by Tom Hansen
“Ynya!”
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“You have so much potential locked up inside of you, yet you barely use ten-percent of your power. Why is that?”
Ynya meted out her words carefully to avoid snapping at the Queen. “I can’t close the distance between us. I can only use my heat when I can touch an object, so the only way I can defeat her is to get close.”
The Queen pursed her lips, clearly thinking Ynya was lying to her. “Are you sure that is all you can do?”
Ynya was confused and her frustration came out in her reply. “You think I’m not trying? I’m doing everything I can to get to her.”
The Queen frowned again, finally getting out of her seat and pacing in front of it. “I sense an incredible power within you, but you never seem to use it. I want to know why.”
Even without a direct threat, Ynya felt like she had just been cornered. It reminded her of the time, years ago, when she had first come across the frost bear deep inside his lair.
This was a hundred times worse than that, and Ynya knew why.
The Queen knows I have my mother’s magic!
She wanted to glance toward Synol, but she did everything she could to not betray her true thoughts. She stripped herself of emotion and focused on making the words come out as naturally as possible.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The Queen frowned, but stopped pacing. “Very well, but know this. If you can’t figure out how to use your magic soon, I might have to employ other methods to help you figure it out.” She paused before sitting down in her chair. “Ynya, you think you aren’t as powerful as your sisters, but you are wrong. You have an incredible magic locked inside your heart, and I’m going to whatever it takes to help you break it free.”
***
“We’re in big trouble, Synol.”
Ynya paced in front of the door after Nora escorted them both back to their rooms to bathe and change for breakfast. Meki and Finny were already gone, so it was the perfect time to talk to Synol.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
Ynya stopped, grabbing Synol by her arms and lowering her voice to a whisper. “She knows I have more magic than I am using, and if she figures out what it is, then she’s going to do the same thing to me that she did to Meki and take it for herself.”
Synol studied Ynya’s face a bit before replying. “Do you know what the magic is?”
Ynya’s stomach roiled.
In fact, she had spent some time over the last couple days mulling over what type of magic she had inside of her. The clues were there, little things happening to her since she left her hometown of Marsfjord stuck in her mind, like when she fought the woman in white and survived.
She hadn’t survived by luck alone, something else had been at play.
She glanced around to make sure no one was watching them, then hugged Synol so she could whisper into her ear. “I think so, but I haven’t been willing to test it fully until I was alone.”
Synol hugged her back. “Then I will figure out a way for you to get some privacy and test your theory.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ynya felt sick.
She barely slept all night, and getting woken up early to spar with Synol drained her of an incredible amount of energy. She still hadn’t managed to recover enough to replace what she had lost, but she also couldn’t bring herself to eat right now.
Ynya had spent countless hours wracking her brain over the type of magic that her mother had given her.
She had a lot of clues to go off of, but most of them hadn’t started making sense until she had come here.
The ability to step outside of the Queen’s constantly controlling beat was her first big clue.
The important part wasn’t that she had commanded her muscles to step out of it, it was that she had managed to control her heart to step out of it.
My heart.
The same location that her mother’s magic had settled. Combined with some other strangeness that had happened in the past, she thought she might know exactly what the magic was and how to use it.
Her body brimmed with anticipation at this revelation, but she needed a way to test it when the Queen wasn’t around, or anyone else. She couldn’t risk anyone knowing what magic she had.
“Ynya?”
Ynya looked up to the Queen’s inquisitive voice.
“Is something troubling you? You haven’t touched your food.”
Ynya looked at the Queen.
She knows. She knows exactly what I’m thinking.
Terror spread throughout Ynya’s body at the thought. All the hairs on her arms stood as goosebumps formed on her skin. Despite being quite warm, she felt incredibly cold.
“No, Your Majesty. I think I’m just not feeling well. Would it be all right if I went back to my room and tried to sleep?”
The Queen’s normally hard face softened, her beady eyes taking on an almost motherly quality. “Oh, you’re not feeling well? I’m sorry to hear that.” She grabbed her napkin and dabbed at her mouth. The Queen’s voice lost all its softness. “Of course if you had managed to actually beat your sister during one of your sparring matches, I think you would be feeling a little better about yourself.”
Nervousness flitted through Ynya’s mind, but she brushed it off, not wanting to betray her true emotions or thoughts. She just needed to navigate the turbulent waters of the Queen to get out of this.
“I’m sure it would have. Perhaps if I meditate on it for a bit then I might come to a conclusion?”
The Queen dropped her napkin on the table and raised her eyebrows. “You think some introspection might help you out of the pickle you are in? You don’t think I see the constant glances between you all? You think I haven’t felt you use your hidden magic a few times since you got here?” She spread her arms wide. “This is my castle, and I know everything that goes on in here. I feel every bit of it. I hear every bit of it.”
Ynya swallowed.
A growing dread rose in her mind.
Ynya’s time was quickly running out. She’d been living with the Frost Queen for days now and had done nothing of worth to escape. She was becoming complacent, and the reward for complacency was readily coming due.
