Farnath: The Frozen Heart Read online

  Farnath

  The Frozen Heart

  We only appreciate what we lose.

  Poseidon Aivalis

  Acknowledgements

  This was supposed to be a ten pages fairy-tale story but I found myself lost in the world of Farnath and Andria, with many characters involved in a funny and intense adventure. I need to thank my first fan and supporter in this effort, Jennifer who encouraged me to start this story and she was reading every new chapter and of course my brother, Stavros Aivalis, who supported me by correcting mistakes and giving a positive feedback. Also, I would like to thank Ms Eliza Marinou for the wonderful artwork. Finally, I thank all those who came in my life and inspired me with their personalities.

  Part 1

  Introduction

  T here was a time when the whole of humankind was living under the Earth’s surface. The sun had become so hot that no living being could survive on the vast desert that once was a beautiful green planet with lakes, valleys and forests. So they dug deep into the ground and built cities that were protected from the heat. They were connected by tunnels and supported by artificial nutrition. For over two thousand years, people lived their regulated lives, dealing with their everyday problems, while the Seven Kings were ruling the world in equal realms. Everybody seemed happy; they were used to this life. But, there was one girl who wasn’t happy at all.

  In the palace, made of white marble and maroon columns, Princess Andria, an eighteen year old brunette with green eyes and soft lips, and the only daughter of King George the seventh of the kings, was lying on her bed, trying to imagine how the surface might be. She had always been an independent, clever and brave girl, but her strongest trait, her curiosity, was higher than the average, so that even the photos, stories and videos weren’t enough to satisfy her need to know the unknown. She wanted to see the red horizon with her own eyes, feel the hot breeze on her skin, smell the dust of the yellow desert and feel the warmth of the sun on her face. She kept asking her father to allow her to explore the upper land, but King George, a stocky, but tall man with an angular face and a big moustache that covered his mouth, was uncompromising about that and her requests were always denied. He used to say that, apart from it being extremely dangerous, it was illegal too. For centuries, no man had stepped on the hot sand, as there was nothing but infinite desert to find.

  “This is the last place anyone would want to be, Andria. There is nothing alive up there!” King George was trying to explain for one hundredth time.

  He was a stubborn, gentle and very realistic man, but he had a weakness. He was overprotective of his daughter.

  “But—” Andria tried to argue, but her father interrupted her swiftly.

  “There is no point for further discussion, my darling. We have laws that prohibit the journey to the surface since the last tragic expedition, six centuries ago. Any attempt will be considered as suicide, therefore immoral and wrong. You are the King’s daughter so you should set the example for our people!” The king’s face softened and his voice became warmer when he noticed his daughter almost crying. “I’m not asking you to forget the idea as your King, but as your father too, because I love you and I don’t want you to get hurt, that’s all.” He hugged her and she accepted his tenderness.

  “I know, dad,” she said. “Don’t worry, I won’t go”.

  A palatial officer, wearing a blue uniform with double line of gold-platted buttons, came through the double doors to interrupt their moment.

  “Your Majesty, it’s time for the annual celebration of your crowning. Everyone is waiting for you”.

  The King looked at his daughter apologetically, but Andria calmed him down, smiling.

  “You should go. I’ll catch up with you later.”

  Even after her father’s discouraging words, Andria was still imagining the surface as she was staring through her window over at the artificial dark ceiling of the city.

  “How bad could it be out there?” she wondered.

  The celebration of King George’s crowning was one more boring gathering of wealthy people in an old-style ball room, that consisted of a huge ecological fireplace and round tables set with silver dinnerware. They were trying to impress the king with their egocentric, colourful, expensive appearance, hoping for a new title or even a family union, a marriage either with the king or his daughter, who was sitting glumly in the corner staring at the exit. She was imagining herself walking towards it, leaving the building and escaping from this illusionary party of people with the “masks”. Without really realising what she was doing, she got up and did just that, discreetly she walked away founding herself walking through the well-maintained gardens and then down the Royal Avenue outside of the palace, towards the centre of the capital, Ardonia. The ceiling above her was as tall as an eighth floor building and black with white LED lamps that were on 24 hours a day. The avenue had eight busy lanes, while the pedestrians walked on the wide pavements next to the never-closing stores. There was no day or night under the surface, but each 24-hours was separated in three eight-hour sections and every citizen would choose one of them to work, one to sleep and the last one would be saved for their free time. Every building was supplied by thick shutters, a central thermostat, a water clock that controlled the amount of water each person could use per day; plus internet access. The height of a building wasn’t any more than five floors in order to keep the air flowing as free as possible. Under the ground, the water, coming from underground sources, was distributed to the cities and villages of the kingdom through huge pipes, while the oxygen was produced either by artificial parks or the Forbidden Forest, the only and last place on Earth with natural vegetation.

