the ice flowing down the river between the rocks

Chapter 1

The first time Ajax saw her, was in a child book. It was a hand drawn picture of a young woman with long blond hair, a bright smile and gold shining eyes. In the years coming his mother would often tell him how fascinated he had seemed of that drawing and how he called the book "the story of the pretty blond lady".
He had to admit when he was an adolescent he had felt ashamed of his past self. For one because he didn't recognize the queen of his homeland and because it wasn't cool to like a drawing.

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The second time Ajax saw her, was in a history book in school, when they were taught of the great Archon War many millennia ago. The picture showed a young woman with short blond hair and a stern, almost angry, expression. Ajax could remember how he didn't like seeing it, because it did not fit the impression he had gotten from the picture in that old child book years ago. The lack of emotions in her eyes made her look like she was an empty shell. How could the queen of this land be an empty shell?
In his mind she was a confident, strong-willed woman that balanced strictness and kindness well. After all she had been able to become the Cryo Archon and built up this very nation. A queen like her must be full of love and passion for being able to prevail for so long and never give up. Yet, the person in the picture was supposed to be the very Archon he admired so much. On the other hand, maybe she needed to be heartless and empty during the war – a place in which a single mistake could costs thousands of lives.
She was truly amazing!

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The third time Ajax saw her, he went to the museum in the city. In the middle of the entrance hall of the museum stood a statue of her. She had her sword drawn and pointed towards the sky, her expression stern and lacking of any other emotion. She wore no armor, but a plain dress and, in Ajax's eyes, it flew back in an overdramatic way. Maybe if he had been younger, he would have been impressed. Now he just was disappointed, because it made the queen look like a heartless warrior – though he also respected that about her.
Another disappointed for him was the lack of details. Her face could have been placed on any other statue and no one would have noticed a change. Her clothes on the other had some to be too detailed. Who decided this? Wouldn't it be more important to give details to her face, so people were able to see her determined personality and feel inspired?
However, this statue and the picture in the history book looked quite similar, which made him wonder, if the person drawing the picture based it on the statue or the real Cryo Archon. Or was it the person, who made that statue who based it on the picture instead of the actual person. Sadly, he could not ask – not because he didn't dare to, but because he knew that no one could give him an answer.
It was kind of strange how everyone loved their ruler, but at the same time barely knew anything about her. Did their ruler stopped loving them? No, that was impossible. Whenever there was a problem they couldn't solve on their own, it was their Archon that sent help within the blink of an eye.
The people probably were just fake.

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The fourth time Ajax saw her, he went to the court, which was located in the capital of the land. Ajax had no interest at looking at a court room, but the gigantic statue of the queen impressed him. There she stood with no distinct facial features, wearing only a long robe, holding a sword in her left hand and a book with a scale symbol on it in her right hand – the sword represented her strictness and willingness to strike down all evil and the book stood for the laws that saw everyone as equal and therefore everyone would be judged by what was written down and not by their status or wealth. Therefore, the statue was supposed to represent the justice of the queen. Ajax could only laugh at that, but the statue somehow fitted the woman of his favorite childhood book – despite not having a facial expression it seemed to him that this statue was able to show both sides of the Archon.
The statue had long hair, differently than the last statue and the picture in the history book he had seen. It made him wonder, of the statues and pictures had been made in different times. It wasn't unusual for a person to change their hair style every now and then.
Since the children book was relatively new, the picture in it also must have been of the "current" appearance of the Cryo Archon and the statue in front of him must also have been built after the Archon War and after the nation of Snezhnaya had been fully established. So, what about the other two portrayals of her? He could imagine that the statue in the museum was either during the archon war to boost the motivation and morals of the people back then or shortly after to have representation for the people and a reminder for those who may come after.
As impressed as he was by the statue in general, he did not understand how it should give inspiration or motivation to people. The statue in front of him was supposed to represent the justice of the queen, but was the court really serving the justice of the queen? Was she even able to have an eye everything and decide what is just or not? Not that he questioned the queen herself, it was more him questioning how people talked about her.