Silver Frost (Bitter Frost #3 of The Frost Series)

by Kailin Gow

  “And Shasta?” I asked.

  “Shasta's locked herself in her room,” he said. “She accepts her mother's wishes – for now. But I guarantee that before long she'll find herself with Rodney again. I don't think anyone could stop Shasta from doing what she wanted. Not even the Winter Queen herself.” He gave a wry laugh.

  We headed out to the stables. The dawn was gray and silvery, here, and the white sky vanished into a horizon formed out of white snow.

  “Should be about a day's ride from here,” said Logan, staring out at the colorful dawn that marked the Summer Kingdom.

  “I want to go through the Spring Pass,” I said. “And claim the territory. The Queen's treaty – here – she's signed it. It should return the land to us.”

  “Does this mean the end of the war?” said Logan.

  “Not yet,” I said. “But soon. This part of the Spring Pass has some of the worst fighting. Thousands of Summer fairies have lost their homes, their livelihoods. Now they'll get to return.”

  “You did good, Breena,” said Logan. His cheeks were turning red, and it wasn't entirely because of the cold. “You made a big sacrifice, I know that...”

  “It was nothing!” I cut him off, a bit too sharply. The last thing I wanted was to talk to Logan about Kian. It hurt badly enough already without me feeling guilty, too. And I couldn't talk to Logan about Kian, see the pain in Logan's eyes, without guilt.

  “Giving up the guy you loved...” Logan was pushing the issue now – as if to punish himself, remind himself of the fact that he and I would never be.

  “I told you,” I said. “It was nothing!”

  “Sure,” he said, sighing and turning away. “Nothing.”

  Before we could continue the conversation further, we ran into Rodney, leading three grey-speckled horses out of the stables.

  “Ready?” His voice was grim; his body and face alike were steeled with resolve.

  We grabbed hold of the horses' reins. I sighed, trying to take in for the last time the imperial facade of the Winter Palace.

  “Wait!” Rodney cried. “Who's that?”

  “It was supposed to be secret...” Logan hissed, as we caught sight of a figure in black making its way towards us. “You didn't tell anybody, did you?”

  “No!” Rodney protested, but I wasn't worried. Even before the figure came into full view, my heart told me who it was.

  “Kian!” I cried, rushing towards him, leaving clear, dark footprints in the snow.

  He strode towards us swiftly. “I have come to say farewell,” he said. “To all of you.” His eyes were dark and full of pain; beneath them, swollen, dark eyelids told the story of a sleepless night. “Logan,” he said. “A sword from my father's collection. To protect you. And for you to protect her. Despite our differences, I trust that you will protect her with your life.”

  Logan nodded, his ears turning scarlet.

  “Rodney – some food for the journey. And a message from my sister – a letter. I have not read it; I trust it will be useful to you.”

  “Thank you.” Rodney looked down, slipping the letter into his pocket to read later, in private, when it would not be seen as weak to weep.

  “And...Breena.”

  Kian looked around, as if seeking out some hidden glen, some corner, where we could steal away and get some privacy.

  “I'm here,” I said.

  “Come with me.”

  Kian led me only a few paces off;, but in the mist of the early morning, it felt as if we were in the middle of nowhere – Rodney, Logan, and the horses all vanishing into the surrounding snowfall.

  “I don't ever want to say goodbye to you, my love,” said Kian, pressing me tightly into his arms. “Not now, not ever.” His voice was heavy with emotion. “I can't say it now.” He pressed his lips to my cheeks, my ears, my forehead. “Last night – what Shasta did...” his voice choked and trailed off. “Sometimes I think it's not so far from what I would do...if I lost you.”

  I smiled against myself, pushing Kian away lightly with my fingertips. We had to stay strong, now. “No, you wouldn't,” I said. “I know you. You'd be a strong king, a brave king.”

  “A king without a queen.” Kian sighed, breathing mist into the air. He held me tighter, kissing me with a heat that seemed to thaw the very snow on which we stood. “You don't know me as well as you think you do,” he said. “What I'm holding back. What I'm capable of. You haven't felt it – how much I love you...”

