Crown of Frost

by Isabella August

  Elaine pulled her coat back out of her bag, and tugged it close around her shoulders. She let her magic trickle into the brambles that surrounded her, strengthening them and asking them for their favor. Let me know if something comes for me, please, she asked them. The Hedge closed in around her comfortingly, assenting to her request.

  Elaine fell into a fitful slumber, caught between the need to rest and the need to keep one eye open.

  As she dreamed, the tattered memories in her head began to knit themselves back together.

  “I’ve figured it out,” said Liam.

  Elaine glanced up at him sharply as he entered the Lifeless Garden. Her heart rose up into her throat. “Figured it out?” she said. “Does that mean—”

  “I know how to get you out of here,” Liam told her. He took a few long steps toward her, his blue eyes flashing in the darkness. “Now would be best.”

  Elaine blinked, overwhelmed by the idea. “N-now?” she said.

  Liam knelt down in front of her, taking her hand. A hundred wild emotions clashed inside her chest. I could leave. I could go home. I could see the sun again, and flowers—

  Flowers.

  Liam had pressed a rose — a living rose — into her hand.

  Elaine stared at it. “This is mine,” she said hoarsely.

  “I know,” said Liam. “The one you gave to Lord Blackfrost. It was the only living flower I could find here. I thought you could use it, if you get into trouble on your way out.”

  Elaine closed her fingers around the rose, hard enough to prick her skin. She barely noticed the pain. There was life in her hands — the real thing. She’d raised it herself, from a tiny seed.

  Tears choked at her throat. She pressed a hand to her mouth, unable to speak.

  Liam watched her intently. There was a strange expression on his face that she couldn’t identify. His fingers lingered on hers, warm and uncertain.

  Elaine looked up at him, clearing her throat forcibly. “Come with me,” she begged. “I can… I can help hide you.”

  Liam looked so torn. “I can’t,” he whispered. The words clearly pained him. “I can make it so he’ll never notice you’re gone, El… but he’ll never ignore it if his only son disappears. He’ll track me down. If I go with you, he’ll find you. I can’t let that happen.”

  “But—”

  Liam released her hand. He pressed a finger to her lips, and shook his head. “I don’t care if you’re willing to risk it,” he said softly. “I… I’m not. I can’t be responsible for you ending up back here again. I won’t live with that.” He rose back up to his feet. “Stay where you are for a second. Don’t move. I need to look at you.”

  Elaine choked down the arguments that battled at her defenses. How can I just leave you here? It’s not right, it’s not fair—

  Liam’s power flickered. Ice crawled along the ground, snaking up into a solid figure. He kept his eyes fixed on her, calculating, as the frost resolved itself into a rough statue, in the form of a woman.

  Elaine’s eyes widened. He’s making a duplicate of me? But of course he was. He’d probably done it many times before. This is how Liam gets people out without Lord Blackfrost noticing. He shows him what he expects to see.

  Slowly, the ice woman’s features refined themselves. Elaine watched with fascination as Liam’s magic carved her own eyes, her lips, her hair. The detail was extraordinary — even a bit unsettling. This is what I would look like if Lord Blackfrost got his wish, Elaine realized. I’d be just like this statue, sitting here forever.

  Liam paused, considering the statue in front of him. He flicked his eyes between Elaine and her representation a few times, before nodding. “I think that looks right,” he said.

  He offered her his hand, and pulled her to her feet. Elaine kept her grip on him, though, and he looked down at her with a carefully shuttered expression.

  After so long waiting, trapped in the Lifeless Garden… everything felt like it was happening too quickly.

  That doesn’t make sense, Elaine chastised herself. This place is awful. Why shouldn’t you want to leave as soon as possible?

  But Liam smiled ruefully at her, and she knew why it was she was hesitant to leave.

  “You’ll forget me,” he promised her softly.

  Elaine’s heart twisted in her chest.

  “I won’t forget you,” she whispered. “How could I?”

