Frost Burn

by K T Munson

  Aradel tipped her head in consideration. Her foot bobbed up and down, and she smiled brightly. “Cas is handsome.”

  “Yes, but…” Darha shrugged helplessly. “We could never take it anywhere. We’d burn each other every time we touched. We can’t hold hands, or kiss.” Darha’s face burned more at the mention of kissing.

  Aradel nodded. “True. But not being able to touch doesn’t mean you can’t be attracted to each other.”

  Darha grinned at that. “Also true. But,” she sighed, “that makes the attraction harder, knowing nothing could actually ever really happen.”

  Aradel’s face turned sympathetic. “I’m sorry. I had not considered that.”

  Darha thought about Cas for one more moment before pushing his pretty green eyes and playful smile from her thoughts and focused on Aradel. “Do you have anyone?” That made Aradel blush instantly as her foot stopped moving. Darha couldn’t help laughing. “I’ll take those red cheeks of yours as a yes.”

  Aradel chuckled a little and bowed her head to gaze at the floor before she met Darha’s eyes once more. “I’m not completely sure. All I know is”—she shifted her gaze to the side, and Darha could see some thoughts pass through her eyes before she looked back at her— “he makes me feel safe, and comfortable, and powerful, and…complete.”

  That word made Darha smile broadly. “Does it feel like a piece of you is missing when he’s not near you?”

  Aradel sighed and looked at Darha gratefully. “Yes. I miss him and I barely know him at all.”

  Darha nodded and sat back comfortably on her couch, crossing her legs. “I’ve never been in love before. The only reason I even know what you’re talking about is because of my brother and his wife’s relationship.” Tears erupted into Darha’s eyes thinking about Thea. She glanced away on impulse to hide them from Aradel, but decided not to. The Frost Nation Queen could see them. It was okay. So, she met Aradel’s eyes again and let her tears fall. “You’ve never seen soulmates like my brother and sister.”

  Aradel’s expression shifted to deep concern as she uncrossed her legs and sat forward closer to Darha in the only gesture of comfort she could offer without touching her. “Your sister is Thea, correct? The one that took the journey with Kirill on the iceberg?” Darha nodded. Instantly Aradel’s expression dropped into one deep pain and longing which made Darha curious. “Kirill is basically my brother,” Aradel said, swallowing heavily. Darha’s brows dropped in concern and she sat forward as well, closer to Aradel. “We were raised together in his mother’s home after my parents sold my sister.”

  Darha’s eyes went wide. “They sold your sister?”

  Aradel nodded. “I ran away after that, and Kirill”—she sighed and bowed her head— “is all I have left of family. He and his mother, but his mother is slowly slipping away from us both. Soon, he is all I will have and—” she glanced to the side as a tear freely fell down her cheek, “—I fear this journey may take him away from me as well.”

  Darha shook her head sympathetically. Concentrating on the heat in her hand, she pushed it away from her skin, and took Aradel’s hand in hers. Aradel jumped a little from the unexpected touch. Darha’s skin burned and became stone stiff, but she hated seeing the woman so distraught. Aradel’s gaze shifted down to their hands, and Darha felt the cold push away from Aradel’s skin as well. The sting faded, and both women held on to each other without pain.

  Darha smiled softly. “Thea is a fine warrior, the smartest and best of any in my nation. The few times I met Kirill, he seemed to be the same. They will return. I don’t believe anything could stop either of them from doing something they set their hearts and minds to. And two stubborn warriors together are twice as good as one. They will come home.”

  Aradel squeezed Darha’s hand gratefully before they released each other. After a moment of quiet gratefulness and support from each other, both women sat back on the couches, wiping tears from their cheeks.

  “Thank you,” Aradel said unexpectedly. “It has been a while since I have been able to speak so candidly with someone. Not since Kirill left on this journey.”

  Darha grinned, crossing her legs again. “I know how it goes. The calm, cool, regal composure you have to always assume as Queen.”

  “It’s exhausting!” Aradel said abruptly.

