Chapter 7
Lira celebrated her first victory within the white walls of a garden. Marble pathways led through a maze of flower beds and ivy tunnels to intimate meeting spots where gods gathered to do what they did best. There were benches and gazebos and large white statues of favored gods. Above the garden there was no sky, only the open cosmos.
Elsa had perched herself in the highest branch of the tallest tree. She sat against the trunk with her knees to her chest. The tree was pure white and as smooth as stone. Its golden leaves and clusters of jeweled acorns glittered as though lit from within. Elsa watched a comet streak across the macrocosm above her.
Below she could see the ornate gazebo where Lira lounged in a nest of pillows surrounded by dozens of new admirers. They praised Lira and recounted over and over how Vica had withered away into nothing. You should have seen the look on her face, they said. And Lira asked them to describe again how Vica had wept.
Gods that could not make room for themselves in the gazebo milled around outside of it with expressions of mild disinterest. They swirled the wine in their goblets and picked at the platters of food offered by passing Satyrs. Elsa knew their type. If they could not meet face to face with the star of the moment, the next best thing was to act as though someone had begged them to come.
Elsa kept her attention on the comet. The cosmos were so vast and empty. She imagined herself growing wings and flying straight up into the nothing, traveling forever until she was so far away her existence carried no meaning.
She thought of Maxmar and realized she did not regret killing him. He would have killed her without hesitation so she did not doubt her decision to kill him first. What she regretted was that she had ended up doing something that Lira had wanted and that she herself explicitly did not want. Nothing so far had made her feel so small and powerless.
A burst of Lira's laughter rose above the din. It was a pleasantly musical sound that reminded Elsa of the last time she had seen her sister.
"Don't listen to him, Elsa," Anna said. She pushed her plate away and straightened up in her chair. "We're not opening a reindeer petting zoo."
"I would support you if you did," Elsa replied, smiling warmly over the rim of her wine glass.
Anna's eyes went soft. She placed her hand in Kristoff's and the couple smiled at the Queen.
"Not a reindeer petting zoo, but there is something."
"Elsha!"
The daydream was interrupted by Lira's drunken holler. Elsa looked down. Lira had stumbled from the gazebo and made her way to the base of Elsa's tree. Lira gripped the tree and craned her head back to gaze straight up.
"Elsha, show em your snow trick," Lira hollered. "Show my friends your snow thing how you can make all that snow at once."
Elsa frowned and got to her feet.
"No," she said clearly so that all of the gods looking on would be able to hear.
"Elsha!" Lira shouted, more indignant. "Get down here right now!"
"I said no," Elsa said. "You'll have to come up and get me."
"Fine!" Lira turned to the other gods who watched her closely. "What they don't tell you about elementals is that they're more arrogant and stubborn than common mortals, but they can apparently be just as stupid."
Elsa bristled at the gods' amused laughter.
The next thing she knew she was clenched in Lira's hand and they were back in her room. Lira's eyes lit with fire. She looked more imposing and radiant like an actual goddess. The force of her grip crushed the breath from Elsa's chest.
"What in the nine hells is wrong with you!" Lira shouted. Her voice filled the room as though there were a dozen of her. She raised her hand as though she meant to slam Elsa onto the table. At the last moment she stopped and instead turned her palm to dump her. "Do you know what a fool you're making of me?"
The extent of Lira's rage took Elsa by surprise but she would not allow herself to be cowed. She got to her feet and straightened with her chin up to meet Lira's gaze.
"I told you that I am not your pet to perform tricks for you."
"That is exactly what you are! Don't you understand? You're still acting like you're an actual queen of something. You don't have lands here, Elsa. Your mortal title and status are a novelty now. You don't have subjects. You don't make laws. Your only castle is the one I gave you. You are my accessory, nothing more."
Elsa narrowed her eyes. "I am the only reason you have any friends at all, not that I'd call any of those other gods your friends. If you think for one second that those gods care about you beyond your association to me, you're as dumb as you look."
