Prince Arctic entered the council room with Whiteout close by his side. Queen Diamond wore a smug, self-satisfied smirk. Prince Arctic just tried to not look drowsy. Whiteout tried somewhat unsuccessfully to hide her shivering wings.
The queen, Arctic, Whiteout, and the members of the war council all exchanged the expected IceWing pleasantries. Then they fell quiet and waited for the queen to open the discussion. She paused, still smiling in her cold way, letting the tension in the room intensify.
"My demands are simple," Queen Diamond finally said. "Prince Arctic of the Ice Kingdom has returned to where he belongs. He will stay here. Whiteout–" Arctic held his breath as the queen appraised his daughter yet again. "Where does your loyalty lie?"
"I want to live here," Whiteout intoned automatically. "I want to marry an IceWing prince and have lots and lots and lots of IceWing dragonets."
"Those dragonets might have powers," Arctic chimed in hopefully.
"You will be loyal to me," Queen Diamond said to Whiteout.
"I will be loyal to you," Whiteout responded flatly, looking Queen Diamond in the eyes.
"Then you will live," Queen Diamond pronounced. Relieved, Arctic let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. His spell was working just as he had intended – Whiteout said exactly what she needed to say to stay alive in Queen Diamond's kingdom.
"But I may test you and your loyalty," Queen Diamond continued. "You will work for me, providing counsel and heirs. I wish to examine your… abilities. You will stay close to me."
Arctic's mind suddenly echoed with Whiteout's warning about Queen Diamond: Don't trust her.
"And I stay close to her," he spoke up, as bravely as he could.
Queen Diamond looked down her snout at her son, still wearing her obnoxious little smile.
"Do you not trust your queen?" she asked. "Your own mother? I love you, Arctic. I will not harm your precious daughter as long as she is loyal to me. Now, as for you. You can prove your loyalty to your tribe, once and for all." She gestured at the handful of war council dragons watching them. "You said you have some information to share."
He had known this conversation would be upon him this morning, but he still had no idea what to do. It felt so much like the days leading to the ceremony when he was supposed to give an animus gift to his tribe. Like then, he longed to flee to the safety of Foeslayer's warm embrace. He decided to stall for time.
"First, return my wife to me," he said, careful to use the gentle, relatable word "wife" instead of Foeslayer's name. She had gained some reputation as a brave NightWing warrior, magically protected by Arctic's earring.
"No," Queen Diamond answered. "First, you end this war. Then, she will leave the Ice Kingdom."
"But you got what you wanted!" Prince Arctic blurted. "You got ME! AND your stupid animus bloodline back!"
The smug, self-satisfied smirk Queen Diamond had been wearing all morning abruptly fell away.
"You are an IceWing," Queen Diamond said coldly. "Watch your temper. You sound like that horrible NightWing you bred with."
Arctic went silent. That "horrible Nightwing I bred with" is my wife, my love. He took a few moments to collect himself as he set aside his fantasies about receiving Queen Diamond's blessing for a peaceful reunion with Foeslayer and a happily ever after with her in the Ice Kingdom.
"Then set her free," Arctic choked out.
"You're so stupid. I'm doing you a kindness, son. Do you really want to set her free to return to the Night Kingdom just in time for us to destroy it? Is that the future you want for her?"
Arctic felt nauseous. He hadn't thought of that. No. No, that wasn't what he wanted at all.
"Do you understand the damage she caused? That you caused?" Diamond quietly hissed. "With your impulsive, naive, senseless, shortsighted–"
Arctic stopped listening. How could he have thought he would have freedom here? It felt as if Queen Diamond's words turned into enormous claws that pinned him to the ground, pressing the air and his very life out of him. His head hunched down, as if beaten down by her words.
"Hold your head up," Queen Diamond commanded, "like an IceWing prince."
Arctic sat up.
"You killed Blizzard," Diamond snarled. That was his trainer. "Frost. Caribou. Iceberg. Tern. Avalanche," She knew her words would be like daggers in Arctic's heart. He had loved those dragons. Part of his soul that he could never get back had died with them that day.
"And do you know what she did?" Diamond continued. "Guard," she called. A dragon near the door turned to her, standing at full attention. "Bring me Snowflake."
The room was silent for several minutes, but Arctic felt as if his soul itself were weeping. Finally, Arctic's ex-fiance entered, wearing a silver-blue cloak.
"Snowflake," Diamond said gently, as Snowflake glowered at Arctic. "Please show the prince what my NightWing prisoner did to you when she kidnapped him. He seems to be confused about the events that started the war."
Snowflake's gaze fell to the ground as she removed her cloak. One of her wings was streaked with long black burn marks. Her whole wing seemed shrunken and withered. Arctic's breath hitched in his throat. She clearly hadn't been able to fly after sustaining those injuries.
"I– I'm sorry," Arctic finally managed to say.
"Sorry," Snowflake spat. "I wasn't even trying to stop you from leaving. How could the two of you try to destroy all of us?"
"That is the act of war," Queen Diamond said quietly. "I didn't start this war. She did. The NightWing attacked us, took our prince, our animus, our Gift of Diplomacy. You see, son, I didn't start this war. She did. It's out of the deep, unwavering compassion for your misguided affections that she isn't dead. You may go, Snowflake."
Scowling one more time over her shoulder at Arctic, Snowflake hurried out of the room.
Arctic's mind desperately grasped for something to say.
"Do you really mean to destroy the entire Night Kingdom?" he finally asked. He had to turn the conversation away from the damage he'd caused, the botched escape that had tormented him for all these years.
"The war must end. And Darkstalker must die," she said. "If these things can be accomplished while sparing the rest of their kingdom, so be it. But Foeslayer is in their army. She will not fight against us, and she will not be there to protect her dragonet. She may return home only after the work is finished. If you share the information you have, you could prevent much bloodshed… on both sides."
Arctic glanced at Whiteout.
Wait. She wasn't there.
He turned his head the other direction, then spun around completely.
"Where's Whiteout?!"