Midnight Frost

by Kailin Gow

  A chance I had already squandered – a chance at immortality I had given up for Kian.

  “What are you saying?” My voice was trembling.

  “I'm saying – make this engagement real. Marry me. I'm not honorable enough to keep myself from asking – not when I want you this much. I want you, Breena Malloy. I’ve always wanted you, and it's time I started fighting for you. If I can risk my life for you on the battlefield, I can risk my heart here for you right now. Seeing you – holding you, kissing you – I can feel what we have, Breena. And I'm not going to bow out just because someone else thinks you were promised to him at birth!”

  “Logan, it's not...” But he had struck a chord within me. I couldn't look at him – I couldn't swear to him that I didn't love him.

  “No, Breena. It's not just your happiness at stake – it's mine too. And for the first time since we've arrived in Feyland, for the first time in my life – it's time I go after what I want. I've spent my life serving you, protecting you, even when you didn't know who I was or what you were. And now it's time to hold you, to kiss you....”

  His skin smelled so soft. It was a smell I knew from before Feyland, before all this stress, all this confusion. It was the smell of Gregory, Oregon, of my simple life. The stress that I had felt upon my shoulders for months now – the burden of Feyland, of sieges, of my father, of war – all seemed so very far away. In Logan's arms I was just Breena, human, safe – and so tired of fighting.

  “And you can't tell me I don't make you happy, Breena. Because I did! Spell or no spell...”

  My voice shook. “It was the happiest time of my life,” I admitted. A time of peace, of no regrets, of no pain. Only passion. “Even though it was...a spell. Or was it a lie? I don't even know.”

  “You're alive, Breena,” said Logan. “When I didn't see you on the battlefield, I thought you were dead. You and Kian both. And I remember thinking – how did I let this girl die without ever once trying to get her back, to get her to see...And now you and me, kissing – you saw the wolves. You saw how happy they were, how proud. How they supported us.”

  I sighed. Perhaps, in the end, it was politics that could save me. Politics that could make this choice easier to bear. I could forget about my heart, and its twisting and turning, and just give in to what my kingdom required of me.

  “It's good for the kingdom,” I said. “If we're together.”

  “And good for us.” He added.

  “And good for us.”

  I could resist no longer. I could think of no more walls to put up, no more resistance. I fell into his arms once more, and we spent the night beneath the open stars.

  Chapter 13

  Morning had arrived. The twin suns of Feyland gleamed bright upon our armor – ten thousand soldiers now shone so brightly that we had to squint to see. Kian sat astride Steel, his armor black as ebony, his face hidden beneath the mask of the Midnight Knight. Even without seeing his face, I longed for him – my body ached for him. His poise, the way he sat, was enough to tantalize me with hints of the muscular form within. In his hands he carried a banner – blue and gold – with the insignia of the Frostfire blowing in the morning breeze. The sign that he bore upon his chest – the sign he bore aloft now. I had never been prouder of him, I thought ruefully – he had never seemed more glorious to me. But I couldn't have him. Not now. I bit my lip. I was with Logan – I had to stay with Logan. It was the only way to keep our kingdom safe, to keep the wolves on our side.

  Kian had given me his blessing – told me to do what I had to do. Told me he didn't want to trap me in a promise if I wasn't sure. So why did I feel so guilty?

  Logan sat upon another horse, his hair long and matted with the many nights we had spent on the trail. He looked rougher than I remembered him, more rugged, more torn by war. But such trials had only added to his musky beauty. He caught my eye and smiled at me, and my cheeks blushed scarlet.

  I finished fastening the finishing touches on my armor, and we headed off. Towards the Feyland center, towards the Summer palace. I gulped hard as we rode forth. What would we find when we were there?

  “Three cheers for the Midnight Knight!” cried Cary. “Three cheers for Frostfire!”

  We sang to keep our spirits up as we marched, our gait quickening to the beat of the song, but all our hearts were heavy. What corpses would we encounter – what loved ones would we lose – in the battle ahead?

