32. Nelle The Queen Will See You Now
Nelle: The Queen Will See You Now
Nelle’s legs shook beneath her as the polar bears escorted her down yet another long, snowy hallway.
The snow had already soaked through her thin shoes and her feet were starting to go numb.
She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering.
If she’d have known that the Snow Queen’s lair—no, her mother’s lair—was so cold, she would have created some warmer clothes for herself.
“Where are we going?” Nelle asked, looking up at her polar bear guards. The one on her right remained silent. The other merely grunted.
Okay, so I’m not getting any answers from them, I suppose, she thought. Where is Kit? Has the Snow Queen captured him already? She hoped not. Knowing Kit was nearby was the only reason she was keeping her head in this situation.
A cry of a bird overhead distracted her. Risking a glance up, she saw Ember soaring high above her, almost touching the fifty-foot ceiling. His beautiful feathers stood out in the stark white hall, and she allowed herself a small smile. She wasn’t alone.
The polar bears nudged her into a grandiose office.
There were no books or papers. Instead, there was a large, imposing desk in the center of the room with two horribly uncomfortable looking chairs facing it.
To the right, there was a tactical map table, with dozens of miniature figurines dotted across the board.
To the left, there was a chess set, the pieces a brilliant shade of scarlet and an imposing white.
Behind the desk, there was a framed mirror, one that reminded Nelle distinctly of the one she’d shattered the night before.
Ember hid himself high in the rafters, his bright feathers almost obscured by the solid white beams, as Nelle sat down in one of the chairs facing the desk, testing it before she sat down. Yes, she realized, it was just as uncomfortable as it looked.
As she tried to find a position that didn’t hurt too much, the door slammed open once more, and Queen Snow White strode in, a rigid smile fixed in place.
She dismissed the polar bears with a wave of her hand, then sat down at the desk.
Once the polar bears had left, pulling the doors shut behind them, she turned her attention to Nelle. “Excellent. We can talk freely here.”
Nelle nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She wished she still had the stone Kit had given her at the river. Since throwing it at the Cracked Mirror, she could just imagine doing the same to her mother.
“Well, don’t just sit there like a ninny. I’m sure you have many questions, and we don’t have a lot of time for me to answer them. So go on. Ask away,” the Snow Queen said, fixing her daughter in place with a glance.
At her mother’s demand, Nelle’s mind went blank. She had so many questions, yet none of them sprang to mind.
“No questions? Thank goodness,” Queen Snow White sighed. “I was worried you’d be here all day, demanding answers. I have one for you, though. Why did you smash the Cracked Mirror?”
Nelle blinked at her mother. Of all the questions the Snow Queen could have asked, this was not one she expected. At last, she found her voice. “How do you know about that?”
“Oh, silly Loli,” the Snow Queen said with a patronizing smile.
“I know all about it. Your mirror and mine—” Here, she gestured to the mirror behind her desk.
“They’re connected. Forged from the same glass.
The one I gave you was mine, the one my father gave me as a child, but this Cracked Mirror was once my step-mother’s. ”
“The one who poisoned you?” Nelle couldn’t stop herself from asking.
Queen Snow White shot her a sharp glance.
“The very one. She was forever asking it the same question, over and over again. ‘Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?’” She rolled her eyes.
“Such idiocy, even for her. And the moment she didn’t like one of the mirror’s answers, she decided to kill me. ”
“Because you were the fairest?” Nelle guessed. “But beauty is subjective. There is no such thing as?—”
“It’s easy for you to say beauty is subjective,” Queen Snow White snapped, looking over her daughter’s frizzy brown hair and overly curvy figure.
“But for me and my step-mother…well, let’s just say that the mirror’s answer mattered.
Far too much.” She sighed. “Thank goodness for Marius, or I would never have survived my her jealousy.”
“What happened to Marius?” Nelle asked. “From what I’ve heard, he didn’t…I mean, he disappeared at the same time your mother?—”
“Step-mother,” Queen Snow White snarled. She got up and turned to the mirror behind her desk, idly stroking its frame. “He…he asked for an answer from the Cracked Mirror. And, as you know, every answer has a price.”
Nelle’s blood almost froze. “What was the price?” she forced herself to ask.
Queen Snow White turned to her, her face a mask of pain. “The price was that he join the Cracked Mirror in its prison. And I’ve spent the last twenty years trying to free them both.”
Nelle’s heart broke a little at the words. “And so all this…all to break him out?”
The Snow Queen rolled her eyes. “Obviously.”
Nelle shook her head. “But that’s—I mean, there must have been another way. Don’t?—”
“Don’t talk to me about how there must have been another way,” the Snow Queen snapped. “I’ve tried everything, and this is the only thing I’ve found that is sure to work. Trust me, it’s what your father would have wanted.”
If possible, Nelle felt herself grow colder. “My…my father?”
The Snow Queen nodded, her green eyes softening slightly. “Yes. My Marius. Your father. I still talk to him sometimes, when the Cracked Mirror lets me.”
Her gaze lingered on the frame before returning to Nelle, hardening like ice once more.
“The Cracked Mirror will only be free when all its shards are back in place.” She gestured to the broken mirror.
“The only way to gain the last shard is to break into the Forgotten Lands and take the shard from the sleeping queen. And the only way to get into the Forgotten Lands is by uniting all the kingdoms in Afeyra. Initially, I thought I could do it with the help of a Starkind, but she proved…unwilling.” The Snow Queen spat the words out like they were poison.
