Chapter Text
I was running in the river towards the storeroom, struggling to move faster. The river was already freezing, turning into a slush of ice, sharp chinks threatening to slice my skin. I reached the storeroom just as someone slammed the great doors open.
My staryk had ran into the room, slightly gasping for air, his expression similar to that he wore on the evening of Basia's wedding, when he found me staying true to our bargain. He caught me and lifted my body out of the solidifying river onto the bank, his hands staying on my hips for a moment longer. They were cold, cooling my body like fresh water from the well on a hot summer day, for i broke into a sweat during the fight with Chernobog. Then he turned his head towards the walls, where gold and silver webbed the crystal, in a breathtaking mix, closing the crack and locking Chernobog out forever. The demon won't be able to set foot inside the mountain ever again, nor take a sip of any staryk, save they offer themselves.
His face was dumbfounded, as he couldn't imagine this outcome even in his wildest dreams—do staryk dream? I'll have to ask Tsop about it later, or Flek. Maybe even him, if i will have the opportunity ever again to ask questions. A sudden clasp of winter on my hands brought me back to the storeroom. The Staryk Lord has stopped gawking at the mountain, and was staring at me instead, holding my hands in his. His eyes were glistening, a strange light reflecting from the diamond walls. His expression was of someone looking at a precious thing, not unlike the one he wore when i called the snow tree to grow, and he cried hugging its trunk. I remembered the flowers that unfurled upon his touch, silver with golden mixed into their petals, and i realized how similar they looked to the web on the mountain walls. Maybe a child born from staryk and mortal love would be like this, a child of winter but shining with humanity, a beautiful and breathtaking creation.
I shouldn't ponder about things like this, it's not like I could ever experience seeing a baby with silver hair and golden eyes looking at me.
The king was still holding my hands, his eyes shining, and my heart stopped for a second, as i saw a question in his expression. Something in my face must've said yes, cause he suddenly bent down and caught my lips with his. A wave of cold pulsed through my body, akin to jumping into a river in early summer without testing the temperature of the water first, and the sudden change knocking the air out of your lungs, stopping your heart. His lips were just as cold as his hands, if not colder, and hard, unyielding. Ice that refuses to melt, to soften.
The hands holding mine squeezed them, and then he broke contact, stepping back just as quick as he got close. I couldn't move. Maybe he turned me into ice, just like he has always threatened me. Already, a new layer of ice was forming on his face, carefully hiding whatever he felt or thought. He bowed and said "Lady, i have taken from you without a bargain, and indebted myself to you. What will you have of me in return?"
I wasn't frozen anymore, I felt heat rush to my cheeks. In anger, embarrassment or shyness, i didn't know. He stole my first kiss and he dares standing there so indifferent, demanding a price to pay like it didn't matter to him at all. He probably stole way more in the past and never had to pay for them. I have to ask something that will make him think twice before repeating this again. The questions, I realized. He never liked my questions, thinking me an idiot for demanding obvious answers.
"Five questions you must answer before winter comes again. And i demand actual answers, not half ones!" This wasn't a sufficient price for my first kiss, but i would have to be satisfied with this much, lest he punishes me for asking too much in return. He nodded, accepting my terms. I glared at him, putting all my thoughts into my gaze. For once, he couldn't hold his stance against me, and lowered himself on his knees, bowing his head. "Lady, though you choose a home in the sunlit word, you are a Staryk queen indeed." What a strange thing to say to the woman you just kissed and bargained with.
I had no time to ponder on the thought, as servants came into the room, and he waved to them. One of them began to escort me out of the place, back towards my chambers, while the rest had followed their king, listening intently to whatever he had to say. It wasn't my responsibility to wonder about that. I was happy to be done with the fight, and enjoy the company of my bondswomen, and Rebekah, whom i hugged at first sight, so happy that she was all right. Flek and Tsop didn't attempt to show their affinity towards me, but i saw relief in their eyes, relief that i survived and returned to the glass mountain. I shared my dinner with them, not thinking about what will come, letting those thoughts of missing my family drown in the happiness i felt in the moment.
Later, in the bath i worked my brain for a long time, not resting until i came up with a solution. I knew what my borderline lean dinner meant to the rest of the mountain. I might not be the wife of their king anymore, but i was still, according to him, their queen. And a good queen doesn't let any of her subjects live in famine. I will see to that everyone has enough to survive this summer.
Only then i let myself wonder about what happened in the storerooms. What was that emotion i saw on his face just a second before he closed himself again? Smugness? Self-satisfaction? Surely not enamored with me, no matter how much my heart tried to convince me. Most likely it was disgust, of my heat and softness. Yes, it couldn't be anything else. How stupid of me to think the king could feel anything but disdain or indifference at best towards me. Still, I held that moment of coldness on my lips in my mind for a long time that night.