Queens of Ice

Chapter One

"Moon Stone, what do you think you're doing!?"

Moon froze. Beluga, the dragonet she'd been sneaking food to, was smart enough to dive around the ice spire and disappear, but Moon sat petrified as her father, Frostbite, closed in.

"I asked you a question," he hissed. "What. Were. You. Doing."

You could see what I was doing, Moon thought, but she didn't say anything out loud. All the times she'd thought through what she would do if the guards reported her, she hadn't given a single thought to what she would do if Frostbite caught her.

"Well, if you won't answer me here, you'll answer me at the trial pillar."

He smirked at the shocked expression on Moon's face. The trial pillar was the first animus gift the IceWings had received since the NightWings returned animus power to them. It consisted of a short ice spire with shackles fixed to the top. Any dragon chained there would be forced to tell the truth to any question asked of them.

"Wait," Moon stammered.

Frostbite turned back to Moon, a triumphant look on his face.

"I saw her, and she just looked like she was starving, and I felt like since I was able to do something, I was supposed to do something."

"Is this the first time?"

"Yes," Moon lied.

Frostbite stepped closer to her, then lashed out. His talons caught Moon on the side of her head, sending her tumbling into the snow. He leaped on her and held her flat, pressing her wings into the ground.

Frostbite lowered his mouth next to her ear. "You think I buy that?" he whispered. "I've spoken with the guards. They've seen you using the gift of subsistence far more than even an MudWing would need. You've been feeding these scraps of whale chum for almost a year now. If they deserved the food, they'd be higher in the aristocracy."

Moon wasn't quite sure how the logic behind that statement worked.

Frostbite lifted one talon, and placed it on the side of Moon's head, pressing it into the snow. Moon gritted her teeth to keep from crying out.

"You're never going there again," Frostbite told her. "Not to the holes, not to the moon globe tree. You've been stealing from both of those. You will have to find another way to get food and light."

He stepped off Moon, and she scrambled up, glaring at her father. Unlike the rest of the royal family, she actually knew how to hunt. She didn't need the gift of subsistence to keep herself fed. It just made it easier for her to feed the poorer dragons.

Frostbite leaped into the air, flying towards the Ice Palace. Moon shot a glance back to the ice spire, where Beluga was watching with a concerned look. Moon mouthed two words at her: Diamond Caves. Beluga nodded, and Moon turned away, following her father back to the palace.

Moon crept quietly up the steps. After the lecture from her father, she was anxious to avoid an encounter with her sister, Taiga. No such luck.

"Oh, did the great princess Moon Stone get in trouble?"

Moon flinched at the sneering voice that issued from her sister's room.

"No one asked you."

She tried to leave, but Taiga's claws reached into the hallway and pinned Moon's tail to the ground. Moon sighed and turned to face her sister.

"Maybe I should enchant something to keep your little escapades under control," Taiga smirked. "A necklace of moon stone, perhaps?"

"Hilarious," Moon growled.

Taiga laughed cruelly. "Or maybe when I'm queen, I'll have you thrown in prison. It'll be interesting to see how your little pets handle that."

"Let me go, Taiga, or I'll tear out your little green scales one at a time."

As usual, Taiga's face showed no emotions. Moon had started to believe she didn't have any. However her sister faltered for just a second before taking a step back, spreading her wings innocently. The patterns of dark green specks reminded Moon of a NightWing's silver scales.

"One day, you'll see I was right. One day you'll realize your little relationship with those walrus-chewers will get someone hurt."

Moon snarled, then stormed up the stairs the rest of the way.

Her brother, Arctic, was waiting for her on the top landing.

"He caught you?"

Moon nodded miserably. It was impossible for her to stay mad around Arctic.

"Maybe I could enchant something to help you," he mused. "Maybe a bracelet to make you invisible?"

"No, Arctic," Moon said immediately. "You are not going to lose part of your soul for me. I'll just have to be more careful."

"For my gifting ceremony, I could enchant something in the shape of a tree, and carve it instead of using magic to make it grow, like the Frostbite of old did with the gift of light." Arctic continued as if he hadn't heard. "That should save a bit of my soul."

"Arctic, I said no," Moon repeated.

Arctic sighed. "Fine. But I might still carve the tree anyway."

"What will you enchant it to do?"

"Probably healing."

Moon nudged Arctic playfully with her shoulder. "We already have a gift of healing, walrus brain."

"Only for frostbreath. I was thinking something that could cure other injuries, and sicknesses, too. I could put it right out in front of the palace, where anyone could get to it."

"I'm not sure Frostbite would approve the part where it's available to everyone. He'd probably say something like 'They're not high enough in the rankings, so they don't deserve it.' Plus, you don't even know what a real tree looks like."

"Not yet, I don't," Arctic said with a grin.

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The arrogance of royal IceWings... But hey, at least some of them are decent.

Let me know what you think!