Queen of Ice (Through the Fire Book 2)

by Benjamin Medrano

  Everyone nodded, and Ruethwyn picked up her glass and swirled it, seeing the lights bobbing and swirling with the movement. She’d never been terribly fond of wine, but this at least looked interesting, and after a moment of hesitation, she took a careful sip.

  A full-bodied flavor practically exploded in Ruethwyn’s mouth, rich and sending a tingle of sensation that practically curled her toes without being sour. It was hard to describe, and she quickly set the glass down, trying to decide what to think.

  “Ooh, tingly!” Korima said, giggling as she set her glass down, and Ruethwyn looked at her to see the kitsune was grinning.

  “That it is,” Navaan said, his voice a bit more relaxed. “Now, as to your question, Sella… yes, the trials are that bad. The teachers tailor the trials to every student, and from what my mentor has said, they aim to hammer your strong and weak points both, to stress you and find your limits. It’s not pleasant, but they aren’t cruel about it.”

  “It makes sense to me, though,” Ruethwyn said, taking a sip of water as she tried to decide what she thought of the wine. It was strange, that was for certain. “It tells them and you what you’re good at, and what you have room to improve on.”

  “Maybe so, but it’s exhausting. I’m actually a bit grateful for your little incident, in all honesty. It distracted the teachers and they delayed the next stage of my trials for a week. The breather has been welcome since I don’t feel quite as much like a wrung-out rag,” Navaan said. He paused, then added, “I should also say… good work, all of you. My mentor went over what happened, and plenty of us in the upper classes would’ve had difficulties doing what you did fast enough to make a difference. If you hadn’t shut down that rift in time, I don’t think anyone who’s not a teacher could’ve stopped the demons from abducting you.”

  “Rue’s the one who told me to break the keystone, though that wasn’t easy. Barthel and I had to team up to do it,” Korima replied, her voice tranquil. “I didn’t know what to do when everything went wrong. Suddenly, there was a wall of fire outside and a pack of dogs on fire chasing Barthel down the stairs.”

  “Don’t forget the demon in the kitchen,” Tadrick added. “I didn’t get to see the pack, but there was the wave of dozens of them charging for the rift later on.”

  “Which brings a question to mind that a bunch of us had when we were told about what you did, Ruethwyn,” Navaan said, and she looked over to see him staring at her intently.

  “Oh? What question might that be?” Ruethwyn asked, taking another sip of water.

  “How did you manage to open another link in the rift? The teacher had us go over the possible countermeasures we might have in that situation, and that was the one that stumped us. We’re not sure how it was even possible,” Navaan said.

  “Why would that stump you?” Sella asked, looking surprised as she took another drink of the wine.

  “On Midwinter Night, the barriers between planes are weaker, which is why a lot of rituals are easier to perform. It also makes it so that nodes aren’t strictly necessary for rifts like you saw, but even so, they aren’t easy to create. Something like that takes a lot of work to prepare, as well as strong links to the destination plane,” Navaan explained. “The problem is, that from what we heard, Ruethwyn simply dove into the portal and ripped open a second destination in an instant.”

  “Ah. Rue? Are you going to leave us wondering, or is this something you can answer?” Tadrick asked, wiggling his glass at her. He’d only drank a little, Ruethwyn noticed, and far less than Sella so far.

  “Why wouldn’t I? You haven’t given me a chance to answer,” Ruethwyn replied gently, shaking her head. “You’re overthinking things, Navaan. If you’re solidly in one of the planes, the work you have to put in is true… but if you’re inside a rift? That’s the space between worlds, the realm of passage. If it was a proper gate, the sides of it would be stabilized and ripping it open to go to a different place would be incredibly difficult, but rifts aren’t that stable. Once inside, all I needed was a link to the plane I wanted.”

  “Where’d you get it, then?” Navaan asked. “I suppose what you’re saying makes sense, but—”

  “Ooh, I know!” Korima exclaimed suddenly, her voice a touch louder than Ruethwyn had expected and causing her to wince. “Zaria, right?”

  “Partially, yes. Please, not so loud, Korima,” Ruethwyn said, adjusting her position slightly as she continued. “I had summoned Zaria, and the plane I linked to was her home plane. Even so, I couldn’t have linked to such a perfect location if she hadn’t asked for help from Amalla.”

