Hearts Under Ice

by CS Patra

  “I know.” Her voice was as light as the air. It was strange, because she looked like she was in her forties, but sounded much younger. “Do you know why you were brought here?”

  “You want something from me,” he said. “I still don’t understand why you couldn’t just ask me. Why did you have to kidnap me?”

  “I needed it to be that way. It was part of the plan,” she explained. “I know it is hard to believe, but I am on your side. I was the one who hired The Brotherhood of Iced Blood, with the promise that I would hand over the Hearts Under Ice. I also promised to back down from the throne and let the world be free. What they don’t realize is that I am trying to get them in a corner.”

  “Get them in a corner? Are you telling me that you’re trying to fight against them by pretending to be on their side?” Donnie asked. “Your Majesty, I’m still not sure exactly why you need me here.”

  “The woman you love is the one they are really after,” the Frost Queen went on. Donnie pressed his lips together, but said nothing. The fact that Olivia wasn’t his girlfriend or a woman he loved was falling on deaf ears. “She has an ability that they wish to harness. She can move in and out of worlds with no problem. You were a lot harder to bring here. The only way we could let you in was if you were sleeping the entire time, and if we kept your body temperature very low.”

  “That’s not a problem for Olivia, right? She’ll be fine no matter what world she’s in,” Donnie said. “I’m still the bait, then.”

  “You’re a different kind of bait. They think that they’re using you to make me surrender my world and bring your sweetheart to them. I want you because I need you to help me execute a plan to take them down. I need both of you here to go through with it. If they are to succeed in their plot for dominance, they will end up throwing all of the universes out of sync. It would even change the world you are living in,” she went on. “The Brotherhood of Iced Blood is not your friend. They will use you, and then throw you away. I will not allow that to happen. Instead, I’m going to need you to just pretend that you are working for them. You need to find a way to get through to Olivia and get her to my castle as soon as possible.”

  “Wait, I’m in your castle?” Donnie asked. “It’s not made of ice!”

  “I know.” She winked at him. “That’s what makes it different from the others. On the outside, it appears to be made of ice. I saw that you were struggling in the icy prison, so I convinced my men to move you out of there and into here. The one who spoke to you was actually one of them. He put you in a more comfortable prison and convinced the leader of the gang that we did it so you would be closer to them. In reality, you’re a lot safer from their grasp in here.”

  “So what does that mean? They don’t know where I am or is there something else to this?”

  “No, they don’t know where you are. There are no other tricks behind this. They trust me to be keeping you in an ice prison. This looks like it’s made of ice but on the inside, it is actually platinum, and that throws everyone off. I made my castle this way when I was attacked years ago. The Brotherhood of Iced Blood accused me of keeping the world enslaved, and demanded I hand over the Hearts Under Ice. I refused, so they attacked a factory. Many people perished, and there was a lot of damage that took a very long time to fix. I knew that I could not give in to their demands, but I wanted to protect the people of my world, as well. We were able to lock up most of the group’s members, but many are still around. They were the ones who sent me a message, telling me that they needed Olivia. They said that she could help determine the fate of the worlds.”

  “How did they know that Olivia has this ability? I doubt even she knows.”

  “I don’t know, but they claim that she is the one who will destroy the world. If I don’t give up the Hearts Under Ice and bring her to them, I can kiss my kingdom goodbye. That’s why I brought you here. I told them to use you as the bait. It would be the quickest way to get Olivia here.” She let out a sigh. “I also told them about your skills.”

  “My skills? My invention isn’t complete, Your Majesty,” he pointed out. “I’ve been working long and hard, and I haven’t been able to get into another world with it yet. That’s why I’m so impressed with Olivia. She’s got an ability that I don’t have.”

  “You’re impressed with her?” the Queen looked at him like he was lying. She decided to change the subject. “You must be careful when you speak with them again. Pretend that you are working on what they want. In the meantime, try to get ahold of Olivia. I’m doing all I can from my end. My men are trying to find her so you two can be reunited.”

