The Golden Core | Secrets of the Core #1

Chapter Five - Part One

After what felt like an eternity of the two of them not speaking to each other, Winter decided to break the ice as they moved through the streets. "What's your problem?" She kicked a piece of gravel with the tip of her foot, not giving anything else her attention. She couldn't figure out what his problem was, but one hint showed her that it had something to do with her magic.

"What do you mean?" He glanced in her direction, placing his hands inside of his pockets. Of course he was going to act like he didn't know what she was talking about. She expected that response.

"You know what I mean. Why are you acting all quiet?"

He inhaled a breath, then sighed. "I'm not acting quiet, Princess. I just have nothing to say."

Winter opened her mouth as if to say something to him, then closed it. How would she get him to tell her? Should she even try right now? Maybe it was too early, but she wanted to find out what he was hiding. It had to be the perfect time. Especially with Mother not around to pester her, but would he do something to hurt her if she found out? She shrugged her shoulders. It was worth the risk. She didn't trust this guy and needed to find out in case he came to ruin Goldenfordge. After all, she was about to be the ruler of these people.

She bit her lip, looking over at him for a second before her gaze moved forward. "So, Phoenix. What was with that stunt with your magic back there? If I didn't know better, I'd say you tried to kill me."

He sighed, then let out a small chuckle. "I'm not stupid. I wouldn't harm you. You're the princess. I know better than that."

Winter suddenly found that amusing. She did her best to suppress the laughter about to spill out of her mouth as her shoulders shook. What was with him? He was so weird!

She felt a hand appear on her shoulder, stopping her from walking any further, then looked over in Phoenix's direction as she took a breath. A carriage came down the street as Phoenix opened his mouth to speak. Before it came close to them, he motioned her over to the sidewalk while it passed. He leaned up against a tree trunk, his head almost touching the leaves. "What's so funny?"

"What do you mean?"

He shook his head. "You were laughing. What was it about?"

"Oh, that. It's nothing, really. I guess I just found you to be weird." She looked up to the sky, then glanced at him again.

He didn't look impressed.

She grinned, pleased with herself.

"Whatever." He pushed away from the tree trunk and continued to walk.

Winter moved slowly behind him, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, is there anywhere specific that you want to go?" The day just barely travelled into the afternoon and Winter had already run out of things to do with him. She didn't want to be here anyways, but she knew they couldn't go back now. Mother expected them to be out until dark.

"Not particularly. It's nice outside though, not too hot anyways." Great, small talk. She would rather the both of them just be quiet instead of trying to talk to each other. She was never good at conversations and didn't plan on starting to better herself now, not with him.

"Well, we can't go back to the castle. My mother expects us out late, so we need to do something." She tapped her finger against her chin, trying to think of different things they could do since they still had plenty of time to kill. The wind blew softly. Maybe they could go out by the ocean. Father had always mentioned that he would take her there since she had never seen it. Of course, it would be strange having Phoenix there instead. There's a possibility that was a bad idea.

As they continued, the sidewalk ended, leading them through a park of screaming children. A smile spread across her face as one little boy kept running around, then getting up on the slide and sliding down. He hopped off it, then ran over to the two people next to it while they clapped. She assumed they were his parents. She remembered how her father would always bring her here when Mother was too busy to want to deal with her. Father always told her it was just how her mother is, but now that Father was gone, she knew the real reason behind why her mother acted that way. She never wanted Winter.

She shook her head, the smile slowly fading from her face, but Phoenix caught it before it disappeared. "What are you smiling about?"

"Just my Father, it's nothing really."

Phoenix sat down on a bench, tapping the space next to him. "Come sit, we've got plenty of time. You can tell me." He grinned.

She shook her head, feeling a little uncomfortable. They just met and are now walking around the city together, but she didn't want to be too close to him. Leaving a little space would be good in case she felt the need to run. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Come on! It's just a little story about your Father. You can trust me."

Could she? That was one thing she was still unsure of. After all, he did almost hurt her with a table earlier this morning. It wasn't something that was easy for her to not be suspicious of. Sure, he could've done it on accident, but that didn't mean he wasn't out to get her for some reason.

"You almost hit me with a table earlier, Phoenix. How am I supposed to trust someone that doesn't pay attention to what he does with his magic?"

He sat up straight. "You're right. I do apologize for that. It was careless of me."

Winter smiled. "Thank you." She turned around as each child and their parents were getting ready to leave the park. It was strange that they were all deciding to leave at the same time. Was there something going on that she was missing? She walked forward, squinting towards the trees when a shadow appeared. It almost looked like Summer, but she wasn't exactly sure. If it was, she couldn't understand how he could be here when he was at home with Mother before they left. She wanted to get closer, but bits of red were appearing in the distance. She took a step, then hesitated and looked back at Phoenix.