Chapter Twenty Two

The Snow Queen

TALYA

"Ahtohallan." Talya whispered. "It's…it's beautiful." She studied the island with wide eyes. It was a glacier, no doubt, but it had been carved, sculpted and constructed into a temple-like structure. The height of the thing was breathtakingly impressive. From afar, it looked like a mountain.

It reminded Talya of the stories she'd read in Queen Anna's journals which had then been turned into autobiographies. Anna had scaled the North Mountain in search of her sister Elsa the first time her powers had been accidentally revealed, and she'd described an ice palace that looked somewhat akin to what Talya was seeing before her now. Only, it was a merge between a palace and a temple of some sort, but no doubt it was made of solid ice.

"What-what is it?" Val asked. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head and his mouth was gaping open. He'd never been one to believe in anything supernatural but now…there was no turning back. "Is that…a sanctuary of ice?

"I think so." Talya said.

"So it's real." Peggy said in awe. "My great grandfather…he wasn't hallucinating. It's real."

Talya had to admit, in spite of having already believed that all of this was real, she was still in as much fascination as the others were. How could she not be in the presence of something so majestic?

The horse slowed to a canter and then came to a complete stop when it reached solid land. It whinnied, as though confirming that they had arrived at their destination.

Talya looked down. Instead of a beach that she'd been expecting of an island, the ground was made of pure, solid ice. "Glaciers." She muttered to herself. It made sense in a strange sort of way. She'd been looking for the Snow Queen after all, it only made sense that she would create a fortress or a safe haven out of the one thing her sorcery was based on: ice.

Letting the others dismount first, Talya climbed down carefully, afraid that the ice beneath their feet would not be able to take too much weight. But the moment her feet touched the ice, she could feel that it was stable, probably much thicker than she'd given it credit for.

She turned to find the horse already galloping back into the Dark Sea, and it disintegrated when it was far out, merging back with the waves.

"A horse made out of water." Val stared after it as well. "I think I've seen too much."

"Well, stick around. My guess is it's about to get stranger." Peggy said.

"I can't believe we actually did it. We made it to Ahtohallan." Talya tore her eyes away from the Dark Sea. They'd actually made it across. Somehow. She turned her attention back to the sanctuary of ice in front of them. It loomed large, towering over them and Talya suddenly had a feeling of being watched.

"What now?" Val asked, checking to make sure his tablet was working - for whatever that was worth now that they were on a supernatural island.

"Frankly, I don't know. We're in uncharted territory here." Talya studied the sanctuary. If what Jakob said was true and the Snow Queen still trained sorcerers from around the world, then there had to be an entrance around here somewhere. Every temple or sanctuary, no matter how supernatural, had to have a door.

She walked up a steep flight of steps carved out of ice that had beautiful banisters on the sides, and heard the footfalls of Val and Peggy pattering on the ice behind her. Careful not to lose her footing, she slowly inched her way forward at the top of the stairs, looking for an entrance. It was almost unnoticeable, hidden behind two overlapping glaciers of ice. But it was there, a gap for them to squeeze through, almost as though the entrance had been sealed long ago.

"Come on." She lowered her voice. There was no telling who or what was listening in to their conversations beyond this point. Her heart hammered in her chest loudly, and she breathed deeply to calm herself, feeling her sorcery stir within her. Maybe it was the fact that her sorcery sensed a kindred spirit, or maybe it was just her nerves. Either way, she was both thrilled and exceedingly fearful of what she would find - or rather, who she would find.

Would the stories of the Snow Queen all be true? Would she be the mythical heroine responsible for turning the tide of the War of the Exonian Empire, or would she be something else entirely? Talya was about to find out. She glanced behind her to make sure the others were following her too. Suddenly, she was terrified of going in alone.

"You're with me, right?" Talya checked.

Peggy looked taken aback by her comment. "Of course."

"It's too late to turn back now anyway, isn't it?" Val added. "Besides, I don't see a way off, now that our plane is destroyed and your water horse is gone."

That was true. They didn't exactly have a way off Ahtohallan, but it would be a problem for later. Talya gasped quietly as she debouched from the entrance and into a wide, dimly lit foyer.

