Chapter 19 Ban
There’s a giant hiding here in the clouds.
Zarev’s words, coupled with the bodies we find as we hurry through the kingdom, threaten to blend my past and present together as we approach the castle. Neve is a bundle of nerves when we step out of the shadows; the confident queen I’ve come to know is missing.
Why can she see the dead now? Nothing thus far has alerted her to any of the dead, aside from the Icebound that follow in her mother’s wake.
But the spirits I’m familiar with are usually outside her realm of reality, and even on our way to the mountains to argue she didn’t say anything about seeing the dead. I saw at least two.
So what’s changed?
Pain radiates off her as we storm into the palace. The guards who should be here are missing or frozen in place, and the longer she looks around, the more tortured she appears. Outside the shadows she still seems oblivious to the spirits.
This is unnatural. Whatever the Snow Queen has dipped her magic into, it’s turning even the Icebound. And those spirits are already outside my reach. Reaping them is almost impossible as their souls have chosen to remain in this realm.
“I don’t understand,” Neve murmurs, walking ahead of me. I don’t try to stop her, surveying as I follow in her wake. The spirits I do see look on silently, which isn’t what I expect. Mass murder? Frozen souls? There should be a level of panic or fear.
The ache in my chest calls to the dead, but I don’t know if these are spirits I can pass on.
They are so different from Anastasia, who only hours ago, gave me plenty to think about all by herself.
I have no idea what to make of this now.
Was I too quick in dismissing Zarev? Is this connected to his giant?
Neve’s heels click on the icy floor of the otherwise-silent palace as we move through the halls.
There isn’t a living person in sight, and the further we walk without seeing a soul, the more panicked she becomes.
At one point, we pass the Captain of the Royal Guard that she was fond of, Bromley, and I press my lips together instead of sharing that his soul is with me.
My eyes narrow as I match her pace when she starts to pick up speed. I can hear voices ahead of us, and even if I try to divert her from her current path, I doubt it’s going to work. She’s hyperfocused, and dread fills me as I recognize them.
Mere hours in the Frostlands, and the Mad Queen’s already turned everything to shit.
Without waiting, Neve bursts through the doors ahead. We’ve reached the throne room, a space that was supposed to be kept closed to guests during the ball. This room should be empty, but it’s quickly obvious that it’s not.
Neve gasps as we walk in, more frosted figures around us as we enter. Upon the throne sits the Snow Queen, her chilly gaze settling on us. The Mad Queen is beside her, and to her right is Lancelot.
Everyone else is frozen solid in different poses. Some people appear to be running, others standing still, but no one looks natural. The fear etched across their faces is more than real, yet there are no spirits around to contend with in here.
I don’t get it.
“Mother!” Neve screams, storming into the Snow Queen’s space. Her magic jumps off her skin, hands icing over until they are nearly a translucent blue, her steps cracking the icy floor. “What have you done?”
“That’s not the way you speak to a queen, little girl,” Davina says, crossing her arms as she flashes those gemstone teeth. “Show respect, Princess.”
“I’m the Queen,” Neve growls, unbothered. I follow a few steps behind in the shadows, keeping my gaze mostly on Davina and Lancelot. Neither of them has ice or snow magic, yet they sit here, untouched.
It doesn’t take a genius to see what’s going on, but so far, no one except Neve and a displeased Nyra knows that I’m here. Until my queen needs me, I’ll keep my presence unknown.
“There you are, darling,” Ronnie coos, standing from the throne. It’s a fluid motion unlike before, and this time, I don’t see Kael anywhere in sight. “We were wondering where you went off to.”
“So you could destroy the kingdom?” Neve growls. “Tell me, Mother, because I’m confused. How did you come to freeze an entire kingdom of people when all you are is snow? The only thing frozen about you is your curse.”
Davina’s grin sharpens along with Lancelot, making my hackles rise.
That’s not a good sign, but Ronnie’s voice rings out before I can make a comment.
“Did you learn nothing during your sleep, daughter? I need something to stave off my curse, don’t I?
Davina suggested I take matters to a grander scale. ”
“Grander scale?” Neve echoes, her voice faltering a bit. I have to admit, I’m not following so well anymore. Even in the shadows, keeping my sharp gaze on the four of them, I can’t pinpoint where this conversation is going.
She holds her hands wide, laughing. “The frozen sleep! What’s better to dispel a curse than to share it with all who live within my domain?”
