Elizabeth white's Arc

Chapter 4 of 5

Elizabeth sat in Rosalia's hidden chamber and opened her journal by the rose's gold light. She had one flower and one story. Neither would sway hard men. The chamber was warm, but it was too small to hold even three clan leaders. She could not raise a throne from a hole in the rock. "You need more than a rose," Rosalia said. She traced a line on the stone wall. "You need a room they cannot ignore. And you need something old to hold in your hand." "There is nothing old down here but you," Elizabeth said. Rosalia smiled. "There is my brother." A broad shape ducked through the low doorway. His skin was pale blue ice. His purple hair spiked high, streaked with green. He carried a staff crowned with a bright diamond set in red and green stone. A red cat with green eyes trotted at his heel, its fur marked with stones and moss. "Frost Ironhide," Rosalia said. "He kept the old queen's ice castle before the curse fell." Frost looked at Elizabeth the way a smith looks at raw metal. "My sister felt both gates open," he said. "I did not believe her. Show me." Elizabeth set the rose on the floor and pressed her palm above it. "Root," she said. The golden petals opened. A stem grew into the stone. Frost's red eyes narrowed. He set the staff before her. "This staff answered the last queen's blood. It sleeps for anyone else. Hold it." Elizabeth wrapped her hand around the cold shaft. The diamond flared white. The red and green stones glowed. Frost let go of a breath. His cat rubbed against Elizabeth's leg. "It knows you," Frost said. "So does the staff. That is proof no rose alone can give." "Proof means nothing in a chamber this size," Elizabeth said. "I cannot fit the clan leaders here." "No," Frost agreed. "But I know a great room. Green walls. A royal bed. A hearth that still burns. It sits at the top of the dark trail, inside the old castle." Elizabeth's stomach dropped. The rose had pulled her toward that castle since the tunnel. Ember had called the trail cursed. "That road kills the unready," she said. "With the staff, you are not unready." Frost lifted the diamond. "It cut this path once. It can quiet the shadows again. Walk behind me." Rosalia touched Elizabeth's arm. "Take the castle, and you have a hall worthy of a queen. Refuse, and you plan wars from a closet." Elizabeth looked at the rose, the glowing staff, the calm cat. She had wanted proof and a room. Frost offered both, down the one road she feared. She closed her journal. "Lead," she said, and stood. "We take the castle." Frost turned toward the dark trail. The staff lit the black stones purple, and Elizabeth stepped onto the cursed path behind him.