Midnight Frost (4 page)

“I have seen so many fairies, here, in the Kingdom of the Dead,” Redleaf went on. “Fairies of Summer as well as Winter, who perished in the war, their hatred for their fellow fairies keeping them here. They tell me it was worth it – that it was worth dying to kill those they despised. But I...I no longer know. At the time, I thought...I thought that a Feyland ruled entirely by Summer would be great, that Winter was untrustworthy. I thought only of my own power, my own ambitions. I did not want to be a mere wife to a man who did not love me – sitting at home while he neither ruled his kingdom nor paid attentions to his bride. I wanted to be remembered for something else – to be remembered as the greatest Queen in Feyland. And instead I will be remembered as its greatest enemy.

“But perhaps one thing I have done will live on in memory of me. Perhaps one part of me will live on for good, rather than for evil.”

“What is that?”

“Helping you.” Redleaf's smile gave way to sadness, and then she vanished – leaving nothing but an orange light glowing ever fainter in the distance.

Chapter 3

T
he trees seemed to open up before me, making a pathway through this strange and unnatural forest. This was not the Kingdom of the Dead – for there were certainly some signs of life here. A few buds grew on the trees. A few stalks of grass poked through the earth. A cool breeze whipped past me. This was a different place – but it was not yet Feyland. If the Kingdom of the Dead felt like a place where everything had just ended – this was the place where things just started to begin. It was not like the Spring lands – where blossoms were in full flower. Everything here had just started – that very day, that very second, to spring to life. New possibilities. New magic. Was this the way towards life, I wondered – or the way beyond it? This road led back to Feyland, this I knew. But I had a strange sensation as I walked down the road – the echo of strange voices in my head. The voices of which Redleaf had spoken, the old Summer Queens who had ruled before me – they had been here before. They had walked this trail. They had let their feet sink into this fresh earth.

Their magic made me familiar with the place – I walked on with confidence. They had walked here on their journey to somewhere else, somewhere greater. This was neither death nor life, but an in-between stage – a stage that could lead back to the land of the living, or lead to other lands, other mysteries. Where were they now, my voices? Other Queens, other lives – other victories? What magic did they now know?

I made my way through the forest, the tiny light of the Feyland sun growing ever-larger as I approached. A cliff loomed large in the distance, and as I grew closer I saw perched upon it a cloaked figure, dressed in black, motionless and silent. Who was the figure – standing beneath the shadow of an evergreen tree – was it waiting for me?

I approached the edge of the cliff with my body tensed, my dagger ready. I had taken Redleaf's warning to heart – the Minotaur may not have scared me, but I was no longer in the land of the dead. I was no longer safe.

But as the figure turned towards me, my fear vanished. The woman whose beautiful, blue eyes stared into mine meant me no harm – her face was full of kindness, of sympathy. She wanted no ill of me – of this I was sure. “Breena,” she said softly. “You have cheated death twice already. And it is still not your time. You don't belong here – nor do you belong down that path.” She pointed to a fork on the cliffside. One path led along the mountain, twisting around a bend, obscured by clouds. She turned. “You must go back there.” The other path led towards the twin suns – now looming large before me.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I am one of the first queens of Feyland – a queen of ancient Winter magic. A magic that, I believe, you now contain within you. Or else you could not see me. Or else I would not speak to you.”

I knew Redleaf had told me I would hear from Summer queens – but Winter ones? Surely I was not of their line?

“What is your name!”

“I am Queen Tamara,” the Queen answered. “My blood is Winter – but I come from a time so ancient that there was no winter, nor any summer. There was one Feyland, its power indivisible.”         

“There was such a time?” I asked. Kian had told me of the old legends – of the ancient Queen Tamara, of the time before the division of the Two Kingdoms. But this was the stuff of folk tales, even in Feyland. Few believed in such a time.

“Yes,” said Tamara. “As it should be today. One magic – undivided. Black strengthened by white. Light strengthened by darkness. Cold strengthened by heat. Balance. A balance only you can bring about – you, a girl with Winter and Summer both within you.”

“But I need to get back...”

“You will get back,” Tamara said, her voice smooth and caressing. “I will help you. You will return to the ancient mountain from which you leapt – you will escape from here. You will find yourself where you were before the Dead called you for their own – at the side of the body of your beloved.”

“The body...” My heart stopped. The mysterious enchantress at the mountain had promised me – my life for Kian's...I had willingly made the sacrifice – but I had not died. Had Kian, then...? “Is Kian...” I couldn't bear to finish my sentence. “Please tell me he's not...”

“Your Kian is on the other side of the sun, Breena,” said Tamara, smiling. Her silvery-white hair sparkled as she spoke. “He is waiting for you. He is alive. He is safe.”

The sound of his name was enough to bring me back to my longing. My heart swelled with desire – I wanted to be with him, to press my lips to his neck and chest and fingers, to close my eyes, to hear him whisper my name...I remembered my fears as I saw him collapse, wounded – I remembered the pain I felt when I felt him die in my arms. I couldn't go through that again. I had to see him for myself – I had to make sure...

