It’s fine. All I care about is getting outside the capital city. Even the gates will do.
My gaze stays on Neve the whole way. Her eyes barely blink, her labored breaths, and the fact that she’s somehow still alive. I’m doing my best not to jostle her; the fragile connection I have between my ice, her spine, and the back of her neck feels fickle as we move. The shadows shouldn’t harm her, but I could. One wrong move and she’ll slip away from me forever.
We arrive outside the gates before I’m unable to continue. Zarev drops beside me, Odette looking haggard as we come out of the shadows.
Neve’s eyes have shifted, her gaze meeting mine, but there’s no light in them. No life, no fear or pain or desperation. Just blank blue slates that give me nothing to work with.
“Come on, my queen,” I whisper, and Zarev’s hand falls away. “You’re going to be okay.”
“Ban–” he begins.
“She’s going to be fine,” I snap, glaring up at him. Zarev doesn’t move back, but he slowly holds up his hands. “We need to heal her.”
“Wecan’t heal,” he says slowly.
“Then we’ll take her to Rapunzel,” I reply, brooking no argument. “Or you can bring her here. Go to Sherwood, collect her, and bring her back. Neve needs a healer.”
He shoots Odette a pained look. “Ban, even if I do that, it would take too long–”
“She needs a healer,” I hiss. “Her mother’s magic did this. We can repair it.”
Zarev doesn’t respond, and that’s worse than if he argued. He only watches me, resignation in his eyes.
I refuse to believe this is how it ends.
A cold breeze rolls past us, and at this point, I don’t know if it’s me or the Frostlands. I wish it were Neve, but I don’t think she has the energy or power for something like that. Right now, all she can do is try to survive.
“Ban,” Odette hisses.
I snap my gaze up to yell at her, to get them tolisten, but my eyes snag on what’s caught her attention.
The figure before us stands a few feet away, hands clasped behind his back, unforgiving, cold eyes watching. The pale, deathly white reminds me of Ronnie. Except this is more dead, less magical. The winding horns that protrude from his head give him an ethereal look, and the sweeping blue of his robes makes it impossible to determine how old he is.
But I recognize him, the same way Zarev does when he shoots me a look. Without a word I stand, gripping Neve to me as tightly as I can.
When the man bows his head, I can’t stop myself from speaking. Recognition blooms in my voice, the eyes of a man I never expected to see again gazing back at me when he looks up. “An Icebound spirit, come to claim the Queen?”
Part 4: Fall of the Queen
Chapter 22 Neve
I’ve returned to the dreamscape, my own personal hell on earth.
At first, I think it may be an illusion. Try as I might, my magic won’t respond to me, no matter what I do. At least the last time I was stuck like this, I could use my ice to travel through the fake palace and illusions of the forest and mountains. Now, all I can do is walk.
The landscape has changed. The pristine throne room I remember is gone, and the throne itself is split into two. The ceiling gapes open obscenely from where the icy foundation broke, and above me, the familiar white sky looks down.
I can’t be trapped in this hell. Not again. If another hundred years pass, I don’t think I’ll see anyone I know again. Surely not Ban and definitely not my mother.
Did I kill her? Did I kill anyone?
The emptiness here is on par with the silence of the frozen kingdom I left behind. Everyone, the people, the guards, they were frozen in time by a magic I couldn’t control. I’ve never had a reason to unfreeze bodies, but I’ve certainly seen it done. It doesn’t usually cause the person themselves to melt though.
Spinning around, I search for signs of anyone. Even though I know he’s not here, I look for him anyway. “Ban?”
How did my enemy turn into an ally?
I start to walk, forcing myself not to get stuck in despair. Without my ice I can’t shoot toward the sky and see if it’s endless, so I turn and leave the throne room.
