Chapter 9
Iwas up early the next morning and back to hiking before I could even let my body realize it had missed breakfast. With every step I took toward the castle, the ice seemed to get shinier, glossing over the trees and painting every blade of grass like a tiny dagger springing up from the earth.
Walking over it sounded like stepping on broken glass, and I imagined it wouldn’t feel much different than that had I not been wearing boots.
The ice smoothed out as I ascended further, making it increasingly difficult to walk without anything for my soles to grip onto.
By the time I made it up to the mountain’s peak, I was using thin tree trunks for leverage to pull myself up the next few steps at a time.
The castle blinded me with its ethereal beauty.
Four perfectly symmetrical towers framed the massive structure, each gleaming like a beacon on a frozen ocean’s shore.
The walls were smooth but also etched with dainty filigrees that made every inch of the wall look richly crafted.
The attention to detail was almost as overwhelming as its size, causing it to steal my breath the more I circled the perimeter.
My reflection met me along every inch, showcasing my snow-dusted cloak and tired eyes. There wasn't much I could do to improve upon my appearance before meeting the king, but if rumors about his reflection were true, then he had already seen every haggard side of me by now anyway.
It took me a while to find the entrance because the door was built so seamlessly into the wall. I didn't think that a hundred master sculptors could have built this palace in a lifetime, yet here it was, sprung out of my wildest dream.
My fingers struggled to curl into a fist as I knocked lightly on the door, my cold knuckles almost numb to the hard surface. While waiting for a reply, I started rubbing my hands together to encourage them to loosen up. I didn't need to be nervous about my fingers at a time like this.
There was no response other than a whistle of wind that seemed to be mocking me. A sharp cliff dropped off only ten paces behind where I stood at the door, causing even the slightest breeze to make me feel unsteady.
I knocked again, louder this time. My frustrated expression glared back at me, growing more impatient by the second.
For a terrifying snow wizard, he sure is difficult to reach.
“Hello? Snow King?” I continued banging on the door in a less than ladylike fashion.
I was cold, my stomach was growling, and I would rather freeze to death than turn back to Blamore.
I was going to get inside this castle even if I had to deploy Douglas.
“Is this any way to treat your future queen? I already told you to expect my arrival.”
My knuckles hit the open air on the next knock. The doors flew open with a gust of icy air that made me stumble a few feet inside. My tongue went numb, all my frustration frozen in my veins as I took in the crystallized foyer.
Whoa.
A sweeping staircase took up most of the room, allowing enough floor space for a sparkling chandelier to claim the eye.
Its twinkling icicles were identical to the ones I'd marveled at on the trees, but these were perfectly symmetrical. A giant snowflake mosaic was etched into the floor, but with a smooth, clear layer of ice overtopping it so the grooves couldn’t be tripped on.
Despite the room being big enough to house an army, I couldn’t see a single soul.
There were no servants, no footman, and not even a monstrous king to greet me as I stepped further into the castle.
It was warmer inside than it looked, mostly due to the lack of wind.
My entrance was in stark contrast to the first time I entered the lively Averglas palace, yet that didn’t make it more unsettling.
“I didn’t think you’d come.” A loud, husky voice boomed throughout the walls, startling me enough that I almost wiped out on the smooth floor. I spun around to find the source of the sound, seeing nothing but the door slamming shut behind me. “Nonetheless, you still demand to enter my home.”
His voice came from everywhere, speckling my skin with goosebumps as I spun around enough to make myself dizzy. I didn’t know where to look, but no matter where I turned, I could always feel someone looking at me.
“You were listening to me all along then?” I asked, trying to sound less small than I felt. “Then you should know why I’m here.”
A sweeping sound echoed around me, like a phantom cloak dragging across the floor.
“I do,” his voice echoed, sending another chill down my spine.
He sounded like what you’d imagine thunder to sound like during a gentle rainstorm.
It was booming with power, but you knew the sound could have been a lot scarier than it was.
“You wish to become my queen. Though I don’t remember offering you a proposal. ”
He really could see me through the reflections, then.
“Well, how dreadfully forgetful of you,” I said with a tsk, stepping closer to the walls with slow, curious steps. “I suppose now is as good of a time as any to remedy that.”
I closed in on a large stretch of the wall.
The ice seemed to shimmer differently in that spot, and the voice went silent the closer I got to it.
I stopped a few feet away from the surface, narrowing my gaze at the pure stretch of ice until a pair of eyes stepped forward from within the wall, his full figure coming into view for the first time.
“Why don’t you tell me your name first?” he said, truly seeing me for the first time.
His eyes were so blue that I almost didn’t believe they were real.
His long fur cloak swept down a broad pair of shoulders, framing a tall build that I had no choice but to look up to.