“Go to him, Breena,” said Tamara. “But you must know this. The kingdom of the Dead wishes to claim you for its own. You have cheated death twice now – and this time more than most is complicated. You ended up in the Kingdom of Death before your time – and only the power of the Summer and Winter Queens combined was able to save you. Right now, you are needed. Right now, we must save you. We need you to bring peace. What some of our Queens have created, other Queens have destroyed. Death has followed life. But it is now your turn to create. You human girl – who let love rule over power in your heart. You must let this love give rise to life.”

She beckoned towards me, and led me towards the path that led towards the sun. Suddenly, the rocks crumbled at my feet, falling into dust. I was at the edge of a precipice – nothing between me and the suns of Feyland but air.

“You must fly, Your Highness.” Tamara smiled.

My wings. So they were real, after all – that dream I had while falling....that was real.

A sense of confidence – of fullness and peace – came over me. I knew what I had to do. I stepped into the nothingness, into the air, and let myself fall. I let the magic take over – the magic of Redleaf and the Summer Queens, the magic of Queen Tamara of Winter, the stories and voices of all those who had come before me, of all those who believed in me, who had worked to keep me alive, to keep me safe. Even Redleaf.

I wouldn't let them down. Not this time.

I felt my wings flapping at my back. I closed my eyes, willing them to do my bidding, willing them to let me soar.

I began rising, feeling my magic connect with the magic of the wings – feeling myself gain power over these strange gossamer contraptions. They were mine – a symbol of my power. Of my rule. Of my destiny.

They kept me up high as I flew towards the sun.

Chapter 4

A
s I approached the sun, glowing before me, I felt its warmth upon my face. This was the Winter Sun – not a flaming ball of heat like the Summer Sun at the other end of Feyland, but rather a reassuring, comforting feeling. The chill of the Kingdom of the Dead seemed to have left me; I no longer felt that horrid presentiment of death and destruction all around me. I was back in Feyland; my skin tingled with the sensation of its magic. I was back in my kingdom – the kingdom I loved. My body, my blood, my new wings could all sense it: the voices of the Ancient Summer Queens seemed to be calling to me, beckoning me home. I closed my eyes as I flew forth, unable to withstand the light of the fairy sun, passing through it sightless. As the light of the Winter Sun enveloped me, I felt that strange power within me – the power of Winter – respond to the Winter's light. It felt unnatural to me – these sparks of blue light that were emitted from my fingertips. The Summer magic I knew. The Summer magic I could harness – I knew, after all, that it belonged to me, that it was my birthright. But this new Winter magic was unfamiliar to me; it frightened me even as my newfound power gave me strength to withstand the light. I flew straight into the heart of the sun and kept on going, feeling myself pass through, until at last, I could open my eyes and see before me the mountain from which I had fallen.

The enchantress to whom I had spoken was gone; the mountaintop was bare. Smooth frost covered its surface, alongside trailing ivy, whose leaves were flecked with silver. This was the ancient mountain – the most secret and holy place – the source of all immortality. I could feel my skin prickle as my body responded to the magic of the place; this was not, I knew, a place that any fairy could find. I had made my way here because I had been summoned here – because my destiny called me here – the magic of this place, older than the division between Summer and Winter, between fairies and the other magical creatures.

And there, lying splayed out across the smooth ice of the peak, was a body. A body I knew well even from a distance – a body whose contours I had kissed and outlined every night in my sleep. It was Kian.

My heart stopped in fear – was he not alive, as Tamara had promised me? His eyes were closed, I saw, as I came closer – his face more beautiful than ever, his smooth snowy skin pinker than before...

“Kian!” I called, hitting the ground with a thud that brought me to my knees. “Kian!” He couldn't be dead, I told myself, my heart pounding faster and faster, he just couldn't be...

“Breena?” A murmur escaped his lips as his eyes fluttered open. “Breena, what's going...?” He looked around in confusion. “I fell asleep...or something. Where am I?”

I rushed into his arms, tackling him to the ground in a great bear hug. “Alive, you silly boy –
alive
! That's all that matters!”

“Alive? Of course I'm alive!” Kian took my affection gladly, but still seemed more than a little confused. “Why wouldn't I be...” He stopped mid-sentence, his memory coming back to him. The coming of the Dark Hordes, the slaughter of Winter and Summer fairies alike, his injury in battle, his death... “Did I...?”

“You were dead, Kian,” I whispered, hardly daring to believe that it was real – hardly daring to believe that he was alive after all. “Only, we got you back...”

“How?” Kian's eyes were wide open as he sought to take in his surroundings, to make sense of it all. “Where is this place?”

“Your mother sent me here,” I told him, pressing his knuckles to my lips, trying in vain to keep them warm. “When you were...when you were dead. She told me that there was an ancient story, a myth about this place – the fountain of immortality. Where eternal life could be found. And I found this fairy – or something – I don't know what she was. Some enchantress with great magic. And she told me I could trade – my life for yours. My immortality, my snowflake pendant, for your life.”

“You didn't!” Kian's joy turned to horror. “You didn't promise...”

“But it's okay,” I was running out of breath, but I couldn't stop – I had to get the story out as quickly as I could, my joy giving me strength. “I didn't die! I jumped off the mountain, like I was supposed to – but I didn't fall. In fact...I flew!”