  The unexpected burst of exasperation from the usually reserved Queen shocked Darha at first, and then both women started laughing, each one knowing how true that sentiment was. When the merriment died down, Aradel sighed and looked at Darha with some deeper affection then she had upon entering her tent.

  “At any rate,” Aradel said shifting the subject. “I came here for a purpose. Everyone is running low on food, the Frost Nation included. The Gulf of Gora is nearby, and my council claims it is likely the area least affected by these disasters. I came hoping you would send a few people fishing for food. My people can no longer survive outside The Wall in this heat except for a few powerful magic users. But the drinking water it would take to sustain their magic for an extended fishing expedition is not a resource we have in abundance either.”

  Darha nodded her head once. “Of course. I will call for volunteers right away.”

  Aradel smiled and nodded before she stood from the couch. Darha stood as well. “Thank you, Queen Darha.”

  Darha grinned. “My pleasure, Queen Aradel.”

  Aradel had just taken one step toward the exit of the tent when the flap was suddenly thrown open and both Coor and Cas poured in with wide, eager eyes. Her brother was nearly panting. Darha and Aradel stopped in their tracks, and Darha’s heart jumped into her throat.

  “What is it?” both Queens asked at the same time.

  Coor swallowed hard. “There’s a rowboat crossing the river.”

  Darha’s brows dropped. “More refugees?”

  Coor shook his head.

  Cas’s eyes jumped between both women. “The guard tower says it might be Commander Kirill and Lady Thea.”

  Frost: Chapter Thirty-Nine

  The paddle dipped lazily into the water as they rowed slowly across the River Gora. The river had risen significantly since he left, and Kirill didn’t know how long it would be before they would reach the shore. The thick fog that hovered around did nothing to help them see how far or near they could be.

  Kirill glanced at Thea’s sleeping face on the floor of the boat, and feared what they would find there. Traveling through the disaster that was once the Fire Nation, had made Kirill’s heart clench during the entire journey. There was almost nothing left. He feared seeing the condition of his own nation, and selfishly prayed that it wasn’t as decimated.

  Despite the events of the last few days and their urgency to go home, the rowing motion was lulling him into a state of tranquility. Something about rowing home eased his burdened heart.

  “The shore!” one of the soldiers called, which brought Kirill out of his thoughts.

  Thea snuggled further into the pile of blankets as Kirill looked behind him toward shore. His eyes scanned the bank as the fog thinned, and they could see many gathering at the water’s edge. There on the shore, was an out-of-breath Prince Coor. Kirill couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

  “Thea,” he said softly as they drew closer.

  “Hmm?” she muttered. She opened her eyes and blinked up at him sleepily.

  “Your husband is waiting for you,” he said, nodding toward the shore.

  Her eyes shot open and she instantly began to sit up, her fingers desperately gripping the railing of the boat. Still in a weakened state, Fitzu had to abandon his post to help her. Hope filled her face, which made Kirill’s heart flutter to life as he got to his feet and gazed toward shore. He was almost home, too.

  When Thea’s eyes rested on her husband, she gasped and called out, “Coor!”

  Fitzu helped her to her knees at the side of the boat as Prince Coor shouted in return, “Thea!”

  Thea leaned halfway out of the boat, prompting Kirill to quic
kly reach down and rest his hand on her back so she didn’t fall into the river. Thea reached for her husband, and a moment later Coor was wading into the water toward them. As soon as Prince Coor’s arms were thrown around his wife, Thea pushed herself over the side into his arms and into the river.

  Kirill and Fitzu didn’t try to stop her—there was no preventing them. There was no stopping the love that existed between them; Kirill was certain of that. He watched as they clung to each other, and heard them whispering and murmuring greetings and affection.

  Watching them both, Kirill’s concern for Thea and her injuries prompted him to speak up. “Get out of the water!” he called, doing his best to sound annoyed, yet the grin gave away his true feelings. They both turned to him, startled, but Kirill gave her a tender look that reminded her that he cared about her, and that she was an idiot for jumping into the water in her condition. “Get to a healer,” he said more gently.