  Still dressed up like a princess, in a light blue, long dress made of silk, Andria simply got onto the first electric bus that appeared, and sat next to an old woman who looked at her curiously. After some minutes, everybody in the bus was looking at her as it was obvious that she belonged within a higher class. A blond girl in a pink dress, just on the front seat, turned around and stared.

  “Are you a princess?” she asked Andria. “You are very beautiful!”

  Andria smiled at her and replied, “I might be, but I think you are the princess here! You are very beautiful!” The girl smiled and her mother finally turned her back to her seat.

  After a while, Andria started to feel more eyes on her and she decided to get out on the next stop, even if she had no idea where she was. The girl in front of her, turned back around and spoke to her once more.

  “I think you are a princess and when I grow up, I will be like you!”

  Some voices inside the bus repeated the word “princess” and some suspicious, pale-skinned men followed her off the bus. Her random tour had brought her to one of the most disreputable neighbourhoods of the city, where crime was a way of life for the poor local inhabitants. The ceiling was shorter than the one she was used to, by half, and in this poor area the buildings illegally reached the three floors, making everything closer and tighter, and the heat was greater. Just half of the lights on the ceiling were working and there was less water available for each citizen than in the rest of the city. Andria wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but she didn’t had noticed the group of bums following her. When she eventually saw them, she tried to speed up but her dress made it more difficult and it got torn and messed, as it got caught in rusty scrap metal, that was hanging all over the place and thick dust was blocking her view. She was almost panicking, as she couldn’t see anything familiar around and she could barely breathe in those narrow alleys. Suddenly, out of nowhere, two hands grasped her, dragged her into a darkened corner and Andria disappeared from the gang’s sight. She got so scared, while her mouth was covered b
y a soft white palm to prevent her from screaming as she was fighting to escape her stronger “kidnapper”. After the gangsters passed, she elbowed her captor in the ribs, slipped out of the loosened grasp and turned around, ready for a confrontation.

  “You are a woman!” Andria said, surprised. “Who are you, what do you want?

  “I’m Erica and you’re welcome,” the woman replied. She was slim, around thirty-five years old, with brown hair and eyes, and she was rubbing her ribs, where Andria had elbowed her.

  She seemed poor, wearing brown and grey, well-worn clothes, while her skin was pale, wrinkled and tired.

  “I don’t understand, what was all that?”

  “You are a long way from your palace, princess! I just prevented your abduction.”

  “My … abduction? Well, then … thanks, I guess? Why did you save me and what is this place? It’s so dirty and ugly.”

  “You have no idea of the real world, do you? This is one of the poorest and most dangerous places for someone to be, especially for your Highness! Even if I don’t fancy high-class noblemen with their expensive clothes and perfumes, I like gangsters and abductions even less. So, I just did what I thought was right. What are you looking for here anyway? Can I help you somehow?”

  Andria wasn’t sure if it would be wise to trust Erica, so she avoided revealing her true intentions and made up a silly excuse.

  “Ok,” Erica said knowingly. “It seems you don’t trust me enough to tell me the purpose of your secret mission here.” Erica touched her ribs again and grimaced with pain.

  “I’m sorry about that!” Andria said. “You should come with me and have your ribs checked by a doctor. In the palace we have really good…” Andria realised that Erica wasn’t really interested.

  There were noises nearby, the sound of rhythmic military marching and loud voices asking around if they had seen the princess. Erica peered around the corner and saw the soldiers in their light blue uniforms everywhere on the streets.

  “They came for you, princess.”

  “I know. My poor father must be worried.”

  “You should go back to him.”

  “I will, but just before I leave, I would like to ask you something.” Andria had decided to trust this stranger only a little, and at least try to glean some information before she returned. “Do you know any possible way to reach the—”

  Interrupted by a soldier; too late.

  “Princess Andria!” After the soldier found her, an officer appeared.

  “Your Highness, your father is asking for you. You should come with us.”

  “At ease, soldier, I’m coming, don’t worry!”

  Andria looked at Erica once more and she asked her if she needed anything. Erica shook her head.

  “Just remember you owe me,” Erica said smiling.

  Back at the palace, King George was furious at his daughter and after he scolded her, he punished her by forbidding her to go out of her apartment for one week. She accepted the punishment without complaint, as she knew that nothing could stop her from dreaming of the surface.

  The days were slow and boring for the young explorer, but finally, she passed through the open door, out to her freedom. The urge to escape from boredom and this microcosm that everybody was living in was even stronger than before. Her father had a meeting at the council so she grabbed the opportunity to slip away again. She wore casual brown and grey clothes to avoid attracting attention and she tucked some money into her purse. She mingled with the people on the streets excited for her new adventure, until an officer’s voice was heard.

  “Step aside for the king’s men and the prisoners!”

