by Eva Brandt
“The years fly by when you’re busy rebuilding a realm. Get out of him, Snegurka. Don’t make me force you. You know that I can.”
The person—creature?—who had apparently possessed Karasu let out a sharp bark of laughter. “Do I? You’re soft, little nymph. You don’t deserve to be the avatar of winter. You’ve abandoned your realm and the truth of your abilities. And for what? Three men who weren’t even born here? Three intruders who claim to love you? Ridiculous.”
I clenched my fists in anger, wanting nothing more than to rip apart the being who dared to question our bond to Cassia. Unfortunately, this was not a problem I could handle through any of my skills, not unless I wanted to kill the possessed tengu.
Despite her earlier panic, Cassia showed no sign of being taken aback or upset by the same words that had angered me so much. Instead, she smirked. “I find that highly ironic, coming from the woman who was driven mad by her own quest to find a soulmate.”
Behind me, one of the nisse whimpered. On the bed, Karasu’s form started to contort, ice forming on his feathers and crackling as the tengu struggled to free himself. “You dare! Filthy little half-breed!”
Cassia rolled her eyes. “That’s inaccurate. Technically, nymphs are deities too. Well, for the most part. Besides, my nature and bloodline are mostly irrelevant. What matters is that I am the queen on The Realm of The Eternal Ice, and you are not.”
“You’ll only ever be a poor replacement, and nothing more. I’m free now and I’ll—”
“Snegurka!”
Ded Moroz’s voice interrupted the exchange between the demonic presence and Cassia. He stepped into the healing room, his gaze fixed on Karasu’s bed. “Stop this, please. Haven’t you done enough damage?”
Several things happened at the same time. Karasu stopped struggling and turned to give Ded Moroz a long, thoughtful look. Meanwhile, Cassia lifted a hand, literally freezing Ded Moroz in his tracks. “Stay where you are, old man. This is between me and her.”
“With respect, Your Majesty, that’s a lie and you know it,” Ded Moroz said. “Snegurka, I’m begging you. Don’t push things further. Just leave.”
I didn’t expect Ded Moroz’s words to have any effect, but shockingly, they did. The malevolent magic flashed one last time in Karasu’s body and then a strange gray-blue cloud escaped his form. “No!” Cassia cried. “Don’t...”
The cloud dissipated before she could finish the sentence. Karasu slumped back on the bed, his face returning to its regular bright red coloring and all signs of frostbite vanishing. The nisse released identical sighs of relief. Cassia was nowhere near as happy.
“Fool!” she snarled as she stalked toward her still frozen advisor. “Why did you step in? We could have still captured her!”
“And if you had captured her, then what? A couple more centuries of imprisonment in that pit? Forgive me for not wanting that fate for my daughter.”
Rage flared in Cassia’s eyes, as bright and fierce as the blizzards that often carried her over The Hoarfrost Tundra. She lifted her hand, her fingers once again clawed, like they had been earlier, in the corridor. It was actually a little strange since I’d never seen icicles form around Cassia’s digits like that before. It reminded me a little of a dragon female, and despite the seriousness of the circumstances, I found the addition sexy.
The claws would’ve also done some significant damage had they been used against Ded Moroz, but an unlikely arrival rescued the old man from that fate.
Kasumi peered into the room through the cracked open door. “I just sensed some malevolent energies coming from this direction. Is everyone all...”
She took one look at the scene she’d stumbled upon and trailed off in obvious shock. The rest of our parents, who must have come with her, were nowhere near as discreet.
Isebrand burst into the healing room and let out a cheerful whoop. “It looks like we arrived just in time! Are you eviscerating someone? Can we help?”
“What did he do?” Jerika asked in an excited tone. “Treason? Murder? Oh, this realm is even more exciting than I anticipated.”
My own mother seemed to have taken a different approach and was more interested in Cassia’s new look than her attack on her advisor. “I didn’t realize human mages could have claws. Intriguing.”
