A shock went shot through Sonja, making her heart race and her stomach clench. She bolted upright with a gasp, panicking when her eyes were not greeted by the sight of her maps and trinkets. She looked from one wall to the next and watched as a thousand doppelgangers of herself frantically looked at each other.
For a long moment she thought that she was dreaming, that she was on the cusp of a nightmare. Then the chilled air crept into her cheeks, offering a measure of comfort. She slowly realized that the copies of herself were no more than the reflections cast by the walls of sheer ice that surrounded her. Her breathing slowed to a normal rhythm.
When had she fallen asleep? She didn't remember laying down in the nest of fur-lined blankets she found herself in. She barely remembered walking into the castle with Powderpuff and Val.
Val.
A new shock of fear tore through her. Was he okay? Where had he gone? He had spent so much of his power and energy the night before to save them. Had it been too much for him?
Throwing off the thick blanket that someone, most likely Powderpuff, had draped over her, Sonja hurriedly climbed to her feet. The chill of the ice floor seeped through her socks, but the sensation didn't deter her. She half-slid, half-walked towards the door only to have it swing open before she could reach for the handle.
Powderpuff stood at the threshold, surprised at seeing Sonja already awake. "Your Highness, is everything all right?"
Sonja skidded to a stop, just before she could crash into the snowlady, and nodded. "I was worried about Val."
"He is sleeping in your brother's chamber," Powderpuff replied. She motioned to the hallway behind her with a jerk of her thumb. "I've never seen anyone sleep so heavily."
"He's a witch," Sonja offered with a shrug. With all the energy his magic must have required, she wasn't surprised to hear that he was still passed out. She could only imagine the sort of toll it took on him. "I think he probably pushed himself too hard yesterday."
"So is that what the two of you have in common? A drive to do stupid things?"
Well, she wasn't wrong with the observation. Sonja didn't tell her that though. Instead, she folded her arms across her chest and wrinkled her nose at her. Powderpuff wrinkled her nose right back.
"I haven't done anything stupid. Recently."
"Oh, I beg to differ. After all, here you stand. On a literal floor of ice in just your socks. After spending who-knows-how-long out in the spring chill, playing with witches and wolves."
"It was only the one witch," Sonja objected. "And I'm fine. The cold isn't all the bad, and I'm a sturdy girl. I can recover from anything. Even the last few days."
Powderpuff's brow arched with interest. Too late did Sonja realize that she had been fishing for something to answer all the questions she had not voiced. "The last few days? What's happened the last few days?"
Well, a boy-witch broke into my home in the dead of night, kidnapped me, dragged me off into the wintry woods without any proper preparation, and nearly got me brutally murdered by ravenous wolves. Though I can't really hold the wolves against him because by that point, for what can only be described as madness, I'd consented to go on with him for the adventure of it.
She could just imagine how well Powderpuff would react to that. Val was decent enough for a criminal, and she would hate to see him crushed to death by a raging snow monster. Or Marshmallow.
"It's just been a long journey," she responded. "That's all."
Powderpuff's eyes narrowed on the human girl, and for a harrowing moment Sonja thought she would push her to elaborate. Of all the nursemaids Sonja'd had to contend with over the years, the snowlady had been her match. So much so that her father had often joked about asking Elsa to give Powderpuff a personal flurry so he could hire her.
Sonja nearly sighed with relief when Powderpuff shifted her line of questioning to more practical inquiries. She asked about the last time they'd eaten, and whether or not they had extra clothes. Did Val need to borrow one of the fur blankets for a cloak? Did she remember to put rations in her pack this time?
As patiently as she could force herself to be, Sonja answered each of the questions. A little pack of the snowgies that roamed the castle shuffled into the room with her boots in tow. She thanked the little snowpeople, and began to pull on and lace up the thick shoes. All the while, Powderpuff quizzed her.
Once she had her boots on, Sonja looked around for her coat and found it draped over the foot of her bed. She grabbed it and shrugged it on before looking to Powderpuff again.
"Is the sleigh still here?" she asked as she fastened the wooden toggles. "And the reindeer?"
Powderpuff's brows drew together, etching suspicion into her features. "The sleigh is, and I'm sure Holly and Jolly are down in the grove."
"I'd like to borrow them if that's all right. We've still got a long way to go."
"How long is a 'long way', Your Highness?"
Sonja shrugged. "Another couple of days if we don't stop."
Silence filled the room. The snowgies were gone, and Powderpuff was as still as a statue. Sonja swore she could hear her own heart beating in the quiet. She opened her mouth to speak, but didn't get the first word out before Powderpuff interrupted.
"Are you and this witch-boy eloping?" she asked.
Sonja couldn't say with certainty what she had expected her to ask, but it wasn't that.
"Eloping?" The word was thick in her mouth, almost foreign. The bluntness of the question initially baffled her, though she recovered well enough to protest the idea. "Oh no! No, no, no. Val's just a friend. We're just going on a little trip up to Torknut for…" Heavens, what is there in Torknut that's even worth mentioning? "… for… the… ice harvesters' festival."