  Everybody made space for a small procession of blue uniformed guards, walking next to some electric cage-carriages with prisoners inside. This was something new for Andria and she tried to observe the faces of the prisoners more closely to understand how different they might look to the “good” people. While she was watching, she noticed a familiar face amongst them. She ran closer to the cages just to see Erica sitting on the floor of one of them, while the citizens were throwing rocks and spitting at them. This was a way to humiliate the prisoners, according to the traditions of the Seventh Kingdom. Andria shouted at Erica, whilst she was trying to move closer, but the soldiers stopped her and her voice got lost in the noisy crowd. Andria got angry.

  “How dare you, soldier? I am your…” Then she realised that she was wearing common clothes that made her look like a normal citizen to the soldier’s eyes and two thoughts came in mind. Firstly, she was too successfully disguised and secondly, without her royal dresses she was actually nobody! So it was her clothes that made her who she was, not her face or personality.

  She decided to follow the cages that were moving extremely slow for some reason and try to set Erica free.

  After half an hour of walking, they arrived at the prison, a depressing grey building with small windows and dark cells. Even when she appeared at the entrance demanding the guards to let her pass, they ignored her. Nobody recognised her, so she decided to show them her royal emerald ring, which was something that only a member of the royal family would wear. The guards couldn’t ignore her anymore and one of them called their superior to handle the situation. A fat man with round face came, sweating from the heat and immediately recognised Andria and welcomed her inside the prison. He was nervous and excited at the same time as it was very important to make a good impression on the king’s daughter. While he guided Andria through the facilities, he explained the security’s strong and weak points in every detail, probably hoping that he would either gain a promotion or a grant, in order to increase the condition of the security and the welfare of the prisoners. When they arrived at the female wing, Andria started looking around for her friend. As she was observing the people behind bars, she realised that most of them were worn down and tired and not as devious looking as she had believed. She then remembered her punishment last week, imprisoned in her luxurious apartments compare to these cells.

  “How different the real loss of freedom is,” she thought. “Instead of a comfortable bed you have these hard and low quality mattresses and you have to share the toilets with other ten people! But these people are criminals and they must deserve such treatment, mustn’t they? What did Erica do to be amongst these people though?” All these thoughts passed through her mind, until she spotted her sitting among the newcomers.

  “I would like to speak to that woman over there, please” Andria politely requested to the officer, pointing over at Erica.

  The officer shortly arranged the meeting room for the two women. Erica was more than surprised to see the princess there, in that filthy prison, looking for her!

  “Why are you here?” Erica asked her.

  “I came for you. I saw you in those cages, being treated like an animal. Why are you here?” she asked, curious.

  “Like an animal,” Erica smiled bitterly. “Living in the streets is not as easy as you think. After you step away from your safe and luxurious palace, you will see a different world from what you have probably imagined. The real world!”

  “I’ve not imagined this world. Maybe you should tell me then, why you are here exactly.”

  “I got caught stealing food from a bakery. Do you believe that I’m behind bars for a small piece of bread? Well, and some cakes and maybe a couple of coins from the cash machine! But I was hungry, what else could I do?”

  Andria then realised that indeed she knew very few things about the common world and its complexities. There wasn’t just right and wrong, but also a middle point, where justice wasn’t clear, right when there was the matter of survival. There was only one thing that Andria could trust in and that was her instinct on these things, so her instinct was saying that she should trust this woman despite her behaviour.

  “You seem to know more about this world than me. Do you have any idea how someone could reach the surface of this planet?” Andria finally asked. Erica looked as if she wanted to laugh at
the question.

  “Is this a joke? Because I don’t get it.”

  “I’m serious, this is what I’m looking for, a way out of this prison and I don’t mean this prison.”

  “The rich have always had weird hobbies to kill time.”

  “If you don’t want to help then fine! Just stay here and I’ll find someone else,” Andria replied, annoyed by Erica’s judgmental stance and stood up to leave.

  “Ivorin,” Erica replied, at the last moment.

  “Pardon?”

  “Find Ivorin at the edge of this city. He is a crazy scientist and he is probably the only one who can help you with that…plan of yours.”

  Andria’s face became brighter under the fresh new information.

  “If I arrange to get you out of here as soon as possible, will you lead me to him?” she asked.

  “Don’t release me! When I’m free, I’m hungry, but when I’m in here, I have something to eat, at least, without the fear of getting caught.”

  Andria never thought of it from this perspective before. Could some people be so desperately in need to survive that they would offer their freedom so willingly?

  “You will work for me then. You will be my personal assistant from now on and we are going to meet this Ivorin and ask for his support. You won’t have to worry about food anymore. What do you think?”

  Andria demanded the instant release of Erica, but the officer refused as it was strictly against the law and even the daughter of the king couldn’t overrule it.

  “What if you just delete her name from the records, and you have the king’s daughter’s gratitude? Maybe I could arrange a transfer to quieter place for you?” Andria’s instinct told her that the officer was not a strict and intolerant kind of man, but an easy-going person, who would negotiate a fair exchange of favours.

  “My princess, I actually think a transfer would be pretty good for my nerves. If you could arrange it, I would be forever obliged to you, your Highness”