Ynya swallowed again. Her mouth and throat were incredibly dry. She clacked her tongue, trying to coax moisture from her mouth, but none came.
One of her fingers began to twitch and she formed a fist to try to quell the growing terror.
But the finger refused to stop.
The Queen stood from the table, kicking the chair backwards so hard that it fell over and crashed.
The barrier Ynya had tried to form broke as nervousness, worry, and fear flooded her mind, along with a tightness in her chest.
This is it. I’ve waited too long, and pushed her too far.
Ynya’s heart pounded in her chest once again.
Lub-dub. Lub-dub.
The Queen leaned over and placed her palms on the table. The edge in her voice had been replaced with a sinister, vitriolic tongue, like a snake about to strike. “I think you are right. I think it’s time we solve this little mystery once and for all.”
Ynya’s muscles tensed. She could still get out of this, but she needed to be careful. She glanced toward Synol.
“You think Synol will help you with this little problem?”
The Frost Queen shot out her hands with fingers spread wide. A massive frost-filled wind slammed into the room. A typhoon of power surged around Ynya. Screams filled the air as Ynya tried to see what was going on through the storm.
She built up heat in her hands as a reactionary defense move, not knowing what to expect.
The spell dissipated, and Ynya could see clearly once again.
All three of her sisters plus the Skarmyord were pinned to the wall, with thick tendrils of ice wrapped around their bodies and neck.
“Perhaps my sparring sessions haven’t been enough for yo
u. Deep in your mind you knew that it wasn’t real, that it was just practice, and the worst outcome would be a reset of the room and maybe some minor healing.”
The Queen narrowed her eyebrows as she curled her fingers. “I think what you need is a real-life scenario with real stakes. There is a life lesson for you here, dear Ynya. When you are forced to make a decision about someone’s life, you discover things about yourself you never knew. I could try torturing you for the next couple of days, but I’m running out of time and this seems more fun.”
The Queen snapped her fingers and an icy dagger appeared right in front of her, the tip buried in the wood of the table. The blade oozed a smoky blackness like it had been dipped in ink.
The Queen wrapped her hand around the handle, and pulled. The dagger came free of the table with ease. The blade hummed with a low tone as she whipped it through the air, pointing at each of the trapped individuals.
“How many do I need to kill in order to get a response out of you? Which one should I start with?”
Ynya’s emotions boiled to the surface, sputtering and spattering her focus. The Queen was going to kill one of her sisters if she didn’t do something! But what could she do? While she thought she knew what her mother’s magic was, it had only reacted at times to save her own life. Each time it hadn’t been her doing the casting, it just happened to save her life.
Her mind spun, trying to latch on to any kind of possibility.
She watched the Queen eye her blade. Maybe if she ran toward the Queen fast enough, surprising her like she had Meki, she might be able to get to her and take the dagger from her.
“You see, my dear girl, this dagger is magic, and the poison coating the blade is a particular type that only I can create or cure. It’s passed down through the royal bloodline of my family as a way to protect ourselves. Usually it manifests as a reactionary magic, saving our lives at the last moment, but I’ve had hundreds of years to refine it and now I can pull part of it out when I need to.”
She rolled the dagger around her fingers, admiring the light shining off its surfaces. “This particular poison will kill in less than a minute so you better act fast!”
The Queen spun and threw the dagger.
Ynya watched in horror as the blade buried itself deep in Synol’s chest.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Synol grunted as the dagger embedded deep in her. Her eyes glazed over as she stared into the void. A drop of blood worked out of her mouth and dribbled down her chin, reaching the end and pooling. A long string of thick blood pulled away, threatening to drip into her hands.
Ynya’s mind raced as she took in the sight. No! This can’t be! What is happening?
Deep within her chest, her heart fluttered, building up energy as an unfettered, energy built within her.
Ynya couldn’t control it.
Her mother’s magic flared to life, the hardness that lived within her breast surged through her body wrapping itself firmly around her heart, pumping over and over.
No longer tied to the Queen’s ever-present pacing, Ynya’s heart found a new rhythm. It beat entirely on its own for the first time in days. She was fully in control.
Just like it had done half a dozen times in the past, instead of her heart racing to help protect herself from harm, the magic forced her heart to slow.
The Queen clapped her hands. “Yes! There it is! I feel your hidden magic pulsing within you, Ynya.
“The poison courses through your sister’s bloodstream, and soon will stop her heart forever. You have already wasted valuable time listening to me, so you might want to choose what you are going to do quickly.”
The Queen narrowed her eyes. “Do you attack me, or try to protect Synol? Do you free one of your other sisters? So many choices!”
Ynya ran to Synol, heating up her hands and releasing her sister from the icy tendrils in a flash of steam and shattering ice.
She eased Synol limp body to the ground, propping her up on some chair cushions.
Their eyes met, Synol’s were distant and far too soft. “Kill her, Ynya.”
