by Tom Hansen
Mother!?!
The group was deathly silent as they walked through the campsite.
Meki was the only one who made any noise, and most of that was her humming a tune while she skipped down the path between the tents.
At least she was allowed to occasionally be a little girl despite living under the thumb of the tyrant of the north.
The Frost Queen stayed behind while the girls followed their sister, but even after retreating a distance from her, Ynya’s magic never came back.
“I should tell you that Mother doesn’t like it when anyone casts magic around her without her permission. She took your magic from you until you can learn to control it properly. She does it to me sometimes, but you will learn soon enough. She will teach you how to use the magic you didn’t even have to do some amazing things!”
Meki continued to skip and hum.
Ynya shared a glance with Synol and Finny.
Together, all four Obliques marched down the central corridor between the tents.
A harsh morning breeze bit into Ynya’s skin now that she no longer had her magic to keep her inner temperature high. Despite getting used to the biting cold when she was in Reyoarfjell, she had grown accustomed again to having her inner fire. She liked that fire, it was part of her. It had always been a part of her. She liked being warm.
All around them, the soldiers cleaned their tents, re-organized their bedding, and cooked food. A few gathered on the outskirts, coordinating drills with swords and pikes.
Everyone in the camp seemed highly organized. The angle of their tents, the ropes keeping them from blowing over in the wind, and every bedroll seemed to contain the exact same type and style of blanket. Soldiers cleaned their pots and pans the same. They marched between tents on pre-determined paths, turning at regular intervals. Even the swordplay took on a rhythmic clang from the metal on metal. The whole scene was incredibly surreal.
It felt manufactured. It felt fake. It was almost like the Frost Queen was putting on a show but hadn’t quite breathed true-life into her stringless puppets.
While they marched, Meki continued to hum like she was still back in Marsfjord. The skipping was new. She’d been known to skip, of course. What young girl hadn’t? But the skip was in time to the same rhythm that seemed to permeate the entire camp.
Clang, hum, clang, hum.
It was like an invisible heartbeat guided the actions of everyone around her.
Ynya found her own heart beating to that same drum, her footsteps falling in line with the rhythm.
She hesitated, waiting a half-second longer to place her foot down, but Synol bumped into her from behind.
“Hey!”
“Sorry.” Ynya fell back in line before turning her head and addressing Synol again. “Have you noticed the beat?”
Synol grew silent, but nodded.
Every step increased the tension in the air between the five women. Every crunch of boot against the frozen ground reminded Ynya that she was not safe. She was deep in enemy territory and she was going to be taken to the castle for breakfast?
She couldn’t fathom how wrong this all felt. Synol must have felt the same thing because she refused to meet Ynya’s gaze.
Finny looked toward the mountain with an expression of fear that Ynya hadn’t seen since they were kids.
After glancing at her younger sister three times, and realizing Finny’s expression hadn’t changed, Ynya veered sideways and took Finny’s hand her hers.
Finny hesitated, then returned the squeeze, but her face never changed. Her eyes burned with a feral intensity as she had locked onto some specific point in the castle and refused to move.
No one spoke for a while after that.
Meki led them through the central location where Ynya had seen her and the Frost Queen stand. The large expanse was almost a foot deep of freshly-dusted snow, meaning despite the camp’s constant movement of thousands of soldiers, none went through the center.
In the center of the large circle, however, were two fresh sets of boot prints.
What terrified Ynya the most, was the lack of any footprints leading up to or away from those lone prints. Two sets of boot prints, one large one small, marred the center in the large snow-covered circle.
At least I didn’t imagine them being here.
Ynya nodded to Synol and gestured to the prints. Ynya stole a glance back at the Queen, who walked behind them with steady, sure feet, yet still seemed elegant as she trudged through foot-deep snow.
Synol nodded, her face sullen. She pursed her lips and furrowed her brow. Synol looked so much like their mother at times, and this was one of them. Ynya remembered her mother trying to figure out how a fishing hook had managed to get caught in her husband’s ear and a young Ynya saw that same expression now on Synol’s face.
A gust of biting cold snapped her back to the present.
Ynya wondered just how varied the Frost Queen’s powers were if she could teleport two people to the center of the camp and away just as fast. The only person she’d known with teleportation powers like this was the woman in black.
Nora.
It was a name Ynya would never forget. It was the name of a woman Ynya hoped to meet again, for many reasons.
As their group of four trudged through the thick layer of snow, Ynya realized just how serene the inner circle was with its undisturbed snow. So much beauty and serenity in the midst of a camp full of murderers and tyrants.
She remembered how the Pit was in the center of Reyoarfjell, and how, once again, the prisoners of the place were the ones walking through the center while the soldiers and guards went about their jobs on the outside.
A pall fell on her as she realized that yet again, she was without her magic. No matter how hard she tried, her enemy always found a way to remove her fire.
Ynya had changed, though. Growing up she had not only relied on her magic to do almost everything, but she largely defined herself by that one aspect. Even though she was capable of so much else, the part that made her special was what she obsessed about, to the exclusion of other aspects of her life. She hadn’t exactly made it easy for her sisters either, constantly lording it over their heads that she was the only mage of the girls.
