A Crown of Snow and Ice: A Retelling of The Snow Queen (Beyond the Four Kingdoms Book 3)

by Melanie Cellier

  “I don’t really know.” He saw our unimpressed expressions and rushed to continue. “Not for sure, anyway. But I have a guess. I come from an extremely remote mountain village. Not many of us ever even leave the village. But I wanted to see more of the world.”

  He glanced at me. “That’s why I asked to be included in the delegation to Marin.”

  “How remote?” Oliver sounded skeptical. “The mountains are too treacherous in winter for anyone to live up there permanently.”

  Sterling nodded. “That’s what made me wonder…” He looked between us both. “You see our village has a secret. One I’ve been sworn to keep. But in the circumstances…”

  “Spit it out, man,” said Oliver.

  Sterling wrung his hands together. “You have to understand that our village isn’t like other villages. The people who live there don’t like the city. They want to live away from all the complications of that life, surrounded only by nature. We like to have our own space. It’s the way we’ve been raised. The way of our ancestors.”

  “That’s all very well,” said Oliver. “But how?”

  “Well, according to the elders, several generations ago, one of my own ancestors came to the aid of a poor orphan girl. A poor, but deserving, girl.”

  I could see where this was going. “Let me guess. This oh-so-deserving girl had a godmother?” My mind instantly flew to the blue velvet queen.

  Sterling nodded. “The royal family at the time were under some sort of enchantment, apparently, and the godmother gave her a magic object. One that kept her safe from all enchantments. She freed the prince and married him. At her wedding, she asked her godmother as a wedding gift to shift the enchantment on the object just slightly. To make it so that it would protect against snow and ice rather than enchantment. And then the girl gave this object to the ancestor of mine who had helped her. She knew what they wanted, and once they had it, they retreated into the mountains and founded our village.”

  He shrugged. “We’ve lived there ever since, safe from the mountain snow. Every now and then a newcomer will arrive, someone driven up the mountain by necessity or desire. But few leave.”

  When I gave him a disbelieving look, he shrugged. “Oh, we have a small number who venture out to trade on occasion, and sometimes someone like me wants to leave. But we don’t talk about where we’ve come from, and the traders at least always return. Otherwise we keep to ourselves. “

  My mind buzzed between thoughts, going almost too fast for me to pin any of them down. “And you grew up under the constant protection of this object. And now you think that perhaps…”

  He shrugged. “It’s only a theory, Your Highness. But this enchantment does seem to be based around snow and ice…even the people…” He stopped and shivered.

  “And perhaps some of the original magic on the object lingered,” said Oliver, his eyes alight. “Perhaps it combined with the second enchantment, the one to ward off snow and ice…”

  He looked at me, our earlier disagreement forgotten in the excitement of the moment. As one we turned back to Sterling.

  “Take us to your village,” Oliver commanded.

  Part II

  The Mountains

  Chapter 15

  Oliver was ready to charge straight out of the palace and up the mountain, but our intended guide wasn’t quite so amenable—even in the face of a royal order. I couldn’t help but have some sympathy with his situation. It was quite obvious what we wanted—the godmother object that had protected his village for generations. The one they most likely couldn’t survive without.

  While Oliver argued with the man, I watched them. Of course I knew that there was something else on Oliver’s mind. Something we couldn’t discuss in front of Sterling. Something that only fueled his determination. And I wasn’t immune to Oliver’s excitement. This was the first real hope we had encountered. But still…

  Earlier I had forgotten about the man despite Celeste’s warning to pay attention to the details. I had let myself be distracted by the overwhelming nature of my new gift. But I didn’t want to compound the mistake by ignoring the second part of that advice. To never ignore my instincts. The only problem with that was I wasn’t entirely sure what my instincts were telling me.

  Something about this man had stood out to me from the beginning. But there was a good chance it was the absence of the enchantment that had caught my attention. That and a faint memory of seeing him in Marin. And yet still I hesitated.

