Enchanted Frost (Frost Series #8) (A YA Romantic Fantasy Adventure)

by Gow, Kailin

  “Hello, Kian,” she smiled, flashing white teeth. “I believe you were expecting me.” She looked me up and down, devouring me with her eyes. If the woman in the village had been slightly flirtatious then this gorgeous figure was anything but subtle.

  “Are you...the White Witch?” My mouth fell open with shock.

  She nodded, grinning. “Surprised?”

  “I expected someone....”

  “Older? A wrinkled hag?” She chuckled.

  “Well, yes.”

  “Unlimited magic – and you don't think I'd use any of it to ensure eternal beauty?” She batted her lashes at me, but beneath the damsel image, I felt sure, the White Witch was no bimbo. She exuded confidence, power, and a savage strength that was enticing as it was frightening.

  “I must confess, Prince Kian,” she said. “You have aroused much...curiosity in me.” She took a step towards me. “I am told that humans think love is the greatest gift in the world – yet you Fey fear it. I am unfamiliar with both perspectives. It is something utterly foreign to me. Has this epidemic really taken over so much of your kind?”

  “No,” I admitted. “Not many. But some. My sister, Shasta, was affected first. She fell for a knight called Rodney, from the Summer Court that was then at war with my kind. The love made her crazy, frenetic. Inspired her to summon the Dark Hordes out of a desperate desire to distract my mother from forbidding her love...”

  “Curious...” the witch sneered. “I am told thousands died in that battle. And all because of love. Many kings and princes would give all their treasure for the secret of causing so much death.”

  Her callousness unsettled me, but I tried to ignore it. This woman held the secret of my protection, after all.

  “And then....my love of Breena...has incapacitated me. It has made me weak. And now that I know she does not return my love, I know it will not hurt her if I remove this disease from my flesh, my heart...”

  “Yes, the cure,” said the Witch. “My messengers have alerted me to this; they know what you are after.”

  “Then you can cure me?”

  “I can cure you...” the Witch said. “If that is what you wish. But sit a while, Kian. Relax. You will be cured. But first answer my questions.” She peered at me. “And you must call me Gail. No formalities here.” It was not a request.

  “Gail,” I said.

  “You love her very much, then?”

  “I...do...” I felt the tears spring at my eyes. “Even now, I must confess, I still love her more than is good for me. But that is why I must be cured, you see. So that I can never suffer again from this affliction. So that I can be the ruler my mother and all of Feyland expects of me.”

  “Your mother...yes....” Gail smiled. “Do you miss her very much?” She looked down her nose at me.

  I hesitated. How could I explain my complicated feelings about my mother to this total stranger? I cared for my mother – certainly, I honored her as a son ought to honor his mother. I did the duties that a subject ought to do for his Queen. I could never have admitted to loving her – my mother would have been scandalized at the very idea. Now that she was gone, I missed her steely strength, I missed her resolve and her powerful way of commanding a room with the sheer force of her presence. I missed the level-headedness she brought to my life. She had disapproved of my love of Breena, and now I knew why.

  “I'm sure she misses you very much,” cooed Gail. “She knows what a brave, strong young man you have become.”

  “She knows? How?” My voice grew loud.

  “You think my powers are limited to helping those in their first youth?” Gail laughed. “I can see into the Beyond, and communicate with those who are there. I can see into the unknown. And I know your mother is there, waiting for you. Waiting for you to make your choice and become the king she always knew you could be. The choice to come here, to take that risk – she believes is the bravest, and the noblest, thing you have ever done. I can hear her voice now. She is saying...” Gail closed her eyes and inhaled sharply. “My Kian, my son. Leave the tangle of human emotions behind! Leave behind the love that has made you weak, left you vulnerable. Let me set you free! Let another free you from the power Breena casts over you, which is stronger than any spell. I am so proud of you, my boy. My son. My king.”

  I was shaking, in shock. Could my mother really be speaking through this strange, beautiful creature?

  “Please,” I begged her. “Help me. Cure me. I cannot stand my pain any longer!”

