Carved in Ice and Glass: A Snow White Fairy Tale Romance

27. The Hunter

Sleep, Theron,the voice crooned.

So, I slept. A small, nagging part of my mind asked, Why?

But the command resonated so firmly within my body that I had no choice but to obey. I was so very, very tired.

Why was I tired? Warmth and heat flooded my body as the memory came closer to the surface, but the deep slumber claimed me before I could identify it.

No matter. I needed the rest.

Strange, chaotic images flooded my mind as my dreams spiraled. I saw Eira, bleeding out on the floor. Her scream echoed in my ears, burning through my skin and melting my bones. I saw Calista with blood dripping down her chin. I saw my father, pointing a menacing finger at me, his spit flying as he scolded me for falling in love with a filthy half-breed.

And through it all, Eira’s scream continued to plague my mind.

A bolt of clarity speared through me, and my eyes flew open.

“Eira.” My voice was sluggish and incoherent.

As my dreams faded, her scream lingered, floating down the hall and surrounding me like a fog.

“Eira!” I jumped to my feet, swaying from the lingering effects of sleep.

Sleep, Theron.

Blinking rapidly, my brow furrowed as I identified the voice.

Calista. She was using my blood to command me to sleep.

That could only mean one thing: she had Eira, and she didn’t want me interfering.

I tugged my clothes back on and staggered to the door, still fighting her influence, my eyelids heavy… so heavy…

“Hunter!” barked a familiar voice.

I jumped, peeling my face off the wall. I must have leaned against it and fallen asleep once more. Swearing, I righted myself and found Frisk the fox standing at the open door.

“You’ve got some spittle on your chin, lazy-ass,” he snapped.

“It’s not me,” I protested. “It’s the queen—the false queen. She—She—” My head drooped once more.

“Snap out of it!” Frisk hopped on my foot. Though his weight was light, the motion still jolted me from my haze.

I stared down at the fox as he cocked his head at me.

“You called her the false queen.”

“Yes. Eira is the true queen. My queen.”

Frisk’s whiskers twitched as if he were trying to smile. “Took you long enough. Come on, we’ve got to move. Snow gave the signal.”

“What was it?”

“Her scream.”

I froze as the horror of Eira’s scream washed over me once more. Shaking off the feeling, I hurried after Frisk down the hallway. Frantic servants jostled past, some shrieking and others barking orders. I made out words like under attack and the princess.

I strained to hear just what exactly had happened to the princess, but I couldn’t make out any details.

Cursing under my breath, I quickened my pace, staying on Frisk’s tail as he wound around the halls and padded up the stairs.

When we burst through the door and reached the echoing entrance chamber above, I froze as something shimmery caught my eye.

A glowing blue thread.

I stopped, my heart hammering in my chest as I drew closer to it. It extended all the way down the hall, nearly translucent. If not for the glow of the sun streaming through the stained-glass windows, I might not have seen it.

“Eira,” I whispered.

Frisk faltered at that, whirling to face me. “What?”

“I can see her thread.”

“What does that mean?”

I didn’t have time to tell him about my discovery of magic. Instead, I channeled my power and stretched my mental awareness toward the thin string. It was already fragile, as if only the finest strand was holding it together.

She was dying.

But I was a life weaver.

My pulse racing, I pressed my magic into the strand, envisioning layer after layer wrapping around it, thickening it, strengthening it…

“Hunter,” Frisk hissed.

I ignored him, my eyes closed and sweat beading along my brow. I couldn’t afford any distractions.

One wrong move, and I would accidentally kill Eira instead of save her.

Live,I willed the thread. I command you to live.

Light shone against my eyelids, and Frisk gasped. I didn’t dare open my eyes, though. I kept my mind focused on my task. On Eira.

Magic seeped out of me, draining me. I hunched over as the sensation of a heavy weight on my back dragged me lower and lower.

At long last, I felt the power within me fade. As I reached out again, Eira’s thread was sturdier.

She was still alive. For now.

Panting, I opened my eyes to find Frisk gaping at me.

“She’s dying,” I said, gasping for breath as if I’d sprinted a mile. “My magic is keeping her alive, but it won’t last forever. Come on, I can follow her thread to find out where she is.”

