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I had expected to feel different after I crossed it, but to my surprise, everything felt exactly the same.  I looked down at the animal again.  It titled its head before trotting off.  I obeyed the odd urge I had to follow it.  A few hours later, after walking over miles of the mysterious white stuff, I was met with a village.  It looked nothing like the one I had come from.  Nearly everything was white.

I wandered around for a while before finally coming across what appeared to be an inn.  I stepped inside and was surprised to find it empty.  That was, until a man popped his head up from behind the counter.

“Oh!  Hello!  Welcome!  What can I do for you?”

“Um…where am I?”

He looked at me like I was insane. “You’re in Eira, of course.”

“Eira?  Where is Alba?”

Ok, now he definitely thought I was crazy. “Alba is the name of the entire kingdom, silly.  Eira is the capital.  Did you hit your head on your way in here?”

It was at this moment that I realized the man I was speaking to looked nothing like anyone I’d seen while I was walking through the village.  Everyone out there had had pale skin and hair that was only a shade or two off white.  This man had tanned skin and dark, dark hair.  He reminded me of my father.

“Hello?  Miss?  Should I call for a doctor?”

I snapped out of my stupor. “No!  I’m all right!”

“Can you tell me where you’re from?”

“Aine, Chanda.”

He gaped at me. “You’re from Chanda?  You’re lying.”

I sighed. “And why on earth would I lie about that?”

“To toy with me.  Don’t you know no one can cross the border in between Alba and Chanda?”

“That’s what everyone in Chanda seems to think too,” I remarked, “but I got across it just fine.  I saw the cutest animal on the way in.  It had white fur and looked like a fennec fox, but with smaller ears.”

“That’s an arctic fox,” He replied.  There was a long pause before he continued, “You really are from Chanda, aren’t you?”

I nodded, relieved that he seemed to believe me.

“Wait here.  I’ll be back.” He said suddenly before rushing back into another room.

I studied the lobby while he was gone.  Most of the building seemed to be made of the same white stuff that covered the ground outside.  The windows were made out of some sort of clear substance.  It wasn’t entirely clear, however.  It was a bit fogged over.  But you could still see out of it well enough.

A minute later, the man returned with two sandwiches. They looked nothing like the sandwiches I had at home, though.  They had meat, of course, but in the place of bread was some kind of leafy looking thing.  The man led me over to a table that was made of the same thing as the walls.  We both sat down.

“Tell me, how did you get here?” he inquired.

So, I told him everything, and showed him the map.  He gasped as he took it out of my hands.

“I haven’t seen a full map like this in hundreds of years.”

“Hundreds?” I asked.  This man didn’t look a day over twenty-five.

He looked up at me and nodded. “You shouldn’t be surprised.  All humans can live to be at least 500 years old.”

My eye grew wide.  Why had my father died so soon then?

“Do you know why there’s a border?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“You’ve never heard the story of Chanda and Alba, then?”

I shook my head again.

“Wow,” he breathed. “I’ll tell you, then.”

“Two hundred years ago, there was no border.  Anyone from either side could cross to the other.  Of course, all the fair-skinned, blonde-haired people preferred the cold, and the dark-skinned, dark-haired people preferred the heat, but nearly everyone enjoyed traveling across the border.  Even the need for different garments didn’t stop people.

“The place where the forest is used to be a trading market.  People would live out there in tents and sell garments and other items to travelers.  But then, one day, a curse was placed upon both kingdoms.  It drove them in half, destroying all the land out by the border.  It killed all the sellers and everyone who was out near the border.  Anyone who has tried to travel through it since hasn’t returned.  No one ever comes from out there, and no one ever goes.”

“How did you end up here, then?” I asked. “I mean…you seem to be from Chanda.”

He looked at me and smiled sadly.

“When the curse hit, everyone was stuck on the side of the border they were already on.” He paused hesitantly. “I still remember that day like it was yesterday.  Usually, I had to wear something similar to the outfit you’re wearing while I was here.  Anyone from Chanda who didn’t wear them would catch a frost and possibly die if they didn’t wear one while in Alba.  But that day, the moment the curse hit, I suddenly felt a heat wave come across me.  I was in this very town when it happened.  I immediately tore my coat off, and to my surprise, the moment the cold air hit my skin, I felt completely normal again.  It was the strangest thing.  But I felt so free.  I spent most of my time here already, so being able to walk around with thinner clothes on felt amazing.”

“Why…did you spend most of your time here?”

This time, a grin lit up his whole face.

“My wife is from here!  I spent most of my time here with her because I could stand the cold more than she could the heat.”

I smiled at him before taking a bite of my sandwich. “Is she still here?”

“She works in the palace.”

A shocked look ran over my face. “Really?”

He nodded.

“How so?”

“She’s the princess.  Or…I suppose she might be considered the queen now.  I doubt her brother will ever be able to come back.”

I was about ten seconds from spitting out my sandwich as he said that. “What’s your name?” I asked hesitantly.

“Tae.”