"What…is it?" Peggy whispered as she and Val joined her.

"It's some kind of palace." Talya looked round in awe. It was grand, with furniture, wide staircases and upper levels, all made out of ice. The place resembled the sketches from Queen Anna's autobiographies, but in person, it was even more majestic. There was something inherently supernatural and breathtakingly beautiful about this place.

"How do we find the Snow Queen in here?" Val asked. "My tablet's working, but I'm not picking up any heat signatures on the radar. What if she isn't even here?"

Talya frowned. "She has to be. We haven't come all this way to find Ahtohallan abandoned. She's probably in here somewhere."

A loud noise came from somewhere above, and something slammed straight into Val, sending him flying into the wall. He grunted, but was frozen to a pillar, unable to move his limbs.

"Val!" Talya shouted, running to her brother to check if he was alright. Her hand touched the ice that held Val in place and immediately her mind lit up like christmas. Her sorcery tingled at the back of her mind, as if recognising it.

"Look out!" Val shouted urgently.

Another volley of ice rocketed towards Peggy, who swerved gingerly out of the way.

Talya looked up to see where the ice had come from, and her heart skipped a beat. A woman stood at the top of the stairs, having seemingly appeared there from out of nowhere. She was dressed in a very dark grey cloak, with a hood that obscured her facial features. The cloak was long and flowing, pooling at the woman's pale, thin wrists. It's her. Talya gasped, unable to believe her eyes. The Snow Queen.

Peggy removed her pistol from her belt, cocked and aimed the weapon.

"Don't!" Talya shouted but it was too late.

Peggy pulled the trigger and the gunshot reverberated throughout the entire sanctuary.

The bullet was frozen in mid air with the mere lift of the woman's finger. It felt to the icy ground and shattered. The woman froze the gun precisely in Peggy's hand, making Peggy recoil violently and drop her gun. Frozen, the gun fell to the floor uselessly. As a show of power, the Snow Queen clenched her fist as she slowly walked down the stairs, and the frozen gun on the floor exploded into a thousand pieces of ice which flew everywhere.

Talya and Peggy both shielded their faces, and when the ice had stopped flying, the woman was already at the bottom of the stairs, walking towards them.

"Stop! Wait!" Talya shouted, but the woman had already lifted her hand towards Peggy.

Ice flowed out ferociously with an intensity that Talya had never managed to summon before, shooting straight towards Peggy. The spy ducked and rolled, coming up with a second pistol in hand. But the Snow Queen was even quicker, a second volley of ice pinning Peggy's arm to the ground.

By this time, the cloaked woman had come within striking distance of Peggy, but she neglected to deal the finishing blow to Peggy. Instead, her eyes turned to Talya.

"Stop! We're not here to fight! We're looking for the Snow Queen!" Talya raised both hands as a gesture of surrender. "We came looking for you!"

The Snow Queen looked at her, eyes hooded. "How did you find me?" She hissed angrily.

"Various methods of analysis, actually." Val grunted, still stuck to the pillar of ice. "I cross-referenced base maps and satellite hotspots, trying to pinpoint any terrain that matched the-"

"What he means is, we used technology." Talya said, knowing that the Snow Queen probably had no idea what her brother was talking about.

"Technology?"

"Yeah. In short, we've risked a lot in coming here, crossing the Dark Sea and all." Talya eyeballed the Snow Queen, who looked both cross and confused.

"How did you cross the Dark Sea and survive the Nokk?"

"The Nokk?" Talya asked.

"The horse." The Snow Queen looked at her curiously. "Who are you?"

"You're not going to believe this, but please try to." Talya lowered her hands slowly. "Watch." She knelt, touching the ground. Immediately, she felt a connection with it. It was as if the entire place was wired with sorcery, which felt in sync with her own. The ice flowed out of her hand in erratic spurts, making rough shapes on the ground. It was an embarrassing show of her abilities, but she hoped it would be enough.

The Snow Queen watched, with no hint of emotion betraying her thoughts. "You're a sorceress."

