Ice Burns Page 29

  Chandra watched as the river no longer flowed through the city but turned and moved toward her. Whatever had caused them pause was no hindrance now, and they moved with purpose and aggrieved sound.

  36

  Chandra searched the streets for the child, but she was gone and no other people were nearby. The few gawkers that had stopped when the creatures had frozen had come to their fear-spiked senses and ran.

  For a moment, Chandra stared down the wave of dark intent. She wasn’t as shocked as she had been when the wave had initially come, but she was still frightened and unsure. Her eyes glowed as she watched the mass that seemed endless.

  Frostwhite brought the fuzzy image of her freezing and shattering the death monitor as if to remind her of what she could do. She sent warmth to her friend.

  Chandra thought of what she had to do and noticed the frost that flecks of snow seemed to drift from her left hand while sparks flew from her right. As she flexed her fingers, the snow became thicker and hard spikes of ice formed. As her right hand raised snakes of fire that writhed in the air. She remembered men burning around her and clenched her fist around the sparks and flames. Looking up, she saw the first monitor racing for her, ahead of the other creatures. Chandra dropped and slapped her hand on the ground.

  The air on the street changed, and a sound like a thunderclap vibrated through it. Chandra’s hair lifted away from the cloth tied over it and stood on end. A crackling sound started, like ice shifting on a frozen river. Instead of popping and shifting floes, the noise was the chaos-bent creatures freezing in an instant from the ground up. Chandra lifted her head in her crouched position and looked out over the frozen black crowd of night creatures. It appeared like the oceans she had seen in drawings with the ripples and undulating waves of sinuous bodies frozen in place. She stretched out her hand to touch the death monitor that was less than two feet from her.

  Her fingertip brushed the razor-edged tongue that had been reaching for her. At the brush of warm skin on the ice surface, the world exploded. Chandra was thrown back several feet as the entire mass of creatures shattered; the rippled destruction turned into a layer of ashen snow on the gray cobbles.

  Chandra found she was momentarily deaf, her ears filled with that strange puffy quality that marked the temporary loss. Frostwhite landed near her legs and did a little hop to land on her right leg. He cocked his giant head to one side and looked at her through his left eye.

  “I’m fine,” she told him in a whisper. He opened his mouth and lengthened his neck in a call to her that she could see though she couldn’t hear. She reached out one hand, and he nipped at her finger.

  She winced and then smiled at him. “I can’t help it if it takes almost dying or almost watching someone else die to activate my control. Do you think that someday I'll be able to do it on my own?”

  She looked at him as though he might be able to answer and found he was cleaning his wing feathers. She wondered if she was forever doomed to have friends that would not answer one question directly.

  The crowd of people was coming back down the street, though they were a significant distance away. Deakon, though, was nowhere to be seen. At some point, he had disappeared into the crowd and gotten away from her. It was a good thing because she didn’t enjoy the thought of keeping herself from killing him. Despite his words and all he had learned about the death of their former Master, Deakon had given her to people who had put her in the realm of nightmarish insanity. The rage in her, though quieted, continued to burn like the flame of her magic. She was unsure if any part of her could be okay with letting him go, in spite of her momentary sympathy.

  Chandra peeked around the corner of a building, standing in the shadow cast by the hanging merchant sign that was big enough to block the light of the moon completely from touching her. She was regretting that she hadn’t managed to get a meal at the inn. She doubted she would be able to go back now and request one without either being recognized or watched.

  Movement was slow along the shadows. A tall, ornate building towered above the city like a giant. Behind the castle was a massive white mountain that gleamed in the moonlight as though carved from ice instead of covered in it. Neither looked like someplace anyone would want to go on purpose. Unfortunately, the castle was Chandra's destination, though it was coming sooner than she had planned.