  “Reunited?” Donnie was confused. “All right, let me try to understand. You are pretending that you are helping the Brotherhood of Iced Blood. You told them that you’re giving in by giving them what they want. In reality, you want Olivia and me to—what? Stop them, somehow? Neither of us really knows what’s going on or how to stop these guys. I certainly can’t come up with anything while I’m locked in here. Are you sure that we’re the right people for this job?”

  “I could have easily asked anyone else, but Olivia has a connection to these worlds. She was unaware of it until now. I’m still not sure what opened up her abilities, but now she can move in and out of worlds with no problem. As you can see, that’s very valuable to the enemy. If they are able to access that ability, then they could cause chaos in other worlds. We have to get to her before they do.”

  Donnie nodded. “I guess I can’t keep moping around, then. Basically, you want me to pretend that I’m a prisoner here. I’ll try to contact Olivia and tell her exactly where I am. What am I supposed to do if they want me?”

  “You let me deal with them,” the Queen said. “You get to work, and try to get ahold of your love. Pretend you’re making your machine. If I hear from her, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, I need to go back. I have to meet with them soon.”

  “All right, Your Majesty. I’ll do what I can.”

  As she left, Donnie took time to think about what he had learned. He was bait all right, but not in the way he had expected. The Frost Queen was using him to get back at the Brotherhood of Iced Blood. Both sides wanted Olivia because she had a power to move between universes. The problem was that he didn’t know if he could really trust anyone. He wanted to believe the Frost Queen, but staying in here and being the bait wasn’t for him. He had to get out of the castle. If he could find an opening in the room, then he could break through and try to find Olivia himself. He didn’t want to keep playing the bait if the world was in danger.

  Hang in there, Olivia. I’ll be on my way. He thought, digging around in his room. The time for moping and whining was over. He needed to escape, and he would get out of here by any means necessary.

  He got down on his knees and began to look for the opening again.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Olivia opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by Astrid, Ms. Howard, Gemma, Alice, and also Jei. She thought she had been dreaming again, but remembered quickly what had happened. She had successfully made it to the Frostland without falling asleep, and was now on her way to find Donnie. Gasping, she sat up and tried to get out. Jei and Astrid had to hold her down, and Ms. Howard handed her some water. Her head was pounding, but they needed her to be well. She had to buckle down and ignore the pain. Ms. Howard waited until Olivia starting drinking to speak. Not wanting to keep everyone waiting, she took a sip.

  “Drink up. You’ve been asleep for a long time.” She said, letting Olivia take some sips. “That’s good. We need to keep you strong for the rest of the journey.”

  “What happened, guys?” she asked, taking a few minutes to breathe. “Did we make it to the Frost Queen’s castle?”

  “No, we got sidetracked because you fainted.” Astrid said. “I had to stop at Thymasa so you could recover. We’re about halfway there.”

  “Oh good, now we can leave this place and continue on our way to see the Queen!” Olivia exclaimed, trying to jump o
ut of bed. Once again, Jei and Astrid held her down. “Hey, what gives? Donnie is in danger.”

  “That’s what we thought, up until I got a message from the Queen herself. I try to keep up with her when it comes to current events,” Jei said. “Her men found me at the pub and asked if I knew where you were. I didn’t at the time, so they told me to find you and give you a message from her. Your boyfriend is fine. He is being kept in a safe place by the Queen in her castle. All of this was apparently a way to trick the gang.”

  “Wait, she has him?” Olivia rubbed her eyes. “I’m so confused now. I thought the Brotherhood were the ones who kidnapped him. How did the Queen get him?”

  “They have apparently made a pact. The Queen said that they would have you if they kidnapped your boyfriend and used him as bait. You’re the one they want the most. They have apparently spent their entire lives looking for you.”