How wrong she was about that. In fact, Ynya seemed to be the least capable mage of any of her sisters, even her youngest who shouldn’t have bloomed yet.
The realization of just how wrong she was gave her pause.
Chapter Six
Ynya hadn’t realized until recently just how valuable learning to cope and think without her magic was. She survived numerous attempts on her life. She took down a concentration camp. She prevailed despite her innate magic, and that was a lesson she would not soon forget.
She reached deep into the pocket of her dress, gripping the three earrings in her palm. She squeezed tight, impressing the three circles into her hand like she had done dozens of times trekking across the Gods-forsaken land of the Skarfanes.
I will not forget, and I will not give up.
“Meki, tell me about life here.” Synol finally broke the silence.
Ynya was glad Synol said something. She was about to herself. The oppressive silence gave her too much of an excuse for her mind to wander, when she should be focused on getting her sisters out of this predicament.
“Oh, it’s wonderful! “Meki replied in her high-pitched sweet little-girl voice. “Mother treats me so very well. We play games, and learn about magic, and we have so much fun.”
Ynya chimed in, unable to allow Meki to keep calling the evil Frost Queen ‘mother’. “Do you remember our real mother?” Ynya’s emotions vacillated between two extremes. She wavered between crying for joy that her sisters were finally together or being furious that Meki was so far away and calling the bitch of a queen her mother.
Meki didn’t reply, but there was a slight hitch in her next skip that betrayed the internal clock driving everything here.
Ynya felt the constant frost magic emanating from Meki dip s
lightly at the same time.
Meki corrected her next skip. “My previous life is in the past. I’m with Mother now and she gives me everything I need. I learn from her, and she helps me uncover my true power.”
“And you use that power to shoot ice at your sisters? Maybe she’s not teaching you proper manners. Maybe you should remember your real mother and what she sacrificed to keep you safe.” Ynya regretted her retort the second it poured out of her mouth. They were words that a previous fire-driven Ynya would have said, not the one that walked through the camp of the Frost Queen. Not the one that had seen what she had seen thus far in her short life.
Meki whirled, her face scrunched up and beet-red. Dozens of ice spikes materialized out of the air as they flew towards Ynya.
Before hitting her, however, the spikes shattered into a million pieces, pelting Ynya’s face with a dusting of snow and small ice balls as they lost momentum in the frigid air.
A gust of wind surged, picking up Meki and throwing her back a dozen feet onto her back. She grunted as she hit the ground. A large ice ball coalesced around her, freezing her to the ground.
The little girl screamed, frustrated and angry while she struggled to free herself from her newfound prison.
Behind Ynya, the Frost Queen’s voice rang out in clear, unobstructed clarity.
“My dear girl, you allowed your temper to get the better of you once again. You must always be vigilant when you are in the midst of your enemy, for they will not be as patient with your mistakes as I.”
Ynya winced at the sound of the Queen’s voice.
The ice ball surrounding Meki shattered, and Meki lay on her back, sobbing.
The Frost Queen rushed forward and scooped up Meki in her arms, holding her to her breast and looking down at the eight-year-old child with the mass of red hair.
“Be still, little one. You learned a lesson today that will keep you alive someday.”
Chapter Seven
The Frost Queen held Meki’s hand the rest of the trek through the camp and up to the large gate in the side of the mountain.
Occasionally, Meki would look back at the group with a confused and panicked look on her face. Ynya always replied with as warm a smile as she could muster, given the situation.
There was no point in being mad at the little girl. Eight-year-olds are barely in control of their emotions, let alone ones forced to live with despicable adults.
Finny never once broke her gaze from whatever it was inside the mountain that had her so entranced. She now looked down at the ground a little bit, though it could have just been her watching Meki’s little feet patter along the well-worn cobble road that lead into the Queen’s castle lair.
Ynya looked up at the looming rock wall, entirely flabbergasted at the sheer size of the structure.
A biting shiver ran down her spine. She’d spent her entire life living just south of the Skarfanes, and had even hiked to the top a couple times with her father, but those were small hills compared to this mountain. They hadn’t seemed like it at the time, but now she was older and wiser. Now, she had seen more of the world.
Ynya understood just how isolated her little fishing village of Marsfjord was, and how naive she had been. Her simple life of fishing and exploring had been turned upside down in one violent attack. She’d been thrust into the harsh reality of the world despite her reluctance to ever grow up.
She hoped she would be ready to deal the retaliating strike when the time came. She had already hesitated once already when presented with the perfect opportunity, and now she had her magic taken from her again and they were trapped.
Again.
She scanned up, taking in the dozen landings dotting the cliff face, and hundreds of smaller holes cut in the rock.
Her gaze stopped as she noticed the ice spikes. Her eyes narrowed and her mind reeled as she took in the horror of what had to be the ultimate torture from the Frost Queen.
Dotted around the top-most landing were spikes of ice protruding out from the wall. Atop each seemed to be the disfigured flesh of a tortured person.
