35. Kit Breaking the Ice
Kit: Breaking the Ice
Like every other door Kit had seen in the Snow Queen’s keep, the door Tornassuk had indicated was just a thick sheet of ice with no handles or locks.
He pressed his hand against the icy surface, his heart pounding in his ears.
I’m so close…but what if the bear was lying?
Or what if the queen is holding Robin elsewhere?
His fears threatened to overwhelm him, and he had to take several slow, deep breaths to get his heart rate under control.
If Robin’s statue was elsewhere, he’d find it.
He was certain of it. He just needed to do this quickly and get back to Nelle.
His concern for her was almost as fierce as his concern for his missing brother.
Remembering the polar bear’s warning, Kit pounded his fist on the door three times.
As soon as his last knock sounded, the door began to rise slowly.
A rush of cold air burst from the room within, and Kit shivered, though he wasn’t sure whether the involuntary act was from the chill, which he barely felt, or the anticipation of what he might find within.
After a moment’s hesitation, he forced himself to step into the room.
He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it surely hadn’t been the sheer number of statues.
There had to have been at least a hundred creatures of every shape, species, and size.
He recognized the one closest to him, and his heart ached. Little John.
Kit took a deep breath and muttered the spell that the Snow Queen had uttered when she’d unfrozen Scarlett.
For a moment, nothing happened, and he feared that he’d misremembered. But then, there was a cracking sound, and the skin around the large man’s face peeked through the ice. He gasped, his breath raspy and ragged, as he stumbled into Kit’s arms.
“Easy. Easy, John,” Kit said softly, heaving the man upright.
Little John’s brilliant blue eyes widened, and he tried to push free of Kit’s grasp. “What the—Who are you? Some monster that my captor has sent to torment me?”
“What? No, I—” Suddenly, Kit remembered he was still in his dragonish form. He closed his eyes and willed it away. When he opened them, he was back in his humanoid form.
Little John’s face burst into a smile, and he threw his arms around Kit. “Kit! Where have you been, man? We’ve been looking for you for—” Suddenly, he seemed to remember himself, and he gasped and bowed. “Oh. My prince. My apologies, I didn’t?—”
“It’s fine, John,” Kit assured him. “Trust me, I would have reacted the same way.” He smiled at the man. “It’s good to see you again, old friend.”
“It’s good to see you again,” Little John said fervently, before looking around. “Where are we? The last thing I remember, I was at a meeting with Robin’s other…er, advisors.” He grimaced at the words.
“It’s fine, John,” Kit assured him. “I know all about the Sherwood Company. And as for where we are…” Kit quickly gave the man an explanation of what had happened since he’d been frozen.
Once he had finished, he looked around. “We need to hurry. I don’t know how long we have before the Snow Queen discovers our presence. And we need to find Nelle.”
Little John nodded. “Show me how to break the spell.”
Kit turned to the closest statue, a short pregnant young woman with a cheerful face, and recited the incantation.
Her transformation was similar to Little John’s, though she remained upright when she came out of the spell.
“What…where am I? How did I get here?” she demanded, brushing her wild red curls out of her face.
Kit bowed to her. “My apologies, my lady, but we don’t have time for a thorough explanation. I’ll explain once we’re out of here. What’s your name?”
“Lucy Doyle,” the woman said, her brow furrowing.
“Doyle? Are you related to Sebastian Doyle?” Little John demanded.
“He’s my husband,” the woman said, cocking her head. “Have you seen him? He’s been missing for three days.”
“Er…more than that,” Little John said, glancing at Kit. “He’s an ally of Robin’s. I just heard of Soldier’s disappearance right before Nelle, er…dealt with me. He might be in here somewhere.”
“Robin?” If it was possible, the woman’s face grew paler. “Is he here too? He’s my brother. Well, half-brother.”
“Half-brother?” Kit demanded.
Lucy nodded, though the grimace on her face made Kit think she’d said something she hadn’t meant to. “Same father. Different mother,” she said succinctly.
“Well, then, you’re my sister as well,” Kit said, offering his hand. “My name is Christopher, but my family calls me Kit.”
Lucy’s eyes widened. “You’re Kit? But you’ve been missing for…” She shook her head. “I’m not even sure how long.”
Somewhere overhead, an alarm blared, startling the trio.
Little John shook his head. “We can have a family reunion later. Right now, we need to free as many of these people as we can. My lady, can you keep watch at the door?” He gestured to her very pregnant belly.
“I’m not sure how much strain you want to put on your body now. ”
Lucy sighed. “Very well. But only because I’m fairly certain my husband would have a fit if he thought I was overexerting myself.” She waddled to the door and peeked out. “But you two had better find Robin and Sebastian, or you’re going to have one very irritable pregnant lady on your hands.”
“We’ll find them,” Kit assured her, his eyes soft on his newfound sister. “I promise.”
Lucy studied him hesitantly for a second, then nodded, returning her attention to the door. “See that you do. Or the Snow Queen is going to be the least of your worries.”
Little John shot Kit a sly glance. “Your sister is a firecracker.”
“I heard that,” Lucy called. “You’d better hurry. If being married for a year to one of the most senior castle guards has taught me one thing, it’s that alarms like that are never good news.”