  “Amalla?” Navaan asked, looking curious. “If I’m overstepping myself, just tell me to back off, but I find this fascinating to listen to. Everyone knows that you’re skilled, but not many people understand how you did what you did.”

  “I… do the rest of you remember me talking about Amalla?” Ruethwyn asked.

  Sella and Tadrick nodded, and Sella spoke up. “Only vaguely, but yes. When you summoned Zaria, you said that Amalla had given you Zaria’s summoning name as an interim step, or something like that.”

  “That’s right. Zaria is a fifth rank ice elemental, a type of ice nymph, and I could only just summon her safely. Her power is just barely within my body’s ability to contain, even with atavism,” Ruethwyn agreed.

  Navaan let out a low whistle, then spoke in admiration. “That’s impressive.”

  “Um, I’ve heard these ranks come up several times, but it hasn’t really been explained. Master Mara said that it affected the effective circle of summoning spells, but he didn’t tell us what the ranks meant,” Sella interrupted hesitantly.

  “Oh, well…” Tadrick hesitated, then looked at Navaan and Ruethwyn. “Would one of you like to explain? I know a bit about it, but not enough to be certain that I understand it properly.”

  “Certainly,” Navaan said, sitting up straight. “The rank of an elemental is a rough estimation of their power, Sella. It’s meant to rather directly equate to the circle of magic they would be able to use as a mage, but as not all elementals are capable of casting spells, it’s not perfect. Most elementals aren’t terribly powerful, but those who are at least fifth rank are rather impressive. They’re often somewhat stronger than a mage who only has reached fifth circle in a single sphere.”

  “That’s correct,” Ruethwyn agreed, smiling slightly as she considered, then continued. “I believe Zaria is close to reaching sixth rank, but I’m not certain. What I do know is that Amalla is much more powerful than she is. I believe that Amalla is a seventh or possibly eighth rank elemental. With her power as a beacon, opening the rift to a realm antithetical to fire demons was simple. Not easy, but simple.”

  “Seventh…” Navaan gasped, sitting up suddenly as he stared at Ruethwyn. “You have a contract with a seventh rank elemental?”

  As Tadrick exchanged a surprised but wry look with Sella, Ruethwyn smiled and shook her head as she corrected Navaan. “No. I have an arrangement to seal a contract once I’m powerful enough to survive summoning Amalla via atavism. Until then, she’s simply a distant acquaintance. She answered Zaria’s call, and Zaria has a much better relationship with her than I do.”

  “Even so, that’s sort of surprising, Rue,” Korima said cheerfully, and Ruethwyn noticed that her glass of wine was empty with some concern. “I mean, isn’t the headmaster only like, capable of eighth circle spells?”

  “I’m not sure on that, but I know that Amalla is astonishingly powerful. My teacher once had a contract with her but wasn’t capable of channeling her anymore when she taught me,” Ruethwyn admitted.

  “Okay, that explains how you got in contact with her. I was a bit envious to begin with,” Navaan said, letting out a breath as he relaxed. “I’m still envious, but—ah, here’s food!”

  Ruethwyn relaxed as she saw another server coming, this time with a cart filled with plates of different foods. The items were largely finger-foods, she noticed, ranging from pickles to sausages and
cheeses, all of it fairly light on the whole. Conversation around the table died out as they began eating.

  The meal was quite good, Ruethwyn found, and as they finished each course, the servers arrived silently to sweep the plates away and place the next in front of them. About halfway through, conversation started again, though much less focused than before.

  “Oh, I’m sure that you’ll pass the tests at the end of the year. They probably won’t be fun, but you’ll pass, unless you perform a lot worse than you did before,” Navaan assured Sella.

  “Maybe so. I just worry sometimes,” Sella admitted, picking at her salad idly.

  “Assuming you pass, what’re you planning to do over the summer? There usually aren’t classes then, though some teachers will give lessons if you ask them,” Tadrick asked curiously.

  “Mm… likely go back home to Waterstone to see my father and mother. Were you going to accompany me, Rue?” Sella asked, tilting her head.

