A Crown of Snow and Ice: A Retelling of The Snow Queen (Beyond the Four Kingdoms Book 3)
Page 15
The sky had soon become a solid wall of gray, hiding the sun from view. I itched to light up my hands—just so I could clearly see the path ahead of me—but I carefully refrained, keeping a tight hold on my inner fire.
But as the temperature plummeted, I found myself fueling that inner warmth more and more just to stay warm. It had become an exercise in self-control as I pushed the heat down my arms to warm my fingers, holding it just short of bursting out into the open.
The effort held so much of my attention, that I had stopped watching the weather. So it took me by surprise when the first snowflakes fell. They were soon joined by others, however, and ignoring the heavy flurry became impossible.
Now that I had returned my attention to the others, I could see that they looked almost deathly cold. The tiny sections of exposed skin on their faces shone red, and Giselle’s body periodically shook with deep shivers. Oliver kept throwing her concerned looks, but in truth he didn’t look much warmer himself.
When we stopped for a brief rest, I approached Giselle, slipping off my glove once her body blocked me from Sterling’s sight. Biting my lip in concentration, I slipped my fingers up her closest sleeve until I reached her skin just above her wrist.
“Oh,” she gasped, her eyes flying to mine. She lowered her voice. “You’re so warm!”
“And you’re freezing,” I whispered back, equally quiet.
Oliver positioned himself between us and Sterling, glancing my way, his eyes holding equal parts concern and hope. After my efforts all morning, I was confident I could do this. But I understood his concern. And shared it. I would have to walk a very fine line.
Slowly—painfully slowly—I pushed heat up through my arms and out my palm. I felt a gentle warmth radiate out against Giselle’s skin as a soft puff of hot air pushed its way up her sleeve, briefly ballooning out her jacket before it found its way out the other openings.
“Ohhh…” She closed her eyes for a brief moment, a grateful smile on her face. “It’s so warm!”
I grinned triumphantly across at Oliver who smiled gratefully back.
“Your control is getting better,” Giselle whispered, and I shrugged.
“I’ve had a lot of practice this trip. I’m fairly certain I would have frozen to death already without…” I gestured toward my middle wordlessly.
“I wish my godmother had given me—” Giselle cut off her words at my warning look. For all we were talking quietly, the less said the better.
I waited a minute before carefully sending another rush of hot air up her sleeve. Then another minute and another burst of heat. Slipping my hand out, I moved to stand casually next to Oliver. Sterling continued to show no interest in us, his eyes focused on the ominous sky, the flurries of snow, and the path ahead of us. I didn’t like his frown.
Holding out my hand, I hovered just above Oliver’s sleeve, my eyes asking him a silent question. I hadn’t hesitated with Giselle, but this felt different, despite my only offering to touch his arm.
He bit his lip, and then a shiver shook him, and he nodded slightly, extending his own hand toward me. Not looking up into his face, I slowly slid my bare fingers up between his glove and sleeve. As soon as my fingertips brushed against exposed skin, the controlled fire inside me roared, and I took a deep breath, pausing while I roughly pushed it down, reasserting my control. I would have to be even more careful this time.
I glanced up into Oliver’s eyes, expecting to see confusion at my pause, but his eyes held something else entirely. The coldness that had lingered between us since my agreement with Cassandra had indeed fallen away. Lost perhaps somewhere in the darkness of the night before.
I looked away quickly, already struggling to control the raging inside. Forcing myself to concentrate, I pushed my hand up until my full fingers rested against his forearm.
Slowly, inch by inch, I released some of the heat within me, letting it creep up my arm and then out. I loosened my internal hold even more, and a rush of warm air—stronger than the one I had used on Giselle—rushed up his sleeve.
He sighed, his eyes briefly closing as I felt his body relax. I hadn’t realized how tense he had been. I watched his now relaxed face with concern. For just the moment, he had let himself go, and it emphasized how tightly he had been in control before. Just how cold was it, really? I had no way to know how much my ability masked the effects of the weather. If we continued to press on, would we make it to the village?