  “You will,” Liam assured her. He reached up to brush her cheek with his hand. Elaine savored the feel of it, terrified that it might be the last time she felt his touch. “But maybe that’s for the best.” He looked away. “The wards on the Garden are keyed to let me pass,” he told her, changing the subject abruptly. “They react to my magic. You don’t currently have enough of my power to fool them… but if I gave you more, I think you’d be able to leave.”

  Elaine tightened her hand on his. “More?” she asked. “How much more?”

  Liam shrugged. “All of it, I think,” he said.

  Elaine froze, her heart beating in sudden fear. “But then… you would be effectively mortal,” she whispered. “The Garden would affect you the same way it did me. No… worse. At least my own magic protected me for a while. You’d have nothing.”

  Liam grimaced. He didn’t deny her words. “I can set the same limit on this pact as the last one,” he said. “As soon as you leave Blackfrost, the pact will end, and I’ll be as I was. You’ll simply need to hurry.”

  Elaine swallowed. What he was proposing was incredibly dangerous — how long would he last in that Garden, alone and without any protection at all? What if she got delayed or captured?

  “No,” she said quietly. “No, let’s find some other way. There must be something else…”

  Liam’s cool blue eyes darkened as he looked at her. “Do you remember the sun, Elaine Halstead?” he asked her softly. The use of her name sent a shocked jolt through her soul; she gasped, tightening her fingers on his. “Do you remember who you used to be, before Blackfrost made you cold and frightened?”

  Elaine stared at him, fighting to catch her breath. She felt Liam’s grip tighten on her soul; too late, she realized the truth. A pact was never free. Most witches or mortals who took on pacts did so with the understanding that they were consigning themselves to lifelong servitude in return for the power it gave them.

  She had already promised Liam that servitude the first time she had pacted with him. He didn’t need her consent just to give her further power — he already had that connection.

  “I grant you my full power, until such time as you step foot outside of Blackfrost.”

  Power flowed through their bond, like cold, clear water. The sheer scope of it nearly overwhelmed Elaine; it was heady, intoxicating, and there was much more of it than she ever would have guessed in her wildest dreams.

  The effect on Liam was immediate. The sliver of ice in his eyes dimmed to a dull, mortal blue. He released her with a gasp and staggered back, as though a great weight had suddenly settled onto his shoulders. Elaine reached out to steady him, alarmed. His skin was already chill; the ever-present heat of his body had begun to seep away, devoured by the hungry realm that surrounded them.

  “No!” she gasped. “No, take it back!”

  Liam shook his head. His skin had gone even more pale than usual. “You’d better hurry,” he said hoarsely. “If I die, you’ll lose the power I’ve given you. There won’t be any escape for you then.”

  Elaine took a sharp breath. She balled up her fists, digging her fingernails into her palms in helpless frustration. She wanted to rage at him, to make him understand the decision he’d taken from her without asking… but a tiny, terrified part of her knew that he was already dying in front of her. Any extra delay might well end him.

  “I won’t forgive you for this,” she whispered.

  Liam shot her a forced smile. “You won’t remember,” he said. There was a hint of apology in his voice. “You should veil yourself. Just… pull the shadows around you.
It’d be best if no one saw you at all, while you’re leaving.”

  Tears pricked at her eyes… but she reached out with the fresh power that hummed in her veins, seeking the ever present shadows of Blackfrost. They responded eagerly to her touch, winding around her like a shroud.

  There was a door to the Lifeless Garden. She had never been able to see it before. But with Liam’s magic surrounding her, it was plain as day.

  Even as she watched, the door opened.

  Lord Blackfrost strode through it, tall and pale. His light blue eyes were a cooler and less human version of Liam’s. His elfish features were sharp, unnatural — his high cheekbones slashed like the edge of a knife. Still, there was something undeniably magnetic about him; he had the sort of beauty that could drown you, if you let yourself gaze at it for too long.

  “That,” Lord Blackfrost said, in a puzzled tone, “was an awful lot of magic. What are you doing in here, Liam?”

  Elaine froze, barely breathing. Lord Blackfrost didn’t seem to have noticed her yet.

