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Wrapping my arm around hers she led me away from the main tent. I belatedly tried to remember the direction we’d come from so I could find my way back, but I couldn’t seem to make my mind work properly. I could feel the fog gathering again.
“Here we are.” The Queen announced stopping at a small tent next to a covered area with stacks of chopped wood. “This is my work tent that I insist be next to a ready supply of wood. I was born in a much warmer place and the cold seeps into my bones much quicker than those born here.”
“Loxley has harsh winters, so I understand the cold.” I confessed, ducking through the flap after the Queen.
A blast of heat hit my face and I sighed as the delicious warmth wrapped around me. The Queen chuckled as I shivered away the cold while she bustled around the small area. Dried plants hung from the support beams giving the air an earthy scent. A rough hued workbench was pushed against the tent wall with pots and buckets of every size scattered on the surface.
A fire was burning merrily in the center of the small tent, a tripod stood over the flames with a pot of bubbling liquid. The Queen spun and dropped something into the liquid with a plop. She spun again, grabbed a pinch of something and threw it onto the embers.
Blue, purple, and green flames popped and fizzled. I gasped, shocked by the interchanging colors. They were so beautiful I wanted to touch them to see if they were cool to the touch.
“No, no.” The Queen chuckled again as she grabbed my wrist preventing me from reaching into the flames. “The color doesn’t change the heat.”
“Magic?” I asked her.
“No, just a mineral that reacts with the flames.” She answered, letting me go to grab two cups from her cluttered workbench.
With her foot she pushed two low stools toward the fire. I stepped closer and grabbed them, positioning them next to the fire while the Queen poured the hot liquid into the cups. She handed me one before she settled onto her own stool. I was entranced with this unique queen. She didn’t fit any of the expectations I had for a queen, and yet, she seemed to embody the ideals entirely. I didn’t know whether to trust it or not. I wasn’t even sure my own head was trustworthy at this moment.
I blew on the warm liquid then tentatively took a sip. Rich chocolate melted on my tongue, and I moaned.
“I think that warm chocolate can heal almost anything but for what it can't, I have other recipes that can.” She sipped from her cup, and I watched her face light up.
“We have a healer, Epione. She uses plants and herbs to heal.” I spoke, then belatedly thought I shouldn’t.
“Don’t worry Arrow, you have nothing to fear from me.” She smiled and I tried to smile back but it came out as a grimace. “Would you like to talk about what happened?”
I shook my head not wanting to think about what happened or what I was feeling. It was all so complicated and the more I tried to make sense of it the less sense it made.
“Alright, I’ll just guess then.” She remarked, then took another sip of her drink. “You lost someone who meant a great deal to you and now you don’t know who to turn to. You put your trust in someone who let you down. You see enemies where you once saw friends unable to fully trust them.”
My mouth fell open when she finished speaking. She’d guessed what I was feeling exactly but she missed the guilt part.
“And you feel like it’s all your fault.” She added, her blue eyes were kind and knowing.
“How…how do you know?” I asked, weakly.
“Because not so long ago I was running from my home. Magic is outlawed there and, while I hid it well, it was only a matter of time before they connected the dots. I fled to save face for my family who believed I ran off with a man. They’d assume I’d run further south but instead I ran north.”
“To the Ice Lands.” I said, thinking of her incredible bravery or stupidity.
“Where I come from the Ice Lands are across a frozen sea. I wasn’t equipped to handle the cold, but I trusted that the Moon Maiden wouldn’t steer me wrong. I nearly died and would have if Stakar hadn’t found me. I was running to save my family and he was running from his responsibilities. We spent months together in the bitter cold and fell in love. We figured out what mattered most and made a decision together which led us here, to these people, in this place.”
“That’s…amazing!” I exclaimed then just as quickly sobered. “Your story reminds me of my parents.”
“I bet they were great people.” I looked at her sharply. “I didn’t know them, but they raised you. I can see your strength.”
I didn’t feel strong. I felt raw and vulnerable. “I don’t know what the future holds but I have people looking to me, relying on me and I can barely keep myself together. I was just trying to do the right thing.”
“You did the right thing, but our choices have consequences. You have a responsibility now to the people who decided to follow you, but you aren’t alone. That man you came with has been exactly where you are. He left his home, brought people with him all while coming to terms with the beast inside. Lean on him.”
“You don’t understand the hell he’s put me through.” I hissed remembered the mistrust and mistreatment.
“Look at it from his perspective. He’s got people who rely on him and bringing you in was a threat he couldn’t see past. Then your magic awoke, and he had trouble distinguishing between you and Asena. When you saved him and his people, putting your life at risk in the process, he began to realize you were different. He regrets his treatment of you but now you understand why.”
“It doesn’t excuse his behavior or treatment.” I muttered, remembering the cave and guards.
“No, it doesn’t, and you should make him apologize. Grovel even.” She laughed, and I joined her.