  My mind flashed back to those nights we had spent together in his hunting lodge – the heat of his kiss, the passion that had overtaken us both. How much there was still left for us to learn about each other!

  “I want so much, Breena,” Kian was saying. “And I want it with you. I want to be with you one day.”

  “One day,” I said back. “I promise. We'll be together.”

  “I can't wait.” Kian pressed my hands to his lips. “I love you with all my heart, all my being, all of myself. Whatever my mother says, whatever the laws says, you are still my intended. I can feel it. Feel it the way I feel the power of Winter Magic in my blood. It is a truth more ancient than any laws, any magic. We can still communicate telepathically, with our minds, which is one magic of love. When you have love for someone, and it is returned, lovers can communicate through the mind – as long as we have that connection, we will never be truly parted. Promise me that, Breena.”

  “I promise,” I said. The tears trickling down my cheeks were freezing on my skin, like tiny snowflakes. Kian brushed them aside, and they fell to the earth, shattering, each one like broken glass. Kian open his palms and cold blue flames appeared at the edges of his fingers. The flames danced higher, swirling itself around my body from the top of my head to my toes. Despite the coldness of the flames, I felt warmth, cold heat, the magic of Kian’s love enveloping me, searing through every cell of my body and my mind, stronger than our first kiss. Finally, it stopped, and I opened my eyes.

  Kian was flushed, feeling what I had felt. But his eyes looked tired as though the magic had exhausted him.

  “Not goodbye,” said Kian.

  “No, never goodbye.”

  Logan cleared his throat, and we knew it was time for us to part. With one final, longing kiss we bid each other our last not-farewell, and then I mounted my steed, wiping away my tears and staring ahead at the hot-pink horizon of the Summer Court.

  We were off.

  Chapter 16

  The ride to the Summer Court was an exhausting one. The three of us spent hours in our saddles, pressing on ahead to Spring Pass, where more of Rodney's men were waiting for us. Rodney had sent out a messenger pigeon just as we had left at dawn, attempting to contact the bravest and most loyal soldiers he knew, and by the time the Spring sky was high overhead, and the ice of the Winter Court had given way to a pleasant, flower-scented breeze, he received an answer. The knights of the Summer Court had feared and despised Wort, and were more than happy to escort their rightful Queen into the Summer Court.

  “I knew it!” Rodney says. “There's no way any noble Summer soldier would trust Wort. Apparently he's been telling everyone that you're ill inside the castle – and running things for you!” He handed me the letter. “Wort's been telling everyone that you fully support war with winter – that you want to escalate it and take over Winter altogether!”

  “That blackguard!” Logan said. “Who does he think he is – that he can rule over the whole kingdom like that?”

  “He's not a fairy,” said Rodney. “At least – that's what the rumor is. No fairy could be as devious as that.”

  Yet Wort seemed much less important when we reached the pass. As we navigated the treacherous roads leading us between the two great mountains that led into the territories of Spring, we stopped short; I couldn't help gasping. Spread out before us in a gleaming, glittering mass were what must have numbered thousands of Summer Knights, all in golden armor, raising their shields and lowering their swords.

  They had come t
o fight for me, to defend me, to proclaim me their Queen. I felt my heart begin to beat faster and faster within my breast. Though only hours earlier I had felt far less like a Queen than like a little girl – heartbroken and selfish – their confidence in me, their faith, gave me strength.

  “All Hail Queen Breena,” they shouted in unison, “All Hail the Summer Queen!”

  “That's you!” Logan turned to me with a grin.

  We rode onwards, as the soldiers parted to make room for us. I took the golden robe from my saddlebag and put it on, feeling the power of summer course through me.

  One by one, the knights dismounted their horses and began to kneel, a ripple of light that spread out for miles behind them.

  This was it. This was my moment. “I am here,” I shouted, “to bring peace to Feyland at last.” My voice carried across the crowd, buoyed out by magic. “I have just returned from a diplomatic visit to the Winter Court.” I searched once more in my saddlebag, my fingers finding the treaty that the Winter Queen had signed. The crowd had gone silent with surprise.

