Frost (40 page)

“The memories showed me that Amora had orders to kill the women and children of the fire jotun. Loki’s people.” My voice rang out over the crowd.

Yes, everyone’s eyes were still fixed on me, and some didn’t look friendly, but I didn’t care now. I was too angry. All I could think about was the dream. The compassion Amora had felt for the captives, and the hurt and betrayal when her mother had called for her death.

“But she 
refused
. She wasn’t a tyrant like her mother. The queen 
killed
 her for that. Branded her a traitor and had her own daughter executed. How many horrible things has Eira done to you?”

The crowd stirred. A low rumble began, like the vibrations of an earthquake deep underground.

“How many of your friends has she killed? How many of your loved ones has she murdered? She destroyed her own daughter. Do you think 
anything
 is off-limits for this woman?”

The rumbling grew louder.

“Yes, Amora went to battle against the fire jotun. But she had 
honor
. The queen has none! When it came down to it, Amora made the right decision. She stood up to the queen. What decision are 
you
 going to make?”

The rumbles erupted into fierce cries, startling me so much that I actually backed up a step. But they weren’t booing me. They were yelling battle cries, shaking their fists in the air and stomping their feet. This was actually working. I stepped forward again, fierce happiness surging up in my chest. I felt buoyant, almost giddy.

“We have an ally waiting for us in Muspelheim!” The words rolled off my tongue now. I wasn’t even sure I knew how to pronounce the name of the fire dimension properly, but I didn’t care. “The fire jotun are also victims of the queen’s mad crusade! They have been injured by her! They have every reason to ally with us and take the queen down. We can finally have 
peace
!”

More cheering. The jotun created such a racket that I had to raise my voice until I was practically yelling. “Come with me to Muspelheim! Stand at the side of Loki, son of Surtr.” I reached back and grabbed Loki’s hand, jerking him forward.

He recovered from his surprise quickly, and to my delight, he held my hand tight and brought our hands up into the air.

The cheering grew louder, echoing through the snowy clearing.

Loki’s voice rang out, deep and strong over the noise. “We welcome you! Together, we will bring the queen down and end her reign of tyranny.”

Erik stepped forward, grabbing my other hand, bringing it into the air on the other side. “With the help of the Muspelheim, we will appoint a new queen! A good and just ruler. The one who will lead you in bringing down the old monarchy. Who will appoint Amora, daughter of Niflheim?”

The cheers only grew louder, but there seemed to be a sudden ringing in my ears, and the celebrations sounded hollow and far away. Erik’s words repeated like an old record skipping in my head.

“A new queen.” “Amora.” “Who will appoint Amora?”

Me? That was me he was talking about. They wanted me to be queen.

It was a good thing Loki and Erik were holding my hands up, because my knees had turned to water. In front of me, the crowd was an ever-moving tide, jumping, shaking their hands in the air, but suddenly, they weren’t real. This had to be a dream. But my surroundings didn’t waver. And Loki’s and Erik’s grips on my hands were both very real.

“Who will appoint Amora?”

It wasn’t until I had a quiet moment that I fully realized what had happened. While sitting around the fire with Loki and the girls, it hit me properly. I took a deep, shaky breath, staring wide-eyed at the coals of the campfire. There was no way I could do this.

When I looked up, they were all staring at me, as if they expected me to explode or something. A shiver of panic ran through me.

"Guys! I can't do this!"

Charlotte's eyes were lit with excitement. "Yes, you can. Megan, you should have heard the speech you just gave! You 
sounded
 like a leader. I would’ve followed you into battle right then and there!"

"Same," Margaret said. "That was amazing."

Loki put his hand on my arm. "You got an entire group of stubborn frost jotun to agree to come to Muspelheim. That's no easy feat."

"Yeah, but...
queen
?" I stuttered. My words weren't coming out properly.

"That would be so 
cool
." Charlotte shrugged, waggling her hand in the air. "Yeah, my best friend is the queen. No biggie."

Margaret spoke up. "Let's put it this way: You cannot possibly do a worse job than Eira. And you'll look amazing by comparison."

"Thanks," I muttered.