"Ice harvesters' festival." Powderpuff's droll tone was nearly as chilled as the walls around them.
"Yeah. It's uh… a new thing they're doing. To show appreciation for all the hard work the harvesters put in."
"Mhm. Well, let me know if there is anything I can get you for this 'festival'. Fine china. Embroidered towels. Perhaps a nice tea service."
Powderpuff turned to leave the room, all the while still listing off all the traditional wedding gifts she might send to Sonja. The princess, for her part, sighed and followed her.
"Powderpuff, please," Sonja snorted as they trudged down the stairs. "I'm not marrying Val. Nevermind that I just met him, I don't want to marry anyone."
"Anyone? That's a relief. I was almost insulted," interjected the witch's deep timbre.
The princess startled at the unexpected voice, and turned to face him. At some point Val had fallen into line behind them, following after them in complete silence. He looked better than he had the last time she saw him. His skin was no longer peaked, and his dark eyes were bright and alert. The dark crescents under his eyes had faded, too. She would have been lying to deny she was relieved to see him so improved.
She saw that he had raided the store of clothing that the family had always kept at the castle, just in case they stayed there for any amount of time. The indignation and embarrassment of his hearing her little tirade leeched away from her when her eyes caught on the embroidery at the collar of the deerskin coat he wore. The fabric hung loosely off his shoulders, and he'd had to belt it tightly around his narrow waist. Sometimes she forgot just how big a man her father had been.
"Yeah," she finally replied, meeting his gaze. "Nothing personal. I'm just not the marrying sort."
Val gave a dismissive little shrug, seeming genuinely uninterested in her marital inclinations. "Not my jester, not my court."
Sonja's brow puckered at the strange quote, but she decided against commenting on it.
"On a different but much more important note, we've got transportation to Torknut now. The family sleigh is here, and apparently still in good shape."
"That's well and good, but how are we going to pull it?"
A grin broke out on Sonja's face, and she leaned to clap him on the shoulder. Val nearly toppled with the force of it. "You look pretty stout. You should be able to manage fine."
The suggestion made Val's eyes widen with alarm. Sonja could all but hear his inner monologue denouncing her for the madwoman she surely was, and reevaluating having her continue on with him after all. She couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't look so worried," she relented. "There is a pair of reindeer Magnus made specifically for the sleigh. They'll take us."
Val's shoulders sagged with obvious relief, sending Sonja, and Powderpuff as well, into another fit of giggles.
Holly and Jolly came when Powderpuff called to them, but she did not call until the sleigh was loaded down with the remaining food and blankets from the castle storeroom. There was an empty cask there as well, and Powderpuff put it in the sleigh for them to fill when they found a stream to do so. When everything was settled and situated, they said their goodbyes and departed.
"I like Powderpuff. She's very considerate."
They were little more than halfway down the slope that served as the castle's drive when Val broke the silence. He was nestled into two of the thick furs that Powderpuff gave them. All Sonja could see of him was his face, His nose and cheeks were already red from the cold.
A little smile tugged at her lips. "She's a fine lady. I think Magnus made her with both Mum and Aunt Elsa in mind."
"I've heard a lot about them," he admitted. "They're very widely loved."
"With good cause," she replied, pride blossoming in her chest. "I know I'm probably a little biased, but they're just really wonderful women. Salama, too."
"Salama?" His brows dipped towards each other as he wracked his memory for the name. "She is your aunt's consort, correct?" Sonja nodded. "I've heard stories about her, too."
"Like what?"
"Like how clever she is, and how she was the most treasured of the King of Maldonia's children. That he trusted her more than anyone."
Again, Sonja nodded. "That's how she wound up in Arendelle. She came to negotiate trade with Maldonia, and never left."
"I heard it was because she fell in love with Queen Elsa."
Sonja had never much cared for tales of love and romance, but she had a soft spot for the story of her aunts. She had been young when Salama came to Arendelle, but old enough to vividly remember it all. The Maldonian Princess of Princesses had been a balm for their grieving hearts. She had brought laughter and joy back into their lives, and it was through her that the palace had been made to feel like home again. Salama often said that when she'd first walked into the throne room and laid eyes on Elsa, she knew that Arendelle was where she was supposed to be. No one had ever suggested otherwise.
"She did. And all of Arendelle fell in love with Salama."
Val fell quiet again, and remained so as they entered the icy forest that marked the edge of the castle's estate. The frozen branches of crystalline willow trees tinkled against one another as they passed through the shimmering curtain. She heard him suck in an appreciative breath at the sight, and couldn't help but smile at his awe.
At some point after that, Sonja wasn't sure when, he had fallen asleep again. His snores were soft, muffled by the fur he was swaddled in.
I guess he wasn't as rested as I thought.
She nudged the reindeer into moving a little faster down the faint track, hoping that the way was still clear enough to traverse. If they made good enough time, she knew just the place they could break to fill their water cask and maybe take in a quick meal.