"You were to be very powerful. The most powerful mage to have come along in many generations. So powerful that you would destroy their enemy without a fight and be a weapon of great magic to whoever controlled you. Without that prophecy, I doubt they would have bothered to have a child."
"But they did not know that there was another prophecy told to their worst enemy. This Lord who heard his prophecy had been building an army of mages to destroy the King and Queen. Suddenly, he was told there was a child who would destroy him if he did not possess another child of immense power. This other child would be nearest the equal to the princess and would be the only one who could stop her from killing him.
"The girl was born to a poor hunter on the lord's lands. He found the man and told him he would kill his entire family if he did not give him the child. The poor man relented but sought out the seer who had given the Lord the prophecy to find out what could be done, and they came up with a plan to switch the hunter’s child with that of the princess
“The hunter, though poor, was a strong mage who had hidden his powers to keep his family safe from the lord. He decided to protect his child by putting her in the possession of the two most powerful magi on the planet.”
“Why?” Chandra asked. “Why not kill the man or run?”
“We suspect some of his family members might have already been captives to the lord. It seemed the hunter believed keeping his daughter safe would be his last act,” Matta told her with a grim smile. The flames that were Chandra flickered in a nod.
In her mind, Chandra saw this man carrying his baby to some house and escaping with the other child. She thought he must have felt fear, anger for certain, but fear for the child.
“How do you know all this?” Chandra asked. The heat of the magic faded as she thought about the desperation of one man facing the power-hungry nature of another.
“I was there when the hunter switched the babes,” Matta told her with a smile. “I was not strong enough or fast enough to stop him from taking you away. I almost died trying. His magic was so strong though. I had never seen someone have such control.”
The quiet girl inside the dark force whispered that the hunter could have been her father. With him, she might have been safe.
“If he had been, you would not be here now. You would not have ended up in the hands of Master Dreys,” Matta nodded. “Yes, Master Dreys is the one who killed the hunter and his family. He is the lord who drove the hunter to steal you from your mother’s house and destroy me. He is the lord whom you killed and completed the first part of your prophecy.”
Chandra felt suddenly cold. The fury left her like a flame extinguished by a gust of winter air. Her skin turned to normal flesh that pimpled in the icy breeze that found the holes in her clothing. Matta stepped forward and put one hand on her shoulder. Chandra felt ice trickle down her cheeks.
“You knew who I was?” she whispered.
“Not right away, but by the time you began your journey, I was certain, yes,” the old dryad told her. Matta’s eyes glowed green and luminescent. “My forest was close to where you were taken, and I was there waiting for you. We hoped that when you found your way free, we could help you.”
Chandra shut her eyes and leaned into Matta’s rough robes. The dryad wrapped her arms around Chandra and waited while she cried.
She could hardly breathe through the sobs as she accepted Matta's comfort; She didn't care what Chandra had done. Matta understood what had happened and accepted more than Chandra accepted herself. Tears flowed like torrents through the broken dam around her spirit. The dark shroud that had settled on her shoulders from the first moment she had seen Master Dreys do something cruel to the point when she killed at the inn, lifted a little. She was still afraid, and the guilt was like hot water over frostbite, but knowing that someone understood made Chandra think she might be able to overcome it.
Chandra stepped back from Matta. “Thank you.”
“We’ve some ways to go before you should think of thanking me, child,” Matta said. “Alphonse was right in that we’ve a bigger issue to address.”
“Blessed seer gods, could you cover the girl up before you get into that? I’m too old to see so much young flesh!” Alphonse said, his gnarled hand to the side of his face with his body twisted away from where Chandra and Matta stood. Matta chuckled.
“Don’t get your robes twisted, Alphonse,” she said as she wandered over to a closet to pull out some things for Chandra to wear.
“How are you here, Matta?” Chandra asked when the woman handed her a woolen doublet and leather breaches to put on.