  “Most likely,” Ruethwyn agreed, smiling slightly as she slid the plate away from her. “It’s on the edge of the Frostglades, so it’s a good place to start from.”

  “Wait, the Frostglades? What’s this about?” Tadrick asked quickly.

  “Yeah! You haven’t mentioned those anytime recently. I remember you talking about them early in the school year, something about a fair folk city in them,” Korima added.

  Ruethwyn winced, having forgotten that no one but the teachers and Sella had known about her plans. She hesitated for a moment, but decided there was no way she was going to be getting out of this without an explanation.

  “With Sella’s assistance, I found out that there might be a way to remove the curse on my injuries in the Frostglades. The individual who confirmed our suspicions wasn’t able to give additional information due to an oath to the fair folk, but he assured me that it was possible to get help,” Ruethwyn explained. “That being the case, I’m planning to go to the Frostglades once we’ve finished the final tests of the year. Sella’s hometown is right on the border, so it’s an ideal point to start from.”

  “Really? That’s wonderful, Rue!” Korima exclaimed in excitement, causing Ruethwyn to wince again.

  “Please, Korima, not so loud,” Ruethwyn said plaintively.

  Navaan chuckled, smiling as he spoke. “She’s right, though. That’s very good news indeed.”

  At the murmurs of agreement from the others, Ruethwyn decided not to tell them about how hard she’d been warned the task would be. She didn’t want to bring down the mood.

  As they headed back toward the dormitory, Ruethwyn blinked as Korima caught her sleeve to slow her down. Sella and Tadrick kept going, opening the distance between them.

  “Is something wrong, Korima?” Ruethwyn asked, glancing around as she added, “I thought you wanted to get back to the dormitory quickly since it’s getting on toward dark.”

  “I do, but I thought it was best not to let the others overhear. Where do you want to have the private conversation you had in mind?” Korima said, glancing around casually. “Not outside, though. It’s cold out here.”

  “Oh, right. I… actually had forgotten about that,” Ruethwyn replied, flushing slightly as she did so. That wasn’t entirely true, it was more that she’d started focusing on other things rather than on her confusion over Korima’s actions, but she hadn’t entirely forgotten. “Um, if we want privacy… the library has plenty of corners, but we can’t guarantee that no one will show up. I’d say one of our rooms would be best.”

  “Mm, your room, then. It’s closer, and none of the others have adjacent rooms. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them has been trying to listen in on me,” Korima decided, almost bouncing in place as she continued. “I do a little singing practice sometimes, so…”

  “Singing? Are you trying to follow in your mother’s footsteps?” Ruethwyn asked, blinking as they sped up again. “I really don’t know much about what your goals are.”

  “Follow Mother? Oh, no!” Korima exclaimed, quickly shaking her head. “No, she’s much, much too famous for me to even consider that. I’m nowhere near as beautiful as she is, and don’t have her skill at acting. I’m going to keep training a bit, but I haven’t decided on an exact course. I might try to become a traveling minstrel-mage, but I really don’t know yet.”

  “Hmm… that’d be an odd thing to see, someone from Tyrness Academy deciding to be a wandering minstrel. Still, if it’s what you’d enjoy, I don’t see why you shouldn’t do it,” Ruethwyn said, considering the idea. The thought of Korima in one of the minstrel outfits she’d seen, in the bright colors and being that flamboyant… it amused her.

  “What about you? What’re you going to do in the future, assuming you manage to get healed?” Korima asked curiously, opening the door to the dormitory for Ruethwyn.

  “That’s a very good question, and one which I haven’t considered much,” Ruethwyn admitted, stepping inside and wiping her feet on the carpet before taking another step to the side to let Korima do the same. “Probably finish my training here, then… well, I’ve loved reading about far-off lands since I was young. I find the idea of visiting some of the places I’ve read about to be intriguing. I don’t know if it’ll happen, but I’ve heard tales of the elven clans which border the Crystalsand Desert, and how their culture has changed a great deal more than ours has.”

  “Oh? The Crystalsand Desert… I’ve heard of it. It’s on the northern edge of Algaria, and supposedly the source of memory crystals,” Korima replied thoughtfully. “I don’t know much more, save that the sands shimmer like, well, crystal.”