January stumbled in after them, and it was the appearance of her lieutenant that finally snapped Cassia out of her trance. “I’m not a human mage,” she said. “As for what Ded Moroz did... He’s been a thorn in my side for far too long, and he’s finally crossed the line. “
She lowered her hand and the icicles around her fingers cracked and dissipated. My mother pouted, and I wondered if she had wanted to examine the workings of my soulmate’s lovely new claws. In the end, though, the potential enemy she’d stumbled upon took precedence, so she reassessed her priorities and turned toward Ded Moroz as well.
“If you need any help, Your Majesty, we’d be happy to provide it, although I’d like to veto the evisceration method. It’s too swift for my liking and traitorous males deserve a greater punishment.”
I wholeheartedly agreed with my mother’s assessment and would’ve made the same offer, but I suspected my female had different needs. “Treasure, what exactly happened just now?” I asked. “What is going on? Who was that?”
Alas, my female’s response didn’t provide me with as much information as I would have liked. “I suppose the best description is... a ghost from the past,” she said tightly. “I promise I will explain everything, soon.”
Frustration surged inside me, but I didn’t press her into revealing more. The reasons for her temporary vagueness were clear, and I had to be a little patient.
Already focusing on handling the problem we still didn’t completely understand, Cassia glanced toward the nisse. “Alva, make sure Karasu receives all the care he needs. January, secure Ded Moroz in a cell. I’ll deal with him later. Viveka, notify February of what has occurred. Tell him to prepare for a potential attack and then have him report to me in my quarters. That goes for you too, January.”
The healers in question both curtsied, acknowledging Cassia’s commands. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
January bowed as well, as eager to assist Cassia as the nisse. “Of course, Your Majesty.”
As Alva rushed to the check up on the tengu, Viveka disappeared in a flurry of snowflakes and agitated magic. The ice around the old man cracked, allowing January to guide him out of the room.
Apparently satisfied with their compliance, Cassia directed her attention to us once again. “Come with me. I have something I must do at once.”
She swept out of the healing room almost as quickly as Viveka. My fellow dragons and I followed, as did our parents. Together, we made our way through the palace, back toward the quarters Emmerich, Raijin and I shared with our female.
I wasn’t in the least bit surprised when, upon entering her apartment, she made a beeline for her meditation chamber. She’d explained in the past that it allowed her to connect with the realm more deeply than she normally could have and that she used it whenever she needed a boost.
We waited outside without being told to and gestured for our parents to do the same. I half-expected them to start peppering us with questions, but they didn’t. Perhaps they realized that my fellow dragons and I didn’t have the answers either.
It couldn’t have taken more than a few minutes for Cassia to emerge from her meditation chamber, but those minutes still seemed to stretch into an age. And when she did, at last, join us, the dark expression on her face made my dragon even more restless and upset.
“It would appear that I cannot track Snegurka down from here. I suppose I should have seen that coming.”
She let out a heavy sigh, and I’d never heard her sound so tired, not even after the incident with Jack’s enchantment. “In any case, I promised you an explanation, and you shall have it. Since I’ve been chastising you all for not being straightforward with me about your families and your p
asts, I might as well tell you about mine.”
* * *
Cassia
A few centuries before
“Are you sure this spell is correct, Pandora? The magic doesn’t feel like it’s responding properly.”
My sister crossed her arms over her chest, and the defensive stance made her unbound brown hair slide rebelliously over her eyes. “The spell is correct! I’m sure of it. I overheard Mother chanting it yesterday. If you don’t want to try it, I’ll just ask Tarasia.”
I twitched in irritation at Pandora’s shameless blackmail. She knew perfectly well that I did want to try the spell. I just wanted us to be more careful. Tarasia was the worst possible choice for something like that. She was even more impulsive than Pandora, and her constant pranks never failed to irritate me. If Pandora resorted to her to attempt our mother’s enchantment, it could only result in disaster.
“Fine,” I said with a huff. “We’ll keep trying. But I still think we’re doing something wrong.”