To his credit, Frisk didn’t ask any questions. He merely trotted after me, his paws clacking on the marble floor.

The thread weaved down the massive hall, and we rushed past several elegant paintings of snowy landscapes, and one regal portrait of the late king. I stopped as Eira’s life thread slid through the double doors that led to the throne room.

She was in there. And Calista was likely with her.

I couldn’t avoid this forever.

Turning to Frisk, I said, “Stay out of sight. Calista doesn’t know about you, and I’d like to keep it that way. Just in case she has something sinister waiting for us.”

“If Snow is in there, I’m coming,” Frisk insisted.

“Calista can use you as leverage against her,” I argued. “And me.”

Frisk’s head reared back, his ears drooping. After a moment of silence, he said, “I didn’t realize you cared, hunter.”

“Yeah, well, you and Eira are a lot alike. You work your way into someone’s skin, and by the time you realize you care, it’s too late to change your mind.” My voice was gruff, but Frisk’s nose twitched, his eyes shining as if he saw right through my grumbling.

“I’ll rally reinforcements,” Frisk said. “Just remember, you aren’t alone. Neither of you are.”

I nodded as he darted away, grateful the small creature wouldn’t be put in harm’s way. At least not right now.

With a deep breath, I pushed open the doors and strode into the throne room.

Sure enough, Calista was waiting for me, sitting atop her throne with her glistening silver crown resting on her inky black hair. Her crimson eyes gleamed with triumph as she surveyed me.

How had I ever believed this woman was seelie? Everything about her marked her as a demon, from her skeletal features to her blood-red eyes and lips.

I knew now that not all unseelie fae were monstrous. But this woman was.

I approached her slowly, my body on high alert, tense as I awaited whatever ambush she had planned.

Then I noticed Eira’s prone figure lying at Calista’s feet, her long curls sprawled around her. Her eyes were closed and her skin was paler than death.

Anger and panic spiraled in my chest, and it took every ounce of my restraint to keep from rushing to her side.

She’s alive,I reminded myself. Her thread is still intact. She’s alive.

“Well, dear hunter,” Calista crooned, crossing one leg over the other, her expression almost lazy. “It hasn’t been that long since we last saw each other, but things have certainly changed, haven’t they?”

I lifted my chin, refusing to cow to her taunting. “Yes. They have.”

Calista waved an idle hand toward Eira. “Her life is mine. I suggest you say your goodbyes while she still breathes.”

“What have you done to her?” Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t keep the growl out of my voice.

Her thin lips spread into a satisfied smile, as if she’d caught me. “I have poisoned her.”

I shook my head. “Unseelie poison doesn’t work that fast.”

Calista’s smug expression slipped for the briefest of seconds, and I stifled a chuckle. She didn’t realize I knew her secret.

Perhaps she thought the truth would die with Eira.

Oh, how wrong she was.

“Yes, it is tragic when unseelie beasts encroach on our borders, isn’t it?” Calista said, adopting a look of false concern.

I ground my teeth together, knowing it was no use in arguing with Calista. I had to save my strength in case I needed to push more magic onto Eira’s thread.

“Of course, she was poisoned years ago,” Calista went on, her eyes alight with mischief. “Or didn’t you know?”

My insides turned cold. Calista couldn’t lie…

“Oh, she didn’t tell you?” The queen laughed. “She always was so secretive. Yes, she encountered a dark fae as she was fleeing the city. It was a nasty ordeal. The dark fae cursed her with their poison, enacting a spell that would prevent her from healing. Somehow, she’s kept the poison at bay this whole time. But with another dose of it, it’s spreading even faster now. She only has moments left.”

“No.” I shook my head, refusing to believe it. All this time, the poison had been working through her body…

Suddenly, the pieces all clicked into place.

Eira’s stash of sparkwood apples… It’s said that fae magic repels their growth. If the legends were true, did that mean the apples also repelled certain fae magic?

Certain unseelie magic?

She had insisted I eat one when I’d been poisoned, but I’d refused. She was trying to delay the poison’s spread so she could keep me alive.