"Not just any sorceress. I'm like you." Talya stood up slowly, putting her hands where the Snow Queen could see them. "And there's more."

"Go on."

This was it. The moment she'd been waiting for all her life. Talya drew herself up, standing tall. "My name is Queen Talya of Arendelle, descendant of the great Queen Anna and Prince Kristoff."

Something flashed across the Snow Queen's features. Something unreadable. "You're Anna's descendants?"

"My brother Val and I are." Talya waved at Val who was still fastened to the pillar by ice, then gestured at Peggy who was also similarly stuck on the ground. "And Peggy, she's…she's your descendant."

Silently, the Snow Queen took a step back. "Is…is this a joke? Is this true?"

"It's true, all of it." Talya said, reaching out to the cloaked woman. "Please, we've been looking for you. Arendelle is in danger, and you're the only one who can help me learn how to control my sorcery."

The Snow Queen hesitated for a brief second, then raised her wrist a fraction. Immediately, the ice around Val and Peggy crumbled, leaving them free to rally to Talya's side. Then slowly, the Snow Queen slowly pulled back the hood of her cloak.

Talya studied the woman before her. The Snow Queen had mesmerising, beautiful but aged blue eyes that had visible crow's feet at the corners. She wore her platinum blonde hair loose, and the colour had faded, giving way to grey. She had slight wrinkle lines that marked her as a woman in her early sixties. But it couldn't be, could it? The Snow Queen was over two hundred years old!

"You're the Snow Queen." Talya said, not knowing whether she'd intended it as a question of a simple statement of fact.

"I am." Her voice was like honey, but slightly husky from age. She glanced round at the trio. "You're…you're family?"

"We are." Talya confirmed. "Peggy's a distant cousin, one of your descendants. Val and I are from Anna's line."

Tears appeared at the corner of the Snow Queen's eyes. "Anna."

"Yes." Talya took a step towards the Snow Queen. "The great Warrior Queen of the nineteenth century, the heroine of the War of the Exonian Empire. Your sister."

"Anna." The Snow Queen whispered again, blinked, then glanced at Talya. "I see it. I see it in your faces." She turned to Val and Peggy, a small but distinct smile on her face. "You're family."

"We are." Peggy said. "I have to know. In 1934 during the second continental war, did you rescue my great grandfather? Jakob Jorgendal?"

"The soldier with blonde hair," The Snow Queen nodded. "My great grandson. I healed his wounds."

"Thank you." Peggy had tears in her eyes, most unlike the usually stoic spy. "Thank you for saving him."

"You remind me of Janus. My husband." The Snow Queen studied Peggy with attentive eyes. "The way you talk and move. Are you a mercenary too?"

"No, not really. I work for the local government as a field agent." Peggy answered. "Janus…he's my ancestor too?"

The Snow Queen's gaze was suddenly faraway. "He was a great man. A hero." She said softly and then went silent. The Snow Queen looked pensive for a long moment before speaking again. "My name is Elsa. Some cultures know me as the Pilgrim of the League of Sorcerers, others the Fifth Spirit, and even Sølaka Turâhno."

"The League of Sorcerers." Talya whispered. "They're real?"

"They were." Elsa corrected her. "But no longer."

"What? Why?"

"I decommissioned the League close to a century ago." Elsa turned to walk deeper into the sanctuary, and the trio tailed her at a cautious distance. "I realised that there was no more need for the League."

"But why?" Talya probed.

Elsa shook her head. "It doesn't matter." She came to a halt. "You are welcome to stay the night, but beyond that I am of no service to you."

"What?" Talya said.

Elsa turned round to face them. "I'm sorry. I cannot help you with whatever it is you came to me for."

"No, with all due respect, you don't understand." Val came forward. "Our kingdom - your former home - is under occupation. King Ulrich the Seventh of the Southern Isles sent his brother General Bjorn to invade Arendelle with an army."

"The Southern Isles." Elsa's mouth formed into a hard line. "That's a name I haven't heard in a very long time."

"But I can assure you, they're still as deadly as ever." Talya added. "And there's more. General Bjorn is a Blood Mage."

