Queen Glaciana Frostborne Alpineglow's Arc

Chapter 18 of 33

The chamber dripped around them. Victor stood now, weak but breathing, his hand tight in Glaciana's. Kira crouched near the shattered crystal, her tail flicking as she watched the water run down the walls. Above them all, Frosty hovered, her ice wings limp in the thawing air. She had frozen a whole mountain for three years. She had also given up her own magic to save Victor. And now she floated alone, with nowhere left to go. Glaciana looked at the little fairy. She thought of the elder who had healed Frosty's broken wings, the one person who had shown her kindness. That elder was gone. Frosty had guarded a crystal because she had nothing else to guard. No family. No home. Only a secret. "Frosty," Glaciana said. "Come down." The fairy dropped slow, careful, and landed on a wet stone before the queen. She did not speak. Her grey eyes stayed guarded. "You cursed my kingdom," Glaciana said. "But you also gave your magic to wake my husband. You had every reason to leave us in the dark. You didn't." She knelt so their faces were level. "I know what it is to rule alone. I won't watch you drift off into the cold by yourself." Frosty's wings twitched. "I have no place," she said, clipped. "You do now." Glaciana held out her hand, palm up. "Join us. Live in Alpineglow. You'll have a home, and people who know your name, and a queen who owes you a life." The fairy stared at the offered hand. For a long moment she said nothing. Kira rose and came closer, her steps quiet. "Take it," Kira said, gentle for once. "She means it. I've known her longer than anyone. She doesn't offer twice, but she never takes it back either." Victor spoke, rough and low. "You saved me. That earns a seat at our table." Frosty's chin trembled. She was proud, and pride held her still. Then she stepped onto Glaciana's palm, small feet cold against the queen's skin. "I left everyone once," she said. "I won't leave again." "Then it's done," Glaciana said. She closed her fingers softly around the fairy and stood. Kira laughed, bright in the dark. "A fairy in the palace. The elders will faint." But as Glaciana turned toward the passage out, Frosty stiffened on her hand. The fairy's wings flared. She stared past them, deeper into the chamber, at the shards of the Snowheart crystal. "The crystal is broken," Frosty said. Her voice dropped low and careful. "But it was holding something. Something under the mountain. I froze it in place. Now the ice is melting." Glaciana felt the cold water rising at her boots. The thaw she had wanted had begun. And something the crystal had kept asleep was waking with it. Victor felt deep in his chest a sense of familiarity to what was waking.