  She considered me for a long while, looking me up and down in stony silence.

  “Very well, Kian,” she said at last. “I will help you. But first you must do something for me.”

  Chapter 8

  So, this was it. The moment I had been waiting for. The moment when I at last would be set free, when at last this agony that was splitting my heart in two would subside and leave me, at once, for the first time in so many months, so many years, in peace. Tears of joy sprang to my eyes. The pain would be over. The longing would be over. The need for Breena's mouth on mine, her lips on mine, her hands twined between my own, her warm body and cool cheeks, the smell of her that smelled like cinnamon and jasmine and pomegranate and honeysuckle all at once – of this at last, at last, I would be cured. I wanted to sob with relief. I would be able to look upon her as a caring friend, a brother, nothing more. I would be able to deal with her love for Logan – I would be able, even, to be happy for her, although I couldn't imagine such a thing at this moment. I could be happy for both of them. Breena and I could rule Feyland side by side, as best friends. We wouldn't even need to get married – we could sign a treaty that determined joint control of Feyland. If Breena and Logan had children, and I too produced an heir, we could marry them to one another, and thus produce a joint dynasty one generation later than planned....

  The thought made me feel ill, violently ill, and I began to retch, my body convulsing at the thought. Logan and Breena having children? No, I couldn't bear it – couldn't bear the thought of the two of them touching one another, mingling with one another, their limbs sprawled across one another's bodies – no, no amount of magic in the world would ever make me able to withstand such torture! The spell would never work!

  “There, there....” Gail began to massage my back, soothing me into silence. “I know it's hard, dear boy. So very, very hard...I've seen it all before, you know. Lots of boys like you who come seeking some kind of answers here, in my lair. Who think that this feeling that's affected them is the end of the world, that they'll never recover from it. But let me tell you something, my dear Prince. They all do. Every single one. With a little bit of my help, the feeling they promise until they're blue in the face will never go away leaves them forever – leaves them happy, sane, and free. No longer in love. You're not the first Fey to fall in love, and you won't be the last. So don't worry. I can help you. I promise you that, if you'll let me, I'll remove every ounce of love from your heart. Do you trust me? You do trust me, don't you?”

  Mutely, limply, I nodded. I felt tears spring at my eyes and grew embarrassed at them. I looked down.

  “Then are you prepared to do what I ask of you, my boy?”

  “Yes,” I said, “Whatever you say, my lady.”

  “Gail, please!”

  “Gail.”

  “In order for the cure to work,” she said, grasping tightly at my hand, “I will need to perform it on Feyland soil. It won't work out here in the ancient realms. I need to tap into the power of Feyland at its core.”

  “We have to go back to Feyland?”

  She tightened her grip on my wrist. “Yes, absolutely!” she said swiftly. “Not a doubt. You must invite me into Feyland and allow me to do my cure there. That is my condition.

  “Invite you?” I asked. “Can't you just come yourself?”

  She laughed loudly – a swift, sharp laugh. “Of course I can, silly,” she said. “But I don't like to go to anybody's home unless I'm invited. Awfully rude, isn't it?”
/>   I laughed along with her. “So, that's it? That's your only condition – that we have to go back to Feyland?”

  “I'm looking forward to it,” said Gail. “I haven't visited in a while – I'm beginning to miss the place.”

  “Very well,” I said. “Let's set off.”

  “Just...one more thing,” said Gail. “My helpers – they have to come too.”

  “Your helpers?”

  Gail motioned towards the trees. There, hiding among the shadows of the branches and leaves, were a few patches of darkness – shadows that seemed to be of nothing at all. At Gail's gesture they began to change shape, dancing and gliding across the ground, forming smiling, laughing faces as they separated and reconfigured themselves over and over again.

  “I like to call them my Shadow Puppets,” said Gail. “I understand that's a human phrase.”

  “I wouldn't know,” I confessed.

  “Anyway, they will have to come too. They help me affect all of my work – including this cure. That is, if they're invited too?” She laughed as she stroked my arm, staring straight into my eyes with her bright blue gaze, which was painfully lovely.

