31. Kit The Snow Queen’s Vengence
Kit: The Snow Queen’s Vengence
Kit took a jittery step forward, approaching the cave with trepidation. This was the cave of his nightmares, the one where the Cracked Mirror had enchanted him. Though he knew Nelle had shattered the evil object, he still couldn’t bring himself to enter the cave.
Stop it, commanded a stern voice in the back of his mind.
This is the best lead you’ve had on your brother in who knows how long.
You have to go in. As much as he loved his brother, Kit still hesitated.
Surely there was another way. But before he could reason his way out of the situation, another thought occurred to him.
Nelle is counting on you. You can’t let her down.
The thought of Nelle being in the cave, with only Gisborne, Scarlett, and the Snow Queen for protection, solidified his resolve. He’d promised that he would be with her every step of the way. He would not break that promise now. Still, he couldn’t make himself take the first step.
Suddenly, from high above, the long, beautiful note of a phoenix cry drew his eyes.
He looked up to see Ember descending on him, his eyes bright with strength.
“Ember. You came for me,” Kit whispered, stroking the phoenix’s plumage.
The bird rubbed its head against Kit’s curls, trilling happily.
Ember’s song gave Kit the courage he needed to take the first step.
“Stay with me this time, boy. I don’t think I can do this without you,” the prince murmured as he entered the cave.
Ember gave another trill, but remained on Kit’s shoulder.
The air of the cave was still as oppressive as it had been the first time he’d entered it. Kit couldn’t help but shiver at the feeling, but he forced himself to keep walking, his eyes trying to pierce through the darkness.
Ahead, he could hear voices. “…to the last home you will ever see.” Kit’s blood curdled at Gisborne’s words. Why would he tell Nelle that?
Then Nelle’s voice echoed from the back of the cave. “It feels…wrong.”
Will laughed, the cruel sound bouncing off the stone walls. “Well, you aren’t exactly about to enter a palace full of rainbows and unicorns. Come on, stop stalling. We’re almost there.” There was the sound of skin against skin, and then Nelle’s cry was cut short abruptly.
Kit surged forward, just in time to see Gisborne and Scarlett disappear through some sort of magical doorway. Kit didn’t hesitate this time, forcing himself to follow the trio through the doorway.
The first thing that struck him on the other side of the door was the temperature.
Somehow, between the cave and wherever he was now, the temperature had dropped by about fifty degrees.
Snowflakes swirled through the air, making it all but impossible to see anything.
He shivered; he hadn’t really dressed for sub-zero temperatures.
Almost without thinking, he called on his dragonish form, and, as the scales covered his body once more, he let out a sigh of relief.
Somehow, he’d gotten so used to being a dragon in the last two years that this felt more natural than his human form.
Ahead, he heard voices. With cat-like stealth, he crept forward, careful to keep his eyes peeled for guards. He darted from column to column, trying to catch sight of Nelle and her captors.
“…brought me this time, gentlemen?” Kit’s stomach dropped as he recognized Queen Snow White’s voice. She sounded as imperious as she had when they were courting.
“Your daughter. As you asked, my queen,” Scarlett said. His voice was about an octave higher than usual, and Kit could hear the tremor in his voice. “Alive and unharmed.”
“Get your hands off of—hmph.” Nelle’s voice cut off suddenly, and, peeking around his hiding place, Kit realized she’d suddenly received a thick layer of ice between her teeth, acting as a gag.
Queen Snow White sat on a throne of ice, situated on a raised dais, glowering down at the three people before her.
She wore her inky black hair swept up in a complicated chignon.
Her pale skin, still mostly perfect with only a few minor wrinkles, despite her 45 years, almost blended in with the gauzy white gown she wore.
The only color on her person was the scarlet of her lips, twisted in a cruel smile that contrasted sharply with her frown.
Scarlett and Gisborne were both kneeling in the snow before her, but Nelle stood upright, her posture as straight as any member of a royal family. She gazed up at her mother without an ounce of fear in her expression, despite the gag in her mouth, and Kit couldn’t help but be in awe.
“So you can follow orders,” Queen Snow White murmured cooly, examining her fingernails.
“I wondered, after that debacle in Moyar. All you had to do was keep your head down in court and give me a report on their forces and their ability to respond to an attack. And instead, you had to get yourself caught trying to tup a maid. And not just any maid. No, you picked the one maid who could run to the royal guard and immediately get the grand duke’s attention.
And, if that weren’t bad enough, you then tried to kill said duke, like an incompetent fool.
Which might have benefited us if you’d been successful, but you failed, and got two of my best spies arrested, while you barely escaped. ”
“It wasn’t my fault that Lord Fletcher and Lady Carina got arrested,” Scarlett said, scuffing his feet. “They brought the grand duke down on their heads by mistreating some stupid maid.”
“I don’t want excuses!” the Snow Queen snarled, and the snowflakes stilled in the air. “Now Moyar is prepared for any attack I might send their way. You have destroyed months of preparation.”
“I didn’t?—”
“Between you and that bumbling Thaddeus Wilde, there has been more incompetence than I have ever seen in all my years on the throne,” she murmured.
Then her eyes went to Nelle, who was still staring up at her with an unreadable expression on her face.
“But I suppose you brought Lolienna back to me, so you’re not totally useless. ”
Scarlett gave a sigh of relief. “No. No, my queen.”