Ynya’s stomach soured and she tried to look away, horrified by the ghastly way those people had been treated. Still, she thought she saw movement through the light snowfall above her, so she tried to look closer.
She blinked, as a snowflake hit her upturned eyeball.
She squinted, trying to get a better look. Sure enough, each one of those people had not only been impaled by a spike through their torso, but each one of them flailed their arms and legs. Their mouths worked, screaming for their lives, though she couldn’t hear them from this distance.
“They are quite alive, I assure you.”
Ynya turned to come face to face with the Frost Queen. The two women were the same height, making them meet at eye level. It was a discomforting feeling having her so close. Every part of her cried out to shrink back, to shy away from being this close. Her stomach wrenched but she stood firm. She had to get to know her enemy before formulating a plan of escape.
Given how much she hated this woman, she wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of talking directly to her. Ynya broke their stare-down first, turning to step closer to Finny.
“They scream all they want, but the wind drowns out their voices,” the Queen said.
Beside Ynya, Synol asked the question they were all wondering. “How…how long have they been there?”
The Queen cocked her head to the side, like she was recalling a memory. “Now that you mention it, one of them has been there for over a hundred years. Perhaps she has learned her lesson and is ready to come down.”
The Frost Queen smirked and turned. “Come now, we can’t keep Baro waiting!”
***
The Queen led them inside, her metal-tipped shoes sounding on the stone floor with each step.
Clink clink clink!
Every dozen feet another soldier in white-dyed armor snapped to attention as she walked past. The Frost Queen certainly commanded respect, regardless of how she obtained it.
If Ynya had been younger, she might have been impressed by the deference the men took to their female queen. But if there was one lesson Ynya learned, it was that the ends did not justify the means. The respect the Queen commanded had been obtained through torture and threats, rather than benevolent leadership. She didn’t deserve any of the respect they gave her.
She deserved to be devoured for all eternity by the Gods Below.
May the Raven ink your name early.
The group made their way up a long flight of stairs off the main hall and up to a spacious banquet hall.
Despite being carved into a mountain, the entire structure felt like a palace rather than a cave. Huge carved granite pillars supported the massive arched ceiling above them. Lamps teeming with glowing orbs hung on thick chains, bathing the whole room in a soft, blueish glow that reminded Ynya of the dim haze before sunup.
Regardless, it was effective in turning this cave-like interior into a somewhat welcome home.
Ornate tapestries hung from the wall. One of them alone would be large enough to cover her previous house in Marsfjord. Each must have weighed an incredible amount.
Each tapestry depicted the Frost Queen standing triumphant over some kind of battlefield. One was an icy terrain, another contained a black castle surrounded by thick woods.
Yet another pictured the Frost Queen holding a large sword over the slain body of another dark-skinned white-haired woman. All around them, bodies littered the ground on the large open plain. The foreign landscape comprised of an alien red rock, with gnarled trees rimming the outskirts of the battlefield. It was like something from a tale of old.
Distant memories of a tale her mother told her when she was a child tugged at her mind, but Ynya couldn’t remember any specifics.
Something about the red rocks awash with blood…
“Do you like that one?” The Frost Queen sidled up to Ynya, startling her from her reverie. “That one is my greatest achievement
, my largest victory.”
The Queen took a few steps closer to the tapestry, squinting at the bloodied sword in her still-life hand. “Maegan Fields is a place far to the south, not a place you would have ever seen, being trapped up here in the north for so long, I suppose everyone forgot it existed.”
Meki spoke up, startling Ynya. “Mother says she’s going to take me to see Maegan Fields one day. She says it’s even more beautiful in person than you can possibly imagine.”
Ynya narrowed her eyes at her youngest sister. “She said that, huh?”
Meki hopped on the balls of her feet, though she slowed her pace when she noticed Ynya staring her down. “Yup! And we’re going to go visit where she grew up and it will be all lush and green and full of trees and once we do that she will become Queen of the entire world!”
Ynya chanced a quick glance at the Queen, who watched Meki with a solemn look on her face. Ynya darted her eyes back to Meki before the Queen noticed.
“Lush and green?” Ynya still hadn’t spoken directly to the Queen, and she didn’t know that she would ever do that. Right now the only three people that mattered in this room were her sisters. She would focus on them, focus on what was important in her life. She hoped that by engaging Meki in conversation she might be able to remind the little girl what life had been like before the murderous hand of the Queen took everything from them.
Ynya’s arm twitched, reminding her that she would rather punch the woman than ask about her childhood, but without any sort of access to magic at the moment, there wasn’t much Ynya could do until she got the lay of the castle and figured out a way to exploit the Queen’s weaknesses.
The Queen didn’t take her eyes off of Meki, but replied anyway. “It’s far to the south, past the Feond. You’ve most likely never heard of it, given your back-water upbringing. Such a shame that you had not been brought up in a better environment with me to guide your development.”
Ynya didn’t miss the fact that the Queen’s gaze lingered on the woman beneath her sword, the one whose blood coated the blade.