Queen Glaciana Frostborne Alpineglow's Arc

Chapter 17 of 33

Water dripped down the chamber walls. The curse was gone, but Victor lay still on the wet stone. Glaciana knelt beside him and pressed her hand to his chest. His heart beat, but faint and slow. Breaking the crystal had cost her the last of her strength. Her arms shook. She had no power left to give him, and she needed him awake. She needed him standing beside her, to love each other, to build the family and kingdom she had crossed a mountain to reach. "Victor," she cried. "Open your eyes." He did not move. She tried to warm him with her hands, but nothing came. The cold in her own body answered the cold in his. She could break a curse and still not wake one man. Above her, Frosty hovered near the shattered shards. The little fairy had frozen this whole mountain for three years to guard the crystal. She had led them here, then said nothing while it broke. Her ice wings drooped in the melting air. She watched Victor with her grey eyes, thinking hard. Then Frosty flew down. She landed light on Glaciana's shoulder, small feet cold against the queen's skin. Glaciana went still. "What are you doing?" Glaciana asked. Frosty did not answer. She pressed her tiny hands flat against Glaciana's neck. A thread of cold ran into the queen, but it was clean, not draining. It was the same kind of power Glaciana carried in her own blood. It filled the empty place the crystal had scraped hollow. Glaciana gasped. Her arms steadied. Her chest warmed. "Same power," Frosty said, quiet. "I can only give a little." She looked at Victor. "Spend it on him." Glaciana turned back to her husband. The fairy's gift burned low but real inside her. She cupped Victor's grey face and leaned down. She kissed him, the way he had kissed her to give his strength away. This time the strength flowed the other direction, out of her and into him. Victor's chest rose. He drew a full breath. His eyes opened, grey and clear. "Glaciana," he said, rough. His hand found hers. Kira laughed, sharp with relief. "He's back.” Glaciana hugged and pulled Victor upright and held him. He was weak, but he was awake. She looked at Frosty, who had lifted off her shoulder and hovered again, wings limp in the warm air. "Why?" Glaciana asked. "You cursed us. Why help me now?" Frosty was quiet a long moment. "You didn't leave him," she said. "I left everyone." She would say no more. Glaciana held her husband and did not press. The curse was broken. Victor breathed against her shoulder. But the fairy who had healed them now floated alone in the melting dark, and Glaciana saw that her own family was whole while Frosty had none.