by Tom Hansen
Chapter Eight
Breakfast was served and it was the most delicious thing Ynya had ever tasted.
Synol wouldn’t stop glaring at her the entire meal.
“What?” Ynya asked.
Synol looked away. “Nothing.” She picked up her fork and moved her potatoes around on her plate again.
It was pretty clear Synol wasn’t going to eat anything, but Ynya was famished, and at the very least she had to admit the food was well-made and delicious.
Besides, if the Queen wanted them dead, they would be dead already. Regardless of her tyrannical nature, the Queen had seemed to treat Meki well, even if she had trained her to call her mother.
Plus, Ynya hoped to lower the Queen’s defenses by acting like she was at least partly all right with being trapped here. Ynya needed to learn a little more about their illustrious Queen of the North, but still refused to give her the satisfaction of addressing her directly. Instead, she asked Meki a question.
“So, Meki, how many new spells have you learned? You are incredibly young to be learning so many new things like this.”
Meki’s eyes got big and bright once again and she dropped her fork to the plate to talk. But just as she was about say something, the Queen cleared her throat.
Immediately, Meki’s eyes narrowed and she closed her mouth. She picked her fork back up and turned to look at Ynya.
Despite the jovial look just a moment ago, Meki’s entire countenance changed. Instead of the bright-eyed youth she’d been to Ynya all these years, her face now had a cold, hard look to it.
“I am a frost mage, and I have learned to unlock my full potential.”
That was when Ynya noticed a wavering of magic between Meki and the Queen. It was barely perceptible, and only lasted a fraction of a second, but was distinct enough for Synol to turn her head in their direction.
Ynya speared another potato with her fork, stuffing it into her mouth. She spoke and chewed at the same time. “And what is your full potential?”
Meki glanced at the Queen, then back to Ynya. “I’m still learning that.”
Ynya nodded. “That’s good to hear. We all have a lot of potential built within us when we are born. We can do great and we can do terrible things.”
Synol kicked her under the table, followed by a glare that should have set her on fire.
Ynya glared back even more fiercely, then looked across the table at her youngest sister.
Part of her brain yelled at her to stop digging the hole she was in. She knew she should, but something about this felt like the right thing to do. She’d tried to go in hands blazing before, she’d tried that and failed too many times. Regardless, she wasn’t the type to just do nothing at all. She had to act, she had to try something, and following around the Frost Queen through a tour of her house wasn’t getting them any closer to escaping.
Ynya needed to push. She needed to prod. She needed to get a reaction out of the Queen, so she would finally expose some kind of weakness. The only thing she’d done was think about killing the Queen, and got her magic taken away because of it. It wasn’t much, but at least it was the start of building a profile about the enemy.
Ynya continued. “What is important is what we choose to do with those abilities.” She gestured around the table, pointing at each of her sisters in turn. “Before a couple months ago, I had no idea that my sisters had access to magic. Now, here we are, two months later and we have all manner of magic users gathered together around the table.”
Ynya put her fork down and stood. Her stomach was in knots, and the icy glare from Synol bore into the back of her head, but she ignored those feelings, pushing them down deep in order to allow the righteous anger she’d been holding on to for so long to rise to the surface once again.
She almost felt her familiar heat rise with her anger, but it was still just out of reach.
So close, but so far.
“Only, some of us don’t have access to that magic right now because perhaps another person at this table is too scared of what they will do with that magic.”
Ynya looked at Meki, but not before glancing at the Queen, who chewed slowly. “I just think that it’s important to look at what we do with our magic. Simply having magic is a blessing from the Gods Above, but what we choose to do with that magic is what defines us. Taking others’ magic without their permission and using your own magic to force them to do what you want is one thing you can do with your magic, but there are other things you can do.”
Ynya’s heart pounded in her chest and in her temples.
What am I doing? She was far beyond poking and prodding, but her mouth just wouldn’t stop spewing words.
She turned to the rest of the table, glancing at Finny across from her and Synol to her side. “I just think that we all need to remember that how we act matters, don’t you agree?”
Ynya turned toward the Queen, who, surprisingly, wore a smile across her face.
“I like you, Ynya. I really do. I know you might think I’m some kind of tyrant, and perhaps I am, but the simple fact is that you haven’t seen the things I have in my life.”
The Queen stood, grabbed the side of her shirt and lifted, exposing her side. A thick scar ran across her middle, starting from her navel and wrapping halfway around her back. “My own father did this to me, nearly cut me in half with his large axe. It was only through the bravery of my brother that I’m alive today. He gave his life so that I might live.”
She put down her shirt and put a leather boot on the table, lifting up her skirt to show off an oddly smooth and silvery patch of skin on her lower left leg. “I was burned here too, and I have many other scars I could show off if you truly are curious.”
She dropped her skirt and put her foot back down on the cold stone floor.
“I have lived a very long time, Ynya, and I have seen many things that would curdle your stomach. Perhaps I am a tyrant, but I’m a tyrant on a mission and I will obtain what I seek. All I am trying to do is get back what is mine, I assume you can understand that notion?”