“No, I’m going to save you.”
“Let me die, just take her out. It will be worth the sacrifice.”
“No!” Ynya screamed at her sister. “I can save you!”
She had to embrace the magic fully. It was time to use her mother’s gift rather than allow it to occasionally flare and save her life.
Ynya’s heart pounded louder and louder, slower and slower.
Lub-dub, lub---dub.
Ynya slowed her heartbeat even more. She had control of the magic. She and the magic were finally one.
Ynya grabbed the icy dagger and yanked it from her sister’s chest, tossing it to the side. The dagger shattered. Thousands of icy chunks dashed across the floor.
“I can stop this.”
She placed her hands on her sister, and took a deep breath. She felt the poison under the skin, spreading deeper through Synol’s body with each beat.
She had to stop Synol’s heart or it would kill her.
Ynya willed her heart to slow even more. Just like it had done when Nora had thrown the dagger at the girls on the staircase. Just like the time when she had fought the woman in white back near her village and had managed to dodge the attacks of the Skarmyord to keep herself alive.
This was the magic. This was the secret her mother Talia Oblique had kept from them for so long.
It wasn’t the ability to control the weather. It wasn’t the ability to predict the future.
It was the ability to control time.
Lub–dub.
Talia Oblique’s ability to control time explained so much. How she looked so young despite her age. How she was able to stay pregnant for so long with one of her children.
Lub––dub.
Time was the answer to most of her mysteries. Not all, but most, and most was good enough for now.
Pent-up magic in Ynya’s hands cascaded into Synol, wrapping hard tendrils around her heart and burying itself deep into the thick, hungry muscle.
Synol’s heart beat erratically as the first bits of poison poised to overwhelm her body.
“Shh, big sister. Calm yourself.”
Lub-dub, lub–dub, lub—dub.
Calm. Slow. Sedate.
Ynya pushed harder, forcing her magic into Synol’s heart, encasing it in a firm but gentle grip.
She could almost feel her sister’s heart in her hand. The taught, twitchy muscles recoiled from her touch, but she continued.
Lub…dub, lub……dub, lub………dub.
Lub…
Then…nothing.
Synol’s heart no longer beat.
Ynya’s heart no longer beat.
All around Ynya, the room had stopped.
Ynya looked around, her mind in a haze. She felt the air thick around her, brushing against her skin as she turned her head side to side. Dust hung, suspended, defying even gravity itself, held in place by her magic.
All around the room, the hardness she’d felt for so long in her chest now held everything in place. Static, suspended, stasis.
Ynya clutched Synol in her arms, lifeless, but peaceful. Her other sisters were still attached to the wall, unmoving. Nora’s eyes had frozen wide with fear as she gazed at Synol.
And the Queen. The Queen of the North, the Frost Queen herself, stood frozen in time.
This was it. This was what Ynya had been waiting for. Finally, a time when she had a leg-up on her captor.
Ynya laid Synol back down on the ground, carefully removing her hand from her sister’s chest. She waited to ensure that time stayed frozen, that the poison moments away from killing Synol had not moved.
Satisfied that she didn’t need to hold onto her sister any longer, Ynya stood.
Ynya pulled the golden earring from her pocket and walked up to the Queen. She halted for a moment, weighing the little object in her hand while she decided if this was the right course of action. She could go for the explosive o
ne, but this golden one clearly was special.
It could be the one to take down the Frost Queen.
Ynya opened the earring and reached out to pierce the Queen’s ear. Ynya hesitated. A hundred questions flooded her mind in a cacophony of noise and unanswered desires.
Was this the right thing to do? How much energy would I be able to maintain holding Synol in time like this? What if I took away the Queen’s magic?
The Queen had said that the only one who could heal Synol was her, so if she took the woman’s magic away now, she might have just doomed her own sister to death.
Ynya took a long breath, thinking through the possibilities. It was an odd feeling, not feeling your heart beat in your chest, while still having all the time in the world.
At least until you ran out of magic.
With the early morning activities, the lack of food, and the certain death of her sister, she couldn’t risk killing the Queen right now.
She looked around again at the room, her mind whirling through all the actions of the day. She thought through what the Queen had told her again, dissecting the ramifications and threats.
Attacking or killing the Queen might make her feel better, but Ynya wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if she traded Synol’s life for that of the Queen.
Once my family is safe I will do whatever I must to ensure you never hurt anyone ever again.
Ynya put away the earring, went back to Synol, and released the spell on the rest of the room.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Oh Ynya, Ynya, Ynya! I knew you had it within you all along! A time mage at that! Imagine the possibilities!” The Queen actually clapped with joy while Ynya caressed her limp sister’s face.
Ynya barely contained her rage to not immediately attack the Queen in a futile attempt to punish her for what she had just done to Synol. “I did what you said, now release my sisters!”
The Queen stopped clapping and looked around the room. “Very well, though I have to say I’m actually quite surprised that you didn’t just stop time and escape, or kill me in the process.”