  Liam avoided the faerie lord’s gaze. Elaine saw him force himself to stop shivering, though the effort must have been immense. “She was being stubborn,” he said. “I was tired of waiting, so I sped up your magic and finished freezing her.”

  Lord Blackfrost turned to consider the statue beneath the stone willow tree. His brow knitted together. “This?” he asked. “This is the witch for whom I bargained?”

  “Yes,” Liam told him warily. “Who else would it be?”

  Lord Blackfrost sighed heavily. He shook his head. “That isn’t her,” he said. “See how beautiful she is? How few the imperfections?” He clicked his tongue. “This is the trouble with human emotion, Liam. Love is a poison. It clouds your judgement, and hobbles your mind.”

  Liam stared at him. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said hoarsely.

  “Of course you do,” Lord Blackfrost told him, with a facsimile of sympathy. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you? My own son betraying me, right under my nose. And your work was magnificent, I must say. I never once suspected… but this?” He waved a hand at the statue of Elaine. “It is a work of love. It is quite useless for its intended purpose.”

  Liam shuddered, and not purely from the cold. Elaine saw the immortal fear in his eyes as he considered his father… but he forced himself to straighten and address the faerie lord, even as the cold sank deeper into his bones. “Maybe so,” he said. “But you’re too late. I told her to seek shelter with the Lady of Briars. I expect she’ll have nearly made it there by now.”

  Lord Blackfrost laughed. It was a sound of pure, delighted amusement. “Oh, my son,” he sighed. “I never realized how quaint your talents. You’ve inherited the mortal ability to lie, haven’t you?” His eyes glittered. “Alas. Much as I enjoy this attempt at subterfuge, it will not do to have a son who defies me such. I fear that I shall have to end you and have another in your place. Perhaps my next son shall be more compliant.”

  “No!” Elaine gasped out the word before she could stop herself. Lord Blackfrost turned calmly to regard her. With one deft gesture, he stripped the shadows from her shoulders, revealing her entirely.

  “A warlock,” Lord Blackfrost mused. “How interesting. I thought you were opposed to the concept, little witch.”

  Elaine realized that she had instinctively moved herself between the faerie lord and his son in between thoughts. “You can’t… simply dispose of your children,” she told him shakily. Somehow, she managed to address Lord Blackfrost directly.

  The faerie lord tilted his head at her, politely befuddled. “Oh?” he asked. “Why ever not?” There was a genuine question in his voice as he said it — as though the thought simply hadn’t occurred to him.

  Elaine found herself struggling to grasp for sanity in the face of his confusion. How did one explain the basic concept of love and familial fidelity to a creature that had never experienced either emotion? “He… he’s something like a piece of you,” she managed, quickly reframing the idea in her mind in the most selfish terms she could imagine. “Would you destroy part of yourself?”

  This gave the faerie lord a moment of genuine pause. He tapped a finger against his chin, considering. “Well!” he said. “Hm. It would be a terrible shame to remove any bit of myself from this world. I am quite beautiful, after all, and he does take after me that way.” Elaine let out a breath of relief — but it was short-lived, as Lord Blackfrost straightened with a nod. “I shall make a statue of you as well, my son. Your beauty shall be eternal, here in the Lifeless Garden.” He smiled brilliantly, waving one hand. “I am merciful today, it seems. What a terrible flaw! At least no one shall ever know of it.”

  A choked sound came from behind Elaine, and she glanced quickly back toward Liam. Her eyes widened — his fingertips had turned glassy and semi-transparent.

  Elaine didn’t stop to think. She opened her Witchsight, knowing as she did that it might well drive her past the brink of sanity.

  Everything hit her at once. The sensations were maddening, the emotions overwhelming — oversaturated colors flashed and whirled with impossible rapidity.

  Dark, eldritch cold, misery, fingers reaching out to claw at heat and light—

  Elaine forced herself to let the vision wash over her and past her. She didn’t dare focus on the things her Witchsight was telling her. She reacted on instinct, refusing to examine the ideas too closely.