  I smiled back at her, relieved. I'd expected the White Witch to be a fearsome, terrifying creature, but Gail was hardly frightening. She was powerful, certainly, but seemed kind – playful rather than grim. And while I'd spent a good deal of time fretting about the price I'd heard she'd extract for her services, all that she asked – that we return to Feyland – seemed like a small price to pay in order to be free of the pains and pangs of love forever. It would require a few days' extra journey, to be sure, but I could last those final few days in the throes of my love – at least, I could if I knew that my pain was almost at an end. Indeed, my love for Breena didn't hurt as much as it normally did. It was as if now that I knew that it would soon be gone, I was able to treasure it, to reflect fondly on our happy memories together without mourning the fact that she now loved another.

  “Very well, my boy,” said Gail. “Shall we be off?”

  Another two days passed as we walked together on the road back into Feyland. Gail and I spent the walk talking – she asked me question after question about Breena, about our life together, about love.

  “I must say,” she confessed. “You're a difficult case. I have no doubt that I will cure you – but all the same – your love is far deeper than that of many who come my way.”

  “I only hope it'll work,” I said.

  “It'll work,” she replied swiftly. “Nobody is better than I am at destroying love.” The shadow puppets seemed to dance on the path alongside us. “In fact, I would even call it my specialty.”

  “Your specialty?”

  “Of course, I have so many....” She looked at me with a flirtatious smile.

  “I have no doubt of that, my lady,” I said.

  “Gail.”

  “Gail.”

  She smiled and squeezed my hand.

  For the first time, I felt a sense of relief. My troubles were almost over. My worries were almost at an end. Soon, I'd stop missing her, stop wanting her, stop needing her, stop wanting to scream out her name every moment that she wasn't there. It would all stop. Of course, such a thing seemed impossible – but I had confidence in Gail. The sense of power she exuded was no illusion – she was one of the most powerful beings I'd ever come across.

  “There!” Gail called. “Look, up ahead!”

  It was the stone gates of Feyland.

  “We're here.”

  We stood before the gates, and my heart began to beat faster. So, we were almost at Feyland. Almost time for the cure to go into effect. Almost time for me to forget Breena forever.

  But what if you don't want to stop loving her?

  “Well?” Gail laughed. “Aren't you going to be a gentleman and take my arm as we cross.” She made a little curtsey.

  “Of course.” I took her arm and we strode through the gates together, the shadow puppets following at our feet.

  “There.” Gail took a step forward, closing her eyes. “Feyland....” She gave a low, dark laugh. “It feels so good to be back again.” A slow smile spread across her lips. “To feel the power surging back into me.”

  She turned to me. Her smile was hard, even cruel. “Now I'll do what you ask,” she said. “Since you have invited me into the Fairy Kingdom, and now my power is the greatest power in the land. I will take all love from this land.”

  “All love?” I stuttered. “What do you mean – all love? Just mine, certainly?”

  Gail chuckled. “Oh, you poor little fool. You dear, dear fool. You've let me into Feyland. We're playing on my terms, now. And I get to make the rules.”

  Chapter 9

  Kian

  I stood aghast, utterly in shock. “What do you mean?” I stammered as the shadow puppets flitted into the distance, their dark shades passing over the hills of Feyland, vanishing into the night sky. They seemed to laugh with their silent mouths, the light-colored holes in their shadowy forms widening and revealed jagged, grinning teeth. “What plan?”

  “What a fool you are, my dear boy.” Gail leaned in and stretched out a single finger, which she used to lightly caress my cheek. “Do you really think that I would give up that easily? No, I've been trying for centuries to gain access to Feyland again, ever since my banishment.

  “Your banishment?” I felt panic rise up in my throat. My cheeks were flushed with fear. “What banishment?”