The Queen gestured to Ynya’s other sisters. “You have killed hundreds of my soldiers in order to recover your own sisters, but you begrudge me doing the same to return back to my homeland? All I want is to return home after being forced away. You of all people should understand that sentiment, no? We are not so different when it comes down to what we are willing to do to return home with our family.”
The Queen pursed her lips and stared Ynya down for what seemed like an eternity.
Terror surged through Ynya.
This might be it. Over before it began.
Ynya had already said too much, and she was going to be killed for it.
Or worse, put on one of those ice spikes.
The Queen’s eyes narrowed, and she brought up her hand.
Ynya tensed as magic swirled around the Queen.
The Queen snapped her fingers.
Inside her chest, Ynya’s magic burst forward, pushing heat into her extremities with a shivering tingle.
“You want your magic back? Fine. I’m not afraid of you in the slightest. I am quite curious to see what you choose to do with it.”
Chapter Nine
Ynya didn’t move.
No one did.
The moment stretched on for what seemed an age before the Queen finally huffed, turned to Meki, and spoke. “Time for you to train, little one.”
Meki stood, her wide eyes never leaving Ynya. Meki’s little lip trembled ever so slightly, or at least Ynya hoped that was what she saw.
Ynya saw easily through the bluster in her little sister. Meki was still a little girl taken from her mother too young and now controlled by an evil monster to be used for her own needs.
As Meki turned to follow the Queen, Ynya returned a warm smile. She smiled until Meki finally broke the gaze and followed the Queen out of the room.
Ynya couldn’t describe it, but she thought she saw something in those eyes. She thought she saw her
old sister for a moment.
“What about us?” Ynya asked before the Queen left the spacious dining room.
The Queen stopped, turning her head back slightly, but still not far enough to look at any of them.
“As I told you before, you are guests in my home. Feel free to roam around, visit old friends, or take a nap. I do have activities planned for everyone, so I would recommend filling your stomachs and resting as much as you can. It’s not all dinner parties and naps here. Things have been set in motion and your late arrival has me scrambling to get certain things done, so you will have to excuse me for leaving in the middle of a meal.”
With that, she left, Meki in tow.
Ynya fell back into her seat, relishing her missing fire. All the tension built up in her shoulders and neck from mouthing off to the Queen released, leaving her jittery and jumpy. She wanted to punch something to get out her nerves.
I can’t believe I did that!
Synol let out an exasperated breath.
Ynya looked at Finny, whose face had a curious and frightened expression. “Are you okay, Finny?”
Finny looked back at Ynya. “Yes, why would I not be?”
“Because the Frost Queen took our magic.”
Finny scrunched up her eyebrows. “No, she did not. I had access to my magic the entire time.”
Ynya stood, putting her hands on the table. Now that her fire was back, her temper flared with it.
“You had access to your magic this entire time?”
Finny nodded, her face devoid of any regret. “Of course. I felt her take yours and Synol's but she didn’t take mine.”
Ynya fisted her hands, but didn’t quite know what to do with them. She wasn’t really mad at Finny, it wasn’t her fault. Maybe the Queen hadn’t felt threatened by Finny, but had by Synol?
That’s at least something.
Ynya also wondered if there was some kind of game the Queen was playing. By favoring one sister over the other, or treating them differently, she might successfully drive a wedge between them that could fester.
Ynya dropped all frustration from her mind. No matter how much any of them got on each other’s nerves, she couldn’t allow doubt to keep them apart. Too much was at stake, and the Queen held all the power right now.
Ynya needed to pay attention.
Smoke, not fire.
“So, what is the plan?”
Synol glanced around. “Don’t you think there would be a better place to discuss this?”
Ynya looked around. No one else was in the room that she could see. “Why not? We’re alone.”
Synol huffed, her eyes narrowing. “Ynya, no one in royalty is ever truly alone. I guarantee you that behind each of those tapestries are listening locations where she has people writing down everything we discuss.”
Synol turned and pointed to the two doors on one wall. “There are soldiers stationed just outside of the room, and don’t forget there are the servants that brought us the food. They are probably at their door right now, listening.”
Ynya looked around at the various doors and tapestries, finally realizing what Synol was talking about. Part of her didn’t care, though.
“So what? It doesn’t matter, anyway. If what you say is true, then she’s going to have us watched every second of the day, so we won’t have any privacy. If that’s the case, then why worry about something we can’t control? We might as well just be honest with each other because otherwise we’re going to have to sneak around and whisper to say hello in the morning.”
Ynya sat back down and grabbed a biscuit off her plate. Breaking off a piece, she turned back to Finny. “Do you know why she didn’t take your magic?”
Synol grabbed the biscuit from Ynya and tossed it back onto the plate. “You think this is a game?”
Ynya dropped the little bit of biscuit from her hand and stood again, getting dangerously close to Synol’s scrunched face.
They were both clearly angry, but Ynya didn’t rightly care right now. “Yes, it’s a game that you taught me to play, remember?”