“Well, the loss of a Winterbourne on the throne has caused a thaw that has reached the edge of the frost lands, opening a path from my forest. ‘Tis a bad sign.” Matta’s opaque eyes glistened. “If dryads can cross into these lands, other things can come into this side or away from this side. The balance is shifting quickly.”
“What other things? The beast Alphonse mentioned?” Chandra was digging through the closet Matta had pulled the clothing out in an attempt to find boots near her size. Giving up, she stuffed rags in a larger pair and buckled them on.
“The dark beast is one, yes, and probably the most dangerous. There are others like the ones that ran through the city, which will awaken.”
Chandra looked at the dark eyes and grim expression of the old dryad. Turning, she saw a similar expression on Alphonse’s face. She knew when she was beat.
“I make no promises... Honestly, I can almost guarantee failure, but what is it you want me to do?” she looked at Alphonse as she said it and saw him nod.
“You must beat it back with the Winterbourne magic,” he said simply.
“Okay...” Chandra said, expecting a bit more out of the man who instead took her reply as assent. He bustled about the room, talking loudly to himself.
“...need armor, of course. Provisions! I will have to gather up something, though the journey won’t be long...” his voice drifted away as he immersed himself in some shelves, knocking boxes and wooden tubes filled with parchment around.
“Control, child. You must control your magic. You must not be afraid to use it. It is yours to call. You must always remember that,” Matta told her with a stern look. “You cannot doubt yourself, and you must do this alone.”
Chandra opened her mouth to protest, shut it at the woman’s glare, and then opened it again. “How in the world am I supposed to do this by myself? I don’t have the foggiest idea what I’m going to do!”
“The--” she paused and looked in the direction of Alphonse “--hawk cannot go underground. I cannot travel in the caverns, they have not been breached yet, and Alphonse is seer only with no other magic to offer. There is no one else.” Matta almost sounded apologetic. “You are not only the only option, but the best we have. Your ice magic marks you as a member of the royal line, and it is the only magic that can restore the balance in this land. I cannot make you, but I will say that you can do more than you tell yourself you can.”
Chandra looked at Matta, her eyes studying and flicking between her and the hawk. She was almost afraid to touch him because she thought he would reject her touch again. Her arm slowly raised and he didn't hesitate. Frostwhite quickly jumped to her shoulder and plucked at her hair. Chandra reached up her left hand and stroked his feathers, closing her eyes as she did so.
Within, she reached out to her friend and felt his warmth. He showed her clear skies, and she felt warm winds ruffling along his feathers as he soared. He was showing her one of the singular joys of his existence. Chandra took it as encouragement and an attempt at comfort.
“Here’s water and a bag with a few things you might need. We’ll gather up a cloak and some heavier items for the trip. Do you know how to use a sword?” Alphonse asked, his eyes expectant.
Chandra closed her eyes and fought the urge to ask, do I look like I know how to use a sword? Instead, she shook her head to answer. Alphonse sighed, and Chandra opened her eyes to see him s
hrug.
“We’ll see if we can’t get you a bit of armor, but I’m not sure it will do much good. It isn’t as though these creatures can’t penetrate most of it with a casual swipe...” Alphonse was talking to himself as he wandered toward the door, and Chandra fought the urge to call her flame and let it eat him. She reached out and grasped Matta’s arm, tucking it into her own to follow Alphonse.
“He’s as daft an old fool, as I remember him,” Matta rasped near her ear, and Chandra’s anger defused as she smiled. “It's dangerous, and without Winterbournes who have done this in the past, we have little information to give you other than where to go and that you will face something out of nightmares...”
Chandra shuddered as the regular nightmare came to mind, and she understood what she had dealt with in dream might have been for a reason. She still didn't buy the princess idea completely, but she knew this was her task to complete no matter how much she wanted to run. Something in her clicked into place, and she accepted that this was her purpose for being.
