Hearts Under Ice

by CS Patra

  There was another howl in the distance, and she sighed. She decided to talk to herself in hopes that it would quell her fears. “We’re almost there. We’ll be at the castles before sunrise, and we can get Donnie out of there before anyone wakes up. Then we can both go home and forget that this stuff ever happened. Yeah, that’s all I want to do now. Forget all of this ever happened.”

  Something cracked behind them, and the horses stopped short. She sat up straight and looked back in the direction of where they had started. There was nothing but snow there. All the same, she wasn’t ready to move forward. She didn’t know why, but it felt like someone was following them around. She tugged the reins again, and the horses moved slowly. As they started to pick of speed, the crunching became louder, and she urged them to start going faster.

  “Come on, guys! We need to get out of here!” she insisted, looking behind her. Though she couldn’t see a thing, she was now certain that they were being followed. “Faster, guys! Faster! They’re gaining on us!”

  The horses began to run, and she could barely hold on. The crunching noise was getting louder, and the snow was falling again. The last thing she wanted to face was another storm. “Seriously? Now? Come on, I just want to get out of here! Go faster, guys! Get me to those castles and out of this place!”

  The horses were running now, but it was hard for them to maneuver through the thick snowdrifts. She could barely hold on as they ran and jumped, trying to get out of the woods. The lantern that she had with her had gone out, so now they were going blindly down the path. Suddenly, something was attacking her. Some unknown force was trying to knock her off of the sleigh, but she stayed still. She had to make it to the other side.

  “Whoa, boys! Whoa! Hold yourselves!” Olivia tried to pull back on the reins but lost control. Instead, she ended up flying off of the sleigh and landed in a pile of snow. The horses and sleigh went running off in the other direction, and she found herself alone again. Now she had nothing with her and no way to defend herself. There was talking all around her, but she did not recognize the voices. All she knew was that she was in trouble.

  “Give her some room. That fall might have hurt her,” a man said.

  “I don’t see any blood, so she should be fine,” a woman replied. “What do you want us to do with her? We can’t just leave her here.”

  “Hold on! She’s coming to!”

  Olivia groaned and shook the snow out of her hair. The fall had been terrible, but she secretly wished it had been worse. She wanted to be unconscious. At least if she was, then she would not have to face this group. She tried to stand up, but found herself surrounded by four people. The leader of the group was a tall, bald man with furrowed brows and his lips curled up in a sneer. Standing next to him was a tall, dark-haired woman, a shorter woman with red hair, and a man with long hair and a beard that stopped at his waist. They didn’t look threatening, but their leader meant business. She could barely breathe as they towered over her. She had no idea why, but she realized that this was the Brotherhood of Iced Blood.

  “Well, well, well. Look what the horses dragged in and pissed all over.” The red headed woman said crudely. “She almost got away, too.”

  Olivia tried to speak, but couldn’t. Her horses had been spooked and ran off without her. She was pretty sure that her supplies were damaged, and she had no way of contacting anyone unless she sent them a mental message. Her heart and mind were racing, and she couldn’t focus enough to do that. Her thoughts were all jumbled, and she knew she was in trouble.

  “Should we do what we always do?” the other woman asked, moving closer. Olivia sank down in the snow and clenched her fists. She knew that she couldn’t take them all down, but she wouldn’t go without a fight. “She doesn’t look like much.”

  “Stop! She just needs to listen to us,” the leader said. “We’re not here to harm her.”

  “We aren’t?” the other man asked. “Do you still want us to restrain her?”

  “Only for a few minutes. I just need to tell her something.” He leaned over and looked down at Olivia. She tried hard not to look back at him as his friends tied her up. She was terrified, but stayed strong. She had to brave and think of a plan. “You must be the one with the special power. I’ve heard all the rumors about you. They say that you are brave, but foolish because you want to save your lover. Then again, people do all kinds of things out of love.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she snapped. “I don’t have any powers. All I want is for you to release my boy—my friend, and we’ll be on our way! If you want the Queen and that gem, you can get it yourselves!”

  “She’s got a sharp tongue.” The redheaded women said, leaning closer. Olivia could smell her breath, and it was rancid. She was starting to regret speaking up. “Maybe we should just cut it out.”

  “No, remember what I said, Sara! We don’t bring any harm on her now.” The leader stopped his group. “She’s not our enemy. She wants her boyfriend back. That doesn’t sound unreasonable.” He then turned to Olivia. “Hello, miss. I apologize for the attack. I’ve heard all about you and that boyfriend you’re trying to save. News gets around here pretty fast. Contrary to what you might have heard, we are not responsible for his abduction. Believe me when I say that we meant him no harm. We mean you no harm, either.”

  “You just attacked me and tied me up! I can’t see where the ‘no harm’ part comes in.” Olivia knew it was a horrible decision to be sarcastic, but she couldn’t help it. These people were not her friends. Friends did not tie her up and frighten her this way.

  “You do talk too much, but I understand why. You’re worried about the one you love, and you have a million questions.” He went on, loading her onto the back of his sleigh. “I’m sorry you lost your horses and things, but we can take care of you. We know where he is. We need you for one small thing, and then you both will be allowed to walk away, free and clear. Do you know what the Brotherhood of Iced Blood stands for?”

