Page 169 of Frost and Death
But it’s not stopping.
I made it worse.
I’m so weak and so stupid.
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
I cry, frantically touching her head, her shoulders, her arms, begging for this torture to end.
Magic can’t kill her. Itcan’t.
Why is it even doing this!?
“T-T-T-Tove, you h-have to let me g-g-go.”
Runa’s voice cracks with defeat.
I blanch, disbelieving, refusing to stop. “What!? No. Runa—”
“I-It’s o-okay. The M-M-Makers have sp-spoken. This n-n-n-needs to h-h-h-happen.”
“What!? No! Fuck the Makers. Theyjusttook our parents. I am not letting them take you, too!” I search again for that kernel of power within me to do something.
Runa takes a shaky breath, her wheezing voice cutting me deeper than a knife. “T-T-T-Tove, our kingdom n-n-needs you.”
“Ineed you!” I sob.
I hold her again, internally chanting the words please and stop over and over, begging for this nightmare to end.
Her features pale more with each second, her blue lips form a tightening smile.
Why is she smiling?
Desperation and turmoil thrash against my panic and terror as the magic refuses to relent. The ice grows around her hair, her forehead, her face.
Straining to help her, I hug her as tight as I can, pinching my eyes shut in concentration. I steer my focus to silencing and snuffing out this stupid magic, needing it to listen and to stop doing this and stop hurting the people I love.
Runa clears her throat as my eyes remain closed, my full attention driven into stopping the ice—stopping it all.
“T-Tove, I l-l-love—”
Silence…
My heartbeat is all I hear through my ragged breaths as foreboding prickles up my spine.
Goose bumps ripple across my skin, the tension coiling tight in my chest, air itself incapable of filling my lungs.
Slowly, I open my eyes…
And I stare in silent horror at my completely frozen sister.
My heart stops.
I shake my head as tears drench my cheeks, the enormity and dread of what I’ve done ceasing time.
I shudder away from her body, the cold chill returning and running a blizzard within me, refusing to stop its own demise. Air clamps down as I struggle to breathe, tremors rocking through me as a defeated wail sends snow shooting out and around me.
“RUNAAAA!”