Pandora rolled her eyes but didn’t argue with me again. She probably knew that I was right, but was being stubborn just because she could.
In any case, we’d figure it out with some trial and error. Probably. We’d done it before, although granted, in the past, we hadn’t tried anything quite like this.
We slaved in our little hideaway for over two hours. The threads of the enchantment still resisted us, the earth not aligning to our abilities as much as we would have liked. Even so, we were making headway and had tweaked some of the errors in our approach when a familiar voice interrupted our little session of magic practice.
“Cassia! Where are you?”
I peeked out from behind the bush and saw Tarasia climbing up the hill, with Eranthe trailing behind her at a slower pace. “Over here. Stop being so loud, for gods’ sake. What is the matter?”
“Your cute friend’s here! The one from The Realm of Eternal Ice. We couldn’t really hear what he was saying, but I think wants to talk to you.”
Jack was here? That was strange. We’d just spoken the day before yesterday, and he had said he wouldn’t be able to drop by this week because his family wanted to spend time with him or something. Then again, that alone had been unusual, since Jack didn’t have the closest relationship with his father and his older half-sister.
“He looked very worried and upset,” Eranthe said, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. “I have a feeling something’s wrong.”
I shot my youngest sister a quick smile. “I’m sure it’s nothing, Eri. Probably just one of his games.”
In truth, I didn’t know if I meant my words, but I didn’t want her to worry needlessly. Eranthe was much too young to carry such burdens. I would do my very best to make sure she’d never have to go through any unpleasant experiences at all. I was the oldest sister, so it was my job to protect her and the others, even Pandora, no matter how much she might whine about it.
Today was apparently one of those days during which their pigheadedness far outweighed my ability to convince them to cooperate with my logical desire to keep them safe. “We’ll go check it out together,” Tarasia said happily. “Come on, Eri.”
She offered Eranthe a hand, and together, they began to head back the way they’d come. I shared an alarmed look with Pandora. What was Tarasia thinking, putting Eranthe in harm’s way like that?
We rushed after our younger sisters, and we caught up with them just in time to hear the tail end of their exchange. “Do you think I could cross the bridge today?” Eranthe asked.
“I don’t think so. Probably not. But even if that’s true, I’m sure it’ll be safe soon. We’ll ask Cassia later, all right?”
Nobody but me would be crossing the bridge today. At least Tarasia had had enough sense to realize that and not make Eranthe any promises we would not be able to keep. “I’ll tell you when you’re ready,” I offered. “For the moment, let’s just hear what Jack has to say.”
Eranthe wasn’t too disappointed with our refusal, having undoubtedly expected that response. Together, the four of us made our way down the steep incline, through the forest and the path that led toward the bridge. Beneath us, the waters of the river Amethyst snaked between the two beautiful lands, glittering in the warm sunlight. Further north, the small village of Lillia bloomed over the sprawling plains like the flower after which it had been named.
Lillia was a settlement of naiads and meliae. Since my own mother was a nymph aligned with flowers, it should have been very dangerous for us to come too close to The Bridge of Melting Snowflakes, the sole passageway that existed between The Realm of Eternal Youth and that of Eternal Ice. However, the other side of our parentage gave us some protection, and these days, I crossed it pretty often, curious to explore more of the neighboring lands.
It was during one of these trips that I’d met my friend, Jack Frost. He was the prince of The Realm of Eternal Ice, Queen Snegurka’s younger half-brother. When we’d first crossed paths, I’d expected him to be arrogant, mean or cold, but he had surprised me since he was anything but. Even so, his magic kept him more bound to his homeland than I was to my own, so whenever he came to see me, I was the one who had to go meet with him.
Just like every other time, he was waiting for me on his side of the bridge, beyond the part of the river that was frozen. However, that was where the similarities ended. As soon as he saw me and my sisters approaching, he started to wave frantically. No wonder Eranthe had noticed something wasn’t right, even if they hadn’t actually spoken.