Just as I thought it, the flurry of snow became more of a solid wall, as if the clouds had suddenly opened wide and dumped all their remaining stores on us at once. Except it kept going and going. I stood between Oliver and Giselle, and I could see them both through the swirling white—just. Sterling was lost to me already.
Until he suddenly appeared from nowhere, so coated in white I almost didn’t recognize him. Jumping slightly, I whipped my hand out of Oliver’s sleeve and stuffed it back into my glove. If he had noticed our odd stance, he didn’t mention it.
“We need to find shelter,” he shouted. Even so, the wind tugged his words away so fast I could barely make them out. “Right now. This is a blizzard, all right.”
He produced a rope from somewhere and threaded it through a small loop on each of our packs that I hadn’t even noticed before. To keep us from losing each other. Clever.
But my admiration fell away as we began to move. Our pace was so slow I wanted to scream, and yet I had no idea how Sterling in the front managed to find a way forward at all. Several times I saw him jerk suddenly as a tree appeared directly in front of him, too obscured by the white to be seen earlier.
I had been roped between Oliver and Giselle, and my attention was soon focused solely on them. I felt as if we moved too slowly to bear, and yet they walked as if they could barely keep up. Giselle stumbled once and clambered back to her feet so slowly, she nearly got jerked back into the snow by the rope connecting us together.
When she stumbled again and didn’t get up, I tugged on the rope attaching me to Oliver. He looked back, a blankness in his eyes that scared me. But at the sight of Giselle he seemed to regain some life, turning to call loudly to Sterling.
I couldn’t hear his words, but I had already turned my attention back to the younger princess. She seemed to have abandoned any pretense of getting up and simply lay there in the snow. I dropped to my knees beside her, shaking her frantically.
“Giselle! Giselle!”
She groaned and mumbled something I couldn’t hear, feebly trying to push me off.
Ripping off my glove, I stuck my hand back up her sleeve, the cold of her skin shocking me enough that I nearly lost balance myself. She had gotten noticeably colder since our stop.
I wanted to pour all of my heat into her, but I managed to retain enough sense to force myself to move slowly again. This time when the warmth enveloped her, it seemed to only make her shiver harder.
I looked over my shoulder for Oliver, who had approached us and stood just behind me. I didn’t have to be able to see myself to know my face would show nothing but fear.
“She’s too cold. We can’t go on like this,” I screamed up at him, battling the wind to be heard.
Sterling appeared next to him. He looked down at Giselle with hooded eyes. When I transferred my gaze to his, he shrugged helplessly.
“I can’t find anything in this. We could be right next to a cave, and I wouldn’t be able to tell…”
I looked around wildly, but he was right. Solid white surrounded us in every direction.
Oliver looked helplessly between me and Giselle. I could see the conflict within him, and I shook myself. This was ridiculous. What was the point in keeping my secret if the others were going to die for it?
I surged to my feet. “Oliver, help Giselle up. Sterling—” I turned to him. “Didn’t you nearly run into two trees just back there?”
He leaned closer, and I had to repeat myself.
“Aye.”
I frowned. The tree before that had
been off to the left slightly as well. If there was a clump of trees there, it might provide some meager protection at least.
I ripped off my second glove and used my still warm fingers to unlace us from the rope. Sterling looked like he wanted to protest, but at sight of the determination on my face, he subsided. I reattached us all in a new order. Me at the front, followed by Oliver, then Giselle, then Sterling.
Between the two men, they had managed to prop Giselle back to her feet. She swayed slightly but remained standing, and her eyes seemed to have regained some sense. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Her body had made enough of a dent in the snow that the fresh falls hadn’t quite erased the mark of it. Using the slight dip for reference, I moved backward and to what had been our left. A tree appeared from nowhere, and I barely stopped before colliding with it.
