Enchanted Frost (Frost Series #8) (A YA Romantic Fantasy Adventure) (7 page)

          “I
must confess, Prince Kian,” she said. “You have aroused much...curiosity in
me.” She took a step towards me. “I am told that humans think love is the
greatest gift in the world – yet you Fey fear it. I am unfamiliar with both
perspectives. It is something utterly foreign to me. Has this epidemic really
taken over so much of your kind?”

          “No,”
I admitted. “Not many. But some. My sister, Shasta, was affected first. She
fell for a knight called Rodney, from the Summer Court that was then at war
with my kind. The love made her crazy, frenetic. Inspired her to summon the
Dark Hordes out of a desperate desire to distract my mother from forbidding her
love...”

          “Curious...”
the witch sneered. “I am told thousands died in that battle. And all because of
love. Many kings and princes would give all their treasure for the secret of
causing so much death.”

          Her
callousness unsettled me, but I tried to ignore it. This woman held the secret
of my protection, after all.

          “And
then....my love of Breena...has incapacitated me. It has made me weak. And now
that I know she does not return my love, I know it will not hurt her if I
remove this disease from my flesh, my heart...”

          “Yes,
the cure,” said the Witch. “My messengers have alerted me to this; they know
what you are after.”

          “Then
you can cure me?”

          “I
can cure you...” the Witch said. “If that is what you wish. But sit a while,
Kian. Relax. You will be cured. But first answer my questions.” She peered at
me. “And you must call me Gail. No formalities here.” It was not a request.

          “Gail,”
I said.

          “You
love her very much, then?”

          “I...do...”
I felt the tears spring at my eyes. “Even now, I must confess, I still love her
more than is good for me. But that is why I must be cured, you see. So that I
can never suffer again from this affliction. So that I can be the ruler my
mother and all of Feyland expects of me.”

          “Your
mother...yes....” Gail smiled. “Do you miss her very much?” She looked down her
nose at me.

          I
hesitated. How could I explain my complicated feelings about my mother to this
total stranger? I cared for my mother – certainly, I honored her as a son ought
to honor his mother. I did the duties that a subject ought to do for his Queen.
I could never have admitted to loving her – my mother would have been
scandalized at the very idea. Now that she was gone, I missed her steely
strength, I missed her resolve and her powerful way of commanding a room with
the sheer force of her presence. I missed the level-headedness she brought to
my life. She had disapproved of my love of Breena, and now I knew why.

          “I'm
sure she misses you very much,” cooed Gail. “She knows what a brave, strong
young man you have become.”

          “She
knows? How?” My voice grew loud.

          “You
think my powers are limited to helping those in their first youth?” Gail
laughed. “I can see into the Beyond, and communicate with those who are there.
I can see into the unknown. And I know your mother is there, waiting for you.
Waiting for you to make your choice and become the king she always knew you
could be. The choice to come here, to take that risk – she believes is the
bravest, and the noblest, thing you have ever done. I can hear her voice now.
She is saying...” Gail closed her eyes and inhaled sharply. “
My Kian, my
son. Leave the tangle of human emotions behind! Leave behind the love that has
made you weak, left you vulnerable. Let me set you free! Let another free you
from the power Breena casts over you, which is stronger than any spell. I am so
proud of you, my boy. My son. My king.
”

          I
was shaking, in shock. Could my mother really be speaking through this strange,
beautiful creature?

          “Please,”
I begged her. “Help me. Cure me. I cannot stand my pain any longer!”

          She
considered me for a long while, looking me up and down in stony silence.

“Very well,
Kian,” she said at last. “I will help you. But first you must do something for
me.”

Chapter 8

         
S
o, this was
it. The moment I had been waiting for. The moment when I at last would be set
free, when at last this agony that was splitting my heart in two would subside
and leave me, at once, for the first time in so many months, so many years, in
peace. Tears of joy sprang to my eyes. The pain would be over. The longing
would be over. The need for Breena's mouth on mine, her lips on mine, her hands
twined between my own, her warm body and cool cheeks, the smell of her that
smelled like cinnamon and jasmine and pomegranate and honeysuckle all at once –
of this at last,
at last
, I would be cured. I wanted to sob with relief.
I would be able to look upon her as a caring friend, a brother, nothing more. I
would be able to deal with her love for Logan – I would be able, even, to be
happy for her, although I couldn't imagine such a thing at this moment. I could
be happy for both of them. Breena and I could rule Feyland side by side, as
best friends. We wouldn't even need to get married – we could sign a treaty
that determined joint control of Feyland. If Breena and Logan had children, and
I too produced an heir, we could marry them to one another, and thus produce a
joint dynasty one generation later than planned....

          The
thought made me feel ill, violently ill, and I began to retch, my body
convulsing at the thought.
Logan and Breena having children?
No, I
couldn't bear it – couldn't bear the thought of the two of them touching one
another, mingling with one another, their limbs sprawled across one another's
bodies – no, no amount of magic in the world would ever make me able to
withstand such torture! The spell would never work!

          “There,
there....” Gail began to massage my back, soothing me into silence. “I know
it's hard, dear boy. So very, very hard...I've seen it all before, you know.
Lots of boys like you who come seeking some kind of answers here, in my lair.
Who think that this feeling that's affected them is the end of the world, that
they'll never recover from it. But let me tell you something, my dear Prince.
They all do. Every single one. With a little bit of my help, the feeling they
promise until they're blue in the face will never go away leaves them forever –
leaves them happy, sane, and free. No longer in love. You're not the first Fey
to fall in love, and you won't be the last. So don't worry. I can help you. I
promise you that, if you'll let me, I'll remove every ounce of love from your
heart. Do you trust me? You do trust me, don't you?”

