Page 126 of Wilds of Wonder
The wind whistled an eerie tune.
She leaned forward, a conspiratorial gleam in her hard blue eyes. “It’s been difficult keeping them to myself all these years. Achieving such greatness when I had absolutely no chance of inheriting the throne prior to the Shadow War. Not when I was the king’s lowly sister.”
“What did you do?” Maverick asked.
Annalee and Driscoll watched with matching expressions of horror on their faces.
“Not much, really.” A gust of wind lifted her white cloak. “It was very unfortunate that the king and queen of the frost court were killed fighting in the war. I wasn’t next in line, of course. No, that would’ve been the king’s younger brother.” She tsked. “Then he died in an unfortunate accident. Poison,” she whispered with a conspiratorial wink. “Truly tragic. Then his wife died, trampled by my unruly horse, then his daughter, and well, that left only one more obstacle before I could take over.”
She lifted the axe and pointed it directly at the white wolf. All of our gazes turned to his lifeless form.
“Aronark. He was the youngest brother of the king. Next in line for the throne, but he was off fighting in the Shadow War. I’d hoped the war would kill him, but I heard reports that he lived. I felt hopeless after all my hard work killing everyone else off. I wasn’t sure what I could do until I found this axe. Hidden in the depths of the frost castle itself, which I was exploring one day, hoping to get some answers to my problem. Embedded in a block of ice that only a wielder of royal frost blood could break. I fit that description, so I took it.”
My blood ran cold. “And what did you do with the axe?”
“You just came from it.” A cruel smile spread across her face as she pointed behind us, where the wall between the star and frost court had been blasted apart by the white wolf, a gaping hole in it. “I brought the axe to the border between the frost court and the star court, and I knew that I could solve everyone’s problems while also solving my own. I could create a border that trapped all that wreckage and horror left from the Shadow War, while also trapping the one person who still stood between me and the crown.”
“A prince?” Driscoll echoed, gaze bouncing between the frost queen and the white wolf. “Aron is a prince?”
Maverick and I locked gazes, my mind reeling.
“Why didn’t you just kill him with the axe?” Driscoll asked.
“That would’ve meant I had to actually find him. It would’ve taken time. It would’ve meant entering the destroyed star court.” The frostqueen put a hand to her chest. “I think not. Not when the solution was so much simpler.”
Maverick’s jaw locked. “So you used the magic of the axe to create a border, then what? How did you explain that to the other rulers?”
“I told them I took care of it for them. Gained me so much favor with those idiots. They practically fell at my feet in gratitude, and all of them approved my ascension to the throne.” She raised her chin. “They didn’t ask any questions. Why would they?”
She was right. Everything got swept under the rug. That was what they did. What we all spent years doing. Spirits below.
“I didn’t anticipate the magic of the axe being so strong. I swung that axe straight into the ground, right where I wanted it to break apart and create a chasm, one so far and wide, so deep, nothing would be able to cross it. It was meant to spread all the way around the star court. That’s what I told the magic to do.” Her eyes grew distant. “Then I saw the most wondrous thing unfold. The axe didn’t just create a border. It created an entire new world right before my eyes. It transformed all the carnage, turned survivors into creatures I’d never seen before. Trees shrank; they grew eyes. Flowers shot up into the sky. Plants grew mouths. And instead of a chasm, an actual border grew from the ground. Taller and taller until I could no longer see anything at all.” She shrugged. “Truth be told, I figured either that magic would kill everyone or they would kill each other.” She pointed a finger at the white wolf. “Imagine my surprise when sixty years later, he appeared. In a village near the Glacier Mountains. A huntsman saw the wolf shift to a man, a man that looked suspiciously like Prince Aronark, before changing back to his wolf form. The huntsman came straight to me, thank the spirits.”
So Aron had shifted while he was in Fyriad. It must’ve been so quick that he didn’t remember.
“That’s why you wanted me to hunt him.” Maverick’s eyes widened.
“You’re simply the best when it comes to finding unfindable things.” She tipped her head. “Except for her. But I wouldn’t work with the white rabbit.” She pointed at Maverick. “You I could control.” She shook her head in my direction. “Her? She was too unpredictable. Too good at finding objects meant to stay buried. Unearthingsecrets that I was afraid she’d start sharing. I keep a tight rein on the academy for a reason. I can control the narrative.”
“All of this for power?” I asked, voice shaking.
“Well, now you know.” She tapped her chin. “Though I do wonder what would happen if I used the axe again?” She smacked her lips. “The white wolf destroyed this part of the border, and that won’t do.”
“But you don’t know the consequences,” I said. “Look at what using the axe did the first time. All you meant to do was create a chasm, but the magic did so much more. It had lasting consequences.”
The queen didn’t seem remotely bothered by my words. “Sounds like a little adventure, hm? What’ll the magic do this time? As long as I keep my crown, I don’t give a damn.”
“You’re, like, really old,” Driscoll said, and the queen shot him a scathing look. “Regal but old. I’m just saying, maybe your time would be better spent knitting or, you know, dying...” He mumbled the last word.
“Driscoll,” I hissed.
“She hurt Aron,” he snapped, voice hard in a way I’d never heard from him.
Hopefully all she’d done was hurt Aron. I chanced a glance at the white wolf, still not moving. He should’ve moved by now. Something. Anything.
The queen shoved the axe in my direction, and Maverick struggled against the iron chaining him to a tree. “Don’t hurt her, Your Majesty. We can figure this out.”
She waved her hand. “I had hope for you. But you’re too far gone, Bone Collector.”