  “Tonight, you will go home to your families,” I said. “The war with the Winter Court will be at an end. I have signed a cease-fire last night, and there will be an end to hostilities.” Everyone gasp, a single, dynamic motion that sounded like a collective gust of wind. “The Winter Court has ceded to us all territories east of the Spring Pass.” I dismounted my horse and placed the treaty on the ground. “I claim this land for the Summer Court!” I said, striking my sword to the treaty as the Queen had taught me.

  Instantly, the piece of parchment began glowing – gold and silver mingling to create a single, pure white light that swept through the kingdom. Suddenly, the land itself began to shake, shimmering as if a mist had taken hold of the entire territory. At once, the power of Summer began to take over. The trees – desiccated and dead with warfare – began to spring new life; fruits appeared on long-withered branches, and green grass burst from the earth which had previously been covered in silver blood. The mountains were at once covered with moss and vines, and the sun seemed to shine brighter than before. Winter's presence had vanished from the land, leaving in its stead the full heat and force of summertime.

  I could hear a cry of joy come up from the crowd – my men! Tonight they would see their wives and children, their sisters and brothers and parents, and war would at last be at an end.

  “All Hail Queen Breena,” the cry went up again. “All Hail our Summer Queen!”

  Together we marched through the woods of Feyland, at last restored to their former beauty, until we reached the very gates of the Summer Court's capital city. The gates of the city gleamed as the sun sprinkled its sparkling light upon them; the very cobblestones of the road seemed to shimmer in delight. And so we trailed onwards, a mile-long procession of brave men and women, with me, Rodney, and Logan at the head.

  A trumpeter let out notes of triumph as we reached the gate.

  “Behold the return of the Summer Queen!” one of the soldiers shouted. “She has come to free the city from the machinations of the traitor Wort.”

  I caught sight of the fairy operating the drawbridge, his eyes wide with surprise. “I thought the Queen was in there!” he gaped. “In the palace, sick!”

  “She's right here,” said Logan, his voice brimming over with pride. “And she's brought peace! We signed a cease-fire last night; the war is ending – the Spring Pass has been returned to us!”

  By the time the drawbridge was let down, the news seemed to have spread to half the city. As we processed down the main avenue, thousands upon thousands of fairies had already left their homes, their schools, their shops to come see the grand parade, standing on street corners, repeating the same shouts of joy that the soldiers had let out before:

  “All Hail Queen Breena; all Hail the Summer Queen!”

  I could hear whispers and shouts: “Peace at last!” “The Spring lands returned!” “We'll be able to go home again!”

  “The snowy tundra of the Spring Lands has turned once more to ripe fruit and lush greenery!” I said, and a cheer rose up from the crowd. To emphasize the victory, I decided to use the name most of the Summer denizens have come to call the Winter Queen…the Snow Queen. “The Snow Queen has surrendered these lands to us!” That she had done so because I had released what the people thought to be Redleaf's killer I decided to conveniently leave out. “We have won the battle!”

  We marched up to the very gates of the palace. Wort had evidently not been taking the best care of it in my absence – the orange groves and flower-gardens looked parched and desiccated, like fruits left out too long in the sun.

  “I hear you have been told that I was ill!” The crowd roared in assent. “But this was a lie, told to you by the traitor Wort!”

  The crowd began to boo and hiss.

  “Bring him out of the palace!” I ordered, and two of the tallest, strongest Summer Knights entered the palace. Not five minutes later they returned again, with the toad-like Wort.

  They dropped him unceremoniously at my feet.

  “Your Highness,” he said, trying his hardest to win me over with an exaggerated bow and an obsequious smile. “What is the meaning of all of this? I was merely smoothing things over while you were away.”

  “While you were poisoning me with kelpie soup, you mean!”

  A gasp was heard in the crowds. “Kelpie soup? It is forbidden.”

  I turned towards the voice. “Why is that?”

  A young woman with reddish-brown hair the color of Rodney’s stepped out of the crowd. She was dressed in a white dress with gold embroidery.

