But the man staring at me as the hood falls is familiar and has nothing to do with the King Killer. “You. You’re the Sandman.”
I expect some sort of response, like “I knew you would remember me” or“Good eye, everyone always mistakes me for my brother.”
“A name long forgotten,” the man says, his gray skin fighting against the bright, almost golden lights of his eyes. “That’s who I once was, in another time.”
“Another time?” I grumble, keeping my hands out in front of me. He might be a face I recognize, but I do not trust him. “I met you a few months ago in the Court of Cards, as you said.”
The Sandman gives me a grim smile. “As I said, yes. That was many moons ago, Neve. Your mother’s kept you asleep for years now, silenced by the curse of the frozen sleep.”
I blink at him, trying to decide whether I’ve heard him right, and a hysterical laugh bubbles up in my throat. One hand moves to cover my mouth, but I can’t stop the noise.
Years?He needs to be serious.
“I understand this isn’t the news you expected me to share, but I have long since searched for a way to speak with you. As time trudges on, the spell cast upon you weakens with your mother’s magic.”
“My mother?” I breathe, stepping closer to him. My hands fall to my sides, worries forgotten. “Something’s happened to her?”
He studies me for a moment, an eerie silence cascading over us. “Before I met you, Neve Glacia, I met another from the Frostlands. The woman who married into my family. The one who deceived you and your mother both.”
“I don’t understand,” I hiss, getting even closer. Part of me thinks he might fade into nothing and prove that my mind is really playing games on me. “Who has deceived Mother? Someone vying for the crown while I lie here, useless?”
The Sandman shakes his head, stepping away. “A face you will remember from the past, but she is not who she seems to be.”
As the wind picks up, he begins to fade. Burning rage shoots through me, and before I can stop myself, I’m thrusting my hands toward him, letting my magic free. “Come back here and answer my questions, you coward!”
Chapter 3 Ban
Fix the Queen, make this right.
Following Barty beneath a literal lake feels foolish, but at this point, I’m wondering if the whole trip is for nothing.
What am I supposed to do if the needle is lost? I have to get it back in order to wake the Queen. That’s what Legs advised when I last visited, but she said so with a sense of urgency.
Something is happening in the north. Wonderland is always causing a stir, and the Mad Queen is on a mission to do… something. We aren’t yet certain what. She’s dispatched Flowerborne all over the land, and after listening to Ysanna’s ramblings, it appears there is a stir in the air over the whole continent. That’s a lot of working parts, all of which might be conspiring for something dreadful.
Not to mention the Frostlands. The Snow Queen is usually quiet, if not distasteful, but I haven’t seen much from her in years. After her daughter’s frozen sleep, she mostly kept to herself and the nobility within her inner circle.
I’ve sat in on their meetings from within the shadows. The Dowager Queen wants to maintain control, and it has to do with her daughter. If I could just find what I’m looking for, I could wake the Ice Queen, and she could make things right. The girl I saw ascending the throne didn’t have the same frozen heart as her parents.
But that was a long time ago.
“We’re nearly there!” Barty beams, popping up in front of me as we reach the lake. I took a slight detour getting here, bobbing over to collect spirits near the north shore of the lake and avoiding Ray when I sensed more around. He’ll sweep through, like he always does, and I’m not ready for my friends to know I’m down here.
Grunting, I don’t give Barty much more of a response. Tapping my staff against the ground as I walk, I try to come up with a plan. Barty’s rambling in the shadows ahead of me, and I need to decide what to do if suddenly visiting with Dima turns out to be a trap.
I’m almost positive it is. How Barty, a spirit, would interact with someone living who isn’t a Reaper, I’m not sure. That’s not anything I’ve seen spirits be able to do, and even some magic wielders seem oblivious to the dead. When I’ve studied the Snow Queen in her palace, watching the poor literally die on her doorstep, she never registers their souls leaving their bodies and traveling away with me.
Snedronningen. The Snow Queen’s true name. She’s someone from Ander Son’s Way, a royal in her own right who married King Andor a century ago. I wouldn’t say they made things much more manageable when I was alive, but at least the king stopped some of her insanity.
If someone like her can’t see the dead, how on earth would Dima? Perhaps Barty just has a fondness for him. After meeting Dima’s mother, I can’t say I’m all that thrilled to dig deeper into the family tree.
In the pocket of my cloak, my seeing stone lights up. I’ve ignored my fellow Reapers for weeks, stewing in my own solitude and silence. If I start telling any of them what I am up to, they are going to ask questions.
Questions I can’t answer. The three of them are aware I’m older than they are, immortal long before the Shadow Manchanged our lives, but sometimes, I think they don’t understand how much older.
Sighing, I let Barty lead me to the cave's entrance. He explained that this is where the entrance to Dima’s fortress is, the place where he does experiments of sorts. When I pestered Barty about what that means, he said Dima is an academic.
ThatI don’t buy. It seems I’ll be hiding in the shadows for a good portion of this trip. Once Barty delivers the needle, I’ll reap his soul. It’s a disservice to leave him in limbo any longer.
