The Snow Queen

"Now It's A Her?"

Jack shuffled rapidly back and forth across his room. His mind paced with turbulent thoughts while he fought the guilty sob that ballooned in his throat, all while trying to keep quiet so his family didn't wake. She had come to him, but now he was going to lose her. He knew he was no match against a man that knew how to use a rifle or anyone that had authority in this town. Not even his mother or father's words would resonate with their mayor if he tried to explain it to them; they'd send him off to the asylum for sure! He already felt like a mental patient with how fervently his ideas chased each other around, unable to get a clear sentence in his head.

Ansgar had seen her, he'd seen him... yet he said nothing. Was it the small connection of both being lone shepherd's boys, or did he feel the deeper empathy inside of the woman as well? Time was so short, and he knew he had to find a way to get her out of there safe and then tell her to leave. It would be terrible, it would be painful, but she needed to return to Dead Man's Peak where no one could harm her. It would be enough to know she was alive somewhere than have her so close to danger. Jack had never felt more alone—no one to turn to for guidance. He wasn't a child anymore, he'd been thrown to the wolves.

And the leader of their pack was Elrond.

He spent the entire night debating whether to break back into town hall and fight his way out; he'd take that rock he was going to use to smash the door open and beat the hunter that had scorched her breast until he was bloody. Where had such vicious, violent thoughts suddenly come from? He almost terrified himself. But Jack knew what happened to him despite the dark irony. What happened to him was love.

He was delirious from exhaustion the following morning. His head kept tipping and his eyes wanted nothing more than to shut as he sat not eating at breakfast.

"Mom, Pippa, and James wanted me to go play in the snow with them. Can I after I eat?"

"Only if someone can watch you. I have errands to run and your father has work."

Mary peered over at Jack, who was so close to dozing off that he hadn't heard a single word. She pulled on his sleeve. "Jack, will you come with me so I can see my friends?"

"Hm? Yeah." He didn't even know what she'd asked. He'd been forgetting what a proper night of sleep felt like these past few weeks, what with the dreams that felt so real he had no energy when he woke and the anxious thoughts of the woman never leaving his mind. Reality seemed to slip further away from him every day as this woman had started to become his entire world.

...

Jack found it difficult to participate in his sister's giddy architecture of snow when he was so preoccupied with how he was going to get his friend out of there. His intuition wouldn't let him believe she was already gone—he could still feel her. I'm coming. He hoped she could hear him think. Just stay strong. I'll find a way to get you out and then they won't hurt you anymore. He was lucky Mary had some of her friends to keep her company while he slacked in his snow fort building, even though she would sometimes try to tug on his hand to get him more involved in their games.

Mary would believe me if I told her. Jack knew this for a fact, but she couldn't know. He couldn't risk getting her involved and risking her life. She would immediately proclaim that the woman was an enchanted princess from a faraway kingdom that had come to take them away. If only it really were as simple as the stories she loved so much. By now he would have valiantly rescued her from the thorny prison and they would be happily married, and the town would rejoice. But this wasn't a fairytale. He wasn't a brave prince, he was an invisible shepherd's boy.

As these grim thoughts crossed him did he see out the corner of his eye the lad who could now make his stomach drop. Carrying his axe with him was Ansgar, who had made brief eye-contact before hurrying his steps towards the mill. Jack couldn't let him get away—he had to know what his father was planning, what he might've told him! Without giving his sister or her friends any warning, he ran towards Ansgar and stopped him where he stood.