  “Never you mind that, my dear boy,” said Gail, grinning wildly. Her teeth too were as jagged and sharp as those of her puppets. Vaguely, confusedly, I wondered why I had never noticed this before. But it was too late now. “All that matters is that the spell is broken. I was formally invited to enter Feyland by one who has the power to do so – one who holds the secret of great ancient magic. And now no power in all the magic kingdoms, nor any under the two twin suns of Feyland, can ever stop me. That is my will.” She threw back her head and laughed – a violent, vicious laugh that sent shivers up and down my spine. “Now, my Kian, King of Feyland, I will keep my promise. Never you mind about that. I will destroy your love for Breena. But as you knew – nothing comes free in Feyland. I have my price. Your desire for peace has its cost. You will cease to love Breena – and so will everybody else. I will squeeze ever last drop of love from Feyland, wringing it dry. Those who care for Breena will begin to hate her. Those who think only of her beauty will find her ugly. Those who find her intelligent will see her stupidity. Those who praise her kindness will see the cruelty within. And not just for Breena, either. Those couples who have polluted Feyland with their talk of that forbidden thing, love, will be ripped asunder. Marriages will fail; lovers with quarrel. And all affection will turn swiftly to hate.”

  “No...” I whispered, feeling my heart quicken within my chest. “No!”

  “Yes,” she said, smiling. “Isn't this what you wanted, Kian? To be cured of that sickening affliction, love? Isn't that what you came to me for – so that I could rid you of the symptoms of that festering disease? Surely you do not wish to deny others the same opportunity to free themselves? Surely you do not wish to condemn your countrymen to suffering...”

  “But it isn't only suffering!” I found myself protesting. “It's beautiful, too! And good – and exhilarating, and wonderful...”

  “And soon it will be gone forever.” Gail batted her eyelashes sweetly at me. “And then you will forget what it felt like to feel your pulse race with love, to feel your breath grow shallow, to feel your heart expand with the greatest joy that you will ever know....”

  “No, I don't want that...”

  “But you want to be free of your love of Breena?”

  I found myself stammering. “I did! I mean, I do! But...”

  “But what? Are you afraid?”

  “The others – they didn't choose this! Some of them are happy the way they are.”

  “The way they are?” Gail sneered at me. “The way – you mean – that their min
ds turn to jelly because of these ridiculous infatuations? It's sickening – the way when people fall in love they forget about power, they forget about control, they forget about the things that really matter in the world! No, let me tell you something, Kian – they are better off without love. I am doing them a favor.”

  “But if you're making them all hate Breena...that's not love, is it?”

  “From what you say,” Gail's face contorted into a cold, cruel smile, “it seems that Breena deserves it, don't you think? After all, didn't she lead you on while she was consorting with another man, promising you a love and a happiness she never had any intent of giving you? Is that really what you want to support? Doesn't she deserve a bit of comeuppance for her actions? She's been beloved for so long – she's gotten lazy, used to being adored by those around her. Won't it be good for her to experience the other side of the story?”

  “No!” I cried. Fear took hold of me – what had I done? I'd been so desperate to stop my weakness, stop my pain, that I'd given into the greatest weakness of all: instead of trusting Breena, trusting our love, trusting us, I'd invited this evil sorceress into our midst, a sorceress who evidently had been banished from Feyland once before. What a fool I had been! I didn't even know why Gail had been banished from Feyland – but I knew that whatever she had planned for me and for Breena, it wasn't good.

  “Don't you want to see what I'm up to?” Gail smiled as she held up her magic mirror to my face. I gasped as I saw the image revealed to me within. Gail's Shadow Puppets were sneaking into villages, house by house, and casting their darkness upon the inhabitants within. I saw wives beginning to quarrel with their husbands; I saw husbands throwing their wives into the street. I saw anger and recriminations and bitter tears; I saw lovers who had previously been skipping hand in hand down the street or in a glen slapping one another furiously, screaming and wailing with pain. Couples by the hundreds were lining up at the local Town Halls to get divorces; they shouted and made riotous, raucous noise as each raced to be the first to dissolve their union. I saw gossip and rumors spread throughout villages, towns, and provinces – hints of impropriety, jealous accusations of infidelity and dishonesty, gossip that turned to bitterness the way milk curdles.