Frost and Snow

Chapter 11

I dedicated this to Vincent, because he helped me actually finish this chapter. Thanks! :D

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Chapter Eleven.

When Asalie and I arrived at the gate I saw that Isaac had made space for Valeria in the cart and he was sitting on the edge, leaning back against a chest and just stared at a point in the distance.  I helped Asalie unto the driver’s seat and untied the reins – we could all use some rest, but I wanted to be away from the burning town as soon as possible. I lead the horses to the road and turned south; I was not sure of what to do now – somehow I had the feeling that simply going to the Snow Witch’s Castle and killing her was too good to be true – but by going south we would at least travel in the right direction. Anything away from here sounded fine to me now.

I saw Asalie stare at her hands, seeing the imaginary blood that undoubtedly was there. “How do you deal with this?” She asked me, her gaze not leaving her hands.

“I do not. It is probably not the best thing to do – and I am reminded of it every time I see misery the Snow Witch caused – but I try to find peace with the fact that it was not me who did it.” I sighed and reached back to grab a piece of cloth from a pile. “Here, use this to clean the worst of the blood from your armor. If it does not make you feel better, it will for the travelers we will meet along the way.”

“Thanks.” Asalie took the piece of fabric and began polishing, wiping away the thick, red splotches from her silver armor in slow circles. “How long have you been… you know, free?”

“About a month. Though most of that I spend sleeping.” I admitted and continued speaking before she could. “I was thrown into the prison – the one in the King’s City – after I freed myself from her grasp. Then I got a Hearing before the King and the Court Mage had to do a mind reading. I was out for three weeks after that.” I grimaced as I remembered the reading.

“The King’s prison? How did they catch you? And you got a mind reading – are they really as painful as you hear they are?” I could see that Asalie was really tired, but I could also understand her need for answers. And a distraction from the horrors that plagued her mind at the moment was welcome too. Knowing what she was going through I hoped I could help her deal with this; she would not have to find out everything on her own.

“You remember I was sent to Oldlakes, right?” She nodded. “Seeing our hometown triggered something within my mind, it weakened the chains the Snow Witch had placed around me. My mother was the final spark that gave me the strength to overcome the Witch’s power. But when she was completely gone, someone hit me in the back of my head and then I woke up in a prison cell the next day.

“And yes, a mind reading is every bit as painful as they say it is and then some more.”

“I see.” Asalie paused. “Will I have to go through that too? Is that where we are going now, to the King’s castle?”

“I cannot say for sure if you will get a hearing – and a mind reading – too, but we are not going to the King’s City now.” I replied.

“If not to the King, then where are we going?”

“The Snow Witch’s castle.” I stated and Asalie gasped.

“Are you insane? Why are we going there?” She asked and stared at me as if I had lost my mind.

“What we have done is horrible, Asalie. Even if it was not our fault, even if we did not want to do what we did; it is our hands that are stained with blood. And for that we need to redeem ourselves – we have to kill the Snow Witch.” I explained and Asalie began to stare at her own hands again, at the bloody cloth she was using to clean her armor. “We are probably the only ones who know how to find that castle and are able to enter it.”