  Eventually Oliver managed to convince the man that leading us to his village was both the right thing to do given the fast approaching destruction of our kingdom and his duty given an order from the crown prince. There would only be two of us coming, he had reminded Sterling to seal the deal. Two against an entire village. We would have to convince his people before we would have any chance of leaving with the object.

  But he flashed a glance toward me when he said it, and I knew he was thinking of our secret advantage. My powers. I just hoped I wouldn’t end up having to use them against an innocent village full of people. Surely the villagers would realize they couldn’t stand by and allow their entire kingdom to be destroyed.

  Once he had finally agreed, Sterling proved his immediate usefulness by beginning to list all the supplies we would need for a trip into the mountains. He was talking mostly to himself, making plans half under his breath. Some of the items I would never have thought of, and some I’d never even heard of. I didn’t have much experience with snow. Or mountains.

  He left the room soon after with promises to gather the necessary supplies and meet us in the entry hall at first light. Oliver had wanted to leave immediately, but Sterling hadn’t been willing to consider it.

  “The mountains are treacherous in the dark,” he said, and I had readily believed him.

  As soon as he was gone, Oliver retrieved his abandoned bag and began to stride around the room, examining items and muttering to himself. I didn’t move.

  “Oliver,” I said. He looked up, his mind clearly elsewhere. “Are you sure about this?”

  He frowned. “What do you mean? Surely you must see the significance of what he said! People do live up the mountain. And they get occasional newcomers—newcomers who stay.” He gave me a weighted look.

  I nodded. Between the mirror and this potential new object, it had been hard to know what was truly exciting him.

  “You told that girl we had a plan,” he continued, “and now we do. We go up to this village, we find the mirror, we convince them to let us borrow the object to free the palace from the enchantment, and then we use the mirror to find out who’s responsible for this. Find out and then stop them. It really couldn’t be more fortuitous timing.”

  “Well, exactly.”

  He stared at me in confusion.

  I bit my lip. “Do you really trust Sterling?”

  He straightened, a look of concern crossing his face. “Do you think he was lying? That he’s planning to slip away overnight?”

  “Actually, I hadn’t even thought of that.” I considered it. “No, I think he sounded genuinely committed to this trek. And really, where would he go? Back to his village? In that case, we can just follow him. I don’t think there are going to be a lot of other tracks heading up the mountain.”

  Oliver relaxed. “You’re right. And I don’t think his village wants the destruction of the kingdom. They do trade with us after all. And we only need to borrow this object…”

  He hoped. But I didn’t voice that thought aloud.

  With his mind apparently put at rest, Oliver turned back to his bag. I cleared my throat.

  “That isn’t actually what I meant.”

  He looked up again and waited for me to go on, but I could read the impatience at the back of his eyes. He was already consumed with this new hope and his need to save his kingdom.

  “I just meant that we don’t really know anything about him. Except for what he just told us himself. After we found him hiding in your room and spyin
g on us.” I raised an eyebrow, but Oliver just shrugged.

  “He explained that.”

  I gave him a skeptical look but let that point go. “What does he do here at the palace? I don’t think he actually said…”

  Oliver shrugged. “I have no idea. Normally I’d direct you to talk to the steward, but given the current state of the steward…”

  “Well, do you at least remember him from Marin? Was he really part of that delegation?”

  Oliver squinted off into the distance. After a long moment, he grimaced at me and shrugged again. “Sorry, Celine, I can’t remember.”

  I opened my mouth, but he must have read the frustration in my eyes, because he cut me off. “It’s hard to explain, but while I can remember things that happened while I was under the enchantment, they aren’t really clear. It’s like I’m remembering through a haze or a fog. Or like it was all a particularly lucid dream. There’s just no way I could remember details like the face of a random servant.”

  I pursed my lips and began my customary pacing. “Of course whether or not he was in Marin doesn’t really have any bearing on anything. I just wish we had a way to prove at least one thing he’s told us is true. I just have a…strange feeling about him.”

