One True Queen: A Wings of Fire fanfiction

25.

Content warning: Snowfox's spectacularly awful parenting and relationship skills, Timeline-series typical discussions of war and violence, brief secondhand descriptions of drowning, unintentional self-destructive behavior

Snowfox

I sigh, sitting down in my tent and pulling out a fresh scroll.

I'm sure Snowflake thinks she's very funny, ignoring my letters—I'm sure she's just rolling on the floor laughing, in the kingdom I gave to her—that she'll never need to give back at this rate.

I miss my home. I miss the weather, I miss that it wasn't disgustingly humid. I miss the quiet, and the snow, and the frozen lakes. But as winter fades into spring, the forest has turned humid and lukewarm, warm rain making my scales feel like they're melting. I wanted to get Polar to freeze our camp down to a more suitable temperature, but I guess that wouldn't be a great idea if we're trying to keep this under the radar.

Of course, the actual NightWings here would probably die for a chance to experience their normal climate, that little, irritating voice in my head murmurs. But they don't, because of you.

I roll my eyes, trying to ignore that thought. This is war—I'm no worse than any of the thousands of other queens who have done this to each other. I'd be a fool not to use magic to my advantage—a fool like Darkstalker. And it's obvious where his concerns for his soul have landed him.

I dip my talon in dark blue ink.

Dear Snowflake,

Today, the NightWings tried to attack again. I'm amazed at how undisciplined these dragons are—it feels like their entire military strategy was thrown together in ten minutes, or something.

Halfway through the battle, completely out of nowhere, Darkstalker just completely gave up and announced to the world that the IceWings are using animus magic. He projected his face into the sky, it was terrible.

I'm a little worried about that, actually—even though he has absolutely no concrete evidence. But some dragons really did seem to take what he said to heart—I have my speechwriter working on my official statement. I'm sure Ptarmigan will work out some way to dismiss it. IceWings aren't the rebellious type.

Even if they do figure it out, I can just change the law against using magic. I'm sure I could get the council to approve it. I mean, yeah, there's some checks and balances, but that's what makes the Ice Kingdom great--we don't just have a total dictatorship, like all the other kingdoms.

Or is that your job now? Now that you've got my throne, now that you've stolen my life's work

Suddenly, rain starts to pound against my canvas tent. I frown--wasn't it clear today?

Probably just this kingdom's stupid weather. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I bet the Ice Kingdom is having perfect weather right now. I bet stupid, evil Snowflake is just basking in it, maybe on a midafternoon scroll to contemplate what she's gonna do, since the kingdom is basically hers.

I take a deep breath, neatly crossing out the last line. I'll rewrite it later into a final draft.

I'm sorry. I know I was the one who gave it to you, I know you're probably just as miserable as I am. You'd hate being queen. You'd hate being trapped in those icy walls. You'd hate all the judging eyes and rules following you everywhere you went. It must be jarring, to go from twenty-four years in Penguin Inlet to the palace, constantly bustling with dragons.

I'm sorry I'm not good at this. I'm sorry that I've probably already driven you away, many letters ago. And if you don't even read this, that's okay.