Kit nodded and turned to the next statue.
Down the line, he sensed Little John doing the same.
As he made short work of each spell, he kept his eyes trained on the faces in front of him, searching for the one that he knew almost as well as his own.
And though he came across the dark-skinned fairy he’d saved once in the forest and a willowy woman with intricately braided black hair who he recognized as Princess Zelda, he didn’t see his brother.
One statue he found pulled him up short.
He recognized the man’s kind eyes and the shape of his face, features his children had inherited from him…
this was Hansel and Gretyl’s father. Kai.
The one who had been spying on Nelle. Kit considered momentarily leaving the man encased in ice, but eventually shook his head, muttering the spell under his breath.
The man shouted in fear as the spell lost hold of him. “Holy—” He muttered a curse. “My children. Where are my children?”
“Easy, Kai,” Kit growled. “They’re safe, far away from here.”
Kai nodded, frowning as he studied the prince’s face. “Prince Christopher?”
Kit arched his eyebrow. “You know me?”
The man ducked his head. “Yes. You probably don’t remember me, but I was in court the first time you met Queen Snow White. And?—”
“Kit! I found him!”
Kit glared at the man. “Hold that thought. We’re not done.”
With those words, Kit left Kai and raced to Little John’s side, his heart pounding like a dwarven drum. And then, all at once, he was there. Tears crept into his eyes as he stared into the frozen face of Robin.
Little John studied him carefully. “Do you want to do the honors? Or do you want me to take care of it?” A frown marred his features. “You look a bit tired.”
“I’m fine,” Kit assured him without looking at him. Still, he couldn’t help stumbling over the words a bit as he recited the spell to free Robin.
The younger prince blinked as the spell lifted, as if he couldn’t quite believe his eyes. “Kit? Is that you?”
Kit couldn’t speak the words around the lump in his throat, but he threw his arms around his brother.
“It’s you. It’s really you. You’re back,” Robin said, throwing himself into his older brother’s arms. “I can’t believe it.”
“Believe it, brother,” Kit said, his voice cracking a bit.
“But…where were you? Were you in this frozen wasteland all this time?” Robin asked, looking around the room.
Kit shook his head. “It’s a long story.”
“One we don’t have time for,” Lucy said from the door. “I hear footsteps coming down the hall.”
“Queen Snow White—wait, Lucy, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be resting! You’re eight months pregnant!” Robin scowled.
“Probably closer to nine months at this point,” Kit muttered in an undertone, but Little John elbowed him and shook his head, jerking it toward the fairy who’d gone to join her at the door.
“If Soldier—I mean, Sebastian—hasn’t figured that out yet, I don’t want to be the one to tell him,” his friend said in an undertone. “He’s going to be angry as it is that she’s here in the first place.”
“My vixen is right,” the fairy said from his place at the door. “We need a quick exit.”
“I can’t leave yet. I have to find Nelle,” Kit said. “And besides, we’ve still got all these people left to unfreeze.”
“Nelle? You mean the girl with amnesia?” Robin frowned. “I don’t understand. What does she have to do with all?—”
“It’s a long story,” Kit sighed. “Suffice to say that we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her, and I’m not leaving without her.” His stomach flip-flopped at the very thought.
“Okay,” Robin said slowly, tearing his eyes away from his brother’s face. “Well, I’m open to suggestions.”
“We could try the exit,” Kit suggested. “The polar bears told me where to go.”
“I don’t love the idea of forcing all these people to make a death march through the ice in unfamiliar territory,” Sebastian said, limping over. “That would be dangerous in any circumstances, but even more so if there are more polar bears around this place.”
“He’s right,” Robin said. “Plus, I don’t want to take the chance that the exertion will send Lucy into labor.”
If we can find a mirror, we might be able to mirror-travel,” Sebastian said. “I’m pretty sure Oliver would offer to foot the bill if we do that.”
“Forget Oliver. I’ll pay for it if it comes down to it,” Robin said. “But that means we have to find a mirror.”
Kit grimaced. “I’m pretty sure I know where there might be one. But you’re not going to like it.”
Robin gave a lop-sided smile. “Don’t worry. I don’t like anything about this situation.”
“There’s probably a mirror in Queen Snow White’s office,” Kit said. “She used a magic mirror to control Nelle. She probably keeps a duplicate close to her.”
Robin groaned, his smile disappearing. “You’re right. I hate that idea.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have anything better,” Little John muttered, turning to Sebastian. “Do you?”
The fairy shook his head. “Nope. I’ve never been here before. I wouldn’t know where else to look for a mirror.”
“Great,” Robin said, before letting out a long-suffering sigh. “But just so you know, if your idea kills us, Kit, I’m going to resurrect the lot of us to kill you again myself.”
“Aw, I missed you too,” Kit said. He glanced back at the room of statues. “What about the rest of these people?”
Robin shook his head ruefully. “We can’t wait here to transform them all. We don’t have the time.”
“So we just…leave them?” Kit asked, his stomach dropping.
Robin nodded. “We’ll come back for them. One way or another,” he assured him.
Kit sighed. “Fine.”
“Let’s go,” Little John ordered, spinning around from the room to find himself face-to-face with the seething Snow Queen, her breath frosting in the frigid air.