A Mix Of Worlds

III - A Heart of Ice

III - A Heart of Ice

Kai was acting strangely. He had returned from his work with a frown, and he had barked at Gerda and Grandma, slamming the door to his room. That was when Gerda knew that there was something wrong.

Gerda stood outside his door, hearing growls and shattering glass. She opened it and saw the snow globe she had given him lying broken on the floor, Kai bent over it. In one hand he held a quizzing glass, with the other he touched the snowflakes that had fallen from the globe. He looked up and glared at her. Undeterred, she stepped carefully over the broken glass and sat down on the ground beside him.

That was not him, she reasoned. The Kai from last night — the one who had read to her, who had stared at her with those ocean blue eyes — was not here today. It was not just a bad day, either. That glint in his eyes as he studied the snowflakes he'd once hated — it was unlike anything she'd ever seen.

"Kai."

He did not look up. "Get out."

"Kai, please. Talk to me," Gerda pleaded.

He snapped. He threw away the objects in his hands, stood up, and screamed that she was vile and that he wished she had stayed in an orphanage. Each insult he hurled was met with another broken object. Soon the floor was littered with wood, glass, and withered periwinkle petals. He did not even flinch as he stepped on the glass.

Gerda left before the cursing began. Tears stung her eyes, and she blinked to hold them back, smiling bitterly. It was always the insults that hurt most.

She would have gone to bed that night if she had not heard what he'd muttered last. Snow. Tonight. Snowflakes. So many snowflakes. He could have been talking about the weather, for heaven's sake, but she wanted to know for sure.

As predicted, Kai left the house after midnight. Gerda watched as he grabbed a lantern and sauntered toward the frozen meadow, that sharp look still in his half-glazed eyes.

She followed him through the village, through the dark forest, and stopped at the edge of the meadow. Their meadow, where they had spent many a summer day, running and laughing in the soft grass. Now hard white snow covered the ground, freezing everything it touched.

Kai kept walking, stopping only when a white sleigh pulled up in front of him. A woman got out and clasped his face with her hands. Her ombré dress shimmered magnificently in the light of the lantern.

Was she some sort of acquaintance? Perhaps a friend he had met while working in the village?

The woman pushed back her hood and let her platinum hair — so similar to Gerda's — fall in wavy curls around her back and shoulders as she tiptoed and pressed a kiss to Kai's lips, two.

At the first touch of the woman's lips to his, Gerda's hands clenched, her nails biting into the soft skin beneath. Did Kai love the woman as Gerda loved him?

On the first kiss, colour returned to Kai’s pallid face and he ceased to rub his hands together for warmth. On the second kiss, a mask fell over his face, and he remained impassive again.

Then the woman turned, and Gerda caught a glimpse of ice-blue eyes that looked just like hers. Only there was no warmth in those eyes, no light, only infinite darkness that threatened to swallow her.

She half-stepped, half-stumbled forward as Kai climbed into the sleigh, hand outstretched to snatch him from the woman, to pull them both to safety. It was too late.

The sleigh had already begun to move when the Snow Queen turned and smiled cruelly in Gerda's face.

Gerda ran. Back into the woods, over the fence, and across the village, finally coming to a stop at her house. Panting, she knocked on Grandma's door, opened it, and rushed inside.

"Kai has been kidnapped," she blurted.

Grandma gave her a searching look. "Are you going after him, dear?"

"I- I’m not sure what to do, Grandma."

"Listen to your heart. Do what it tells you to do."

Grandma followed her into the hallway and helped her pack while the girl told her what had happened. Gerda stuffed some matches and coins into a satchel while Grandma went off to get provisions. She would have to travel as light as possible.

"A word of advice, dear," Grandma said as Gerda pulled on her boots. "Whatever happens and whatever you face — believe me, you will face many things — stay true to yourself. Do not let the wickedness of the world corrupt you. Many travellers will say that purity means nothing in this world, that backbone and wit are all you need, but they are wrong. Taking away what you are is the worst thing they can do to you. As long as you keep your heart pure and your innocence intact, you'll be safe."

Gerda nodded her head and hugged Grandma for a brief moment. "I promise," she whispered.