  Oliver gave me a look, so I rushed to defend myself. “I don’t just recognize him from Marin—or wherever. I saw him that day we did the tour of the city. He was watching us. And I’m sure you remember what happened on that occasion.”

  Oliver frowned. “You mean you saw him just before we took that wrong turn off? He was there in the tunnels with us?”

  “Well, no,” I said reluctantly. “It was earlier—outside.”

  Oliver growled impatiently. “Do you know how many people saw us in the city? How many palace servants run errands up there? And given he’s not affected by the enchantment, it’s hardly surprising that he might have some curiosity about a visiting foreign princess. You know—enough to stop and look if he happened to cross paths with us.”

  He gave me a pointed look, and I sighed, running a hand across my face. Everything he said was true, of course. I just wished I didn’t feel so uneasy about the whole thing.

  His face softened as he watched me, and he crossed over to stand in front of me. He ran his hand up and down my arm, his gaze locked on my face.

  “I appreciate your concern, Celine, I really do. But my kingdom is dying, and I’ve just learned that if I can’t save it—and soon—it’s going to be ripped apart even further. We were about to go off on a quest hoping to find a clue that might lead us to the mirror. Talk about a hopeless endeavor! And now here we actually have a potential option. The best I’ve ever heard for what might have happened to the thief. I always thought it strange that someone smart enough to steal the mirror in the first place was foolish enough to flee up the mountain.”

  I must have still looked unconvinced because he pushed on.

  “Maybe everything won’t work out as perfectly as I outlined earlier. But at least this way we have a double chance. If this object isn’t going to be any help, we still have a chance of finding the mirror. And if the mirror isn’t in the village, then perhaps this object will serve us instead. I’ll be cautious. I don’t have to actually trust this Sterling. But I do have to take this chance. I have to.”

  I frowned. There was no denying this plan seemed to hold more hope than wandering aimlessly around the kingdom. My thoughts circled back to the blue velvet queen.

  “Do you know that portrait in the southern corridor on the second floor? The one surrounded by velvet with the empty pedestal next to it?”

  Oliver blinked a couple of times, trying to keep pace with my change of direction. “Queen Estelle, you mean?”

  I shrugged. “I didn’t actually ask Giselle her name. But probably. Has it always been empty? The pedestal, I mean.”

  Oliver looked at me curiously. “Are you thinking she might have been the orphan girl from Sterling’s story? It would fit well enough.”

  “It just occurred to me that if it was her, maybe she had the empty pedestal placed there to honor the object that she had given away. The one that helped her free the royal family.”

  Oliver nodded, already turning back to his bag. “That could well be. And it would support Sterling’s story.”

  “Yes, I suppose so.” I still didn’t feel easy about it, but I could come up with no further reason to oppose the expedition. And after my earlier betrayal, I wanted to support Oliver now. I certainly couldn’t leave him to go up the mountain alone. Which meant I needed to pack my own bag.

  I crossed swiftly to the door, but paused before exiting, my hand on the door knob. “You told him there were only going to be two of us. I thought we’d already had that conversation.”

  He looked a little guilty. “That was when we were just going on a tour of the kingdom. A trip up into the high ranges in this weather will be far more dangerous.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Good luck with that one.” I pushed the door open. “Don’t expect any help from me.” I could imagine just how that would have gone down with me at age fifteen.

  Giselle turned out to be a lot less vocal in her protests than I would have been, but it was hard to resist the look of appeal she threw at me.

  I held up both hands and backed away. “Uh uh. I am not getting involved. This one is between the two of you.”

  Giselle looked disgusted, but I held firm. I thought she might ignore me after that, in a huff, but instead she sought me out later when Oliver had gone with Sterling to look over the supplies he had gathered.

  She got straight to the point. “I don’t like this situation.”