  “Me? Why would anyone want me?” she asked. “There’s nothing I have that they could want. I’m just a normal person that doesn’t really belong in this world. I only want to find—” Olivia stopped herself from saying my boyfriend. It was easy to think of Donnie as her boyfriend, but they hadn’t made anything official. “Well, I don’t know why they’re after me! They should just leave Donnie alone if I’m the one they want.”

  “Evidently, you have a power that they want, and they’ll stop at nothing to get it. That’s why they’ve kidnapped your boyfriend—because they know you’ll come after him,” Alice said. “The Queen said that she has kept him safe, but doesn’t know how long she can keep up this ruse. We need to get to her castle as soon as we can.”

  “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s move.” Olivia tried to roll out of bed and felt a sharp pain in her back. She had not considered the fact that she would also be injured. “Ow! What was that?”

  “Yeah, you may want to be careful,” Astrid said. “When you fell down, you landed hard on that area, and you’re still healing. You’ll have to wait to travel until you’re feeling better.”

  “I can’t wait long. Donnie needs me. I don’t care what the Queen says. I came here for a reason.” Olivia rubbed her side tenderly. “I’m not giving in to those creeps, and I’m not leaving this world until I get some answers. I’m also not leaving until I get Donnie back. Why are we using him as bait? What do I have that these people want so badly?”

  “Evidently, your ability to survive in this world appeals to them.” Gemma said, helping her get into her clothes. Her side was still hurting, and she could see that there were bandages wrapped around her waist. She had no idea how she was going to explain all of this to her parents.

  Her parents. For the first time in a while, she began to think about them.

  Oh God, I almost forgot about them! She tried to eat the food Astrid had given her, but her appetite wasn’t back. Her parents had to be worried now. They were probably sending a search party for her. Not that it would help. They had no idea that she was no longer in their world. Time in this world might be moving faster than in her own, but she still felt awful. She missed them now. Sorry, guys. I need you to be patient with me. I’ll be home in time for dinner.

  Gemma seemed to read her mind, because she squeezed her shoulders. “Your family will be all right. You would never be able to explain this to them, anyway. It’s best that we don’t share this at all. The Brotherhood of Iced Blood might go after anyone with too much knowledge. We need to keep things from that world separate from this one.”

  Olivia nodded. “Are you sure they won’t be worried?”

  “Please try to understand that time moves much more quickly here. Your parents won’t even know that you’re gone. You’ll be home, and they won’t notice any changes. That’s how time is in other worlds. Sometimes it’s faster, and other times, it’s slower. I know you miss them, but they will be all right. Just don’t tell them what you have been up to.”

  “Oh, they’d never believe me in the first place.” Olivia got up and looked at the group. “All right, I think I’m feeling well enough to continue. Let’s get to that castle and find out what’s really going on.”

  “I just told you what happened.” Jei said.

  “I believe you, but I feel like there’s more to this story. Now, let’s get going. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can get my answers.” The pain was still shooting through her side, but she needed to go. She had a feeling that the Queen had only told half of the story. She wanted to figure out what the other half of it could be. She also wanted those strange messages to stop.

  As everyone loaded up the sleigh, Olivia decided that this was the perfect time to talk to Jei. He was standing by himself while Alice kept looking at him. She could sense the tension between them, but decided not to question either one. Their tension was going to have to wait. Right now, she had more important questions on her mind. It was the first time she was actually going to talk to Jei in person. She ran up to him, as best as she could while injured.

  “Excuse me, Jei, I was wondering if I could bother you with some questions.”

  “Anything would be better than getting the death-stare from Alice over there.” Jei nodded towards Alice, who was glowering in his direction. “She hasn’t been the same since we’ve split. She claims she’s over everything, but I don’t think so. Look at the way she’s glaring at me! It’s like she would strike me down if she could!”

  Olivia did her best to move away from the subject. “I was wondering if you could tell me more about the Brotherhood of Iced Blood. I’ve heard bits and pieces, but I just don’t understand why they would want me. I don’t have powers. I never believed in all of that.”