  Thea threw him a grateful look and nodded before turning back to her husband. Her laughter rung out across the shore as Coor reached into the water and picked her up like he was carrying a princess across the threshold. In each other’s arms now, they kissed, and Kirill averted his eyes to give them a measure of privacy.

  Soldiers jumped into the water and started pulling the boat the rest of the way ashore. Kirill joined them. His boots filled with water, but he hardly noticed as Aradel and Queen Darha came running toward them. Kirill stopped in his tracks when he saw her. She seemed thinner, and all the youthfulness of her face had been lost. She had a regal and almost severe air. Her face was a little sharper, more mature, and for a moment he didn’t recognize her.

  “Kirill?” she said breathlessly, so quietly he almost hadn’t heard. It was Aradel.

  He abandoned the boat and strode through the water as quickly as he could. He hardly noticed anything happening around him except for the expression on her face. He knew he must look as strange to her as she did to him. This journey had changed him, but something about Aradel had changed as well.

  When he was out of the water, he could see tears forming in her blue eyes. He could see she was fighting them, but they glistened anyway. When he came up to her, he stopped short of hugging her. They hesitated only a moment, inches apart, before he engulfed her in his arms. Kirill buried his face in her neck and hair as he breathed in her familiar scent. She smelled like home.

  “You came back,” she whispered. He could hear the astonishment and the tears, mingled with relief and love.

  “I came back,” he agreed.

  He could feel her crying against him and shifted his head closer to her neck to hold her tighter. Something cold and powerful brushed against his chin. Startled, Kirill pulled back. He glanced down at her and noticed the pearls around her neck for the first time. They glowed softly as Aradel sniffled.

  “The moon pearls.” he said, blinking at them. Then his eyes shifted to hers. “Queen Vesna?”

  Aradel shook her head. “I am Queen now.”

  His heart ached for their lost queen—he would miss Queen Vesna—but it raced with joy at being home and seeing the pearls on Aradel’s neck. “Should I bow to you?” he asked playfully.

  “No,” she said, laughing a little despite the tears. “Never.”

  “Kirill?” Fitzu’s voice called, breaking the moment, as he waited by the boat.

  Kirill turned, bringing Aradel with him as he went toward Fitzu. He wasn’t prepared to let her go, his family. He had not realized how much he’d missed her until he had seen her face. He hadn’t realized how much she mattered to him, and now she was Queen. His Queen.

  “What?” he asked, trying to keep the annoyance from his voice.

  Fitzu spoke only one word, but it was enough. “Freya.”

  Kirill was snapped out of his emotional homecoming and back into his duty as a Knight of the Frost Nation. He turned to face Aradel. “We need to gather an army,” he told her and saw surprise flash over her face. “There was a woman at the volcano. She was the cause of all of this.”

  “A woman?” Aradel asked, bewildered.

  “She was heating the volcano, causing these disasters,” Thea called out of the blue.

  Kirill spun to the sound of her voice, and his heart jumped into his throat when he saw Prince Coor still holding her in his arms on the shore. “I told you to get to a healer,” he said firmly, his concern for her bringing out his Commander-of-the-Guard voice.

  “A healer is on the way,” Queen Darha called back to him as she directed Fire Nation magic users to melt some stone and rise a healing hut right on the shore.

  “My my,” a voice broke in. He turned to see Freya over the river. “Look at this happy scene.” His eyes went wide. “Fire and Frost united.”

  She wore the same clothes, as well as the same expression of hate. She walked on the water that froze under her feet with each step. Pausing, she put a hand on her hip, and her eyes wandered over them. “All the heroes have returned. It is so sweet that it makes me want to vomit.”

  Aradel suddenly gasped. “Mera?”

  Kirill’s brows furrowed together as Aradel’s hands came up to her face, and she tried to step toward the woman. His arms quickly wrapped around her waist, barring her movements, as Freya’s eyes shot over to them both. Aradel reached down to try to push his arm aside but he refused to let her go, holding her tightly against him.