Ynya leaned closer, nose to nose with Synol. Despite her desire to keep petty squabbles to a minimum, Synol just had a way about her that got under Ynya’s skin far too easily.
“Aren’t I supposed to say things without saying them? Didn’t I do that with her just now by talking to Meki rather than her? I thought you would be proud that I’m learning from you and trying new things.”
Ynya pointed to the tapestry. “If we are truly guests like she says, then let’s act like guests. Let’s eat, wander around, explore, and take in the sights. Sure, she’s probably going to have us followed the whole time, but there isn’t much we can do about that, can we? We can argue like we did in the past, or we can find out more about this place and what is going on.”
Ynya sat back down in her chair, grabbed the biscuit and shoved half of it into her mouth.
She was done arguing. It was time to do something.
Synol huffed, balled up her fists like she was going to hit something, but then turned and stormed away, her boots clomping on the stone.
Finny and Ynya glanced at each other for a moment before Finny smiled. “I like it when the two of you pretend to fight. It’s cute.”
“We’re not pretending!” Synol shouted from across the room.
Ynya spoke with her mouth full. “She’s just jealous that I got our magic back from the Queen instead of her.”
Ynya munched on her biscuit for a bit longer, wishing she hadn’t bit off so much.
Synol tromped around behind her, but Ynya gave her no mind. Synol would calm down once the conversation started up again.
Finny sat back down on her chair with a melancholy look about her. She picked up her goblet and drained it in one gulp, then set it back down on the table probably harder than she expected, resulting in the goblet falling over, rolling off the table, and hitting the stone floor.
As it hit the floor, it rang out with a combination of dull thud and high-pitched ping.
Faster than Ynya’d ever seen her move, Finny shot out of her chair, grabbed the goblet with one hand, sat back down in her chair, and placed the goblet back where it should have been.
She’d managed to do the motion in the time between the goblet’s first and second bounce, which was no small feat.
“You caught it too late, now the goblet is forever marred by the floor.” Ynya replied.
Finny huffed, a small smile gracing her downturned lips. “Maybe I allowed it to be damaged so that it wasn’t perfect. Maybe now that it has some damage to it, it will be more real. Now it has a story it can tell other goblets, about how it survived a fall off a table and came away slightly damaged but still usable.”
Synol chimed in. “Finny, that was incredibly fast. How did you do that?”
Finny shrugged, adjusting the angle of the goblet on the table before her. A small flat dent on the lip betrayed the fact that the goblet had been dropped. “It’s all part of the modifications they did to me while I was at Reyoarfjell.”
The mention of the concentration camp precursed silence in the room. All three girls pursed their lips and concentrated on looking at their own plates for a while.
It wasn’t something they discussed, but they had all been changed drastically by that place, Finny more than the other two. What she had gone through was unquestioningly the worst thing any person should have to go through, and her being so young made it all the worse.
No child should know that the world is bad enough to do that to someone.
But the unspoken pall in the room made Ynya think about the physical changes to Finny. She now had the ability to change into a beast and roam the wilderness in bounds rather than two human legs. She was part human and part beast.
Ynya didn’t know which part Finny associated herself with more, but it wasn’t something she wanted to ask.
Realizing the direction her thoughts were headed, Ynya forced herself to rout that line of thinking from her head an
d focus instead on the goblet.
Ynya supposed if Finny had wanted to, she could have caught that thing and had it placed back before anyone had noticed.
The fact that she had allowed it to hit the floor once before grabbing it was the important thing here.
Finny tapped her fingernail on the metal goblet, listening to the ring through the large room.
Synol giggled.
Ynya looked over at her oldest sister, shocked that a giggle had come from her. Synol was usually so uptight and put together that a giggle wasn’t something she expected.
The whole notion made Ynya want to giggle, but she managed to keep her composure in check.
Though it never got easier, as Synol replied by clinking her fingernail on her goblet.
Finny sighed.
Ynya noticed. “Finny, what’s wrong?”
Finny looked up. “I haven’t been completely honest with you two.”
Chapter Ten
Ynya turned, catching Synol’s concerned expression.
“Why? What’s wrong?” Synol asked.
Finny eyed both sisters in turn then back down to her plate. “The reason she didn’t take my magic is because she controls it. When I’m near her, something about my training and the way my magic was manipulated came out. I have no control over my magic when I’m near her, so I wasn’t a threat to her at all. It’s like all of the wind magic changes into something else when I’m around her.”
Finny looked back across the table, this time with tears in her eyes and a horrified look on her face. It was the most emotion Ynya had seen on her sister since they had reconnected weeks ago. Usually the poor girl was so careful and matter of fact.
“The magic I had before I went to Reyoarfjell is still mine, but that was just basic wind magic that Mama taught me to use. The magics they pulled out of me at Reyoarfjell are much more powerful, and there are some you haven’t seen before, some I haven’t even tried yet. I feel them in there but I’m too afraid to use them. I can’t access them when I’m like this, though. I don’t know how to explain it better.”