  Remember, Breena. It was Kian's voice in my head – our shared telepathy. I smiled. It had been so long since we had communicated like this. We did not dare to do so when the others were watching, lest they could see our expressions betray us – a smile on my lips, a twinkle in his eye. I stiffened, willing him not to see what was in my mind or my heart, memories of last night. I love you. Say strong, Breena. Whatever happens, I will love you, always and forever.

  I love you too. I closed my eyes for a second. How could I bear this – this choice that weighed so heavily upon me? How could I hurt either one of them? And yet I knew as we rode forth that Kian would fight to the death – that this could be the very last time I would see him. I had only been able to save him once; I knew I would not get that chance again. And if he died in order to bring the name of the Midnight Knight to the lips of the people, he would do it. But could he die – could I really lose him?

  I would not let myself cry. Not now. I had to be strong. You'd better stay safe, I said. I really don't want to jump off a mountain again.

  He laughed out loud. I imagined his smile, his eyes, beneath the visor that hid his face from me.

  “My Knight?” Logan rode up to Kian, his expression solemn. “Till the end, then,” he held out a hand.

  Kian shook it gladly. Their faces were grave. They knew what this war meant. Not even I could come between them. I was glad of it. At least now we could all be together – willing to fight together, die together. At least we had that, in the midst of all this confusion.

  “Till the end, Wolf,” said Kian. He turned to the soldiers. “For today is a day that you all shall remember. And for years to come, when this day, the Thirteen of the month of the Sweet Water, approaches, you shall think back. And you shall think of this day, as the dawn rises on that day many years hence, and you shall wake your children and your grandchildren, your neighbors and cousins, and say “It is the Thirteenth of the Month of Sweet Water!” You will show them your battle scars and they will gasp and sigh and refuse to believe that there was ever a war, that there was ever such danger – for they know peace all too well for that. And when your faces and names pass from this land, the name of this day will be remembered still. And when you grow old and frail, and can remember nothing, you will nevertheless remember that the Thirteenth of the Month of Sweet Water was the day that you saved Feyland. And men will speak of the Midnight Knight, of the Queen Breena, of the Wolf Prince, and of all of you, and tell their children of you. And they will drink the finest cherry blossom ale in your honor, and not once will this day pass without fairies and centaurs, pixies and Minotaurs and wolves, all speak of us! You are not centaurs to me, nor wolves. You are my brothers, blood of my blood and flesh of my flesh. And no man nor any woman hence will have any honor, when compared with you!”

  He finished his speech to raucous applause. “For Feyland!” The soldiers cried. “For peace.”

  And so we rode forth, towards the battlefields. My heart constricted as we saw the first signs of the dead – corpses and silver blood strewn as far as the eye could see. I had never seen so much blood before, so much death. Even the corpses I had seen in the Spring raids paled compared to this. We saw fairies – Summer and Winter – no longer distinguishable from each other in death, silver blood flowing into silver blood. We saw dead pixies, too, and other creatures – phoenixes, centaurs, unicorns, strangled banshees – so that we were forced to slow our march in order to make a path through the trails of the dead. Was this my beautiful land? My beloved kingdom? The sun still shone and the trees still bore fruit, but
I could sense their sadness. I could sense the magic of my kingdom mourning for what it had lost.

  We approached the hills that led to Feyland, and there we saw the great black shadow – the mass of the invaders.

  It was time. We had to attack.

  “Forward!” Kian cried, brandishing his banner, and so we poured forth, cutting a swath through a phalanx of pixies. I looked around, my sword slashing wildly. Where were we? Where was everyone? Out of the corner of my eye, at the center of a group of Summer Knights, I spotted my father. He was waving his sword in the air, slashing scales from an enormous black dragon that dotted the landscape with fire.

  “I'll get that one!” Cary cried. “And pocket those scales, too!”

