Queens of Ice

Chapter Five

 "Mother, I know what Arctic was planning to do for his gift, and I was hoping I could get permission to use Taiga's gift so I could make it in his memory."

It was a year after Taiga had given the tribe the gift of power, a year before Arctic would have had his gifting ceremony.

Aurora turned to Moon. "I know you miss him, dear, but he's gone. We shouldn't live our lives pretending he's still here."

Moon decided to avoid sweet-talking her simple, shallow queen. "All Arctic wanted was to help his kingdom lead better lives. His gift could do that. Let me give Arctic a legacy that will be remembered!"

Aurora looked taken aback by Moon's ferocity. It surprised Moon herself. Since the day after Arctic had died, Moon's grief and shame had kept her quiet, withdrawn.

"All right, since it's that important to you," Aurora said. "But make sure—"

But Moon was already gone, racing down the stairs.

Moon took to the sky outside the palace and scanned the area for something she could use. Her eyes landed on a large chunk of ice jutting from the ground a good distance away from the palace. She flew for a closer look. It seemed a good shape; more or less cylindrical, about as tall as a SkyWing's wingspan was wide, and her wings would fit a bit more than halfway around the soon-to-be trunk. Perfect.

Much of Moon's free time in the next few years was spent carving the tree. The round dome of leaves on top, the twisting branches inside it, the thick, bare trunk, the vines and flowers draping off the branches. As Moon worked on carving out the splayed roots, Taiga finally made an appearance. "All right, Moon. I've seen you working on this for over a year now. What are you doing, and why?"

"I'm carving a tree from the rainforest, so I can enchant it."

Taiga looked at her skeptically. "Moon, you're not an animus."

"I'll use your gift to enchant it."

"No, you won't."

"Too late. Mother already gave me permission."

"And I'm the one who enchanted it."

Moon turned to face Taiga. "You may be the tribe's only surviving animus, but you're not queen yet. Therefore, you still have to obey Mother. And she said I could do this."

Taiga snarled at Moon, then turned away. A crack split the length of the tree as she stormed off. Moon flew up quickly and breathed her frostbreath into the crack, sealing it shut again.

You've done enough to him, Moon thought savagely. I won't let you destroy this, too.

She frowned. What had that meant? Taiga was never exactly kind to Arctic, but she would never have harmed him.

Moon shook her head, and went back to the tree's roots.

Three days later, Moon slipped silently out of her room, leaving the moon globe behind. She didn't need a floating, glowing orb giving her away. Moon walked softly down the stairs until she reached Taiga's room. Her sister was curled up asleep on her bed, turned away from the door.

Moon took a soft step into the room, then another, moving slowly so as not to wake Taiga.

She reached the desk, and reached out to take the necklace. It felt wrong in her claws, like something was not right in the laws of the world. The feeling was also somehow familiar. Moon shivered slightly, and the necklace clinked against the desk. She froze, but Taiga didn't move. Moon clutched the necklace tightly in her talons, and slipped out of her sister's room.

She flew out of the courtyard, not bothering to snag a moon globe on the way. She'd flown to the tree so many times, she felt like she could get there with her eyes closed.

The tree's dome of leaves loomed ahead, glowing softly in the light of the moons. Moon landed at the base, the necklace already over her head. She reached her claws out to touch the tree, but stopped. Exactly how am I supposed to do this?

Moon pressed her claws against the tree and closed her eyes. Live, she thought. Come alive. Become like a real tree. Live forever.

The bark changed under her claws, becoming slightly ridged. Moon opened her eyes and saw that the tree's branches and trunk had become ridged with bark and more realistically curved. The leaves, instead of being hard, thick balls, had become thin, separate, and waved in the wind. Moon flew up, the wind from her wings sending the leaves dancing. She saw the tiny twigs attached to them, that became larger sticks, that became the thick branches she'd carved. She brushed her talons through the leaves, and tugged at a hanging vine. All real. All glistening silver under the moons.

Moon did a flip in the air in celebration, then landed on one of the branches near the trunk. She placed her claws on the trunk again. Heal the wounds and sicknesses of any dragon who touches this tree, she thought. Then, in a moment of impulsiveness and irrationality, she added, IceWing or not.

This time, the tree did not change. Moon placed her left palm on the trunk, the one that still bore an ugly scar from the day of Arctic's death. Nothing happened. The scar did not disappear.

Moon frowned, then lifted her claw and cut a small gash along the back of her right claw. She placed that against the tree, and the pain disappeared, but the blood remained on her scales. She flew to the base of the tree and rubbed it off with snow, leaving a dark blue stain. When she lifted her claws again, the cut was gone.

"Yes!" she cried, then quickly closed a talon around her mouth, to prevent any more words from coming out. She really, really hoped she hadn't alerted the guards.

She crept back to the palace, slid past the guard, and returned the necklace to Taiga's room. Her sister was still sleeping, oblivious to what Moon had done.

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Fun fact: Aurora didn't technically win the throne herself. Her sister challenged their mother, but the fight was so vicious that the victor died of her wounds soon after the fight. Aurora was the only remaining heir to take the throne.

I guess Moon's gift will lower the chances of that ever happening again, won't it?