She glances down shyly, but I notice there’s no blush to her cheeks. There’s no redness at all, despite the cold. Unlike myself and my mother, Lady Hartsell doesn’t possess any magic. It’s fairly unheard of outside of royals and the nobility. Yet she doesn’t look a touch cold at all.
“The King of Diamonds asked for my hand,” she explains, smiling fondly. It seems a strange thing to announce at a funeral, but she covers the ring with her opposite hand. “He asked before we knew of King Andor’s demise.”
Wincing, I nod. “We won’t make a big deal of it, my lady. You’ll be queen soon?”
“Yes,” she replies, throwing me a smile. Unlike the softness from before, this one’s sharp, less excited and more forced. “Queen of the Court of Cards. If only your father were here for the good news.”
Father’s death still aches in my chest. I don’t know if Ban intended to deliver a killing blow, but he did. Our combined attack speared Father with ice before throwing him into the wall. He died while the mage escaped, and I’ll never forgive him for it.
We used our magic together, and I’ve regretted it ever since. Good looks and the strain of taking the throne blinded me. I never should have let the man get so close to me. I wanted to deflect the attacks my parents threw at us, not deliver a fatal blow.
In the days that followed the King’s passing, I don’t believe anyone took the news as hard as me. Mother’s grief was quick, and she made all the plans for his funeral as I stood by like the figurehead monarch I was.
Since no one asked me to handle anything the last few days, I had been plotting my revenge. But then, just before Father’s funeral, I felt unwell and needed to sit down. Somehow, I fell asleep, and the next thing I knew, I woke up like this. Mother claims it’s to keep me safe from something happening in the real world, but what, I can’t say.
“Mother?” I call when she doesn’t respond. Sometimes she does that, leaving me without a goodbye. I wait, hoping she will say something to soothe my fears.
Only silence greets me.
Frustrated, I run down the empty hall, through the empty castle, into the empty courtyard, off into the frozen, empty hills.
That’s the only constant in this frozen dream. It’s empty, save for me.
I keep going, nothing but thoughts and memories to keep me company. I’m sick of being stuck here like this, toiling away for however long. All it does is let my anger toward Ban fester, and when I see him again, I’m going to make him pay the price.
A life for a life. He stole my father’s, so I’ll be taking his.
I keep going until a stabbing pain hits my finger, and I growl in frustration before collapsing into the fake, powdery earth. I lie there until the sting ebbs away.
I don’t know what it is, and it’s little more than an irritation, but it’s happened over and over again. Not all the time, and not always when Mother speaks to me. Sometimes the pain in my finger happens and I’m still all alone.
I just don’t understand it.
After rolling over in the snow, I glare up at the sky. If I use my ice powers to vault higher and higher, the sky will go on forever. I tried that once to get out of this dreamscape, and it did nothing for me.
“This dream comes to an end soon.”
Startled, I throw my arms back and call upon my ice powers, glaring off in the direction of the voice. For all the time I’ve been trapped here, I’ve never heard a voice I didn’t recognize.
And the figure standing across from me isn’t one I recall.
Against the whites and pale blues of the landscape, he’s a stark contrast with a dark, black cloak that billows in the wind. All of his clothing is the same, a dreary color, and he has ashen hands.
Jumping up, my skirt tangles against my legs as I throw myself into motion. Finally,finally, something is happening that I can fight. “Who are you?”
He doesn’t remove the cloak, and the shadows of the wide hood hide his face. It’s somewhat discerning after spending so much time alone, and I peek at the sky to see if anything's changed. It’s still the same endless white. “We’ve only met once, a long time ago.”
“I’m Queen Neve of the Frostlands,” I tell him, lifting my chin. Even as I draw the ice in around me, creating a barrier, he doesn’t flinch. He doesn'tdoanything. “I know many people.”
His head tilts up and down once beneath the bobbing hood, and I think he’s nodding at me. “I knew you briefly before your coronation, Your Majesty. We met in passing when your parents visited the Court of Cards.”
I almost laugh, wondering if I happened to conjure this person from my mind. “So you’re one of the many subjects beneath the King of Diamonds? Speak plainly, your riddles mean nothing here.”
He sweeps his hands wide, and I expect some sort of attack. I’m prepared for magic, given that he’shere, in my dreams, but nothing happens. He doesn’t even draw a weapon. “Many things have passed in the years since we met, Queen Neve. The King of Diamonds is long since gone. Perhaps that is where you will remember me from.”
The man draws back his hood, and I’m prepared for something truly horrific. Without Mother’s voice to ground me, it feels like I’m going into a challenge all alone.
I half expect him to turn out to be the ice mage Ban, my sinister side peeking out when I consider that perhaps he’s lost some of that prettiness since killing the king.