  He galloped forth, and I followed shortly after him. We rushed ahead, striking down pixies as we went, and then Cary went straight for the dragon's neck.

  “Father!” I cried, when the dragon was distracted.

  My father beamed with pride. “Breena,” he cried, joy spreading across his face. But I knew that this was not the father I recognized. His bright ginger hair had faded in a matter of days, turning grey.

  “We've come – with the Midnight Knight!”

  He gasped. “Then there is hope!” His voice shook. “Do you hear that, you great beast?” He turned towards the dragon, which was writhing under Cary's sword. “The Midnight Knight has come after all – as the rumors were told! You think we fear you now?” He gave another slash, and then, attacked by all of us at once, the dragon gave up, its head flying clean from its body.

  The Summer knights formed a protective circle around us. We didn't have much time, I knew – but we had enough to greet each other. My father rode forth, trapping me in a great bear hug that nearly knocked me off my own horse. “Is it true?” He had never looked so old to me, I thought, as now.

  “Yes, father,” I whispered. “It's true.”

  He kissed my hands, stroking my hair. “Oh, my daughter. I was so worried. So afraid I could not bear this burden alone. I thought you had been killed. And then we began to hear rumors – rumors of you being alive, and of a knight...the Midnight Knight.”

  “I found him in the Kingdom of the Dead,” I said, hating the lie all the while. “I was summoned there – and I found him, and brought him back.” I decided not to mention Redleaf. Yet my father's joy was so palpable, his relief so strong, that I knew instantly that Kian had been right. The magic of Feyland called out for a hero – for faith. Faith in something greater, faith in a higher plan. Faith in the return of their legends. All the spells in the world could not have replaced the power of that one simple story.

  I watched as Kian plunged into battle, bodies moving aside to let him through. His armor gleamed brighter than ever, and I heard the beginning of whispers and murmurs from fairy and foe alike. “It's true!” Summer and Winter fairies alike were whooping with joy. “He's back! We're saved!”

  For their part, the Dark Hordes were looking terribly uncomfortable, and the dragons near us immediately flew off in retreat, unsure what to do next. We had bought ourselves time.

  “I need to find the Winter Queen!” I said, and kissing my father one more time, I rode off.

  We found her on the south side of the castle walls, fighting off a group of pixies with Shasta by her side. Pan, Jeremy and I rode forth, dispatching of them one by one from astride our saddles.

  When the Winter Queen caught sight of me, her bright blue eyes filled with fear. “Kian,” she whispered. “Is he...”

  I bit my lip. How could I hurt her in this way? “I'm sorry, your Highness,” I said.

  I don't know what I expected her to do. Perhaps to wail, to scream, to rage out, to cry. Any of those things would have been easier for me to bear than the quiet crumpling of her face, the soft exhalation of breath. “Very well,” she said, with utter calm I knew could belie only the greatest agony. “Thank you for your efforts, nonetheless.”

  “He died well,” I said. “He woke up one last time on the mountain – to tell me to tell you how...how honored he was to be your son. But by the time we arrived at the mountain it was too late. The spell wouldn't work.”

  “And the Midnight Knight?”

  “The enchantress I spoke to about saving Kian sent me to the Kingdom of the Dead to find him,” I said, sticking as close to the truth as I could. “He had passed already – passed beyond the path out towards...I don't know towards what. But there, in the woods, I found this knight. And at his side was a great queen – a queen called Tamara. And Tamara told me that I was destined to bring unity to Feyland – that I had come through the Kingdom of the Dead for that purpose. And she took the knight, and put his hand in mine, and told me to escort him back to Feyland.”

  She sighed. “I see,” she said. “Then he did not die for nothing. His death sent you to the Kingdom of the Dead.” She let out a long sigh. “Then he would have been glad.”

  “Mother!” Shasta ran forth. “Mother, is Kian...?”

  “Your brother is dead,” said the Winter Queen, her expression implacable. “We must continue the fight.”

