Kingdoms of Wrath and Ice ebook by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tourmaline & Quartz Publishing
Published: 2022-10-28T00:00:00+00:00

The Winter Queen

by Jan Marie Reynoldson

The Winter Queen stood tall and proud on the parapet of her palace of ice and gazed over the snow-filled mountain valley that was her realm. She reigned over this mountain chain and its long valley from mid-fall to mid-spring. She allowed the queens of the other seasons to move through her realm as she slept through the warm months of the year, but it was clear to all that this mountain valley was hers to rule. Her high walled palace with tall spires of ice stood near the top of the tallest mountain. To anyone passing below, the palace seemed like a part of the mountain glacier on which it rested.

Frost covered her white gown in lacy patterns and fur-like hoarfrost lined the collar, cuffs, and borders. The gown lifted at the edges, like the front of a blizzard, and the silky strands of her long, white hair swirled around her pale face at the touch of the North Wind, her companion. Her eyes, the color of a winter sky, pierced through the blowing snow to focus on the sight far below. She was the Winter Queen. Everything in her realm was rigorously white; yet, below her, bright colors dotted the snow of the valley floor.

Spring was months away. She had banned colors in her realm during the winter months. The colorful forms moved over the even snow, leaving tracks that marred the purity of her realm. She was furious. Humans had come to her realm.

“We can drive them away,” whispered the North Wind in her ear. Then he moved to stand beside her. His long, white tunic and mantle whipped with his growing fury.

The Winter Queen raised an arm in anger and called forth a blizzard. She swung her arm around and the snowstorm raged down the mountainside. She and the North Wind swept the people away, pelting them with wind-driven ice crystals as they fled.

Now no creature moved in her realm. It was pure white and even again. The Winter Queen sighed, and the snow stopped falling. The North Wind swirled up to stand at her side. All was still. Silence reigned once more, and the Winter Queen felt at peace. Over her realm lay the peace of winter slumber, of deep sleep.

The Winter Queen stood on the parapet of her palace, as still as a pillar of ice, and savored the silence of her realm. She stood for days, for weeks, in complete silence. Sometimes the North Wind stood beside her or embraced her; other times, he swept silently over the mountains and down the valley. Her mind slept, like the hibernating forest animals. She dreamed, but even her dreams were soundless. Northern lights, woven from her dreams, danced silently across the night sky.

A tinkling sound disturbed her sleep and brought her out of her dreams. It was not yet time for the melting of the icicles. The sound was not natural. The Winter Queen awoke abruptly. Bells jingled through the frosty air.

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