  Several near-misses, and hysterical townspeople later, Chandra walked through the gate and approached the palace. Her burning eyes lifted and lifted. The structure brushed the clouds with tall, opalescent spires that shimmered like pearls in the light from torches. Chandra had seen the guards running out into the street where villagers still ran around. People shrieked and found frozen pieces of the creatures or howled over a missing loved one, scouring the streets to find them. Chandra had seen the child she had saved handed to an equally dirty young woman within the crowd outside the gates.

  She knew she had saved people from the night swarm, but she also knew it was likely several had seen her magic. Chandra kept her head down and continued moving with purpose. No one spoke to her with the chaos of the night drawing almost everyone's attention. She wanted to make her way into the castle and find out what she could about the prophecy. She still thought Edvard was a foolish, ill-humored old man. She did, however, feel like there was a reason everything had pointed her in this direction.

  “Where do you think you are going?” a voice shouted, and Chandra stopped. Her mind told her she should run, but she couldn’t make her body comply. Instead, she turned to face the man, keeping her eyes low. The man seemed to have stepped out of her last thought.

  “Edvard?”

  The man appeared to start as his demeanor changed from angry accusation to the slack-jawed look of surprise.

  “No, I'm not Edvard,” he said softly. “But the fact that you know of him does not bode well. Come quickly. We must get you out of the hall before you're discovered.”

  Chandra followed as he rushed back in the direction she had come, turning down a hallway she hadn't seen and into a tiny, cluttered room. It reminded Chandra of the cave Edvard held residence.

  “Are you sure you're not Edvard?” she asked, her eyebrow arched as she surveyed the room.

  The old man chuckled and looked sideways at her. "We have similarities, I suppose but separated ways long ago. That's not of significance at the moment. What is significant is who you are."

  Chandra stiffened and didn’t speak.

  “Come, child. If you have come across Edvard, there is something here that bears scrutiny. I am called Alphonse. And you are...”

  “Chandra,” she said softly.

  “It is a pleasure to meet you, Chandra,” Alphonse held out his hand to her to shake hers, and Chandra eyed it through lowered lids but didn't offer hers. “All right, no hand shaking then. Can you tell me why Edvard sent you here?”

  “I didn't say Edvard sent me,” Her forehead creased as she fought the urge to meet his gaze.

  “Whether he actively sent you or not, you were sent by him; but do you know why?”

  Chandra walked to the bookcase and ran her finger along the binding of a book. She waited for Alphonse to yell at her like Edvard would have. When he said nothing, she was satisfied that she wasn't dealing with the same man and nodded. Alphonse made a small sound in his throat that sounded as though he were trying to understand and sympathize.

  "The prophecy," he said after a long pause.

  Chandra started and met Alphonse’s eyes. She thought she was going to be the only one giving answers. His steely gray eyes widened as he saw her fire-filled ones.

  “Sweet gods in heaven,” he said. “It is you.”

  Chandra frowned but didn’t lower her gaze.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect...” Alphonse trailed off. “There is a great deal to tell you and a very short time if we are to have any hope of you succeeding at the task at hand, princess.”

  Chandra shook her head. “I don’t care what some prophecy, probably c
reated by some old quack --I am not a princess. I don’t know what I am, but I'm not that.”

  Alphonse gave Chandra a small, remorseful smile. “Though I don’t appreciate being called a quack, I understand you have been through a lot already and much more awaits, so I take no offense.”

  Chandra’s mouth formed a perfect “O” that let no words out. Alphonse nodded.

  "I discovered the prophecy Edvard told you. Yes, you are the princess in the prophecy, and yes, I saw that you would have an enormous task ahead of you. I'm sorry, but you are going to need to accept it all and quickly. We are almost out of time. You see, there was a swarm in the city."

  Chandra nodded. “I know. I was there.”

  It was Alphonse who had a lack of words for a moment this time.

  Chandra spoke slowly as though the man had gone feeble. “The swarm?”