“But there must be some form of punishment,” the Snow Queen continued. “So, what do you two think it should be?”
Gisborne and Scarlett’s knees were shaking visibly. “Punishment, your majesty?” Gisborne asked, his face as pale as the surrounding snowflakes. “Why?—”
“My soldiers and spies must know that there is no room in my regime for sloppiness,” Queen Snow White said. “Otherwise, they might think I will tolerate such…work.”
Scarlett and Gisborne were both trembling like leaves in a storm. “But, your majesty—” Scarlett tried to say, but the Snow Queen cut him off.
“No, Gisborne,” she said, slamming her fist down on her icy throne. “There are no excuses this time.” Her green eyes, so similar to Nelle’s, glittered, as she continued, “I have it. You will join my hall of statues.”
Gisborne let out a yelp, but Scarlett didn’t bother to respond.
He turned and fled, not looking back. He made it two steps before the Snow Queen’s magic took him, swirling around the warm skin and solidifying into a thin sheet of silvery ice.
The man froze mid-step, his face twisted in pain and fear, barely five feet from Kit.
“Don’t try to run,” the queen said, glancing at Gisborne. “As you can see, no matter how fast you think you are, my magic is faster. Stay still, and you may find that I can shorten your sentence.”
Gisborne glanced between her and his companion. “How much shorter?”
Queen Snow White cocked her head thoughtfully. “Well, you and Scarlett were terribly ineffective, so I think a sentence of ten years is appropriate, don’t you?”
Gisborne swallowed hard. “Ten years?”
“You failed in your mission, but you didn’t run, and, from what I can tell, your crimes were mostly by association.
Though don’t think I missed the fact that you put your hands on my daughter when you handed her over to the Beast of Sherwood.
So I think a sentence of ten years is more than fair.
What do you think?” The queen’s eyes focused on Nelle.
“You can speak now, Loli.” She waved her hands, and Nelle’s ice gag disappeared.
“I…I don’t know,” Nelle whispered. “No one deserves to be turned into an ice statue, no matter how terrible their crimes are.” Kit fought the urge to smile.
Despite how those two cretins had treated her, she was still so merciful.
It would have been beautiful in any other situation.
But in the keep of the Snow Queen, he knew mercy was not an option.
The Snow Queen rolled her eyes. “You’re going to need to be much more bloodthirsty, Lolienna, if you ever want to rule by my side one day.
” With a wave of her hands, her magic surrounded and encased Gisborne.
Nelle’s eyes widened, and a tear ran down her cheek, freezing in place as she reached out to touch the man’s frozen form.
“There, now. Now that’s out of the way. One less thing to do today. ”
Nelle shook her head. “You didn’t need to do that. They’re horrible, despicable people, but they didn’t deserve that fate.” Her voice broke a little as she spoke.
Queen Snow White rolled her eyes. “Of course they did, Lolienna. They needed me to make an example out of them. I thought by putting them in place at the Sherwood Company’s camp, I would gain a ready-made army, but honestly, I severely overestimated their abilities.
If it weren’t for my other spy in the camp, I would have lost control of it completely.
As it is, it’s going to take time for me to insert another spy in the ranks.
Time I really don’t have. We’re on a deadline, you know. ”
Nelle stared up at her in confusion. “A deadline?”
Queen Snow White rolled her eyes. “Oh, yes, I’d forgotten. You’ve lost your memories. Which means I have a lot to tell you, and very little time to do it.”
Nelle shuffled her feet. “I can?—”
“No, no. It’s fine. I’ll take you to my office and give you a complete rundown on what you’ve missed.
And then we’ll perform the necessary spells,” Queen Snow White said.
“It will be nice to have you around the keep again, Lolienna. It’s been far too long.
Guards!” She clapped her hands, and, from a door to her right, two polar bears appeared.
“Take my daughter to my office. I’ll be along shortly. ”
The polar bears gave two lumbering bows, then led Nelle from the room.
Once Queen Snow White thought she was alone, she approached Scarlett’s statue and murmured a spell just loud enough that Kit could hear her.
Immediately, the ice receded, leaving the man gasping for breath.
“I’m going to give you one last chance, William,” she said, her voice soft and deadly.
“Find the dragon man and bring him to me. If you fail me again…I won’t be so merciful. ”
Scarlett nodded frantically. “Yes, my queen. I will not fail you again.” His eyes flicked to Gisborne’s frozen form. “And what about him?”
“He’ll remain in place. He attacked my daughter. I cannot forgive him for that.” For a moment, Kit thought he heard a flicker of regret in the woman’s voice.
“I understand, your majesty,” Scarlett said. “Shall I bring him to the hall of statues?”
The Snow Queen shook her head. “No. I’ll deal with him later.” She flicked her wrist. “Now, get out of my keep.” Without another word, she turned and walked away from the trembling man.
Scarlett took in one shaky breath, then turned to leave. Before he could, however, Kit leaped out of his hiding place and wrapped his arm around the man’s neck. “Hello, Scarlett.”
Scarlett yelped, but Kit ignored him, turning instead to Ember.
“Follow Nelle. Make sure she’s safe.” The phoenix took flight, leaving him to return his attention to his prisoner.
“Now, you’re going to help me find my brother, or you won’t have to wait for the Snow Queen to finish you off, because I will do it myself. ”