A brief, strange look flashed across Elsa's face, there and gone in an instant. "A Blood Mage."

"Yeah, and he's too powerful. We watched him tear apart the Valquerson Rifles, my squad of personal guards." Talya went on, and from the corner of her eye she saw Val nodding. "Bjorn is too strong for me to take on alone. And besides, I don't know how to control my powers." She looked at her hands. "Please."

Elsa looked at Talya. "You remind me of myself. A long time ago, when I was first crowned Queen of Arendelle."

"Yeah, I know, in 1839. I read Queen Anna's autobiography." Talya said. "I know everything about you that's written in the history books, both in the mainstream and the forgotten sects. I know about your contributions in the War of the Exonian Empire, and how you rallied the League to aid the Confederation and fought alongside the band of Warriors. I even know about your husband and how he used to be a mercenary who you helped to reform." Talya paused. "I like to think that I know everything about you, because I've always been fascinated with you in a way."

Elsa stayed silent so Talya continued.

"My mother used to tell me how I was special like the Snow Queen because I had the same powers. She told me that one day, I would eventually find you and learn the answers to all my questions. To learn how to control and harness my sorcery." Talya looked at Elsa with pleading eyes. "Please. I need your help. We need your help."

"I'm sorry." Elsa looked at them sympathetically. "I understand your struggle. Believe me, I do. But…I cannot help you."

"Why?" Peggy asked.

"Because I swore never to meddle again in the affairs of humans." Elsa said with her jaw set. "After everything that's happened, I…I can't."

"Humans?" Talya echoed. It sounded as if Elsa had evolved into something else beyond humanity.

"What happened?" Peggy asked.

"It doesn't matter." Elsa shook her head. "The best I can do for you is to let you stay the night. After which, I'll have to insist you leave."

"How can you be so cold and heartless?" Val pushed his way forward, his annoyance and indignation on display for all to see. "We risked our lives to find you, and when we finally do, you're just going to turn us away now?"

"Yes." There were absolutely no emotions in Elsa's deep blue eyes as she coolly locked gazes with Val. "It is enough that I'm letting you stay, simply because you're family. But the generosity ends there."

"I don't believe this." Val glared at her, then turned to Talya. "I thought you were absolutely certain she was going to help us."

Talya was speechless. She looked at Val blankly, then back at Elsa. "Please. Our kingdom is being consumed by the Southern Isles right now as we speak. I need to learn how to master my sorcery to fight General Bjorn. It's the only way we're going to save our people. Your people."

"I cut ties with Arendelle long ago." Elsa said unfeelingly.

"You keep telling yourself that, but do you really believe it?" Peggy asked. "I don't know you well, but from what I've heard and gathered, you care about the ones you love. Otherwise you wouldn't have come out of seclusion in the first place to help my great grandfather close to a century ago."

"That was different."

"No. No, it isn't." Talya insisted.

"What would your sister Anna want you to do?" Val asked.

Elsa shot him an icy stare, and for a moment, Talya was fearful that she would freeze him where he stood. Thankfully she did not.

"Val's right," Talya said cautiously. "I've read the stories. I know you've risked your neck time and again to help your friends and family during the War of the Exonian Empire. I know you care, even if you've forgotten."

Peggy went on. "Honestly, I never would've believed a sorcerer could do anything but evil. But Talya showed me that I was wrong. She helped me to believe that you could help us." She exchanged a glance with Talya before continuing. "You can help us turn the tide of this conflict. Put that power into Talya's hands."

Elsa did not respond.

"Please." Talya said. "Teach me how to be like you. Teach me to be the new Snow Queen and I promise you, I will use my powers for good and to protect Arendelle."

There was another long silence, pregnant with tension. Holding her breath, Talya waited for the Snow Queen to reject their plea for help. But a part of her hoped that they'd broken through her icy exterior and succeeded in appealing to the young heroine of the nineteenth century.

Finally, Elsa glanced round at the trio, her expression stolid. "It's late. You will find bed chambers up on the third level." She turned and motioned for them to follow her. "We will begin in the morning."