's from far, far away… and not just in distance."

The kettle whistled once.

"Let's see if she remembers who she is when she wakes."

Grandma Suri leaned back in her chair, the faint scent of herbs swirling as steam rose from the bubbling pot.

"Now then, you two little berries want to hear the real story of Roselight Hollow while we wait for medicine to be prepared?"

Tera and Merry leaned in close, eyes shining with that special hunger kids have when legends are about to be unwrapped like candy.

Grandma Suri smiled, eyes clouding with old memory.

"Long, long ago… when the land of Arian was first forged by the Cryo Sovereign herself, the people were as young as morning snow. Lost, cold, but full of wonder."

She motioned toward the frosted window, where snow glimmered faintly.

"It was then that the Sovereign's Emblem, Mother Seraphyx, descended. A being of light and logic. He taught our people how to farm through the frost, mine through the ice, and build homes that breathed warmth even in winter's heart."

Tera whispered, "So he made Arian?"

"In a way," Grandma Suri nodded. "But he didn't lead us. That honor belonged to a humble man—Yustav Grusch, the son of a farmer, a voice of reason and kindness. The people chose him as their first guide, and he led not as a king, but as a shepherd of the land."

Merry beamed. "And we're his people, right?"

Grandma Suri gave a warm chuckle.

"Yes, little snowdrop. Every Arian bears a bit of Yustav's dream. But one day, when time moved as it always does, a child was born into his bloodline. A boy of rare heart… one with a spark not even the frost could dim."

Her voice lowered with awe.

"Orion Grusch."

Tera and Merry gasped like he was a superhero.

"Raised with the stories of Seraphyx, and taught by the elders of the Arian Core, Orion grew to carry something deeper than duty—he carried the memory of the Seraphyx himself, He met him when he was just 5, that encountered lingered as an encouragement to him."

Merry's eyes were wide. "He met him?"

Grandma Suri's smile thinned, fond and sad.

"He did. And in that meeting, he changed. He became something more than just a ruler. King Orion became… the bridge. The child of Seraphyx's dream and Arian's promise. And now, under his watch, the Kingdom doesn't just survive—"

She gestured slowly toward the window again, to the vast shimmering expanse of forests, distant castles, and swirling skies.

"—it thrives, in a world reborn."

Tera sat back, clearly pretending he wasn't tearing up.

Merry whispered, "Grandma… do you think we'll ever meet him?"

Suri gave her a wink.

"Oh sweetie… in a place like Roselight Hollow? Anything can happen but that certainly is not something I am wishing for."

Grandma Suri's eyes misted for a moment, her smile dimming into something softer, quieter.

She looked out the window again before turning back to the children, her voice carrying a bittersweet weight.

"And when King Orion was first crowned," she said, resting her hands in her lap, "he went on a journey… not of conquest, but of understanding. A new king must know the hearts of his people, after all."

She leaned back, her bones creaking with the old wooden chair.

"It was thirty-five years ago. This land—Roselight Hollow—wasn't a village then. Just this home, me, and my daughter."

Tera blinked. "Just you two?"

She nodded, her eyes foggy with memory.

"My daughter, Minerva, was as bright and headstrong as they come. And of course, she had to go and fall in love with that scoundrel—" she paused, then sighed dramatically, "I mean, His Majesty."

Merry giggled, and Grandma Suri gave her a wink.

"He took her with him. Said it was destiny or romance or some such nonsense." She huffed. "Left me here with nothing but empty walls and my husband's old coat."

Her voice dipped lower, more vulnerable now.

"Minerva begged me to come. Said the palace had warmth, music, a view of the stars. But how could I?"

She looked around the humble room with pride.

"This is where my love passed. Her father. A good man who planted every flower outside this house. I still talk to him, you know. Every morning."

She smiled wistfully, brushing a finger across a small wooden carving on the table.

"So I stayed. I stayed to remember. And now… Roselight Hollow became more known because it was the birthplace of the Queen, some people came here to settle and marry, and one of them were your parents as well. Who knows one day both of you will marry too."

Merry Blushed and pouted angrily,"H... how can you say that Granny Suri!!" she exclaimed and look away.