Linnea: A tale of the Snow Queen

Chapter 13, Fractured

The wedding wasn’t until August, I was almost there. It was June, everything was being finalized. I wanted my family to come with me. I loved my childhood home so I had it converted to our vacation home. Whenever we wanted to go away we would stay there. I also took some of the staff with us, including Ida. Everything was going well, except for that mirror. See what I haven’t informed you of yet is that everything must be balanced. I was given the power to bring ice and snow upon this world, there was no balance until she suffered the same fate as me.

One day I woke up to see Ingrid in her bed. We hadn't moved yet. We wouldn’t move until after the wedding. I woke up and thought it was someone else. She had bright orange hair. Then I realized it was because of the mirror. I touched her hair and it burned me just like the frame did. Her bed was naturally warm. She was going to be my equal, she did this to herself. I had to admit though, the bright orange fit with her green eyes better than her black hair. She woke up to me looking at her. I saw her eyes and they were a brighter green than before. That was the last straw. I looked at her, “The mirror. It did that to you didn’t it?” I asked
“How did you know?”
“The same thing happened to me. Only you must’ve touched the frame didn’t you?”
“It broke last night. Everyone was asleep.”
“That’s it.”
“Linnea. Linnea, don’t! I know what you’re going to do. It’s not going to fix anything!” she yelled at me as I left the room. I made a long stick of ice in my hand. Ingrid chased after me. My father, Agnes, and Lucas were already up and sitting in front of it.

I was ending this once and for all. That mirror had to go. It was unnatural. I got down there and it was already fixed. They all looked at us and pieced together what had happened to Ingrid. They realized that she was like me now. They realized what I was going to do. They tried to stop me but I wouldn’t listen. I walked right up to the mirror and hit the glass. Instead of just fracturing, the shards turned into pink dust. It was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It got on all of our eyes. I gathered up the rest and put it in a vial made of ice that I made. We were mostly safe.

None of us would ever be the same. Our fates were sealed. The mirror was finally gone. I thought we were free. Free from it’s torture, from it’s influence. I was wrong, we would never be free from it. It was now inside us all. Changing us, making us cruel. They would work past it  but I would never. Not even Filip would be able to save me. I was in too deep. I had been like this for too long. I wasn’t even seventeen yet. And yet I would look like I was sixteen for the rest of my life, I would never age or die. I didn’t know it at the time but I would never get to feel the warm embrace of death. I didn’t think Ingrid would either. If we did get to spend eternity together, how would that work? We wouldn’t be sisters ever again after what I did.

I don’t know why I kept the shards. Maybe to study them, maybe to use them. I was never quite sure why I put them in that vial to begin with. I very rarely use them these days. So then why do I still have them? Maybe as a reminder of my past. Either way there aren’t very many now. I just keep them in a necklace as a nice touch to my blue and white.

Filip would never know the burden that I carry. Now Ingrid and I had our fates intertwined. Filip would never go to her though. No matter how many times she tried with him, he turned her away. Even with her new abilities, he still loved me. Nothing and no one could change that. Not even how much I changed since our marriage.