  "Yes. You were there?" he paused. He shook his head and continued before she could speak again. "Of course. Of course, you were. It makes perfect sense, but it was one of the signs. That with the men killed by fire that didn't burn anything else, and the disappearance of the royal family..." he paused.

  “They’re gone?” Chandra asked. “Where?”

  “I regret to say the king has died, and the queen and imposter princess have disappeared.” Alphonse sighed.

  "Was...the king was...do you truly believe he was my father?" The words seemed foolish, and Chandra wasn't sure she wanted the answer. She shook her head at her idiocy. It wasn't as though she didn't know what Alphonse was going to say: true or not.

  "He was. I do not regret that you did not know him, however. He was a cruel man who killed his brother to take the throne and murdered many people to maintain it," Alphonse spat. "We lost many mages, scholars, and innocent people because of him."

  Chandra didn’t know what to say. It seemed so many people were lined up to tell her this one truth. It was hard to think about, but she found herself leaning toward acceptance. It seemed plausible her father would be someone to match the darkness in her. She felt no small amount of shame to know she had possibly descended from cruelty. It was odd to accept the idea that seemed as though it were a dream or something out of another person’s life.

  “And the queen?” Chandra asked.

  "I'm sorry to say they were cut from the same cloth, child," Alphonse sighed and massaged his temples. "Many people are happy to have them gone. Not the princess, mind, but the queen and king."

  "Who was the princess?" Chandra asked. "If I'm the princess, and she was an imposter, who was she?"

  "That is an excellent question for which I have no answer. My assumption is that the imposter was placed here by someone, but I have no idea who." Alphonse shook his head and looked at her. He reached out a hand to her. "Please take my hand. I believe you are who I think, but I would like the slightest reassurance that my assumptions are correct. It requires me to have contact with you so my sight can give me answers."

  Chandra hesitated and then lifted her newly-stocking covered hands to the man. He frowned at the coverings but touched her fingers and closed his eyes. Chandra watched as his face went pale. The gray eyes beneath the lids moved rapidly as though actively dreaming. Her fingers felt warm in his grasp and tingly as though they were losing circulation during the contact. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and looked at her.

  “That’s it?” Chandra blinked at him and lost her eyebrows in her hair.

  Alphonse smiled at her. “Basically, yes. What were you expecting? Flashes of light? A magical mist to come? Or maybe some voice calling out from the heavens?”

  Chandra laughed.

  “You are the princess. I have no doubt. When I touched you, I felt the blood magic of the royal family.”

  “Is that even possible? To feel magic in the blood?” She frowned.

  “For me and the Winterbourne magic, yes. I am tied to it,” He scratched his head and rubbed at his temples. “It’s my gift or curse; you decide.”

  Chandra shook her head at him.

  “So, they’re mages,” Chandra’s mouth drew a tight line in her lips."How could they kill mages if they are mages?"

  “King Dezmon and Queen Adeena were very jealous of power not in their control. When the king removed his brother and killed him to take the throne, he turned his men on the families he thought would go against him. When he married the queen, they turned against all mages, putting them to death and keeping magic within the royal family itself.

  "The Winterbourne family has been a part of these lands for longer than history can touch. Some historians claim it is their magic that keeps the mountains this way and that if any Winterbourne is kept too long from the throne, the glaciers will melt and flood Faust as well as opening the caverns that imprison the night creatures."

  Chandra opened her mouth to question, but Alphonse surmised her query.

  "Almost a month. The princess disappeared first and then the queen. The King was found dead in a chamber locked from the inside." Alphonse shook his head. "I don't know what killed him, but it did a very thorough job of making sure he had no hope of surviving." Alphonse looked grim. "My desire is to put you on the throne, but I am not confident it would matter. Not only are you a stranger to these lands, but you are also the legitimate child to the two most feared and hated rulers these lands have ever seen. There would be protests from all sides over your legitimacy or if you are fit to rule after everything the populace has endured."

  Chandra shuddered at the image of her sitting on a raised dais as a monarch. She felt as though it would only be a new form of incarceration and unreasonable expectations.