I took a deep breath, reminding myself this was what I had hoped to find. I pushed forward until I had passed four trees before stopping and gesturing for the others to huddle close.
We formed a tight little circle, slipping off our packs and allowing them to fall to the snow behind us. Once we were all sitting, I gestured for Sterling to pass me the small number of sticks he still had tied to his pack. I had seen him save some from the night before as well as gather a few more before the blizzard hit. He tried to yell at me that there was no use of thinking of a fire, but I shook my head angrily and gestured more firmly.
Shrugging, he turned and fumbled with the strap before managing to get them free. I wasn’t sure I needed them, but they would provide a center for the fire I intended to create, and I figured they certainly couldn’t hurt. Piling them haphazardly in the tiny space between us all, I paused for a brief second and met Oliver’s eyes.
He looked regretful but resigned.
Pushing my bare hands forward, I sent a controlled burst of fire from my fingertips into the wood.
With a yelp, Sterling almost toppled backward, his pack stopping him from going over completely as he threw himself away from the fire in shock. I ignored him and kept the flames going until the wood finally dried and then reluctantly began to burn.
I stopped for a second to take a breath as the others all swayed toward the warmth. The thick snowflakes kept falling fast, however, and our little fire wouldn’t last long on its own. Thrusting my flat palms into the air, I sent out a gust of hot air. It dissipated quickly, but one glance at Giselle was enough to stoke my internal temperature to raging hot.
Scrunching my face, I sent a strong wind streaming from my hands. I pushed them out in a circle as the wind continued to come, shaping it until it rushed around us in a tight circle. The warm cocoon that now enveloped us repelled the flakes that still fell, giving the little fire a chance to burn steadily.
Three deep sighs sounded, and three bodies slumped against their packs as their muscles slowly relaxed. I, on the other hand, remained upright, every muscle in my body tight and controlled. I had never tried to keep my power going for so long or with so much precise control.
Keeping one hand upward, warm wind still pouring from me, I pointed the other downward, fresh fire leaping from my fingertips to feed our small blaze. It burned brighter and hotter than the sticks would ever have allowed.
I glanced briefly at the others again, concerned for their recovery, but the shock in Sterling’s face and the awe in Oliver’s made me look quickly away. I couldn’t afford any lapses in concentration. Not when all of their lives depended on me.
The minutes stretched on, and I could no longer even guess at how much time had passed. The wind continued to howl around us, shrouding the rest of the world in endless white. For all I knew we were all that was left of Eldon. Of all the kingdoms. Perhaps the ice and snow had already won.
But no. I pushed back the thought, my flames briefly flaring up until I pulled them back under control. Not while I still had breath and strength. I would fight with every bit of fire within me.
But as the endless day stretched on—long since passed into night for all I knew—I could feel my strength failing. And yet the storm raged on, its own strength unabated. I might have started to feel truly afraid, but I had no energy left even for that.
A bigger fight was now being waged inside me. I struggled against my exhaustion, the black abyss of unconsciousness reaching for me with eager hands. I pushed it back, pouring even more of myself into my wind and fire, the rest of the world fading away.
Oliver’s voice broke through to me, my name on his lips and his hands on my shoulders. But he pulled back immediately with a wordless exclamation. How hotly was I burning?
I tried to speak, to warn him away from me, but no words would come. And the tiny break in my concentration proved too much. My wind died, and the fire with it, the loss of the bright flames plunging my world into darkness.
Black roared up to meet me, and I fell unresisting toward it. Just as it engulfed me, I felt my body fall into strong arms. And this time they didn’t flinch. My heat was gone. I had nothing left.
Chapter 19
The first thing I noticed was the cold. It had dug into my bones, and my body shook constantly, despite the warm layers of fur covering me. The cold had been a distant memory not so long ago, but already I struggled to remember how it had ever felt to be warm.