  “That’s what you think,” Jei said. “In reality, you can move through worlds very easily. If they were to harness your ability, the world would be in chaos. They find you to be more valuable than even the Hearts Under Ice. They may claim they want peace, but peace doesn’t come that easily. You cannot just set people free and expect no repercussions. That’s why the Queen refuses to hand over her power. She knows what could happen if she did.”

  “Are we sure that the Queen is really on our side? She’s been creating snowstorms left and right ever since I got here.”

  “Oh, she is on your side. Don’t let those storms fool you. She can be emotional, but she is not a monster,” Jei promised. “I was a little confused by her plan at first. I asked her why we didn’t just ask you for help in the first place. She said that we had to go behind the Brotherhood’s back. We had to pretend that we were working for them. This was the only way we could take them down. She has been scared ever since the group firebombed that factory. She was so terrified, she went into hiding for a whole year. No one heard from her or knew what happened. We all feared that she was dead until she finally appeared again one day. She told us that she had been working on plans to protect the world, and that’s why she stayed out of the picture. Most people bought that excuse.”

  “You clearly didn’t buy it,” Olivia realized. “How come?”

  “I didn’t say that. I had a few doubts, but I didn’t see any reason for the Queen to lie. After all, it was a very traumatic incident. We were all shaken up by it, and no one wanted to leave their homes for a long time afterward. It took me a while to get back outside and live a normal life again. That was just one incident. Who knows what could happen if they attacked more public places?” Jei took a deep breath and added, “Did anyone ever tell you about the history of Thymasa?”

  “No one has told me the history of anything. I barely know anything about this world. I just know it’s covered in ice and snow.” A thought occurred to her then. “Do you know what would happen if this snow melted?”

  “Melted? Don’t be ridiculous, dear. That doesn’t happen! Now, going back to the history, Thymasa was built after the firebombing. The queen wanted to fool the Brotherhood and any other thieves that wanted to steal the Hearts Under Ice. So, Thymasa was created as a stop and a way to confuse those who might have ulterior motives. It is
also protected by the Queen, so no one can cause harm to it. The Brotherhood has tried desperately to get rid of Thymasa, but they haven’t been successful. They’ll never be able to break the Queen’s spell. This is the safest place in this world.”

  “How come the Queen couldn’t just put spells on other towns?”

  “Well, they were already formed before she was born. The Brotherhood wasn’t a huge problem back in the day. They were a relatively small bunch, and only started to expand when the idea of a free world spread around. No one thought they would do anything back then. The factory attack is what pushed the Queen into action. They wanted her to hand over the Hearts Under Ice, but she refused. She said that losing them would mean the end of our world. We thought that would be the end of the terror, but it wasn’t. If anything, it made them angrier.”

  “I had no idea that these gems could be so important. What do they have to do with me?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine. There is some connection between you, this world, and those gems. We won’t know what it is unless we get there before they do. I would hate to think about what would happen if they managed to actually steal those gems.”

  “We’ll have to take them down, then. No one’s ending the world on my watch,” Olivia declared. She knew she was jumping into something without having full knowledge of it. Then again, she didn’t really want to know their history. They were the ones sending her these messages, and they had kidnapped Donnie. They were threatening him. She believed the firebombing story, and knew they could be dangerous. She didn’t want to wait to find out what they were up to.

  Jei looked over at where Astrid was and called out to her. “Is everything ready?”

  Astrid looked over everything one last time. “Yeah, we can go now!”

  “Great! Let’s move out!” Olivia said, running over to the sleigh. Her side was still aching, but she didn’t care. She could bear this type of pain if it meant getting some answers. Jei helped her up on the sleigh, and she rested her back against a big bag. Normally, she would have wanted to know more about the town and take it all in, but she was in too much pain for that now. She could only hope that the Brotherhood of Iced Blood wouldn’t try to strike Thymasa. She wanted the Queen’s spell to be strong enough to protect it.