  “That’s right. The books I read claim that you’ll be burnt alive if you dare enter the desert during the day, and even looking at it from a distance can blind the viewer permanently,” Ruethwyn confirmed, leading the way to the stairs. “I have a hard time believing that there’s a group of humans and dwarves who decided to colonize a mountain range in the middle of the desert, but there’s no reason for the books to lie about that.”

  “It does sound odd. Interesting, though!” Korima agreed, pausing behind Ruethwyn as the elven mage opened the door to her room, then followed her inside. “Now we have some privacy.”

  “Yes, we do,” Ruethwyn agreed, walking over to her desk, a bit of nervousness bubbling up through her. She considered several ways to approach the subject and startled herself as she spoke before any of the approaches could solidify. “Why did you kiss me?”

  Korima giggled loudly at that, grinning broadly at Ruethwyn in return. “Oh, Rue… is that what this is about?”

  “Well, at least partially. You also made a point of helping me into and out of the carriage, plus I’ve started noticing a few other things…” Ruethwyn began, but her voice trailed off after a moment as she sighed. “Am I reading too much into this? You said that you were trying to stave off Navaan’s attentions, but I’m really confused.”

  “No, Rue, you aren’t reading too much into things. It took me a while to figure it out for myself, but I like you,” Korima replied, grinning broadly at Ruethwyn. “At first, I was fascinated because you were so different. So confident, yet fragile… but slowly I realized there was more to you. I’m not claiming I really know you, but I think I’ve learned enough to make an informed decision. I kissed you because I wanted to, and because you’re too dense to notice otherwise. You’ve ignored every other hint I gave until today, after all.”

  “I…” Ruethwyn’s thoughts came to a stop as she tried to figure out what to say and failed.

  A large part of her had been convinced that she’d been blowing things out of proportion, and that Korima was just being nice. Another part of her had been afraid that Korima was giving her attention out of pity, which would’ve been even worse. This was something else entirely, and she wasn’t certain what to say.

  “Am I really that bad, Rue?” Korima asked, slowly sashaying toward Ruethwyn, an odd light in her eyes. “I know I can be a little… enthusiastic. Maybe even headstrong, since that’s
what my family said, but…”

  “Um, Korima… maybe you drank a bit much at dinner,” Ruethwyn replied, slowly backing away, and quickly bumping into the wall. She was suddenly worried that maybe having the conversation entirely in private hadn’t been the best decision.

  “Mm… maybe. Maybe you didn’t drink enough,” the kitsune purred, leaning forward so she was practically nose to nose with Ruethwyn, her hands on either side of the elf. “I’m still waiting for an answer, Rue.”

  “Korima…” Ruethwyn hesitated, then turned her face away quickly, taking a deep gulp of air before whispering, “I don’t know, Korima! You’re beautiful, and you’ve always been nice to me, aside from a few thoughtless comments. I just… I haven’t thought about you that way before the last week, and I’m confused.”

  “Why not? I mean… why wouldn’t you think of me romantically? I thought that I was being fairly straightforward,” Korima asked, a bit of disappointment in her voice. “I also thought you liked me.”

  “I just don’t know, Korima,” Ruethwyn replied, turning back to face the kitsune again, and felt her heart tighten at the slight wilting of the kitsune’s ears. “I always liked Anara… and I think I still do, but I don’t know about her, either. I… I’ve been planning to try to rescue those who were kidnapped for a while, and I’m just…”

  “You love her?” Korima asked softly, looking into Ruethwyn’s eye sorrowfully.

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure whether it’s just… memories, or something more. I haven’t had a chance to know what I’m feeling, Korima, and I’ve been so focused on it, I never even considered the possibility of someone liking me with how I was… was mutilated,” Ruethwyn told her, lowering her gaze.

  “Oh, Rue… you should know better. Appearances aren’t everything… just look at Madeline,” Korima said, a faint smile appearing on her face as a giggle escaped Ruethwyn’s throat. “Are you willing to at least give me a chance? Please?”

  “I… I’ll try, Korima. I’m going to need time to work things out. There’s just… I don’t know my own feelings, really,” Ruethwyn admitted, taking a deep breath. “Can you live with that?”