          Mutely,
limply, I nodded. I felt tears spring at my eyes and grew embarrassed at them.
I looked down.

          “Then
are you prepared to do what I ask of you, my boy?”

          “Yes,”
I said, “Whatever you say, my lady.”

          “Gail,
please!”

          “Gail.”

          “In
order for the cure to work,” she said, grasping tightly at my hand, “I will
need to perform it on Feyland soil. It won't work out here in the ancient
realms. I need to tap into the power of Feyland at its core.”

          “We
have to go back to Feyland?”

          She
tightened her grip on my wrist. “Yes, absolutely!” she said swiftly. “Not a
doubt. You must invite me into Feyland and allow me to do my cure there. That
is my condition.

          “Invite
you?” I asked. “Can't you just come yourself?”

          She
laughed loudly – a swift, sharp laugh. “Of course I can, silly,” she said. “But
I don't like to go to anybody's home unless I'm invited. Awfully rude, isn't
it?”

          I
laughed along with her. “So, that's it? That's your only condition – that we
have to go back to Feyland?”

          “I'm
looking forward to it,” said Gail. “I haven't visited in a while – I'm
beginning to miss the place.”

          “Very
well,” I said. “Let's set off.”

          “Just...one
more thing,” said Gail. “My helpers – they have to come too.”

          “Your
helpers?”

          Gail
motioned towards the trees. There, hiding among the shadows of the branches and
leaves, were a few patches of darkness – shadows that seemed to be of nothing
at all. At Gail's gesture they began to change shape, dancing and gliding
across the ground, forming smiling, laughing faces as they separated and
reconfigured themselves over and over again.

          “I
like to call them my Shadow Puppets,” said Gail. “I understand that's a human
phrase.”

          “I
wouldn't know,” I confessed.

          “Anyway,
they will have to come too. They help me affect all of my work – including this
cure. That is, if they're invited too?” She laughed as she stroked my arm,
staring straight into my eyes with her bright blue gaze, which was painfully
lovely.

          I
smiled back at her, relieved. I'd expected the White Witch to be a fearsome,
terrifying creature, but Gail was hardly frightening. She was powerful,
certainly, but seemed kind – playful rather than grim. And while I'd spent a
good deal of time fretting about the price I'd heard she'd extract for her
services, all that she asked – that we return to Feyland – seemed like a small
price to pay in order to be free of the pains and pangs of love forever. It
would require a few days' extra journey, to be sure, but I could last those
final few days in the throes of my love – at least, I could if I knew that my
pain was almost at an end. Indeed, my love for Breena didn't hurt as much as it
normally did. It was as if now that I knew that it would soon be gone, I was
able to treasure it, to reflect fondly on our happy memories together without
mourning the fact that she now loved another.

          “Very
well, my boy,” said Gail. “Shall we be off?”

          Another
two days passed as we walked together on the road back into Feyland. Gail and I
spent the walk talking – she asked me question after question about Breena,
about our life together, about love.

          “I
must say,” she confessed. “You're a difficult case. I have no doubt that I will
cure you – but all the same – your love is far deeper than that of many who
come my way.”

          “I
only hope it'll work,” I said.

          “It'll
work,” she replied swiftly. “Nobody is better than I am at destroying love.”
The shadow puppets seemed to dance on the path alongside us. “In fact, I would
even call it my specialty.”

          “Your
specialty?”

          “Of
course, I have so many....” She looked at me with a flirtatious smile.

          “I
have no doubt of that, my lady,” I said.

          “Gail.”

          “Gail.”

          She
smiled and squeezed my hand.

          For
the first time, I felt a sense of relief. My troubles were almost over. My
worries were almost at an end. Soon, I'd stop missing her, stop wanting her,
stop needing her, stop wanting to scream out her name every moment that she
wasn't there. It would all stop. Of course, such a thing seemed impossible –
but I had confidence in Gail. The sense of power she exuded was no illusion –
she was one of the most powerful beings I'd ever come across.

          “There!”
Gail called. “Look, up ahead!”

          It
was the stone gates of Feyland.

          “We're
here.”

          We
stood before the gates, and my heart began to beat faster. So, we were almost
at Feyland. Almost time for the cure to go into effect. Almost time for me to
forget Breena forever.

         
But
what if you don't want to stop loving her?

           
“Well?” Gail
laughed. “Aren't you going to be a gentleman and take my arm as we cross.” She
made a little curtsey.

          “Of
course.” I took her arm and we strode through the gates together, the shadow
puppets following at our feet.

          “There.”
Gail took a step forward, closing her eyes. “Feyland....” She gave a low, dark
laugh. “It feels so good to be back again.” A slow smile spread across her
lips. “To feel the power surging back into me.”

          She
turned to me. Her smile was hard, even cruel. “Now I'll do what you ask,” she
said. “Since you have invited me into the Fairy Kingdom, and now my power is
the greatest power in the land. I will take all love from this land.”

          “All
love?” I stuttered. “What do you mean –
all
love? Just mine, certainly?”

          Gail
chuckled. “Oh, you poor little fool. You dear, dear fool. You've let me into
Feyland. We're playing on my terms, now. And
I
get to make the rules.”