Aifyn is a strange place. Maria is confused by the nature of it. It is a desert planet, covered in sand and so few bodies of water that she has only ever seen water when it is presented to her by servants of the Ice Prince. Despite the desert nature of the planet Aifyn, it is never hot, not even when the sun shines down on the surface and the silver sands reflect the light like a mirror. It seems the sun of Aifyn only exists to bathe the planet in light and not heat.
“The Line absorbs and redistributes the heat from the sun so that no planet is too hot or cold to be inhabited by Fyns,” the Ice Prince explained to Maria as they ate on the roof of the Kings’ Palace on Aifyn. The palace was like stacks of rectangular blocks of silver stone that were the color of the sand of the desert. There was a large stone wall that encircled it with a bustling city inside, and the palace was nestled in the middle. The Kings had made the roof of their palace into an open-air bazaar complete with vendors and restaurants that citizens of the palace city enjoyed at their leisure. The palace itself was more of a communal building that the Kings occupied when they sat to hear the word of their loyal followers.
Maria was glad that Garoa was with her and she hovered next to the table, not eating. Garoa didn’t need sustenance as a Therosi god, but Maria had learned that she could enjoy food if she wanted to. Garoa was not a fan of the food of Aifyn; Fyns enjoyed many things raw, including many of the insects that existed in the desert, and Garoa had a distaste for exoskeletons.
“It’s why I don’t like to be inside the line,” the Ice Prince said with annoyance. He grabbed what Maria thought looked like a cricket from the bowl of sand that sat in the middle of the table. Vibrant flowers and other green plants grew from the sand and many varieties of insects moved around it. Maria was a fan of the green ladybugs, but she had only recently allowed herself to indulge in Aifyn cuisine.
“The atmosphere is artificial,” Maria said. “Doesn’t that make it easier to tame the winds?”
“You’re right,” the Ice Prince nodded, “But it is not the true winds, poor conditions for training to ryde the wynds of the cosmos.”
Maria nodded. “You’ve seen every corner of Outer Spacetime?”
“I traveled the streams, but did I see every corner of Outer Spacetime?” The Ice Prince shook his head. “Wynd Ryding is an arcane practice, and it allows for the development of other senses that we use to understand our surroundings. I used those senses to feel much of this existence, more than most.”
“Can you leave Outer Spacetime?” Garoa asked. The Therosi Gods cease to exist if they leave Outer Spacetime.
“I cannot physically leave. I am a god like the Therosi, that is why we are grounded here in ceremony before our real duties can commence. I do not like to disrespect my fathers, even if lording our powers over the fyns of the palace city seems pointless to me, and they requested that we settle here before we begin our work so that the average fyns may know the Transverse.”
“Have you ever interacted with the roots of the tree of existence?” Garoa asked. “I just want to be sure that this method will allow Maria to achieve her goal. Wynd Ryding is an impressive trick, for sure, but is it enough to attain the roots?”
“Many fyns call me rude,” the Ice Prince said and he smiled at Garoa who smiled nervously back at him. “They think I disdain their presence because I am the Ice Prince, but it is the artificiality of the Aifyn Line that repels me. I only say that to say that it is illuminating to experience what fyns must experience when they interact with me. You look down on Wynd Ryders as petty magicians doing tricks?”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Garoa said. “I have just never witnessed Wynd Ryding as more than a sideshow. You are aware of the Spacetime Carnival? The Wynd Ryders are daredevils, but how does a Wynd Ryder attain the speed necessary to navigate the streams of existence and not perish from the time that would take, not to mention the force of travelling at such a speed.”
“Wynd Ryders, like the Aifyn Kings and myself, have mastered the Wynds. We have mastered the arcana of the Wynds.”
As he said this, the Ice Prince lifted an arm and arranged his fingers into a specific formation. Maria felt a rush of wind rush through the middle of the table, disturbing the flowers and their meal and the Ice Prince moved his fingers as the sand at a distance began to kick up and dance, like a windstorm but directed by the fingers of the Prince. Then he bawled his fingers into a fist and the sand condensed into a solid sandstone that thudded to the ground. With the flick of his finger, the boulder blew away on the wind.
“A Wynd Ryder directs the winds, space itself, just like Wazad,” the Prince said. “I have read the Set. He uses a similar principle to navigate space as the Wynd Ryders, but the cost of his arcana taxes the body. Wynd Ryders learn to befriend the Wynds who are happy to do our bidding and pay our cost. And a Wynd can circle Outer Spacetime in the blink of an eye. Do not underestimate my arcana, esteemed God of Theron.”
The Ice Prince bowed with his head to show respect to Garoa, and she eagerly returned the gesture.
On the last day of settling on Aifyn, Maria and Garoa attended a large party arranged by the Kings to honor their guests before their departure. The Ice Prince insisted on escorting them to the party.
“If you don’t let me escort you,” the Prince explained, “my fathers will insist that the Halfyn Heir take me, and I cannot tolerate pretending to find the Halfyn Heir interesting for the length of this party.”
Maria and Garoa wore matching traditional Aifyn gowns that a tailor had fitted for them and they looked like royalty in the shimmering white. The Ice Prince wore a jacket and loose pants that also shimmered but the white was tinged with blue.
“I will refuse in order to meet this Halfyn Heir who seems to annoy you so much,” Garoa said with a chuckle. “I’m sure we will spend the entire party avoiding him otherwise.”
“Do you not like me?” the Ice Prince asked.
“I like you a lot,” Garoa said and she hugged him, then held him at arm’s length. “I love our back and forth. Maria thinks we’re hilarious.”
“Are your fathers trying to force you to marry the Heir?” Maria asked.
“No,” the Ice Prince said. “My fathers think that I want to marry him because I told him that I want to marry him.”
“Then go to the party with him,” Maria said.
“I don’t want to marry the Halfyn Heir,” the Ice Prince said with exasperation. “I enjoy being intimate with the Halfyn Heir, but I do not enjoy being with him otherwise. He gets sick Ryding Wynds. I told my fathers that I want to marry him because I didn’t want to admit that I was just using him for the intimate parts, and there was a time when I was always on Halfyn and people started asking questions so I had to say something. Anyway, I lied, and now everyone thinks I want to marry the Halfyn Heir, but I cannot spend the rest of my life with someone who gets sick Ryding.”
“Maybe he can get better at it,” Maria suggested.
“I hope you’re not still being intimate with him,” Garoa said.
“I’m not,” the Ice Prince said. “I got that out of my system a while ago, but I don’t know how to tell him that I’m not interested, you know. We just sort of drifted away from each other. So you can imagine how terrified I was to learn that my fathers invited him. The only way that I can avoid the awfulness of telling the Halfyn Heir that I don’t want to marry him and that I was just using his gorgeous body for my pleasure is for you both to accompany me to this party. We can avoid him, I will distract him with my followers.”
“This seems bad,” Maria said, shaking her head slowly. “I think if you’re going to handle this in such an unhealthy way, you might as well come out the other side having broken up with him. We will escort you to the party, you can dump him. Or we could do it for you…”
“That would be interesting,” Garoa said.
“…and then you can use your followers to distract him for the rest of the party. Then we’re off to Juoil to start cosmic Wynd Ryding training.”
And so it was. The Halfyn Heir was devastated by the breakup, partly because Garoa handled it so bluntly when the Ice Prince lost his nerve, but it was done and after the party was done, and Maria and her friends were rested, they departed Aifyn.
The Halfyn Heir left the Kings’ palace after a night of sorrow and many tears. He was resolute, he knew what he had to do. He loved the Ice Prince, and he would prove to him that he was worthy of his love.
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