“Oh, dear,” Pandora muttered under her breath. “I have a feeling this is definitely not one of his games.”
I nodded, growing more concerned with every second that passed. “Stay here with Tarasia and Eranthe. I’ll be right back.”
My sister squeezed my shoulder and ushered me off with an encouraging smile. Reassured that Tarasia and Eranthe would be safe, I rushed toward my friend.
Jack didn’t even bother waiting for me to cross the bridge completely. He met me halfway, hyperventilating, his eyes wide with dread. “Cassia! Thank the gods! Listen, something horrible has happened.”
I wasn’t sure to what extent his breathing issues were connected to his decision to leave The Realm of Eternal Ice, so I dragged him back toward his homeland and forced him onto the snow. “Breathe, Jack. I’m right here. Slow down and tell me what’s wrong.”
My attempt to help him didn’t work. If anything, it agitated him further. “It’s my sister! Snegurka has been acting strangely for the past week or so. I finally figured it out... She cast some kind of spell. I’m not sure what it was. It had something to do with a soulmate. But... Oh, Cassia, it’s dreadful. I think she’s gone mad!”
“Gone mad?” I repeated in alarm. “What do you mean? What is she doing?”
“Before I left, I heard rumors that she was assembling our armies to stage an all-out assault on the rest of the realms, to establish a reign of eternal winter. She’s coming here first. Cassia, you need to take your family and run.”
All right, that was bad. I could now understand why Jack was in such a state of panic. I wasn’t sure Queen Snegurka could actually take over The Realm of Eternal Sunlight with her creatures, but she could do a lot of damage here, especially so close to the border.
A part of me couldn’t help but wonder what in the world she hoped to accomplish with this, but if she was mad like Jack had stated, maybe rational goals were beyond her. In any case, finding answers to such questions was a job meant for adults, not for a ten-year-old just now learning to cast her first spells. Running sounded like a great plan.
I quickly hugged Jack, grateful beyond measure that he’d taken such a risk for our sakes. “Thank you for warning us. I’ll tell my family and the people in my village. We’ll find a place to take shelter at once and notify King Jarylo.” I released him from my embrace and debated what I was about to say next. “Do you think you can go to The Bridge of Frosted Leaves and warn the people at the garrison there? King Fu
fluns needs to know about this as well.”
I half-expected my friend to refuse. In fact, I almost wanted him to. It was one thing for him to warn me of the imminent danger that threatened my family, and quite another to betray his own to a kingdom to which he held no attachments or connections. But I needed to ask if only to know if someone else in Lillia would have to go send a message to the ruler of The Realm of Eternal Bounties. It would not be me—my mother would never allow it—but another nymph would definitely take up the duty.
As it turned out, I had underestimated my friend. After a small moment of hesitation, Jack took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right. I don’t like it, but I’ll go. I probably should’ve done this sooner, anyway. Snegurka needs to be stopped.”
“Oh, do I, little traitor? How bold of you to say.”
The sudden, biting words sliced through the air like a knife, and both Jack and I yelped, looking around wildly to find their source. We didn’t have to search for long.
Queen Snegurka seemed to manifest out of thin air, emerging from the fog in a swirl of snowflakes and magic. Her ornate headdress glowed so brightly it hurt my eyes, and in the cold light of the sun, her pale skin almost looked translucent. The already snowy ground beneath our feet turned to pure ice when she stepped upon it, her elemental powers as sharp and unyielding as the countless white diamonds that adorned her robes and her silvery hair.
Where had she come from? I had sensed no disturbance in the snow, or in the magic around us. This did not bode well for our well-being.
“S-Sister,” Jack stammered, “it’s not what you think. I can explain.”
Snegurka smiled at him, and the expression sent shivers down my spine because it was so very empty. “I don’t think you can. I heard you quite clearly.” Her ice blue eyes turned to me and she fixed me with a gaze that seemed to freeze my soul. “And who are you, little one? A nymph? How sweet.”