  Blackfrost wasn’t just a place. It was alive, and it was hungry, and right now it was trying to devour Liam, right in front of her. But it wasn’t doing so of its own volition. Lord Blackfrost was directing it.

  The faerie lord had a connection to the realm. It was his crown — a terrible circlet made of living shadows. Elaine couldn’t fight off the entirety of Blackfrost on her own… but she could fight him.

  The rose in her palm pressed its thorns into her skin, as though reminding her that it was there. She filled it with her magic — earth and life and growth — pouring every bit of herself into the spell. Witch magic was made of ideas… but Arcadia was a realm of nothing but ideas. Here, Elaine’s magic became utterly solid, and dangerously real. The rose twisted and sprouted, reaching eagerly for the ground beneath it.

  But that wasn’t all.

  Elaine felt as the other power in her blood seized on the flower, taking its cue from her desperation. The rose should have had trouble burrowing into the cold, icy earth… but instead, Blackfrost embraced its roots like an old friend come home, recognizing Liam’s borrowed power as something familiar. The briar that grew from that single rose twisted itself into the land, twining with the lifeless mockeries that surrounded her.

  And then… the Lifeless Garden came alive.

  Icy vines woke from their slumber, crackling into growth. Stone roses unfurled their leaden petals. The Garden bent itself around its lord, slithering toward him with a different sort of hunger entirely.

  Lord Blackfrost turned his eyes to Elaine now. The pleasant expression on his face now cracked for the first time; beneath it was a dark, inhuman fury. “How… dare you!” His voice was no longer beautiful; it hissed instead like a bitter winter wind. “This is my garden, witch! You will relinquish it to me immediately!” There was a command in the words, as cold and terrifying as the darkness behind the stars.

  His mantle flared, and Elaine’s mind cried at the sight of him in his full glory. Behind her, she knew that Liam had fallen to his knees, though, and she forced herself to look upon Lord Blackfrost with steel in her spine. The cold stone of the Lifeless Garden pressed against her feet reassuringly, lending her its strength. “Let him go,” she gritted out, though terrified tears had long since trickled from her eyes and frozen on her cheeks.

  Lord Blackfrost narrowed his cold eyes. “If I kill him, you shall have no more power here,” he observed in a chilly tone. “And believe me, witch, I shall then punish you for this insolence.” He raised one pale hand, and Elaine saw the way his mantle plucked the strings of
Blackfrost, changing the nature of the spell that currently pulled at Liam.

  A scream sounded out from behind her. When she whirled to look, she saw red on the snow — the ice that had spread up Liam’s arms now splintered and bled. Panic clenched in her chest. I can’t let this happen. The thought came through the madness, utterly clear. I can’t lose him.

  Elaine closed her eyes. She wrenched at that panic, dragging it up to the surface, offering it out to the realm of Blackfrost as though ringing a dinner bell. Not him, she thought. You don’t want him, you want me. I’m scared, terrified. I’m a feast.

  It shouldn’t have worked. Anywhere else, it wouldn’t have worked. But Elaine had infected the Lifeless Garden with life; Lord Blackfrost’s connection to his realm wasn’t as strong here, blocked as it was by her invasive power. His control over Blackfrost wavered briefly. The spell he’d placed on Liam stuttered as the realm turned on Elaine eagerly, distracted. She took advantage of the moment, knowing that it was probably the only chance she would ever get, pushing all of her power into the briar at her feet.

  The thorns there surged, reaching out to snake around Lord Blackfrost’s feet, climbing his body like a serpent. Wicked spines of ice and stone bit into his skin… but while he screamed in fear and anger, no blood spilled from his injuries. One of his hands fell away to the vines, crumbling into soft white snow.

  The Lord of Blackfrost reached out for his realm, grasping for control of it… but it was too busy eagerly gorging itself upon Elaine. She felt its dark tendrils clawing their way inside her, flaying at her consciousness. Rational thought left her, replaced by blind terror. All she knew was the grip of the briars, and the certainty that she couldn’t allow her roses to let go of Lord Blackfrost.