  A menacing smile slowly spread across Freya’s face, and Kirill realized she was gazing at Aradel’s throat. She pointed as she spoke, “I know what those are. Tell me young Queen, will you trade your powerful pearls for the lives of your people? If I have them, I might just go back to my volcano and leave you alive.” She paused, as if pondering. “I met a Queen once. I wonder if you are all the same.”

  “No,” Kirill all but growled, but Aradel rested a hand on his arm around her stomach as if to calm him.

  “Freya?” Aradel asked compassionately. “Is that your name?”

  “Yes,” Freya responded suspiciously.

  Kirill had often seen concern and fear in Aradel’s eyes for the well-being of her people, and it was the same expression of compassion and fear he saw now on her face. His brows dropped in confusion. Compassion and fear for the well-being of this vile woman? He couldn’t understand it.

  “Freya, will you give me a day to consider?” Aradel asked hopefully.

  When Kirill opened his mouth to protest, Aradel glanced at him over her shoulder with a fierce look that made him bite his tongue. Although Kirill didn’t like it, Aradel was queen, and he wouldn’t disobey her. Even if it was a nonverbal command.

  Thea didn’t let him down though.

  “No way,” she called from Coor’s arms. Freya’s attention turned to his friend who, though still terribly injured, could conjure a fierce look of defiance. “Kirill and I might not have been able to take you on our own, but there is no way you can take both of our armies!”

  “What’s left of them,” Freya added with a smirk.

  Thea’s teeth clenched, and Kirill couldn’t help but silently cheer her on. “Woman, I will absolutely—”

  “Lady Thea!” Aradel suddenly called with a level of force Kirill didn’t expect from her, silencing Thea immediately. It wasn’t anger compelling Aradel to speak so, he noted. It was concealed desperation. “This is not a matter for you to consider,” she said a little more gently.

  Kirill saw the pleading look in Aradel’s eyes and realized that Thea did, too. Thea nodded graciously.

  Aradel turned back to Freya. “Will you allow me the time to consider it?”

  Freya glanced around the shoreline at all the faces. “Very well,” she finally said. “You have one day. But when you make your decision, you meet me back on the river, alone.”

  “Agreed,” Aradel responded, and then Freya turned and was swallowed by the mist.

  “Aradel?” Kirill asked as she turned toward him. There was confusion and agony on her face as she stared blankly at his chest, seeming dazed. “Ara
del, what is it?”

  Her eyes slowly turned up to meet his. Seeming to suddenly focus, though clearly still feeling unsettled, Aradel tucked some loose strands of her hair behind her ear and pushed all emotions off her face, hiding them from him. “She just reminds me of someone,” Aradel responded with a forced smile. Kirill eyed her suspiciously, letting her know silently that he wasn’t buying it. She put an arm around his back and propelled him toward a Frost Nation healer. “Come. Let’s get you tended to.”

  Fire: Chapter Forty

  Soon after the wench was swallowed by mist, the Fire Nation magic users finished the healing hut for Thea, and Meyer had arrived from Hurra. Her assistant had taken Thea from Coor’s arms and brought her inside. Meyer had kept him from entering. He begrudgingly obliged, though it took every ounce of his willpower not to pace outside the door.

  With his wife returned, he felt whole again, but it looked bad. He could tell Thea’s wounds were debilitating. Coor prayed to the Sun God, the Moon Goddess, and whatever other gods that existed for her to remained intact. He needed her to survive, no matter how that occurred. He couldn’t exist in a world without Thea.

  “Coor,” Darha said.

  He felt her gently take his hand and interlace her fingers with his. Coor squeezed, but didn’t wavier from the entrance of the hut.

  “Let Meyer do her job,” Darha said calmly.

  Coor sighed and let Darha guide him away from the hut to where the Frost Knight was being tended to with Queen Aradel. The two of them were talking, though Coor couldn’t hear what was being said. It probably had something to do with the compassion Coor had noticed in Queen Aradel’s eyes when dealing with the woman that was responsible for the destruction and devastation of his nation. Coor had a very hard time right now not glaring at the Frost Nation Queen. If that Freya woman was responsible for the decimation of his homeland, and the Frost Nation Queen was kind toward her, Aradel would swiftly find herself his enemy.