The Cold King(13)

       
           



       

Calia watched with interest and fear.

Finally they made it to the throne and stood before it, shaking.

The Cold King finally interrupted the uneasy silence. "You are charged with stealing from the palace."



The woman began to shake harder but the young man put his hand over hers and took a step forward. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"And how do you answer?"

Calia could see the anxiety and fear plain on his face, obscuring his  identity until it flashed in her head. He was Konstantin, the butcher's  son. She could not place the young woman but she was willowy and  beautiful, a perfect match for a wealthy and handsome young man.

"It is true."

The young woman began to sob but stopped suddenly when the king held his hand up. "And why should I not hang you?"

Calia swallowed hard. What could he have possibly stolen to deserve such a harsh judgment?

"I did it for love," Konstantin said bravely.

Calia did not need to see the Cold King's face to know his mouth curled into a cruel smile. "But you still stole."

"Only a flower!" the girl burst out. "It was just a flower! Surely we can repay you, in some way?"

The king's gaze did not shift to her. "Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to grow those flowers?"

Calia looked back and forth in confusion. The only flower of true  importance in their village was the rose. And it hadn't grown there for  years. The custom of asking for a woman's hand and presenting a real  rose had been replaced by asking for her hand with a paper one. Calia  had never even seen a real one until that day.

Konstantin finally shifted. "I apologize, Your Majesty. But nothing  short of the real thing would convince her father to let her go." He  looked up, pleading. With surprise, Calia saw he was begging her as much  as he was begging the king.



"And so you stole?" The Cold King was ruthless.

"You do not offer them for sale, even though you have so many," Konstantin accused.

"Because they are mine!" the king roared.

If not for hours of practicing, Calia would have jumped back as the petitioners did.

The woman edged around her fiancé and knelt gracefully at the Cold  King's throne. "I beg you, my lord, to see our plight. Nothing could  convince my father other than a real rose and nothing could convince you  to part with one. What else could we do in the face of true love?"

"You always have a choice," the king said quietly. "Ten years in prison for the theft."

Konstantin, his fiancé and Calia all gasped.

"Surely you cannot mean it!" the woman cried.

"I do," the king replied blandly. "It was my flower and he stole it. He should pay the price."

The woman fell sobbing into Konstantin's arms and Calia's heart ached  for them. Yes, they had stolen but the judgment would take everything  they had hoped for away from them.

"Unless," the Cold King intoned, "unless my servant can think of a more suitable punishment."

Calia's face went red then cold. She was expected to render judgment? Or was he toying with her, toying with them all?

"Your Majesty?" she asked in a small voice.

He leaned back in the chair to look at her. "What would your judgment be?"



From that angle she could see his eyes and saw that though they appeared  to be a warm green they were as empty and cold as the rest of him.  "Think carefully," he murmured and she knew her judgment must be fitting  or else the wrath would fall on her head.

"First I must see the roses you speak of," she said, trying to hedge  around what was sure to be her impending doom. Visions of the cell she  had spent her first days in came unbidden and she followed the king on  shaking knees when he stood to lead the way outside.

On the west side of the castle was a private garden and the king pulled a  key from his pocket to unlock a gate and usher them in.

Calia's breath caught in her chest as she drew it all in.

Roses grew everywhere-in the garden, along the walls, up onto the castle  itself. They rioted in color and fragrance and she instantly knew how  one flower could be so valued. A glance at the two lovers showed how  much the flowers meant to them and a glance at the king showed how  fiercely protective of his garden he was.

But deep inside, she was angry. Surely the king knew how important the  rose was to all the villagers. And clearly he knew that they had access  to none while he had an entire garden to himself.

His lips were lined with happiness and joy as he looked upon his creations and Calia hated to interrupt that but did anyway.

"You grew these, Your Majesty?" she asked.                       
       
           



       

"Every single one," he responded.



"So they are your property," she confirmed.

"They are," he agreed, pleased with his servant.

Calia turned to the young lovers. "And you trespassed and stole to have a  rose for proposal?" she asked, willing her voice to be strong.

The young fiancé glared while Konstantin hung his head. "I alone did. For love."

Calia nodded and hoped she sounded mature and wise. "Then you shall pay a fair price for the flower."

The king and Konstantin both started and narrowed angry eyes at her. She  held her hand up. "I believe you own a rare pocket watch." She prayed  it was he and not some other wealthy young man that had always been  flashing the gold piece around.

Konstantin gulped and grabbed at his jacket. "I do."

"Then it will suffice as payment," Calia said, making her voice strong.

"But it was my fathers, and his father's before that!" he protested.

Calia squared her shoulders, praying the young man would see her  reasoning. "And it is precious to you, just as the kings flowers are  precious to him. You will pay him with your watch or with your time."

She eyed the fiancé and saw tears of gratitude in her eyes. Konstantin  saw it as well and gave a broken hearted sigh before reaching into his  jacket pocket and pulling out the watch.

"You are worth more than any possession, even my grandfather's pocket watch," Calia heard him whisper to her.

She barely avoided rolling her eyes. A pocket watch, although much  loved, was nothing compared to lost time. Ten years in a cell as payment  for a flower would have meant an end to their love and dreams of a  family. Even if the fiancé stayed true to him she would most likely not  conceive at an advanced age.



But it still hurt the young man to lose it and the king saw that. "I  will accept your watch as payment," he finally said. "And I hope that  you will share with others so inclined to steal from me to impress their  loves that I will always take what is most valuable." Again Calia  narrowly avoided rolling her eyes. Of course the Cold King would value a  trinket over love or time.

With that he excused the young couple from the garden and went to sit on  a bench in the sunshine. Calia stood with her arms wrapped around her  chest, unsure of what to do. Finally the king waved her over to sit  beside him.

She sat as far from him as she could, intensely disliking being so  close. Even seated, the king towered over her and she could faintly  smell his soap and the mint leaves he liked to chew. She was surprised  to feel the warmth coming off him in waves. She had been sure he had  been carved from ice.

The king toyed with the watch for several minutes before throwing it in the dirt. "Excellent judgment," he finally said.

The poor treatment of the man's heirloom made her heart sink a little. "You think so?" she asked.

"I do. It is a true and just punishment."

Calia shook her head. "For a flower."

The king looked at her sideways and she had to work to avoid gazing into  the hateful, glittering mask. "Flower or gold, he stole from me."



Calia glowered. "You know our engagement custom is to present a rose  during proposal. We cannot grow roses in the valley! I've never even  seen a real one. So we make do with paper flowers while our king sits on  a garden full of real ones."

The king sat back against the bench. "I do. I work hard to grow those  flowers. Each one is a seedling I plant myself. I look over them, make  sure they are tended to and weeded, make sure they are given water when  there is no rain. I've worked very hard to get them grow in the cold  mountain weather. Why should it be tolerable for someone to steal them  from me?"

Calia gritted her teeth. "No one should steal. But neither should anyone  hoard. If you can provide engagement flowers than you should do so. I  am not saying allow people to steal them or give them away for free. But  if you have so many you should be able to allow a few to go for a fair  price and a good reason."

"And what do you think is a good price? A gold coin? Ten gold coins?"