Frozen Ash

Ice reflects the sheen of the queen's tears as she perches on her throne. Alert. Ready. Waiting.

She knows what's about to happen, and all she can do is wait for her enemy to come to her. So, she sits on her throne, right where he knows he'll find her. She's certain he'll come soon, sometime today, sometime within the hour. And as seconds turn into minutes, she feels herself grow restless, jumping at the reflections in the frozen walls around her. The ice jewels in her crown bite at her forehead, and she shivers, not from the cold – she was born in the cold – but for what is to come. Each moment is drawn out for eternity, and she's not sure she can bear it much longer.

But she doesn't have to.

Just as she thinks he's not coming and she'll have to endure another day of this torture, the icy doors part. And standing on the other side is him.

The queen stands. Her white and blue dress and train billow around her like a cold fog. She's calm, even though she knows what she's about to encounter.

And for the first time today, she speaks.

"Prince Fannar." She grips her frozen scepter, digging her fingernails into the frost as the words leave her mouth. Oh, how much she has feared this encounter, yet how much she has prepared for it. She takes a silent but shaky breath, all the emotion she dares reveal.

"Queen Aspyn of Glicia," the prince says. His snow white hair, so much like her own, falls over his fair skin, and his pale blue eyes are frozen with corruption. He could be handsome in a different world, but all beauty is overcome by the sinister glint of hatred in his eyes and reflected in his smile. The sight sends shivers down Aspyn's spine, but she would never admit to it.

"Why have you come?" Aspyn asks, even though she already knows.

"Are you blind? Surely you have heard what the people are saying. What they are calling for," Fannar taunts. Aspyn guards her rising anger before opening her mouth.

"I have heard of the lies being spread about me. About how I conspired with the Neronians to murder my father so I would be crowned queen. Surely you know they are untrue."

"Untrue or not, the people are calling for your execution and my coronation as the rightful King of Glacia," Fannar says, his evil smile stretching across his face. Aspyn turns her head, trying to freeze the tears in her ice blue eyes.

"I know it was you. You're the one who spread the lies. I know you want the power. You've been after my inheritance since we were children. But how could you stoop this low? You wouldn't truly kill me, would you, cousin?"

"I certainly could kill you. It's what the people want. They believe you are evil, and evil must die. Don't you agree, cousin?" Fannar says.

"I am not evil, you are," Aspyn spats, "And in order to kill me, you would have to fight my entire royal guard, and that is no easy task. Their loyalty lies with me, and they have pledged to fight to the death on my behalf. You won't make it out alive."

The frozen darkness clouding Fannar's eyes intensifies. "Oh, if only that were true, my cousin." Sharp stings of fear jolt Aspyn as every guard in her throne room points their spears at her.

She's surrounded.

No.

The word echoes through her head like a distant memory. She doesn't truly know what's happening. She is only aware something is wrong. So very, very wrong.

But after the numbness of shock, the betrayal becomes real, and her heart melts into her stomach. There's no escape now. No hope of flight. She will face those who wronged her, her people who believed and spread lies about her.