Pale skin graced his strong jawline and sculpted features, matching the coloring of his snowy white hair that looked perfectly windswept despite the lack of wind in his icy home.
He wore a white button-down coat that looked sufficiently regal for him to be called a king.
His elegant posture and set expression fit perfectly among all the clean lines and symmetry that existed in his castle.
It was like he was a doll made to match the house built for him, both perfectly reflecting one another.
It took my eyes a moment to understand that I was looking into a sheet of ice instead of through a window. My reflection had disappeared when he stepped forward, but everything else about his presence felt like he was right there standing with me.
He really does live in reflections, then. Can he come out, or is he trapped there?
“Safara,” I finally said, careful not to let my tongue trip over my own name. “My name is Safara.”
“Prince Blamore’s bride?” His posture tensed almost instantly, and for the first time since laying eyes on the monstrous snow king, I felt fear nipping at me.
A nasty frown darkened his light features, and as if reacting to his prickly mood, icicles started growing out of the floor around me like nasty spikes.
I staggered back, careful not to skewer myself as the jagged points sprouted out from under my feet. “What trick is this?”
“It would seem that you’ve heard of me,” I breathed, scurrying back until I found my back pressed against an icy wall. The icicles continued to grow, pinning me in place, but pausing only inches away from my skin.
“Only that nothing good comes from Blamore.” His reflection shifted closer to me, appearing in a growing icicle that kept towering upward until it was big enough to hold his full image. “Now why would his betrothed ask to become my queen? Do you think I'm that foolish?”
An icicle sprang toward my throat, pausing close enough for me to pierce my chin with it if I dared to lower my head. My breath caught, my heart pounding in my chest as I tried to find my voice.
“I’m not here to trick you, Your Majesty,” I said earnestly, still breathing heavily as the panic soaked into my core.
I had to be brave; this man was powerful for a reason, and I needed to prove myself worthy of his power.
“The only trick Blamore performed was when he pretended that he ever had any interest in marrying me.” The icicle shrunk back an inch, the king’s eyes softening, though his posture remained tense.
“I can assure you, Your Majesty, I wouldn’t dream of doing something so cruel.
When I ask to marry someone, I mean it.”
He didn’t reply for a moment, his expression thoughtful and, dare I say, cold, as he pondered my words.
After a moment, the icicles shrank back, melting into the floor and walls until they were just as smooth as before.
The tall icicle with the king’s image remained, but even the jagged point seemed to soften as he brushed his thumb to his chin.
“You want me?” He sounded so lost, but I couldn’t really blame him. It wasn’t exactly common for princesses to demand marriage to a total stranger. Usually it was the other way around.
“I want to become a queen that has the power to protect my homeland,” I said, stepping closer to the icicle his image resided in. “I want to marry a king that scares even Blamore.”
He tilted his head, his windswept hair impressively staying in place like it was frozen into that flattering style.
He stepped closer, his image growing larger while the ice stayed the same.
It was once again like he was approaching a window, but the glass seemed to sparkle with his image.
He studied me, those strikingly blue eyes reminding me of glittering sapphires.
“What did Blamore do to you?” he asked, his voice as smooth as the freshly polished ice beneath our feet. I felt my heart tense at the question. It was a valid one to ask, but not one I felt safe answering. I could hardly tell him that he killed me in another life.
“He froze my heart and watched it shatter,” I said, clutching a hand over my chest where the wound was still present despite the changing of timelines.
I looked up at the king, allowing him to see the ache that was still left in my vacant gaze.
The horror of my death didn’t need to be spoken to be understood. “Will you help me freeze his next?”
He looked different in that moment, like someone had erased all the clean lines that made him rigid and perfect and left him more moldable, like packed snow.
The softness and his image were both quick to fade, as he disappeared from the icicle and it sank back into the floor.
I spun around looking for him again, feeling defeated when I couldn’t find any sign of the king’s reflection.
“I have no reason to trust you.” His voice boomed through the room again, causing me to look up at the shifting chandelier. It spun gently, radiating light that couldn’t have been natural. “However...your hatred of my brother is enough for me to give you a chance.”
I stopped looking up as my jaw dropped, my eyes turning to another wall just as the king reappeared.
“Wait, your brother?” I gasped, stepping closer toward his stoic image. The closer I got, the more I could see the resemblance. The shape of his eyes, the curve of his lips, and even the charming cadence of his voice were all too familiar.
“What did you think I was the king of?” He chuckled, the sound shockingly warm.
“Ice?” He shook his head, his smile shaking off with it as he straightened to a more proper pose.
“Needless to say, your offer intrigues me. Now go and rest. I do believe you requested a nice blanket and a meal upon your arrival. We shall discuss the terms of our courtship later.”