Queen Glaciana Frostborne Alpineglow's Arc

Chapter 13 of 33

Frosty's offer hung in the cold air. Trust her, and no one else. Glaciana thought of Victor waiting at the cave mouth, and Kira crouched to spring at one scream. She had spent her whole first year of ruling hiding the cold in her ledger. She would not build the rest of her life on another secret. "No," Glaciana said. "I won't lie to them." Frosty's wings stilled. "You'll ruin this. The crystal stays hidden if others know." "Then it stays hidden." Glaciana stepped closer. "My husband is out on that ledge. My best friend saved my life once. I don't keep things from them." For a moment the fairy said nothing. Her grey eyes moved over the queen's face, weighing her. Glaciana had seen that look before, on people deciding whether she meant it. "One condition," Glaciana said. "I'll go with you. I'll find the Snowheart. But you tell Victor and Kira everything. Yourself. Here." Frosty drifted lower. Her voice dropped, careful now. "You'd trade my secret for their faces." "I'd trade it for the truth." The Queen says. The fairy folded her arms. Then she nodded once. "Call them in." Glaciana turned to the passage. "Victor. Kira. Please come in." Kira came first, through the gap in a single leap, tail low, claws out. She landed between Glaciana and the fairy before she saw there was no fight. Victor followed, one hand on his belt, grey eyes sweeping the blue-lit walls. He found his wife whole and let out a breath. "There's someone you need to hear," Glaciana said. Kira's ears pinned back at the sight of the small hovering figure. "That's a fairy." Her voice lost its usual play. "In the source of the curse." Frosty rose to meet their eyes. She did not soften it. "I made your winter. Three years ago. It was me." Victor's hand closed on his hilt. "You froze her kingdom." "I did." Frosty held still. "And I know how to unmake it. There is a crystal. The Snowheart. An elder showed me where it hides. I meant to take only the queen." Kira's tail lashed. She looked at Glaciana, hurt cutting through her stare. "You knew. In here. Alone." "I knew for a few minutes," Glaciana said. "That's why I made her tell you. I won't do this behind your backs." Victor did not lower his hand. "You caused three winters. Now we're supposed to follow you." "You're supposed to choose," Frosty said. "I'm the only path to the crystal. Refuse me, and the cold holds." The truth sat between them, heavy and plain. Kira's claws slid back in. Victor's grip eased, but his jaw stayed tight. Glaciana looked at the two people she trusted most, then at the fairy who had frozen her home. "Now we all know the same thing," she said. "So we decide together. Do we trust the one who cursed us to lead us out?" No one answered yet. But the choice was theirs now, all of theirs, and the secret was gone.