Mirror, Mirror

3.18 Winter Crown

SEE THIS COMMENT FOR TRIGGER WARNINGS
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"I FOUND YOU, THIEF."

Mere seconds after Queen Frostine's spirit faded, this soundless scream tore through the palace like wind. Starla felt the world warp and bend around her. Her body stretched and folded in itself. She fell to her knees, trying to make sense of what was happening, trying to hold on to herself.

And then, she was on her hands and knees in the throne room, staring at the shiny black heeled boots of...

"Queen Winter," Starla gasped, lifting her head to see the woman in a black and silver gown towering over her.

"You have no business tampering with the souls in my palace," Queen Winter whispered with a voice like snow on a silent night, and Starla froze. The woman knelt so that she was eye level with Starla and held her chin lightly with cold fingers. Her dark hair was braided down her back, and her blue eyes glittered menacingly, searching Starla's own. Blood dribbled from her forehead from her hairline.

Where her crown had once rested.

"You're not even a princess," Winter hissed a laugh and withdrew her hand from Starla's chin. "I think this belongs to me." She reached for the crown.

Starla's forehead connected with the Queen's nose with a crack, and the Queen sprawled back with a breathless cry. Starla was already on her feet, ripping off her heels.

"Touch me again, and the next thing that goes is your eye," Starla snarled, holding her glass heel like a weapon. The Queen, whose nose was jetting blood, got to her feet again delicately and coughed out a laugh. Then she raised her hand.

Ice spikes rose from the palace floor, encasing Starla. The Queen flicked her hand, and Starla wheezed as she was slammed against one of the throne room pillars.

"You. Are. Nothing," the Queen breathed, walking over to Starla with a hand over her nose.

"You. Are. Dead," Starla shot back, then let out an anguished cry as Queen Winter closed her fist, and the ice spikes holding Starla stabbed into her arms and her thighs, fixing her against the pillar. Starla continued to struggle, until a particularly sharp spike slowly stabbed into her gut. She became still.

"That's better," Queen Winter said as Starla shut up, staring dizzily at the blade of ice gradually skewering her soft insides. She felt tears leaking from her eyes. Rayvin would be so mad if she died. She promised him she'd be OK. She couldn't die.

"I'll be taking this back now," the Queen sighed, grabbing two spikes from the crown and pulling. Starla screamed as the world turned red, and she felt the crown begin to rip from her skull. She thrashed her head side to side, then heard the Queen scream and retreat. Starla didn't know what was happening, but she took that moment of distraction to break free of the ice, letting out a sob as it ripped against her skin, leaving trails of blood.

The Queen was crouching, holding a hand to hand to her eye, which wept tears of blood. Starla must have stabbed it with her crown.

"Told you your eye was next," Starla muttered. She launched herself at the Queen, aiming to knock her out before she could use any more magic.

She was able to land all of two blows before she was again ensnared in a tangle of ice that clutched her like a fist. She struggled in it, glaring at the Queen, who glared back with her one good eye. Her face was a mess of blood. They both breathed heavily.

Something strange happened. The wounds on the Queen's face began to fade. Starla noticed her own pain begin to fade as well. It was like being killed in a dream, where only a ghost of the pain remained after.