“Follow the map, and it will lead you to the main cavern. Normally it would be covered in ice, but I’ve already seen it's not. We have to hope the rumblings we’ve felt is from only one beast or I cannot be sure this task is winnable,” Alphonse told her. “If there is more than one, please do what you can, but return to us.”
“Of course, because I thought I might stay and have tea with them, instead,” Chandra muttered.
“Please don't get killed or we won't have an heir to the throne and the Winterbourne magic will die away completely, leaving all the lands vulnerable,” Alphonse said with a stern look as though Chandra might think it was a good idea to jump in front of the beasts and offer herself as a snack.
“Death is, thankfully, not on my to-do list,” she told him and saw his blank expression as the sarcasm flowed right past him.
“Good. It's imperative you return and reclaim your place in Faust as princess of the realm...”
“And we would like you to return safely,” Matta interrupted and finished for him.
“Yes. Yes, of course.” Alphonse patted Chandra’s arm awkwardly before turning to walk off down the hall. “Oh, and please keep your eyes down. I think if anyone were to see them, it might cause some...discord.”
Chandra nodded at yet another obvious statement by the old coot and concentrated on watching Matta and Alphonse’s feet as they made their way down the hall. A few times Alphonse was greeted, and Chandra saw steel-wrapped boots of guardsmen walk past her. At one point, Alphonse led them into a tiny room and shoved random bits of armor at Chandra, most of which she gave back to him as either too large or too heavy to wear. She settled for a small vest of chain and a better-fitting pair of plated hide boots. He tried to give her a shield, but she gave it back to him.
“Take the shield, it will probably save your life,” Alphonse told her, pushing the dented metal disk back at her.
“I can’t use my magic if I’m holding a shield,” she told him and pushed it back.
“You only need one hand to call your magic,” he told her in a sing-song way that made her want to hit him with it.
“No, I need both,” Chandra told him, shaking her head. Alphonse frowned.
“That’s not possible,” he told her, mirroring her action.
“You’re wrong,” she told him, and Matta nudged her not-too-gently. “I cannot call my magic without both hands available.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing. You only use one hand for summoning, though some use the other for manipulation. How can you control your magic if you do not have a free hand to manipulate it with?” Alphonse looked positively alarmed. Chandra fought the urge to correct him about needing hands to do magic when it comes from within.
“Well,” Chandra said, one eyebrow arched. “That’s the question then, isn’t it?”
“Then if you cannot control the power you hold, how do you expect to complete this task?”
“I guess I’m going to wing it,” Chandra said with a nonchalance she did not feel.
Alphonse gaped, and Chandra could have sworn Matta smiled.
“Chandra has her own methods of doing things,” Matta said with more confidence than Chandra would have ever had.
“Um...well,” was all Alphonse said and put the shield down. He reached over and grabbed a belt and a knife sheath and handed them to her. Chandra arched an eyebrow at him as she took them and put them on her waist. She tried to imagine taking down one of the death monitors with a knife and failed.
“I find that most people feel better when they have a physical manifestation of violence when sneaking into a dangerous situation,” Alphonse said with a straight face.
“So walk softly and carry a knife?” Chandra asked. Alphonse nodded and headed off down the hall.
After a winding path that was silent and bereft of people, the group stopped at a door.
“We’re here,” Alphonse said after they had all stood there for a few moments.
“Okay, so the cavern is on the other side of this door?” Chandra asked hesitantly.
“Goodness, no. This leads out to the gardens. You will have to find your way through them to reach the opening for the trail that leads to the mountainside. It is a wild garden that was enchanted by the first members of the royal line. It grows green and warm, unlike anywhere else in Winterbourne lands. You must get through it quickly and to the Willow Grove.
“There is a trail from the willows that leads toward the mountains. When you reach the trail, you will not need to do anything but stay on it until you find the caverns. They will be hard to miss.” Alphonse handed her a pack. “There is a torch in the bag, though the moon is bright tonight and you’ll probably not need it.”
