Eiess entered the room alone. She moved like a spirit, flowing as with invisible wings, gliding over the solid, cold, stone floor. She was as stunningly beautiful as she was cold. Her dress was made of ice blue and white silk and was simple, yet timeless. The square neckline on the masterpiece accentuated her square jawline and as subtle light peeked through the windows, Lucia could see that she had piercing green eyes and pitch-black hair.
Eiess’ age could not be determined, because she was not a being of the realm of Midgard. She looked to be in her mid-twenties and exuded youthful beauty and vivacity. Lucia had heard rumors that the empress was the only living human-like being alive who was cold-blooded and who would devour humans, so she could continue to live in Midgard.
Eiess’ skin was as pale and smooth as porcelain, but strangely enough, she did, Lucia could see, have light, rosy cheeks. Her posture was impeccable and she moved with graceful exquisiteness. The sleeves on her dress were not puffed, but sleek and flared down toward the floor. The drop set waist dress accentuated her elegant thinness. Her floor-length skirt had a train that flowed endlessly, like the breath from a warm-blooded living being on a cold winter night. Sparkling diamond rings adorned most of her fingers and a diamond necklace decorated her swan-like neckline. The Empress had no armor to shield her body, no guard to protect her life; she needed no such things. Her power to kill was infinite and they all knew it and felt her threatening, overpowering presence as she silently entered their midst.
“Greetings,” Eiess said, her expression unapologetic.
Vilda moved to greet her. “My empress,” she said and bowed down on the floor before Eiess. “I have failed to convince King Olav of your noble and altruistic intentions,” she offered.
“Never mind him,” Eiess responded with the greatest of calmness in her deep, soothing voice. “I will take care of him,” she said, staring at Lucia as if she owned her.
“My daughter is not for the taking and using in your scheme to control me,” Olav said, pulling Lucia closer.
“Ah, but she is,” Eiess refuted. “You seem to think you are more powerful than me and that you have a say in the matter. But what you fail to see is that this is my reign!”
Lucia gasped as a deep chill shot down her spine. “My dream,” she whispered.
“Ah, now you recognize me, child,” Eiess said. “My question is the same for you. I will persist until I have the answer I seek.”
“I will never tell you!” Lucia insisted, still clinging onto her father’s armor.
“I will give you an opportunity to join me, Olav,” Eiess said, shifting her focus onto him.
“Never!” Olav roared.
“Are you certain? For if you do not, I will seize the castle by force and many more will die today,” Eiess said.
“Never!” he yelled again.
Smiling, Eiess raised her left hand and looked up into the ceiling. She clenched her fist and then pulled her hand down in to her body. She then raised her right hand, with her palm up toward Lucia, and started pulling her forward with an imperceptible force.
Lucia screamed as she felt the pull of gravity coming from Eiess and as she was being dragged in the direction of her adversary, she grabbed on to her father’s arm with all her might. “Help!”
“Lucia!” Olav grabbed on tighter to keep her from being pulled away. “Charge!” he yelled to the guards.
They responded immediately, attacking Eiess with full force.
For a moment, Eiess let go of Lucia, but only to get rid of the distraction King Olav had caused. Eiess pulled her hands into her chest, closed her eyes, and paused. Then, she opened her glowing, icy green eyes and flung her arms out to the side as quickly as she could.
Darkness oozed from her hands, permeating the room. Obscure mist swallowed the guards in its blackness, lifting them upward, forcing them to the top of the high ceilings. Nervous clamors from the men echoed through the room. Even Lucia knew that a fall from up there would cause severe injury, if not death. Then, Eiess thrust her arms downward, causing the guards to fall to the stone floor with a crash. The colorful stained-glass windows exploded to the outside, opening passages for the cool northern air to enter.
“Go!” Olav said, pulling Lucia with him toward the northwestern exit door.
The grand marshal and four guards followed King Olav and Lucia.
Wasting no time, Eiess lifted the diamond and sapphire crown off her head and flung it toward them, splitting the grand marshal’s and one of the guard’s skulls open. The crown rebounded after its brief, lethal flight and the empress caught it mid-air. She returned the weapon to her head. It looked innocently beautiful where it sat.
“Thank you Lamnia,” Lucia heard Eiess say. It almost sounded as if she were speaking to her crown.
Lucia shrieked as they exited, stepping over the men who were twisting in agony on the floor.
“You shall not live where you have lived before,” Eiess said, passing by the victims, stepping around their mangled bodies.
“Vilda, follow me!” Lucia heard Eiess command. Looking back, she clung to her father’s hand for dear life as they ran toward the queen’s chamber.
A guard opened the door to the room and shut it behind them after everyone had entered.
“Chairs, furniture, everything in front of the door now!” King Olav shouted. “Before we leave, we must get the Aesira Jewel. It is the only way to keep Eiess from becoming omnipotent,” he ordered. “It rests behind the painting there.”
Just then, the door blasted open and Eiess entered the chamber with Vilda and numerous monsters of men behind her. Lucia had never seen such large brutes before, and in passing, she wondered if they might be from Jotunheim, the realm of the giants.
“I am glad to see you have all managed to meet in my new chamber. I believe I have everything I need here, once my dear Lucia shows me where the Aesira Jewel is. So, my king, I have grown weary of you and I see no need for you to continue living. I am the new queen of this castle and I will reign here forever,” Eiess said. “Prepare to meet your dead queen.” Eiess stared at Olav with an emotionless gaze.