Blood and ice. It couldn’t be…

I had wondered what her illness was. I’d known she was dying, but I hadn’t known what ailed her.

All this time, it had been poison from a dark fae. From Calista.

And she’d cursed Eira so she couldn’t be healed.

“Now that is a delightful sight,” Calista said with another laugh. “I don’t often shock you, Theron, but when I do, it is a real treat.” She clapped her hands together as if she were watching a performance instead of gloating over poisoning her stepdaughter.

Bile crept up my throat. I couldn’t breathe. Oh gods. Oh gods…

I couldn’t heal her poison. I could only keep her thread intact for a short span of time. Just like her stab wound, I hadn’t been able to fix the injury. I’d needed a healer.

She was dying. She would die.

“You two have grown… quite close recently, haven’t you?” Calista said, arching a single eyebrow. “It seems she’s worked her charms on you, if she managed to convince you to break our bargain.”

“I—I—” Shivering bones, I couldn’t speak.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” Calista’s voice turned icy. “You—and your blood—belong to me.”

Pull yourself together, Theron!I ordered myself. I couldn’t break down now.

Calista believed she had me. But Frisk was out there, rallying reinforcements. The soldiers were under attack. Did Calista know this?

One thing was certain: she didn’t know I’d awakened my necromancy. She couldn’t know. Not yet.

“No,” I blurted.

Her brows furrowed. “No what?”

“No, I didn’t break our bargain.”

Calista chuckled. “Don’t try to talk your way out of this, Theron.”

“I promised I’d bring you her heart.” I gestured to Eira’s prone form. “And I have.”

“You promised you would kill her,” Calista seethed.

“No, I didn’t.” I remembered that moment clearly—the moment I was certain I’d agreed to my freedom. “I promised you her heart in exchange for a release from my duties and the return of my blood. Never once did I vow to kill her, nor did I specify what condition her heart would be in when I delivered it to you.”

Calista’s mouth opened and closed, her eyes widening a fraction. “But I…” She trailed off, her face paling.

In spite of the situation, I found myself smirking. “It is a real treat to shock you, Your Majesty.”

Her lips thinned, and fury brimmed in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, I said, “You are right, though. The princess is dying. I can see that now. Can I bid her farewell? I did grow… quite fond of her.”

Calista’s eyes narrowed as she looked me up and down, as if searching for a hidden weapon. At long last, she waved her hand. “Yes. Say your goodbyes. There is nothing you can do for her.”

I had to let her believe that. With a nod, I drew closer to the princess.

“Bargain or not,” Calista said suddenly, “you will not leave this palace alive, Theron. I trust you know that.”

I met her gaze. “I do.” Then I crouched to the ground, kneeling next to Eira’s lifeless form.

Still alive,I had to remind myself. Because she did look well and truly dead. Her lips were gray. Her chest wasn’t moving.

The thin thread of life surrounding her was no longer the strengthened cord. My magic had faded, and the poison would claim her soon.

But I had one last idea. I didn’t even know if it would work, but I had to try.

I leaned closer to Eira, digging down deep into my well of power, summoning everything I had left. I focused on the pain of this moment; it wasn’t hard to conjure it. The sight of Eira lying dead before me felt like cleaving my chest into two pieces. I clung to that feeling, allowing the anguish of this moment to spread through my body and soul.

What was it Lavinia had told me? It is said necromancers possess the kiss of death. Unless you channel your power into the kiss, it’s harmless.

If necromancers possessed the kiss of death… perhaps we also possessed the kiss of life.

I focused all my power into a single breath. Energy sparked behind my lips. They tingled and burned from the force of my magic.

A faint light caught my eye. My lips were glowing.

Calista noticed it, too. She abruptly stood and said, “Wait!”

Ignoring her, I pressed a kiss to Eira’s cold lips, pushing my magic into her as I exhaled what I hoped was the breath of life into her mouth. I poured it into her, every ounce of myself, every drop of power and energy. I gave it all to her.

My frame sagged as my life force bled out of me and funneled into Eira’s mouth. Black spots formed in my vision, and a ringing blared in my ears, drowning out Calista’s scream.

The last thing I heard before I blacked out was the sound of Eira’s loud, rattling gasp of air.