  Rodney smiled and rushed over to hug the girl. He came forward with his right arm held tightly around the girl’s shoulders. “Your Highness,” he said. “This is my little sister, Rose.”

  Rose, who had Rodney’s bright blue eyes, fair skin, and high cheekbones, looked shyly at me before she curtsied. Despite her shyness, she seemed to be close to my age. “Your Highness,” she said.

  I nodded. Why haven’t I seen her before, if she was Rodney’s sister?

  “Rose,” I said. “You said something about Kelpie soup being forbidden. Why? What is it?”

  Rose blushed, realizing all eyes were on her. “I’ve been studying…”

  Rodney spoke up proudly. “My sister has been apprenticing as an alchemist. She’s in her final year.”

  Rose nodded and went on. “Kelpie soup, Your Highness, is used to bring about hallucinations. Yes, it does have its healing, soothing powers, but the side effects are worse.” She hesitated, not sure if she should be saying this in front of everyone.

  I waited for Rose to go on before I realized she was looking everywhere else, her eyes darting around, afraid to look me in the eyes. I leaned forward so I can talk to her directly. “What is it?”

  She looked at me and looked embarrassed.

  “You can whisper what you’re going to say in my ear,” I said.

  Rose finally looked relieved. “Kelpie soup is known to cause infertility…if ingested often. Because of its delicacy, the royal fairies used to be the only ones able to have Kelpie soup, but as time went along and the Royals began having problems conceiving, it was discovered Kelpie soup had this effect on fairies. Hundreds of years ago, it was forbidden.”

  I reeled back. No wonder why Redleaf was not able to have a child. No wonder why the royals were dying out. “Thank you for telling me,” I said before fastening my angry eyes at Wort.

  Wort gave out a slimy laugh. “About that...” he wheezed. “It's all a misunderstanding! I guarantee it!”

  “Indeed,” I said. Wort clearly wasn't convincing anyone. “Now, traitor, I will spare your life – but instead I am forced to banish you, far from the fairy territories you have invaded!”

  Wort's face turned red with anger. “Banish me?” he shouted! “Banish me!” He looked as if his head were on the verge of exploding. “It's my city! My court! Mine!”

  “It belongs,” I said, in my mo
st regal voice, “to the Crown of the Summer Court. A crown I now demand that you return to me.”

  In an instant, the crown swooped off his head and alighted on mine, emitting a bright, golden glow as it did so.

  “Am I not your rightful ruler?” I shouted to the crowd. “Am I not your Queen?”

  The sound of the crowd's cheer drove the point home; it was clear from Wort's bulging eyes that he knew, at last, that he had been trapped.

  “As you wish, Your Highness,” he spat. Then, suddenly, with a sickening pop that reminded me of road-kill, he vanished.

  “What the...” Rodney said, looking around wildly. “That's not fairy magic. That's Pixie...”

  But he was cut off. Another loud pop echoed in our ears, and suddenly my horse reared up in terror, letting loose a high-pitched whinny filled with fear. Before I could work out what was going on, my horse had thrown me, and I fell onto the cold, hard marble of the palace steps. I was lucky I did not break my neck!

  “Bree, watch out!” Logan cried.

  A snake was slithering towards me on the ground –baring its piercing fangs and flickering its tongue at me. Its eyes were yellow, cruel, but I recognized within them a familiar toadish glow...

  Before I could reach for my sword, the snake struck, wrapping its body around me with lightning speed. The guards rushed towards me, but it was too late. The snake had wrapped its entire body around me, crushing my ribs as it reared its savage head at the guards.

  I spluttered, trying to think fast, to reach my sword, as the Wort-snake's fangs reared up, coming closer and closer to my neck.

  Power of the sun, protect me, I thought, as the last breath of air was pushed out of me.

  Suddenly my whole body began to glow, shimmering gold with the power of summer heat and fire. I focused on what I had learned to think of as my strength – my love for my people, my birthright as Summer Queen, my love for Kian.

  At last, the snake's muscles relaxed, and it fell loose from my body – slack and limp as spaghetti.

  “Get him!” I cried, still coughing.