The second sensation was movement. I was fairly certain I was lying down, and yet I seemed to be moving, somehow. Almost as if someone were dragging me along the ground.
Slowly I forced my eyes open. The darkness had gone, but still I couldn’t see, everything remained blank—only blindingly bright instead of dark. After a long moment, features began to take shape out of the endless white. We were on the mountain still, and I could see rocks and trees, all covered in heapings of snow.
“What…” My voice came out croaky and weak, so I cleared my throat and tried again. “What’s happening?”
“Celine!”
“She’s awake!”
The movement stopped with a jerk, and I pushed myself up into a sitting position. My head whirled, and I closed my eyes, drawing a deep breath.
“Slowly,” said Oliver’s soft voice in my ear, his grip warm and firm beneath my elbow. Without thinking I leaned in toward his heat.
“So…cold,” I moaned, reopening my eyes in time to catch him share a concerned look with Giselle. I looked around. They had somehow constructed a sled of sorts using a blanket and some branches, and it looked like they had been pulling me up the mountain.
“How…how long have I been…” I let the sentence drop away as I remembered the blizzard and my endless, timeless struggle to keep the fire burning.
“Did we…did I…?” I looked around again, still trying to get my bearings. Obviously the storm had passed. Unlike the last time I had been awake, the blue sky cast an almost painful light down to reflect against the endless white.
In the snow, at least, the blizzard had left its mark. It covered everything in deep, suffocating layers. I could actually hear some of the trees groaning under the weight.
“Celine,” Oliver’s voice had dropped so low I could barely hear it. “Your fire. Is it…?”
I gasped, raw fear burning down the back of my throat. I remembered now. I had used it all. Every last drop. And now I was freezing.
I ripped off a glove and held out my hand. I had become so practiced at this that calling the flames required hardly a thought. But nothing came. My exposed skin stung against the cold air. The hand shook so much I could barely push it back into the glove.
I looked up at Oliver, and he must have read the panic in my eyes.
“You were exhausted,” he said. “Utterly exhausted. What you did…” He shook his head, the wonder in his eyes filling me with a momentary warmth. “It’s no wonder you burned yourself out. You just need to rekindle it.”
I closed my eyes, grasping at his words. Could he be right? I turned my attention inward. My chest felt cold and dead, so different from the living warmth I had become accustomed to.
My eyes flew open as I remembered exactly where it had come from. I hadn’t noticed in my earlier panic, but Oliver still crouched beside me, his face close to mine. My eyes fluttered down to his lips. All I would have to do would be to tip myself forward slightly and my own would be pressed against his.
The memory of his embrace in the tunnel filled my mind, and a flush raced across my cheeks. My insides burst into life in perfect time, the fire racing through my body and burning away the chill. I turned away from Oliver, focused now on keeping the heat under control.
“I think it’s back,” said Giselle’s matter-of-fact voice. “Look at her cheeks.”
“Yes.” I smiled up at her, too happy to be embarrassed. “It’s back.”
“Well, that’s good.”
I snorted at her understated words. Without my powers we were just three people against a mountain range, a possibly treacherous guide, an entire village, and a killer enchantment.
Sterling cleared his throat from somewhere further up the mountain. I turned to squint up at him.
“Good to see you’re awake. I don’t suppose you’ll be able to walk now?”
I winced. I couldn’t blame him—no doubt he’d been assisting in pulling me uphill.
“How long have I been…?” I gestured at the sleigh and my reclined position.
“A few hours.” Oliver glanced up at the sky, as if to check the time by the sun. “You passed out as soon as the blizzard finished, but we couldn’t stay in place after it started to get light. We had no cover and not enough wood to burn. Better to keep moving than stay still and undo everything you did for us.” He smiled, but I could only imagine how much work it must have been to pull me along. And no wonder I was so cold. They had at least been moving to keep themselves a little warm.
“Are we close?” I looked up at Sterling, and he turned to squint further upward.