“Are we sure I can’t wait until morning after a good bit of rest and a meal?” Chandra asked, her spine aching and her skin twitching with the anxiety.
“Every moment we wait is precious,” Alphonse said with a shake of his head. “We don’t know when the situation will explode if it isn’t already at the catalyst point. You need to go now. I cannot guess what might happen were we to wait.”
“I would guess my stomach wouldn’t feel so empty and I wouldn’t be so tired, but that's my opinion,” Chandra muttered at his back, and she heard Matta chuckling behind her.
Alphonse grunted as he shoved at the door, and Chandra stepped forward to help him push it open. It was dragged across the frame and ground, inch by inch as they shoved, eventually opening enough that they could see the still, dark garden and sparkling night sky.
Chandra stood in the doorway for a moment before turning to Matta. The old dryad looked at her and gave her a gentle smile.
“Control and release your fear, child. When it is time, you will know what to do,” Matta said, reaching out to squeeze Chandra’s arm.
“If you fail, horrors unseen in centuries will escape to wreak havoc upon the mortal world and possibly kill us all,” Alphonse added, his face stern.
“Good to know there's hope if I don’t succeed, hmm?” Chandra said to Frostwhite after they were halfway across the garden. She reached up to stroke his feathers where he perched on her shoulder. When she had walked into the trees where their shadows drew mocking parodies of the horrors she had already faced that night, she stopped.
“You can't come in with me, so you might as well stay here.” Chandra reached her arms up to offer a new perch and turned the great hawk to face her. “Even if it weren’t for Alphonse telling me I needed to go in alone, I wouldn’t have brought you. If you want to fly back and wait with Matta, you can.”
Frostwhite opened his curved beak and clicked several times in a rattling sound at her. Chandra smiled and brought her friend back to her shoulder where he tugged at her hair and made clicking noises in her ear.
"It was just a thought. No need for a lecture."
The garden she found herself in was planted like a maze. She pulled a heavy hawker's glove from the bag. She had seen it in the armory and had
taken it because it would at least be comfortable for her and give her some protection on one hand. She was also hoping to survive and would need it then.
After she had it on and cinched, she reached up and helped the great hawk shift onto her wrist, guarded with thick hide and worked leather that was stiff like a saddle. Chandra tossed her arm into the air, giving Frostwhite a gentle bit of momentum. In her mind she pictured a willow. Find the grove, she told him. Frostwhite called from above and circled through the night sky. He was like a crescent moon, moving and arcing through the sky, his white feathers reflecting the evening light. She watched his graceful swooping from below, knowing she could shift to him and see his dizzying flight from his vantage.
After several curving paths back and forth overhead, the bird circled as though marking prey from above. He called out once and Chandra focused on her friend. Through his sight, she saw a line of graceful young trees with long sweeping branches. There was a mix of green buds and pale green leaves lining the long whip-like tendrils. The tree trunks were white and green with youth as though they had only been planted in recent months.
Several feet before the sweeping sentinels were short hoary bushes with bright moonlight blooms. The bushes curved oddly, twisted and thick with thorns. Beyond them and closer to where Chandra stood at the castle doorway were various other shrubs, some familiar like heavy lavender, white-blooming dogwood and some sort of rose with cream and rosy flowers growing together in knots.
From the overhead view, the distance was small, but abundantly filled with living obstacles in the form of shrubbery. She sighed and pulled her sight back to the landscape around her. She tried to find an opening in the shrubs but didn’t see anywhere that wasn’t mingled and overgrown. She followed the growth until she moved to a part of the hedge that was thinner than the others with an open area on the other side. When she looked at it, she couldn't see over the massive twisted hedge roses nor any thin spots. She reached forward and grasped the vines with her hands, seeking purchase on an area not covered with thorns. She was successful for the first few climbing handholds, but then found nothing but thorns.
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