Page 98 of Midwinter Wiles & Valerian Dreams
The script is out the window.
I can’t keep up with adjusting all the illusions on the fly.
We’re firmly in the land of madness.
Beron peels Daria off of him long enough to leap off the stage and storm toward me. “What did you do?”
“That wasn’t supposed to happen!”
The kids are running amok on stage. Daria’s avoiding a fireball and hurdling a pile of costumes, hearts in her eyes, as she aims for the stairs to follow Beron. The queen is at Tahto’s side, one hand on his mane, the other stroking his nose, whispering words like “magnificent” and “enchanting” as she feeds him apples like he’s royalty.
“Noneof this was supposed to happen.”
“Fix it! Now!” Beron growls.
I follow him toward the queen, letting my illusions drop. I have bigger problems than a confused audience. “They’re just love-at-first-sight potions. They’ll wear off by morning. I’ll deal with the mule, just…take Queen Taynia somewhere to sleep it off.”
Beron places a hand on Taynia’s elbow to guide her away, but before I can grab Tahto’s lead, the mule snorts, spraying apple chunks all over Beron. Andoh, how heglowers.
Sweet waters, I’m about to taste the Head Huntsman’s axe blade. Maybe I can grab Tahto and make a break for it.
But before I can move, the queen laughs.
Loud…bright…startling laughter. It’s so sharp and clear, it’s like the world stops to listen.
Beron freezes. “That laugh.” His hand finds my arm, stopping me. His voice turns wistful. “She used to laugh like that all thetime. She hasn’t laughed that way since the king died. I didn’t realize how much I missed it.”
I’m trapped in his nostalgia, barely daring to breathe.
Then Daria rounds the set, breathless and determined.
Beron bolts up like a hunted jackrabbit, shouting, “You’d betterdrowningwellfix this, Lark!” as he takes off, pursued by a remarkably fast silver-haired innkeeper.
He’s gone, and I’m left with a stage full of chaos, my illusions in tatters, my troupe improvising nonsense, and the Ice Queen beside me feeding love apples to a confused mule.
All in all…I’d say that went well.
Chapter 34
Lark
Long after the last illusions have faded, the bewildered townspeople have mostly wandered off. A few idle, concerned about the queen’s lingering presence, or murmuring behind their hands with friends and neighbors about the curious happenings they just witnessed. Wary eyes watch their queen whisper sweet nothings into the twitching ears of a mule.
Guards seem unsure what to do with their Ice Queen acting anything but frosty toward the local livestock. A few huntsmen work to shoo nosy villagers away, while another tries to move Queen Taynia from the square, only to be severely rebuked when he comes between her and Tahto.
Neither Daria nor Beron has returned, and I allow myself a moment to picture her chasing him all over town.Drowning Deep, I wonder which one of them will kill me first when morning comes.
For now, though, I want nothing more but to go after Val—er, Talvie.
The kids are tossing props into piles, casting worried looks my way between giggles over the queen’s antics. Finally, Mikael herds them all over to me. “We’ll take this stuff back,” he says.
I nod.
Then Aili pipes up. “But I want to go get Val!”
“We all do, Lark. We want to help,” Katja adds.
“Let’s go melt her free!” Helkki ignites fire in her palm.
