Page 31 of Winter's Dragons. Frozen Flames
Emmerich took my hand and squeezed it in silent comfort. My head cleared, and I straightened my back, burying my panic behind the same mask I had been using for so many years now. "Yes, something is very wrong, and that is your presence. Why did you do this, Snegurka? What could you possibly hope to accomplish by hurting these people?"
Snegurka eyed me from head to toe like I was a bug, and she, the person making plans on how to better squash me. "First of all, little half-breed, they're not people. They are beasts. Second, I don't think I owe you any explanations about my reasoning. If anything, you're the one who owes me a debt."
"I owe you nothing," I answered steadily. "Your powers were granted to you so that you may serve the realm, and you chose to abuse them. At that moment, you forfeited all claim to the magic of time."
Snegurka's eyes flashed with a fury that bordered on madness."Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep well at night? That stealing my life, my magic and my future from me was... righteous? Come now... We both know that isn't true."
It was not a matter of righteousness. I had always been uncomfortable with the idea of Snegurka being trapped in that horrible pit, but I had accepted it because I'd had no other options. Some days, I had found myself wishing that I could've been strong enough to end it all when I'd been younger, to fully contain her power instead of leaving us in this strange, in-between state.
But I hadn't been capable of it, and because of that, here we were, once again, back at the beginning, with me still trying to protect someone I loved, and her still so much more powerful than I was.
"Oh, little Cassia, you always were too soft. Too weak. You know in your heart that you should've left that pup to die. Winter is not kind. The Realm of Eternal Ice devours those that cannot fend for themselves. You do not deserve the throne, because you do not understand the sacrifices you must make to protect it."
She was right. I despised her and myself for acknowledging that, but because of my refusal to let the pup die, I had exposed my people to a worse threat. His life was not worth more than all the lives I was now risking due to my weakness. I hated the cruelty of the thought, but it did not make it any less true.
By forcing myself to use the healing skill of my nymph nature, I'd weakened and temporarily suppressed my ice magic. Right now, I was Cassia more than I was Cheimon, and Cassia was not strong enough to hold her own against Snegurka.
My dragons had told me that Snegurka was baiting me. I should've listened to them. I should've been prepared for this. I shouldn't have let my heart rule my head. My father had constantly told me that sometimes rulers had to make difficult decisions, and I understood that very well. It just hadn't occurred to me that the decision in question would be something like this.
It did not matter. For good or ill, until the day I died, I would still stand my ground and never bow in front of those who would harm people weaker than them. I'd done that as a child of ten. I could do no less today.
"Maybe I'm not an ideal ruler, it's true. Maybe I've made mistakes. But I've always tried to do right by my people, and that's more than I can say about you. As long as that is the case, I am the rightful queen of Tou Cheimóna and you are nothing."
Snegurka let out an unholy screech and her magic exploded out of her in lethal spirals of black light and elemental power. Wickedly sharp icicles flashed through the air, a whirling, devastating avalanche of projectiles that threatened to end the life of every single person present.
This time, I was ready for her attack. I lifted my hands, summoning my own magic and hoping against all hope that I'd be able to hold Snegurka back long enough for my people to get to safety. The icicles crashed against my power and shattered, but the resulting concussive blast struck all of us. I didn't lose my footing, nor did I feel any pain, but most of the nisse and several amaroks were not so lucky.
Mercifully, the damage was not too serious, and they were able to get up within seconds of being hit. Thank the gods for small mercies. I would have never forgiven myself if my rash actions led to more casualties. "Run!" I shouted. "Get out of here, quickly!"
Viveka tried to protest, despite the fact that she was shaking from head to toe. "But Your Majesty, we can't just leave you!"
The amaroks agreed with my loyal healer. "We'll stay and fight her!" Alpha Panuk argued as he staggered to his feet.
"That was not a suggestion!" I snapped at them. "It was an order. Go! You're no match for her, and you're hindering me."
They would've probably still protested, but the amaroks had pups and wounded to worry about, and despite their potent magic, the nisse weren't fighters. Away from the palace, their abilities were diminished, and they could do very little in a battle against someone like Snegurka.
Unfortunately, my firedrake soulmate was not so easy to persuade. He stepped up to me, his body already encased in a bright red glow that made the snow under our feet melt. "You know, I've had quite enough of you, creature. You keep making accusations about everyone else's faults when in truth, you are the one who is inadequate. Isn't that why we're here, to begin with? Because your little spell went astray?
"I don't know much about Ton Daímon magic, I admit, but I find it very interesting that the enchantment worked fine in the case of your half-brother, and not in yours. I wonder why that is. Could it be that your soul is so shattered and wicked that you do not even have a soulmate at all?"
Snegurka's dark eyes turned toward Emmerich, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was exactly what he had intended. He was baiting her just like she had baited me. It wasn't even a discreet method. We'd already established that the whole soulmate business was a sore point for Snegurka, and part of the reason why she had possessed Karasu was to look into the identity of my dragons.
I wasn't thrilled with the fact that he had mentioned Jack, but he was trying to distract her, and to give him credit, it did work. It also had the unfortunate side effect of pissing her off even further.
A stream of ice magic erupted from her fingertips, this time completely focused on us. It looked different from my own, the normally ice blue strands of energy corrupted by malevolent black. I met it head on with a wave of my power, but in my state, I could not hope to defeat her in one on one combat. Snegurka's magic crawled its way through my hastily cast enchantment, pushing me back, the dark threads of her essence flashing toward me like whips.
Before the demonic energy could hit me, a fire blast struck the whips mid-air, making them evaporate with a blinding flash. "How rude," Emmerich drawled, tongues of flame still licking over his body. "And I thought we were having a nice conversation here."
Snegurka looked at him once again, and some of the haze of madness cleared from her eyes. "You know, I think I like you. Yes, indeed, I think I finally have my answer.
"You're right, firedrake. I asked myself many times why the spell did not work for me, if there was something wrong with my nature that made me incompatible with having a soulmate. But I see now that I was never the problem."
She smiled once again, and this time, the expression almost held a degree of warmth and kindness. "It was them, all along, them stealing everything I always was from me," she said with deceptive softness. "Even my soulmates. They stole that too. But no longer. I will take it all back today. Just like he promised."
What was she talking about? She couldn't possibly believe that Emmerich was her soulmate. While magic was intrinsically connected to one's innermost self, it was very distinct from a person's soul. I would've never been able to rob her of her mate or mates if they had existed. Not to mention that she had cast the spell before I'd entered the picture, to begin with.
And what was all this about a promise? Who had promised her what?