  I sighed, not wanting to start the conversation again, but she quickly shook her head.

  “I don’t mean that. I mean this Sterling fellow. And the whole story. It’s mighty convenient. Oh, and the coup. I don’t like that part either.”

  I winced sympathetically. Oliver had tried to use the coup as an excuse for why she needed to stay behind. He wasn’t keeping her safe, he had claimed. If there was an army camped only a day away, then we needed someone who could still think to stay.

  But she saw through that argument as easily as my fifteen-year-old self would have.

  “Yes,” she had said to him. “Because I’m going to be super effective at holding off an entire army on my own. Or perhaps you think I’m going to rouse the guard to acts of heroism? When I can’t even get my own sister—who also happens to be my best friend—to have a conversation with me anymore.”

  She was right, of course. And I could understand why the knowledge of the impending coup would only make her more uncomfortable about being abandoned here. Which is why I didn’t try to repeat Oliver’s arguments in his absence.

  “Well, if we fail and the army comes, just stay out of the way,” I said, instead. “Or better yet, find Cassandra and Alexander. I’m sure they’ll protect you once they realize you aren’t under the enchantment and you don’t intend to put up a fight.”

  “Thank you, Celine, all my worries are now eased.”

  I sighed. “You know as well as I do that there are no good options from here. I don’t trust Sterling either. But Oliver is determined to go ahead with this. And to be honest, I can’t blame him. What else are we supposed to do?”

  “You could convince him this is a bad idea,” said Giselle, her eyes fixed earnestly on me. “I know you could.”

  “You overestimate me.” I shifted uncomfortably. I wasn’t going to ask why she thought I would have more influence over her brother than she did. “I already tried.”

  Giselle sighed and slumped back. “Not hard enough, clearly,” she muttered.

  I narrowed my eyes but decided to let the comment go. We were all on edge. Silence enveloped us until she suddenly looked up, her eyes fierce.

  “Then you need to protect him. Promise me you’ll keep him safe! You’re our secret weapon if this Sterling does turn out to be untrustworthy.”

  “Of course, I will
, Giselle. You know I will.”

  She nodded once, firmly, and seemed satisfied with that.

  The remaining hours of the day were consumed with packing and various preparations. Every time I saw Giselle she had Emmeline beside her, so we didn’t speak again of our expedition. But her eyes seemed to burn into mine, reminding me of my promise. Even the presence of her sister seemed calculated to remind me of what was at stake.

  But I didn’t need her reminders. Even as I worked, I constantly turned my attention inward, even if only for a few seconds. The simmering warmth inside reassured me every time. Once, when I found myself alone in a corridor, I even briefly ignited my fingertips, my gaze captivated by the merrily burning flames. I held it for a full count of one hundred before clasping my hands into fists to extinguish them.

  I wasn’t helpless. Whatever was coming for us, we had a power it couldn’t even imagine. Whatever happened, I would get us out of it. I was sure of it. Because I had always been determined. But now I was also powerful.

  Chapter 16

  I knew I needed a good sleep—so naturally I tossed and turned restlessly all night. And still the dawn came all too soon. We gathered silently in the entrance hall, and I could see the relief on Oliver’s face when Sterling appeared as promised.

  I had half expected Giselle to be absent in a silent protest, but she was there to wave us off, Emmeline accompanying her. Emmeline seemed even more subdued than usual, not showing the least interest in our obvious departure. Oliver looked guilty, his eyes constantly flicking between his sisters, but neither he nor Giselle actually spoke about her abandonment.

  Sterling had allocated out the supplies, and it was obvious I had received the lightest pack. I made no complaint, however. I might have been working on my fitness, but I didn’t feel entirely equipped for a dangerous hike up a steep and icy mountain range.

  None of the other inhabitants of the palace so much as cast us a second glance, and the people in the city were no more interested. Snow now lingered on all the streets and stairways of the mountain, and I actually felt a pang of relief knowing the Elamese army was so close.