  “No!” Shasta's scream was deafening. “No, he can't be!”

  My tongue tasted like bitter ash. How could I inflict this upon them – this pain? Was the common good really worth this?

  “I'll kill him!” Shasta sprang to her feet. “I'll kill him – that vile, monstrous...” She ran forth to a cluster of pixies, slicing all three of them in half with a single swoop of her sword.

  “Kill who?” Her mother turned to her.

  Shasta's face was wet with tears.

  “Kill Delano!”

  Chapter 14

  “You can't do that,” I said instantly. “If Delano dies, the pixies will be completely uncontrolled. They'll keep fighting. We need him to call them off.”

  “Call them off?” Shasta shouted. “Why, that spineless, cowardly bastard – why would he ever do that?”

  “Because it's too late,” I said. “For him. For Winter. For Summer. We've got a bigger enemy now. The Dark Hordes. And if we don't team up together – yes, even the pixies – they're going to wipe us all out. You think the Dark Hordes will be happy once they've slaughtered all of us? No, when our blood starts to run dry they'll start on them. And Delano knows that. His lust for power may have made him blind – but now he sees. He must! He sees what he has done. We can't kill him before he stops the pixies – stops the Hordes, if he can!”

  “Fight with pixies?” Shasta scoffed, her sword coming down on another pixie soldier. “Never! After what they've done.”

  “Shasta, wait...” The Winter Queen started, but it was too late. Shasta had sprang onto her horse and galloped off.

  I followed her, kicking my heels into my steed. We went around the castle walls until at last we both spotted Delano at the same time – trying to fight off a coterie of Summer Knights. Not my men! I thought, as one Summer soldier fell to the ground. I hesitated for a moment as Shasta rode forth. Did I really mind if she cut Delano's head from his body?

  But there was strategy to think of. “Shasta, stop!” I cried. But she had already leaped from her horse, flying through the air and coming down to crash right on top of Delano. He fell over with a great clang, and she raised her sword.

  “This is for my brother,” she spat.

  But Delano was twice her size, and a far more experienced fighter. While Shasta fought bravely – almost managing to disarm him a few times – she had nothing on him. His magic and his skill were both far too great.

  “Silly girl!” He laughed as he managed to grab her sword, throwing it out of reach. She stepped back, stumbling over a stone and falling backwards onto her hands. He pointed his sword directly at her throat. “Didn't your mother ever teach you good manners?”

  “My mother taught me to get revenge on scum like you!” She tossed her head back. “Go on, kill me! I don't care. I dare you to.”

  I didn't have time to see if Delano would take her up on the offer. I rushed forth
, my sword striking against Delano's, pushing it aside from the fatal blow.”

  He looked up at me, his twisted mouth contorting into a grim smile. “My darling fiance.” He looked me up and down, his eyes lascivious as they rested on the contours of my figure still visible beneath my armor. I wanted to throw up.

  “Dearest,” I hissed.

  “And I thought I'd lost my true love forever.” He laughed.

  “I think I stopped believing in that true love bull around the time you summoned the Dark Hordes.”

  “Because your true love Kian never fought against you in a war, did he? Politics is politics, my pretty one. And I was never unkind to you, was it? I brought you back to life at my Palace, remember? I cared for you, when everyone else had given you up for dead. I even glamoured myself to look like your Winter Prince so you wouldn't find me so...repellent.” His tongue flickered out at me through his sharp teeth.

  “Well, it didn't work.” I restrained my anger. I needed a favor from him, after all.

  “So you haven't reconsidered my offer, then?” Delano shrugged. “You don't want a Pixie on the Winter throne? A powerful Summer heir with – dare I say it – devilishly handsome looks?”

  “It's time to call off this war,” I said “Call off the Hordes. You're not stupid, Delano – they're getting out of control. Why you thought you could harness their power I don't know, but you've got to realize now. Your pixies are no safer than my fairies as long as they're around. And whatever you can do to get rid of them – do it!”