Chapter 26
“Oh, good, you’re still alive!”
I could have sworn that Douglas was talking to me until a familiar head popped up in the window. Another gasp flew into my lungs as Lea climbed into the window, casually landing in the pile of shattered glass as she dusted the snow off her skirt.
“The king was right, you’re right where he said you’d be.” She hurried into the room and pulled her cloak from her shoulders. A second later, she had shaken the snow off it and tucked the thick garment around me like a heavy blanket.
The king?
I tried to open my mouth to speak, but my voice was still gone, swept up by my labored gasps. My chest hurt as it tried to fulfill the oxygen quota my body required, but I fought for every breath I could.
“Goodness, he was right about you not doing good either,” she said, worry staining her pretty face as she rushed over to the fireplace to get it going. “Here, keeping warm helped my family last as long as they could. So did clean air, hopefully the draft from that window is good enough.”
She’s trying to prolong my life?
“H-how?” It was all I could manage, the tiny words catching her attention with ease.
“How did I get here?” she tried to guess.
“Or how did the king find me?” She waited for me to respond, but after watching me struggle for another moment, decided to answer both.
“It started back at the river. After you fell in, the ice started moving on its own, putting up a barrier between me and the soldiers so I could get away. After that, I took you up on your offer to visit the ice castle and found myself face to face with the snow wizard himself. He was always much more welcoming than I anticipated but was always worrying about you. I tried to help him look, but when I left, the prince came and burned the castle to the ground.”
She used Douglas to spark a fire to life, the roaring flames coating my back with warmth and soothing my entire body.
She tossed a couple more logs in, then sat in front of me and took my hand out of the cloak.
I wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but the next thing I knew, she was rubbing my fingers, trying to stir up blood flow and keep my heart busy.
“He was hard to find after that, but I kept in touch when I could,” Lea continued. “Whenever I found a spot of ice, I would call out and ask if he was well. Today, I did just that and he begged me to come here and look for you.”
Is that what he was doing when I was talking to Blamore?
“I haven’t heard from him since,” Lea said, switching to my other hand. “But he told me he would be here as soon as he could. Whatever that means.”
I could have cried if I had the strength. Not even a curse was stopping Cassian from caring for me in my final moments. My eyes squeezed shut, but nothing came out as I simply tried to thank Lea for her kindness with a grateful glance alone.
She smiled back at me, the expression full of a dull pain. There was no telling how many times she had sat like this before, watching someone slowly give up the will to breathe before they die.
“No need to thank me,” she said, her sweet smile warming me even more. “You saved me from being alone once, remember? Now we’re even. I promise, I’ll stay right here with you. You don’t have to do this by yourself.”
I wish I could thank you anyway.
She held my hand, rubbing it gently now as my breathing became more even and softer. Her thumb brushed past my ring, and I couldn’t help but notice that a wet spot was seeping into my glove where the ice crystal was starting to melt.
The fire must have made it too warm. I didn’t want to see it go, but I knew it wasn’t the ring that made me loved. It continued to melt, and soon I realized that it wasn’t just the fire that was making me warmer.
The snow had stopped.
I gazed out the shattered window, surprised to see that not even the curtains were fluttering in the wind. My eyes fluttered shut again, soaking in the peaceful quiet and giving in to my body’s desire to rest. There was hardly any draft at all, but there still seemed to be a shift in the wind.
The storm has stopped. Does that mean…?
The door flew open, the creaking of the hinges ear-splittingly loud, but not as loud as the pounding in my chest. I couldn’t coax my eyes open just yet, but I recognized the echo of those footsteps. I had followed them through the palace for weeks.
A strong pair of arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a warm lap where I leaned against a strong, sturdy chest. I begged my eyes to open, peeling them apart one lash at a time until I was gazing up at the face that I’d only ever seen in a reflection.
“Cassian...” I wasn’t sure if I even said anything, but the tearful smile that I got seemed to hear every word.
“Yes, Safara, it’s me,” he said. His voice was so much clearer now, like it was missing the echo of his prison walls. It was perfect. “Stay with me.”
He brushed his hand across my cheek, the touch beyond enchanting. Oh, how long I had dreamed of being in these arms...
“Y-you’re free,” I whispered, my smile barely holding itself up.
He couldn’t stop stroking my face, and his other hand found mine. He started petting my fingers just like Lea had done, but with each stroke he rebuilt my ring, the cold a welcome sensation when it came from him.
“I’m far from free,” he said softly, his eyes as reflective as his former prison. “I’m afraid my heart is entirely chained to yours. There’s nowhere I can go if I don’t have my queen by my side.”
He leaned in, his nose brushing mine. I closed my eyes, letting his gentle touches melt into my final memories until I felt his lips press against mine.
His kiss was cold, but my heart burned as I held the last of my breath to savor that moment.
He pulled away too soon, my lips still tingling with the shivering moment as he cupped my face once more.
The sorrow that filled his eyes was too much to bear. I couldn’t leave him like this, not after what happened the last time he was left alone...
He needed a reason to keep going after I died. A reason to not let his heart grow cold. A fire to keep burning...
“R-remember me,” I forced the words out, praying on my fiery wish to let me end my life as a better queen. “I-in the fire. Look for me there, promise?”
Fill your kingdom with warmth, Cassian. Then look for me in the flames.
“I promise,” he said, pressing my ring finger to his lips to gift it another kiss.
I watched the firelight dance in his icy blue eyes as I prepared to slip away. Lea’s tactics had bought me more time than I could ever hope for. These last moments would be the most precious ones of all.
“The fire’s dying out again,” Lea hissed under her breath. “Must be this thin firewood. No matter, I think I have just the thing.” She dug into her pocket, and my eyes drifted lazily over to her as she retrieved her prize.
A match.
“Been saving this since you dropped it in the snow,” Lea said with a cheeky smile. “You probably won’t believe me if I tell you I didn’t steal it, but at least now I can give it back to you in a way.”
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My heart tried to race, but not even the sight of the magic match was enough to kickstart it again.
Can I make one last wish?
“M-may I?” I pleaded, swallowing back a cough that might have been the death of me had it gotten loose.
“Of course,” Lea said sweetly, taking my free hand to place the match in my fingers. She must have known that I couldn’t light it alone, so she pinched the matchstick in my fingers for me and helped me strike it across the floor.
The tiny flame burned so brilliantly, and the pressure of what to do next was almost too much to carry. One wish. Could I truly use it correctly?
Wishing for blackwood poisoning to disappear was the first thing that came to mind, but as the match burned down, I realized that Averglas’s problems ran deeper than a magical tree’s roots.
This all started with Blamore. His greed, his lies, his curses, and everything that followed. That was the real poison I needed to cut off.
“I wish...” I cleared my throat and tried to suck in a breath, but my lungs refused. My last exhale sat in my throat, and with wide eyes, I looked into the heart of the flame before my eyes fluttered shut like they couldn’t handle another moment open. “Blamore’s poison n-never spread.”
Then my final breath blew out the match.