"Enough! One more word out of you and I'll lock you away in your castle."
"Until all your admirers start asking to see one of my little tricks. How long do you think they'll stick around if I'm not there? Without me you're just another goddess that no one's ever heard of."
"I said enough!" Lira flared white. She lowered until her face was level with Elsa's.
"You are my mortal, bound to me, " she hissed. "If you don't start showing me the respect I deserve, I'll make you fight those children you so valiantly saved in the arena."
The words opened a dark place in Elsa's heart. Lira had discovered her weakness. She could not back down now. She formed an ice dagger and brought the tip of it to the corner of her eye.
"Put me in the arena again and I'll disfigure myself so horribly that no god will be able to look upon me without retching," she said, keeping her voice cool. "I'll take out my eyes and shave my head. I'll cut off my nose and ears. I'll wear rags and cut myself and rub my blood all over. And while I do this I'll curse you openly at every turn and tell all the other gods that Vica was right, that you're a no-name goddess who didn't earn her mortal legitimately."
Lira sneered. "You wouldn't dare."
Blood roared in Elsa's ears. She pulled down her cheek to expose the underside of her eye and rested the tip of the dagger to her bottom eye lid. She steeled herself for the pain.
"Stop!" Lira raised her hand. Her light faded slightly.
Elsa did not take the blade from her eye.
"Swear it," she said. She hoped Lira could not see the sweat forming at her brow. "Swear upon your own divinity that you will never make me fight in the arena. If another god should challenge you, you will do everything to avoid the fight even if it makes you look weak."
"You would take away my one method for gaining status over other gods."
"You're already over other gods. Why do you think they've been fawning over you since the fight?"
Lira folded her arms and was silent for a moment. "I suppose that's true," she said at last. "Two deaths by ice should be enough to prove that I'm the real thing. So fine, I swear on my divinity or whatever you said." She waved her hand flippantly. "But what if a god won't take no for an answer and demands a challenge?"
Elsa dissipated her dagger.
"Then the mortal I fight better be a willing and appropriate adversary. No children, no beasts that can't consent, and nothing for sport."
"Well you have to give something. What good is having an elemental if I never get to show you off?"
Elsa crouched and touched her finger to the table. Frost expanded across the surface like spider legs and then curled upward and twisted into larger and larger braids that ended in the form of two women.
"Snow nymphs," Elsa said. The animations came to life, two beings made of pure snow with long hair and pleasing features. They laughed and danced about each other.
"They won't hold a conversation but they can do a number of stupid snow tricks that should be enough to entertain some drunk gods."
Lira delighted in the nymphs and held out her hand to them. The nymphs climbed into her palm and continued their swirling dance. One blew snow at the other who laughed and flicked her hair.
"These will do for now," Lira said. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to return to my party."
Elsa turned her back to Lira. "Take the nymphs. I would like to stay here."
"Fine." And then Lira was gone.
Elsa released the breath she'd been holding and ran a trembling hand through her hair. Was this to be her existence for the rest of eternity? Butting heads with a goddess was a dangerous game. If Lira's pride ever outgrew her vanity, Elsa would lose everything including her eyes.
Elsa returned to her castle where she drew a bath. As she soaked she examined the strange rock Ingo had given her, holding it up to the light to view its purple heart. She brought the rock to her nose and inhaled deeply. It had a stale scent that made her think of someplace cold and dark like a dungeon. Grazing her nail across the rock produced no residue and she was unable to chip off even the smallest piece of it. Curious, she brought the rock to her lips. It did not feel like she was pressing her lips to a rock but rather a living thing. There was a veil of warmth about it, a soft humming energy.
