The Queen's POV Present

A voice from behind me brought me back from my memories, “Shit…”

Peasant’s POV

“Shit…” was about all I could muster. As my eyes strained to open, a flurry of colors overloaded my vision sending a shooting pain to my skull.

I quickly tried to raise my arm to cover them, but there was something wrong. I felt the muscles contract in my shoulder, but nothing beyond that. I tried moving my left arm instead, and without any delay my vision went dark as my eyes were shielded from the visual assault.

Again I tried to raise my right arm, but there was no response. I couldn’t feel it. Just a dull pain pulsing through my side. Something moved, but there was little weight. The momentum of limb moving was not there.

Slowly, I raised my head, moving my responsive arm to help me up. I heard other noises shifting beside me, but my vision was still blurry and I couldn’t make anything out. My surroundings otherwise were eerily silent, even the light breeze making more noise than anything else. 

Slowly, my eyes began to focus, and I saw it. A white nub just past my shoulder. The space after was empty. Where the rest of my arm should have been, was nothing. Just this heavily bandaged nub, moving in quick motions each time I contracted the muscles in my shoulder. 

It looked so silly, I still couldn’t process it. Every time I willed the missing arm to move, the nub swung wildly. I just laughed. The bandages had the stains of dried blood. It was then I scanned over the rest of my body.

There it was, another nub. My left foot was gone as well. There wasn’t anything left to swing about, just the nub of my calf, also wrapped in cloth bandages. I closed my eyes, trying to remember anything of how I ended up this way.

I heard a voice, but shut it out, trying to focus. I ignored the occasional bumps of the road, and the chilling breeze of the morning. All I could remember was the screeching sounds and the place of light. Then a sharp pain struck my head, and the memories were gone again.

I laid back and groaned, against lifting my only arm to cover my face. The voice came again, “Peasant, are you able to hear?” 

It was the chilling voice of the woman from before. From where I lay, I could gather where I was for the time being. The wagon I had seen before, with a canvas cover keeping most of the environment out of sight. 

My back lay against rough wood, threatening to leave a splinter within my bare torso. The leather pants I wore were torn all below the knees, allowing the cold air to pervade through the many openings, lending to my shivering form.

I opened my mouth to reply, my voice still strained from the shrieking of the day prior, “I am.”

There was a growl from outside the wagon as the man who I took to be Andrei snapped, “You will use honorifics when addressing Her Majesty, peasant.”

‘Her Majesty?’ I blinked a few times, slowly slipping into the confusion I thought I had escaped. Now it began coming back to me. I remember the woman had called herself the ‘Ice Queen of the Northern Empire.’ I didn’t know what that meant at all, though.

The woman picked up again, her voice still calm and even. “Andrei, I don’t need you to intervene at every moment. I am completely capable of scolding a commoner all on my own.”

An ashamed Andrei replied quickly “Of course, forgive my haste milady.”

I raised myself once again, every sore muscle screaming at me to stop, but I finally sat upright against the wagon’s edge. My vision clear, the full scene came into view. 

The ‘Ice Queen’ faced the front, managing the wagon. From beside, I could hear another horse’s steps, likely where Andrei rode alone. Inside, beside me, I saw another young boy, peering at me, seating as far away as possible.

The queen spoke up again, “I ask that you avoid any more curses in the presence of my younger brother, peasant.”

She may have phrased it as a request, but it was clearly an order.

As for the young boy, his eyes were wary of me, and he had huddled himself in, adorned in a fur coat and shining leather boots. The belt about his thick pants was gleaming even in the low morning light. The appearance of the Queen was no different. This wasn’t a strange roleplay, after all. 

I turned to reply, “Of course.” My words were slow, and so I quickly added, “...Your Majesty.”

The way the queen’s shoulders were held high and back, her posture near perfect as she held her chin high. The clothes she adorned appear to be of the highest quality, and the bright colors only lent itself to that idea.