  “All I’ve heard is that you stand for peace and freedom,” she murmured. She didn’t want to mention that they were dangerous. She had heard enough about their attacks and didn’t want to think about what they could do to her. For now, all she wanted was to be decent with them. She had to keep them talking, as knowledge was her only source of power now.

  “That’s exactly right. Peace and freedom are not easy things to come across. We formed our group years ago after being under the Queen’s rule for too many years. Have you seen all of the snowstorms? People cannot live like this. They can’t be made to suffer while some woman has a temper tantrum every other hour. There are days when we can’t leave our homes at all because she buries us in so much snow. She might appear fragile, but she is the real enemy here. She is the one who is holding him hostage, girl. She wants to use him, not us.”

  “What?” Olivia blinked, not sure what to believe. The other three assailants were cutting her ropes, and she could now run away. She didn’t know if it was the snow or her fear, but she felt glued in place. There was something about these people that was keeping her from going anywhere. “Are you—”

  “I know it’s a lot to take in. Your friends also believe the Queen, but they do not know who she really is. They don’t know the kind of woman that they are toying with. If you were to go to her castles, you’d never be able to find the one you love. Only one castle stands out.”

  “That’s because there’s something inside it,” Olivia said. She didn’t want to side with them, but she had no choice. All of a sudden, running away without telling anyone didn’t sound like such a great idea. She had no way of contacting them now, so her only option would be to follow the Brotherhood wherever they went.

  “That’s right. But we’ve never figured out what it was because no one gets a chance to go inside. We’ve tried to break in, but that didn’t work.” The leader held out his hand to her, but she refused to take it. “I realize that you are wary of us, but I promise that I’m not trying
to hurt you. You are actually the key protecting these worlds.”

  “I still don’t understand how I’m the key to anything,” she said. “Who are you anyway? All I know is that you’re supposed to be terrorists.”

  “Terrorists? I prefer the terms freedom fighter or peace activist.” He said, finally helping her up. She didn’t know why, but she was starting to believe him. “The Queen is not your friend here. We told her not to kidnap your boyfriend. After all, he isn’t the one that we want. Then she went behind our backs and took him for her own gain.”

  “For her own gain?” Olivia repeated. So many thoughts were moving around in her head. “I have no idea what to believe now.”

  “You can believe anything you want, but you’re stuck with us. It’s either come with us to the castles now or freeze out here, alone. Your friends won’t be able to find you in the dark. They’ll have to wait until the sun rises before they go after you, and you would never survive the rest of the night. Face it, you’re kind of out of options. However, if you come with us, you’ll be reunited with the one you love.”

  Olivia started to open her mouth, but realized that it wasn’t worth it. She had nothing to prove to these people. As much as she didn’t want to follow them, they were right. There was no way she was going to make it through these woods without the horses or sleigh. There were no inns or houses to stay in. If she turned back now, it would take a long time to walk back to Kojan. She didn’t even want to imagine how the others would react. “All right, I’ll come with you. That doesn’t mean that I trust you or am on your side, though.”

  “That works for me. By the way, I am Ze, and these are my colleagues, Mina, Goran, and Sara.” He introduced the tall woman, the younger man, and the redheaded woman to him. She eyed each one, but didn’t hold out her hand. She would follow them, and that was as far as they would go. She was not expecting to get close to anyone or braid hair or even be friendly.

  “Ze?” she repeated. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go to the castles.”

  “Of course. It should not take long, and we’ll get there by sunrise.” He pointed to the sleigh behind her. Unlike the other ones she’d been in, his was pulled by seven wolves, all made of ice. They were growling and snapping at her, but the four of them formed a circle around her. Carefully, they got her on the sleigh and she began to feel dread inside. At this point, she didn’t want to be on anyone’s side. All she wanted was Donnie. She wanted to hold him, bring him home, and forget that she knew that these parallel universes ever existed.

  Olivia rubbed her sore wrists and looked at the company she was with. The Queen was supposedly the evil one now, and these were the good guys. Her head felt like it was being weighed down with so many different thoughts. There was no one in this world that she could trust now. Just because she was traveling with these people didn’t mean that she trusted them. She could play this game and make them believe that she was on their side. As of now, she was on no one’s side.

  All she wanted was Donnie, and she would do everything it took to get him back.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Donnie was having the worst luck of his life now, and he was starting to regret all of his recent decisions. He had finally made it outside of the prison. The first thing he did was take a look at the castles. The queen had done an incredible job of making them look identical on the outside. If he hadn’t found out the truth, he would never have figured out which was the different one. The decorations and art carved into the side was detailed. He touched the sides and felt the cold ice against his fingertips. The realization hit him again that he was out in the cold, and he had nothing to wrap himself up with.

  “Okay, maybe this was not my best idea.” He said, feeling his teeth chatter. He put his arms around himself and looked in all directions. Aside from the castles, he didn’t see any other buildings or places where he could get some clothes or supplies. He didn’t expect to find anything in the other castles, either. “M-Maybe—Maybe I-I—should have thought—this one through,” his teeth chattered against the cold.