She paused to listen for any sounds of Lira's return and cast a quick glance over her shoulder at the balcony doors. No one around. As quickly and discreetly as though she were trying to get away with it in front of a group of people, she touched her tongue to the rock. A vile taste filled her mouth and nose. Death and dust. Her body reacted with violent urgency as she twisted and dry heaved over the side of the tub. Good thing she had not eaten anything at Lira's celebration otherwise she would be seeing it all over the floor. She coughed and gagged again. Bitterness covered her tongue. When the convulsions ebbed, she laid back in the tub to catch her breath. She washed the saliva from her chin and fished the rock from the bottom of the tub where it had dropped. The rock now had a dark streak where her tongue had touched it. She tapped her finger to her tongue. No damage had been done, at least not that she could feel.
"Elsa!" Lira called from outside.
Elsa straightened with a curse. "Ah, just a minute," she replied. She snatched her robe from the chair by the tub just as Lira looked in through the balcony doors.
"Elsa, you're not going to believe what's happened," Lira said.
"Ahh!" Elsa feigned startlement and yelled to distract Lira as she fumbled to hide the rock in her robe, though the goddess didn't look like the slightest bit interested in anything she was doing.
"Titans above," Lira sighed and rolled her eyes. "Stop being such a prude."
"Would it be so hard for you to knock? Tap on the roof or something, I don't know. " Elsa climbed from the tub and donned her robe, deftly slipping the rock into the inner pocket. She walked out to the balcony to see Lira practically alight with joy. The goddess had her fingers curled against her mouth and was bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"The most amazing thing has happened," Lira said. She produced a golden scroll from the pocket of her dress. The scroll unfurled and Elsa saw a message written in graceful flowing characters that she could not read.
"What does it say?" she asked.
"King Zamus has invited us to dine with him tomorrow night!" Lira's green eyes glittered joyfully.
Elsa raised an eyebrow. "And who is King Zamus?"
"Silly Elsa, don't you know anything? He's King of the Gods. His own royal messenger delivered this to me personally. I had thought maybe that he would hear about me, but I didn't actually think he would want to meet me so soon. We're to be at the Temple of Ages tomorrow for dinner."
Elsa felt a weight drop in her stomach.
"No," she said.
Lira had been re-reading the message on the scroll when the protest reached her ears. Her gaze swung back to Elsa's.
"Don't even start," she said. "Pluck your eyes out if you must, but there's no way I'm turning down an opportunity to dine with the principal gods."
"You can't assume that this invitation is friendly," Elsa said.
"And why not? What are you so worried about?"
"That's just it. I don't know. I've never met this king and neither have you."
Lira groaned as she rolled the scroll up and tucked it into the sleeve of her dress. "So that's why we're going to dinner with him! If the King was so threatened by me, he would have challenged me to a fight in the arena already."
"Unless he's not so sure he would win."
"Don't be ridiculous, of course he would win. He's the King of the Gods, undefeated since forever."
Elsa's expression transformed to one of concern.
"Listen to me, Lira. I know things have changed for you. You have something that makes you the object of envy to other gods. But it's not as nice as it seems. Others are going to want things that you have, and sometimes they will go to great measures trying to obtain them."
Lira threw her hands up. "And what would you have me do? Ignore the King? Throw his invitation in his face and say 'Sorry, my mortal thinks you're going to destroy us so I can't go'?"
"Not necessarily," Elsa replied carefully. "Is there any god you would trust to bring with you? Any god who, I don't know. Any god who you think would assist you if things...took an unexpected turn?"
"Assist me?" Lira laughed. She fell into a chair and wilted dramatically over the back of it with her hand to her forehead. "Oh help! I've been invited to dine with King Zamus! What if he's strong and handsome and asks me to marry him? What will I do?" She kicked her legs playfully before straightening again. "Zamus can't do anything to me. And if he's going to do anything to you he's going to do it through his mortal, which if his intent was to kill you he would send a challenge, not an invitation to dinner. We're going to this dinner and that's final."
Elsa did not respond. If everything Lira had told her about this realm of gods was true then Elsa was the only one who had anything to worry about. Lira would not be on her guard and Elsa could not count on anyone, god or mortal, to take her side against the King of the Gods. If events did take a turn for the worst she would once again be on her own.