“So I had my spy deal with her, to prevent her from telling my secrets to the other kingdoms.”
“Is she—” Nelle couldn’t bring herself to ask the question. Starkind were resilient, she knew, but depending on how powerful her spy was?—
“She’s fine,” the Snow Queen rolled her eyes.
“It turns out my spy was as inept as William and Guy. I believe she recently attended her daughter’s wedding.
But that doesn’t matter.” She crossed her arms. “Without the Starkind’s help, I had to change my plans.
I started putting my people in place to take over the other six kingdoms. I have people in every court, from Hopka to Talon, and I’ve taken heirs from three of the kingdoms. Within the year, all the kingdoms will be under my control.
Almost everything is in place. The first to fall will be Hopka, Zaffyre, and Talon. ”
“What about Umber and Moyar?” Nelle wondered.
Queen Snow White scowled. “I was going to have the emperor of Umber assassinated. But that didn’t work out. So we’ll have to take them by force. King Alistair of Moyar is weak as it is, with his daughter at death’s door, and his nephew solely focused on medicine. It should be easy to take Moyar.”
Nelle shivered at the straightforwardness of her tone. “How do you plan to take Hopka, Zaffyre, and Talon?”
“Simple. I’ll have their heirs,” the Snow Queen said, her eyes glittering with malice.
“What?” Nelle whispered.
“It’s simple. I’ve already got the three heirs.
Using a dominance spell on each of them, I can take control of their kingdoms in one fell swoop.
We’ll need to cast one on Prince Robert of Hopka first. He’s in the best position to use his army and the Sherwood Company to attack Moyar.
Then, once Moyar is under our control, we’ll cast the spell on Princess Josephina of Zaffyre.
We’ll use her to kill her parents and sisters—eleven of them, can you imagine?
Once they’re out of the way, we’ll use Moyar and Zaffyre’s army to take down Feldgrau.
Once both of them are in our power, we’ll use the dominance spell on Princess Amina of Talon.
She’ll take the throne and cede control to me, bringing all the kingdoms under my rule. ”
“What about Camelot?” Nelle wondered.
Queen Snow White shrugged with indifference. “They’re scattered and divided. They’re so busy fighting each other, they won’t have time to fight me off once my forces invade.”
Nelle fought the urge to throw up. The way the queen spoke about her plans, as if it was all a foregone conclusion, made her skin crawl. And there was one thing she didn’t understand. “So, what do you need me for?” Nelle wondered.
The Snow Queen scowled. “I don’t need you, precisely. I need your magic.”
Nelle stared at her mother. “My magic?”
The Snow Queen nodded. “It’s difficult to control several dominance spells at once. And we’ll need at least three, four if we can bring your darling prince running for you.”
No. No, not Kit, Nelle screamed in her mind. She had to get out of here. She had to warn him. But as she was about to leap to her feet, ready to run out the door, the Snow Queen waved her hand, and cuffs of ice bolted Nelle to the chair.
“Now, now, none of that,” Queen Snow White crooned. “I told you, I need your magic. It’s much easier for me to put the spell on you and Prince Robert, and for you to control the two princesses.”
Nelle glared at her. “And what the Cracked Mirror told me, about leaving Kit alone and releasing Kai and Robin? Was that all a lie?”
Queen Snow White shrugged. “Essentially, yes. I needed you back with me, under my spell. Of course, I’ll have to keep you on a tighter leash this time.
” She shook her finger at her daughter as if she was a recalcitrant child.
“You got away from me far too easily last time, trying to warn Prince Chistopher about my intention to capture him.”
Nelle’s heart slowed. “What?”
“I’m assuming that’s what you were trying to do.
I caught you talking to him, warning him.
‘You shouldn’t have broken your engagement, your highness.
’ By the Maker, the way you were talking to him almost made me laugh.
And then you fought my control.” The Snow Queen scowled.
“You wouldn’t have lost your memories if you hadn’t tried to save him. ”
“I…I what?” Nelle shivered under her mother’s gaze.
“You were trying to fight me off as I was trying to turn him to ice. It was a simple spell, one I’ve used dozens of times, but you had to complicate things,” the Snow Queen explained.
“The spell backfired, obviously, breaking your already fragile mind. And somehow, he got transformed into a dragon hybrid. I’m still not entirely certain how that happened. ”
Nelle lowered her head, breathing hard. “Why did you want him?” she wondered. “Why make him marry you?”
The Snow Queen shrugged. “It seemed politically expedient. I’d have one foot in the door to taking over Hopka. But when he broke the engagement, I knew I’d have to get him back somehow. I told you as much that morning, and, the next thing I knew, you’d snuck out to warn him. And you know the rest.”
“You don’t deserve him,” Nelle snapped. “He’s good and kind and?—”
The Snow Queen rolled her eyes. “Save the dramatics, Lolienna. It doesn’t suit you. And we’ve already wasted enough time. Let’s get you back under my control, and then we’ll go release Prince Robert.” She raised her hands, preparing the spell.
Nelle struggled in her bonds, fruitlessly. All it did was rub the ice painfully against her bare skin. No, please. I don’t want this. I can’t go back under her control. Please, I can’t. As the Snow Queen began to chant the incantation, Nelle squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for the inevitable.