  A part of him wanted to go back inside, but then all his efforts would be in vain. He had to find some warmth somewhere. Slowly, he took a step out into the snow and started to walk to the castle next door. It had the same markings and architecture as the one he had been in. The problem was that he could not find a door or opening to this castle. Then again, there wasn’t a door in the castle next to this, or on any of the other ones. However, the one that he was in had a door clearly on the side of it. He gasped and realized that the platinum inside wasn’t the real difference. No one could get inside to see the difference because there were no doors. The queen had lied to him.

  “Holy crap, that’s it!” he exclaimed. “I better find a way to tell Olivia about it! She’ll be looking for the wrong thing!” he struggled to send a mental message to her, but couldn’t get through. Now that he was outside, all he could focus on was the cold. “Yeah, I should have dressed warmer for this.”

  The only thing he still didn’t understand was the Hearts Under Ice. He had heard everything about them, yet he hadn’t seen them. What could have been so special that people wanted them? Most people didn’t know what they looked like. He assumed that they were in the shape of hearts, but who knew for sure? Then his mind went back to the boiler room that he couldn’t open. It was the only hot spot in his prison, but he had no idea where the heat was coming from. He had only deduced that it was a boiler room. If she could find a way to get inside that room, he would know just what was generating the heat. He stood in the snow for a second and tried to plot his next move. Trying to talk to Olivia was difficult. He was blocked off from her. His other option was to try to find his way around this world and learn more about why someone wanted these gems.

  “If they run this world, why would anyone want to steal them?” he asked out loud. “I mean, getting rid of it would mean that they’d essentially get rid of themselves. Who would be crazy enough to do that? What would that prove?”

  He knew he was talking to himself, but it was the only way that he could distract himself from the cold. He looked back at the prison and decided to figure out what the heat source was. There was no reason to keep a boiler room locked. Something else was hiding in that room, and he needed to figure out what that was. Maybe then he could tell Olivia exactly what was going on.

  “Olivia—”

  It was the first time in a while that he had said her name. His heart was palpitating again, and he finally realized that he wanted her to be his girlfriend. He no longer hated it when the Brotherhood called her that. It wasn’t exactly true yet, but they could make it true. He promised that if he was able to get out of this, he would make it up to her, and show her how he really felt.

  “Olivia, just trust me. Things will be fine.” He had no idea why he was saying these words. His heart was aching, and he didn’t like the cold weather. He could feel his chest burning, and his nose was stuffing up. Somehow, he needed to get away from these outdoor elements. He needed to get to a nearby town, where he could rest up and buy some vital things. Even though he lacked money, at the very least he could find some warmth. There was bark and wood lying around, but he had no energy to make a fire. With the winds constantly coming in and going out, a fire would not last long here, and neither would he.

  ~ ~ ~

  As Olivia traveled with this new group, Ze began to tell her more about the Brotherhood of Iced Blood. Apparently, they were all for peace and freedom, and claimed that they were not behind the attacks. The surprising part was that no one was angry with her for telling them what she knew. She had revealed what the others had told her about them, and worried that they would throw her off or do something worse in retaliation. To her amazement, they were all patient and interested in listening to her. Sara’s face twitched a few times, but she stayed quiet.

  “Everything you heard is a lie,” Mina said. Ze gave her a look, and she changed her attitude. “Okay, not everything. There we
re bits and pieces that were true. Your friends are right about the basics, but they don’t know the whole story. They know only what they’ve been told.”

  “You probably heard that we wanted you for your power. That much is true,” Ze explained. “What you probably did not get was that we are not trying to use your power to destroy the world. If anything, we want to help people. We want to make the world stronger, and we can do that without having anyone lead it unilaterally. It’s especially worse when the person in charge is not as benevolent as she appears. That’s the truth with the Queen. She has told everyone that we firebombed that factory because we wanted to kill everyone. But really, we just wanted to send a message out there. We had nothing to do with the bombs. We were supposed to meet her that day at that factory, and that’s when the bombs went off. She planted them, not us. She did it to frame us and get everyone on her side.”

  “So you didn’t kidnap Donnie in the first place?”“We’ve never even seen him. In fact, I didn’t know about him until word got around. I had no idea what happened, but I knew that the Queen had to be behind it. Once again, she is trying to mar our name and make us out to be the bad guys. That’s why we are after him—we were trying to get him out. Unfortunately, we have no idea which castle she’s put him in. Each one is built to last, with the same patterns on the side. Then your name was mentioned, and I heard you were in our world. We made it our goal to find you. You are the one with the power to change things.”

  “I still don’t know why people think I have some special power,” Olivia said. “No one’s ever told me about this. If I could choose to have a power, I’m sure I would pick something better. Even still, I would use whatever power I had to keep the peace.”

  “That’s what we want to do—keep the peace. I can’t explain how exactly, but your abilities would be useful for us. You could help us fix all of the worlds out there. Ours is not the only one in trouble. Others are in far worse shape,” he explained. “I know you’ve heard all kinds of things about us, but only half of them are true. The real source of evil is the Queen, and whoever she is working for.”