He started to shake uncontrollably, his eyes rolling back into his skull.
Lucia had heard about how the Empress could kill someone by freezing them to death from the inside, by sucking out their warmth and light, or their very soul. “If you kill him, I will never tell you where the Aesira Jewel is! If you spare his life and let us go, I will give you the jewel right now.”
Eiess’ eyes flicked to Lucia, and immediately King Olav ceased to shake. He collapsed to the floor with a thud.
“I will let you leave the castle with no harm done to you, or your father, or the rest of your useless guards,” she said and waived to the guards with the back of her hand.
Lucia walked over to the painting and tried to lift it off the wall. It was far too heavy for her, so King Olav made his way over and helped her. They lost their grip on it as they lowered it, and the frame cracked as it hit the floor. Seeing it was a lost cause, they let the whole painting fall down with a crash.
“Oh, how fitting,” Eiess chuckled. Her monsters of men laughed, too.
Behind the mural was a small silver door in the wall. Lucia opened it, revealing the Aesira Jewel. Carefully, she wrapped her fingers around the cold, oval, yellow diamond jewel, and lifted it out. She was surprised at its size; it was almost too large to fit in the grasp of both her hands.
“Here,” Lucia said, holding it up for Eiess to take.
Eiess looked at the jewel and slightly raised her right eyebrow. “After all these years, I thought it would be so much harder to get my hands on it. And now I realize that all I needed to do was ask.” She reached for the jewel and took it gently out of Lucia’s hands. “You may go,” she said without taking her eyes off her new prize. She caressed the diamond with her fingertips, studying its intricate workmanship.
“But, Your Excellency, we cannot utilize the jewel without—” Vilda started to say.
&n
bsp; “I realize that the jewel needs the Sun Queen and Iluxia to work. However, I do not plan on using the Aesira Jewel for a very, very long time,” Eiess said.
Vilda gasped and looked at Olav.
“Now, there will be no light or summer from this day forward. No heat to dread, no warmth to dull my bitterly cold wind, no sun to light the shades and shadows!” Eiess said. She turned her attention to King Olav. “Get out of here before I throw you into the tower! And Vilda, get me Johan!”
Vilda’s eyes searched nervously, but she curtsied and left.
King Olav, Lucia, and the three remaining guards headed for the door immediately. They rushed down the western hallway, down the stairs, and into the courtyard. The sky was blue and clear now, but the wind was freezing.
King Olav looked around, his eyes filled with dread. “Where are all the guards?” he asked the stable boy.
“What guards?” the stable boy answered.
What does he mean, what guards? Lucia wondered. She had seen them earlier, and there was not the slightest trace of them.
“My guards. All the guards that were—”
Lucia heard a loud crashing sound from inside the castle and she jumped.
“Never you mind,” Olav said. “Prepare the sleigh.” The stable boy rushed to get the sleigh, and once he returned with it, King Olav helped Lucia climb into it.
“You must leave the castle immediately,” King Olav said to the stable boy. “If you do not leave, Eiess will have you for her own.”
Lucia thought the stable boy looked unusual, void of his own personality, his eyes glazed over and drained.
The guard cracked the whip and the horses neighed before taking off. When they were well outside the castle boundaries, Olav leaned over to Lucia.
“How long until Eiess figures out that what I gave her is not the real Aesira Jewel?” he asked.
“What?” Lucia looked at him. “That was not the authentic jewel?”
Olav shook his head.
“Why did you tell me the Aesira Jewel rested behind the mural? Did you know Eiess would come today?” Lucia did not like that he had used her to promote his own purposes, even if his purposes had been for the better.
“I suspected she might. My scouts had been telling me all week that they had seen more and more Surtorians in the Northlandic Kingdom.”
“Surtorians?” Lucia asked.
“Her band of warmongers in a manner of speaking. But as an answer to your question, I will admit, I did not know my plan would work so seamlessly.”
Lucia thought they had just succeeded in the biggest deception since the beginning of humanity. “Where is the real Aesira Jewel if that was not the one?”
Her father glanced at the other three men in the sleigh.
She nodded. Of course, they needed to keep it a secret.
No one spoke a word, but their eyes all spoke of fear and nervousness as the horses galloped forward. As she began to feel safe again, Lucia rested her head on her father’s shoulder. Perhaps he was not as selfish a man as she had thought. He did send her away to save her life, and she did not doubt that he would give his life for her had he needed to.
As she watched the trees and sloping hills pass by, her thoughts turned to her kingdom. Now, what would come of it? She would not be crowned queen tomorrow, and if Eiess did not use the Aesira Jewel, the land would remain in a constant state of winter on the coldest and the darkest day of the year. Had Vilda truly been so stupid that she believed Eiess’ lies? Or perhaps she was so desperate for power and importance that her obsessions blinded her.
Unexpectedly, one of the guards stood up, drew his longsword, stabbed the other two guards in the chest, and knocked King Olav unconscious with the hilt.
Before Lucia even had a chance to react, the guard turned to her and slammed her head into the side of the sleigh, making her lightheaded. As he held her down to tie her hands behind her back, she could see Eiess’ Surtorians storming in their direction on black horses.
As her consciousness faded, the last thought she had was: Eiess knows.
9
Wolves