Neve hesitates, stepping back for the first time. “Frozen… sleep? Mother, that’s your curse. Something you carried from Ander Son’s Way.”
Ronnie waves a hand, descending the steps. Davina and Lancelot remain in their places, poised like spectators, almost like they are watching a show. “My curse, yes. Something the moon granted me.”
“What?” Neve hisses, raising her icy fists. Ronnie, on the other hand, is light, fluid, moving like the snow itself, gracefully to stand level with her daughter. She pauses beside a frozen woman, someone I don’t recognize, but she wears the familiar colors of the castle staff.
“You don’t get it yet, do you?” Ronnie laughs, shaking her head. “Do you think you fell into that sleep a century ago by mistake?”
As though by fate, Neve reaches into the sash of her dress to hold up the spinning needle. Smartly, the little spellbook remains out of sight. “This?”
Ronnie’s eyes flash, and even Davina straightens. Lancelot looks on, eyes dancing between the trio, seemingly unaware of what this means. “Where did you get that?”
“It found its way back to me,” she breathes. “I remember this. I recall falling asleep one evening, waking to something pricking my finger. To you in my bedroom. And then sleep stole me under again, and a hundred years passed.”
“That was many years ago, Neve,” she growls in return. “You’re confusing fact with fiction.”
“Oh, save it, Sned,” Davina says, stepping toward them. She throws her arms wide, red, wild magic crackling off her fingertips. It reminds me of fire, but I know it isn’t. “Your mommy used you to save herself, dear. You should be happy she picked a new test subject since that ice mage escaped.”
“Used me…” Neve’s voice trails off, and finally, she makes a fatal mistake. She begins peering around, searching for me in the shadows, and I grit my teeth. She’s been impeccably good at avoiding doing that, even though we never discussed it. Now is not the time for her to slip up.
“What are you looking for?” Davina asks, twirling a piece of dark hair around her fingertip. “Searching for someone?”
Neve shakes her head, and I’m not sure she’s even looked toward the Mad Queen. But she’s drawn my attention, and I shift away to get closer to Davina. She can’t see me, but her eyes dance around.
“You pricked my finger,” Neve gasps, the despair heavy in her voice. “It wasn’t a dream.”
“Of course it wasn’t a dream,” Ronnie snaps, squaring her shoulders. “When we lost that mage, I needed a solution. Andor never would have gone for it.”
“What does Father have to do with it?” she hisses.
Ronnie grins, baring her unnaturally white teeth. “Your father wouldn’t let me use the most powerful source of magic at my disposal, Neve. When that man escaped, I was forced to take matters into my own hands.”
I’ve gone still in the shadows, keeping my gaze on Davina, as I listen for Neve’s response.
I’ve had my suspicions for a long time, but I couldn’t confirm any of it until now.
Speaking with the Mad Queen wasn’t an option I had readily available.
What I showed Neve with the shadow puppets was my interpretation of the events, but it’s nice of her to validate the truth.
“It was you.” Neve’s cold voice rings out in the silent room, and Davina lets out a gleeful little squeal at her words. “You. Not Ban. You… you killed Father.”
“How do you remember his name?” Ronnie growls.
All at once, the ice Neve’s concealing in her hands expands. The space she’s cracked so far with her shoes starts glowing, and I take a step back even in the shadows.
It’s not just me who sees the catastrophe coming. Davina’s red magic bursts to life, and behind her, Lancelot draws a long blade. I rip my staff out of the shadows as Neve disappears into a large, white sphere.
“You killed Father?”
The temperature drops, and with it, goes Davina’s magic. Her eyes widen with surprise as she tries, and fails, to get her magic to respond.
It’s too cold. Neve’s dropping the temperature.
As I watch, the ice surrounding the room sharpens. The once-flat surfaces begin to grow, spikes and icicles sprouting from the smooth spots to create a web of ice. Davina reaches for a small dagger at her hip, and Lancelot slides in behind her so they are back-to-back.
Honestly, I’m surprised that Davina’s so-called guards haven’t appeared yet. The four of them seemed to be her front line when they came off the ship.
“I knew you’d react poorly,” Ronnie calls, her hands turning to white orbs that match her daughter’s.
They aren’t the same sharp, bright white.
Instead it resembles the graininess of snow, the nonexistent wind in the palace coming to life along with their powers.
“You and Andor… You are one and the same.”