She carried herself so well that it cleared any doubts I had. Her voice, her appearance and her very presence exuded elegance. It was a labor to tear my gaze from her. Still the wary boy watched me, and Andrei had not yet spoken up again.

“Very good.” The queen’s curt reply came, without turning back to look at me. “Now, I wish to hear of everything that happened in this place. Your wounds were fresh, yet the main army of Pantheon must have marched through here days before. Have their other forces already come?”

I blinked, completely taken by surprise. I decided if I wanted to stay in my savior’s good graces, I should be as honest as I could. “I apologize…um, Your Majesty. I don’t recall anything that happened. In fact… I can’t remember anything at all.”

“Ah yes, how convenient. He has no memory!” Andrei commented sarcastically.

The queen ignored his comment and sighed, “Then it can’t be helped. I shall make this clear for you otherwise. You may leave us now if you wish, but considering we are deep in the northern wilderness, you won’t survive long. Against my knight’s wishes, I will permit you to accompany us on our journey. I only ask that you not make yourself a burden to my young brother’s safety.” 

With that, she whipped the reins as if to punctuate her statement as final. It was clear that there was only one choice I could make, “I shall serve to my utmost, Your Majesty.”

She nodded with a firm “hmph!” Before returning to her silent management of the wagon. 

I wondered if I had always talked like this, using these words. Every statement I made felt so foreign, yet I knew they were what was expected of me. The two feelings conflicted like waves crashing within me.

However, I wasn’t opposed to speaking this way. Perhaps I had spoken colloquially very frequently, but when speaking to the lady before me, I understood why it was she demanded honorifics and proper language. From birth, she must have been raised to command such respect from others.

Andrei spoke from outside, “Young Feliks, should he do anything to pester you, inform me immediately. I’ll do well to teach him a lesson.” 

I couldn’t see him, but I could feel the smirk on his face. ‘He must have it out for me. Noted.’ 

I took a breath, looking up at the gray sky above. Clouds swarmed and smothered the rising sun, halting the advance of the daylight. Snow felt slowly, and the sight of the white frost caused me to shiver. Perhaps I would die to the frost anyways.

It was then that a quiet voice reached out to me. “Are you cold?” It came from the bundle of furs in the corner, where the wary eyes watched me. 

I looked around to see how the others reacted, but it had grown dangerously silent again, as if they waited for what I would say. “It would seem so. I wonder what had driven me to be outside in such light clothing.”

I chuckled nervously, afraid of the atmosphere generated by the other two. The young boy looked at me, his curious eyes gleaming with something I did not recognize. Slowly, he removed his oversized outer coat and scooted across, holding it out to me in his small hand.

His quiet voice came from the bundle of clothes covering his face again, “I don’t need it.” He stuck his hand out further again, emphasizing his point.

I bowed my head, “Thank you,” I almost panicked then. ‘He’s a prince? How do you address a prince?!’ Taking a guess, my unsure voice continued, “...Your Highness.”

His eyes brightened, and I slowly lifted the jacket from his hands as the atmosphere finally seemed to lighten. A breath I did not know I was holding escaped with another shiver as I used my one arm to throw the jacket over my body. 

It was strange for me to stare down and see an empty sleeve as my side. At some point in my memories before, I had seen such a sleeve filled many times.

Huddling myself close together, I watched the frosty breath escape from my lips. I had no knowledge of the land we traversed, and wondered just how far north we had to be for the air to be this cold. My lips still trembled, and my cheeks had gone numb. 

I envied the others, seeing their many layers. However, I remained grateful to the young prince for his kind gesture. I would be far worse off without it.

From the side, Andrei’s voice pierced the silence I had not been aware of, “It’s become too quiet. There is no wind, and I have not seen a wild beast amongst the bare trees. I fear we are approaching trouble.”

The Queen said nothing, her posture did not falter, and she showed no signs of weakness. She only faced forward into a growing fog without a show of doubt.

And just as the silence threatened to encroach upon us once more, there was a loud thud, and the world shifted.