Chapter II

"A person like you and me"

The next day, Iduna, Asilos, Argon and a few servants set off early in the morning for Arta Castle, the seat of Prince Belial. The snow was still deep and winter had reached its peak, making it impossible for a carriage to travel the long distance through the kingdom. So all the travelers left the castle on horseback and set off to reach Prince Belial's castle.

Iduna enjoyed the scenery, seeing the kingdom in all its glory for the first time. Contrary to her expectations, she was able to admire the snow-capped mountains, the wide valleys and forests in bright sunlight. The clouds of the last few weeks had moved on and so it was a real pleasure to go on this ride, which seemed to go by far too quickly.

~

In the evening, the group arrived in one of the towns, where they spent the night in an inn. As the king rarely left his castle, there was great excitement in the town. The innkeeper roasted a suckling pig and let his guests dine from his best plates.

Iduna enjoyed the strange faces, but she found herself looking out for Freylen, hoping to catch sight of the light blonde hair or even the blue eyes. She didn't know what Freylen looked like now, as she hadn't seen him for many years, but she didn't see such light hair in this inn.

~

"Asilos," she said to her king before retiring to her own room,"I found this ring in Frey's chambers last night."

The king looked at Iduna in amazement and silently took the ring from her hand."It's not a sin to admit that you miss him. If only he knew how much you love him," she said and laid down to rest after greeting him.

~

The next day they arrived at the lands administered by the prince. It was a beautiful piece of land, dotted with forests, rivers and the great mountains.

"Now we pass the fields, then we ride through a small forest, behind which lies the prince's castle," explained Argon, pointing to numerous fields to their sides.

Iduna turned her gaze and saw four people in one of the fields. Two of them were of a darkskin color and, like a third, wore dirty rags. They stood bent over and seemed to be working the field. The fourth man looked down sternly at the three others, holding a whip in his hand.

The pale person seemed to be picking up stones and turned her head. Iduna's sharp eyes met those of the person, of whom she could neither tell how old they were nor what gender they were. The person was small and lean, with a fine face and soft features, as far as she could tell. The hair was almost completely