  “As though that weren’t enough of a deterrent, I have a much direr trial for you to endure as the prophecy comes to an apex.” Alphonse watched her, awaiting her response.

  Chandra wondered what she had done in a previous existence to justify this life. She wasn't sure how much more she could endure but decided there was no point in turning away if she hoped for things to get better. She swallowed. “What do you want me to do?”

  Alphonse closed his eyes and exhaled before opening them. Relief radiated from him and his hands gentle as he reached out to grasp her shoulders. "Dear Princess, one of the beasts has awoken and can only be overcome by Winterbourne magic. Your magic."

  “Mine? I don’t have much control over my magic.” She shook her head. Even though she had discovered the focus of her magic, she had no idea what it meant to her ability to wield it.

  “Sometimes the best control comes at the worst times,” Alphonse told her gently, and Chandra almost laughed at the truth in that statement.

  “The beast must be beaten back into its cavern and sealed in. Once that is done, we can return you to the throne and prove that it is your rightful place.” Alphonse nodded and smiled. The little man's face was lit up with expectation and hope.

  She turned away from his beliefs and closed her eyes. She had found out the truth, but hadn't found what she thought she would. No matter what this man or Edvard or even Matta said, Chandra didn't belong here. There was nowhere she seemed to fit because everyone had plans for her even if she couldn't do what they wanted. She wasn't anything anyone expected: not an apprentice, not a mage, not a student, and certainly not a princess.

  “No,” Chandra met his eyes with her blazing ones.

  His eyes widened, and he gaped like startled cat. His mouth worked, but he did not speak for a moment.

  “What do you mean?” he finally sputtered. “You cannot say no!”

  “I already have,” she told him, raising her chin and looking down her nose at him. “I'm not a game piece you can send off to war or set to look pretty on some dais. I've been running for my life after committing a murder. Several actually.”

  She paused to watch his mouth work again without sound and felt satisfaction at his bewilderment.

  “I’ve crossed from the forest lands on the edge of the dessert where I was apprenticed to a cruel man who tried to make me a killer and died fo
r it. I was chased by his unacknowledged son for vengeance and tortured for my useless death harbinger magic. You have no right to ask me to sacrifice myself for a land I know nothing about after telling me I'm the child of some cruel, twisted monsters who killed their people. My answer is no."

  37

  The heat made her face glow red and moved into a flush across her body. She ripped the makeshift gloves from her hands, and her clothing began to smolder. Inside her, the injustice at the world she lived in spun with memories and disappointment.

  “I wish they had succeeded in killing me at that wretched inn. If they had, I wouldn’t have this mark or have killed them all." She thrust her right hand forward, flames licking along the edge, highlighting the blackened palm and mottled skin on top, now reaching her knuckles. "What has any of this gotten me but more misery and hardship?”

  Alphonse made a choking sound and fell backward into a chair. He shook his head at her and looked up, his eyes bright and staring.

  "Child, you must stop now," a rasping voice said from behind her, and Chandra turned. In the doorway, with Frostwhite on her shoulder, stood Matta. "Though he knew the urgency of the task he needs, it's the only thing he thought. Alphonse's manners seem to be lacking as much as his brother's. Even so, you must stop."

  Chandra's lips curled back. Anger caressed her skin and licked at her borrowed clothing, leaving burned holes in their wake.

  "Chandra, you cannot let your magic consume you this way. You are the Master, not the other way around," Matta took a step toward her. "If you are to be angry at anyone, it is me. I failed you as a baby just as I failed you as a teacher."

  Chandra frowned but listened.

  "I was a hired guard at the home of your mother. You were important to the queen and king as a continuation of their hold on the kingdom but for little reason else. Both of them knew of the prophecy."

  Chandra cocked her head. She watched Matta and the dark part of her mind wondered if she would burn like the trees she loved. Something pressed her to listen despite her fiery urges.