It felt good to smooth my fingers over the leather grip of my katana. Comforting. I had attached the scabbard to a belt Erik loaned me, and its presence at my hip made me feel a bit better.

"We leave now," Loki said happily. "It will take a day and a half to travel there, maybe two. I can't wait to get back." His eyes seemed suddenly distant. "Ah, I miss it. You'll love Muspelheim. The crackling fire, the music, the giant feasts! And a never-ending flow of ale..."

He fell silent, expression dreamy, and the noise of the camp filled the space between us.

People were getting ready to leave in a hurry, packing up their belongings, rattling pots and pans, and shaking out blankets. From the other side of camp, the sharp ringing of hammer on steel echoed as one of the horses was reshod.

I caught sight of Erik moving through the camp, giving orders, and yelling instructions. It was odd to see him in his element and so obviously in charge. The rebel camp was different from the cool grandiosity of the ice palace, and he seemed to fit effortlessly into both.

"I wonder how we'll get to the other place." Margaret stared into the fire. "I mean, I wonder if the dimensions are attached to one another, or what."

Becca shrugged. "I guess we'll find out soon."

Something warm and heavy draped over my shoulders, and I startled. Soft fur brushed my cheek as I looked over my shoulder. Loki sat back down beside me. He'd gone to get me a blanket.

"Thanks," I murmured.

"You looked cold."

We both knew that was a lie, but it was cute, so I pretended, curling the blanket tighter around my shoulders. Thankfully the girls were still talking, and it was getting darker now, so they didn't seem to notice when Loki reached out and took my hand in his, stroking his thumb over my palm, sending tingles over my skin.

Eventually, the warmth of the blanket and the hypnotic dance of the flames had my eyes drooping, and I found myself leaning on him. Closing my eyes, I allowed myself to drift, inhaling his scent with each breath. Feeling the rise and fall of his chest and hearing his heartbeat.

I had to force myself to stay awake. We were leaving soon.

But the rhythm of his breathing and the soft furs were so soothing.

I leaned into Loki, enjoying the feeling of being so close to him.

Winking at me, he made some comment about getting comfortable and stretched his right arm up before draping it over my shoulders. I shut my eyes and let myself enjoy the flicker of orange flames across my eyelids while Loki’s fingertips brushed my shoulder.

For the first time in forever, I let myself relax.

We weren’t home free yet. There was still a king to impress and a battle to fight, not to mention coming to grips with the fact that these people might be serious about making me queen. On top of that, I’d soon have to climb back onto a horse for two and a half days of torture.

But I could worry about that later.

In that moment, I shut my eyes and let myself drift.

THE END.

Hold onto your shorts this could get messy. And long, I mean, really, really long.

              I have to start with my husband, who put up with a lot while I was writing and revising this. An extremely messy house (seriously, it looked like there’d been a struggle) eating out of Tupperware when there were no plates left, and haphazardly thrown together dinners of toast and peanut butter. Oh, and also, me muttering like a crazy person and jumping out of bed in the middle of the night to go write something down, or trailing off in the middle of conversation, or—okay, this could go on.

              Thanks for putting up with me.

              Next, I have to say a special thanks to the Wattpad fans who were with me from beginning to end. Cheerleading, demanding more updates, suggesting cool stuff that might happen next (nudge, wink) and generally just being awesome. This story wouldn’t exist without you. I mean that very literally, since the idea came from someone suggesting a “winter themed fantasy” for me to write next. This is it. You guys inspire me, and you helped shape the entire thing.

              A quick thanks to the staff at Wattpad too, actually, because it was endlessly cool to see pictures of “Frost” on the Wattpad tree at HQ, and to have someone tell me some of the staff is reading Flood updates as I write them (no pressure or anything).

              I also need to thank Angela Cragg from Word Gypsy Editing, who was one of the first people to see the extremely raw, unedited version of this manuscript. I feel like, on top of saying thank you, I should also say I’m very sorry you had to see that.

              Also, big thanks to the beta readers: Crissy, Calyn and Alina. You guys are made of awesome. And to Lia, who won the Frost cover contest when she picked out the perfect Megan.

              I have to say thanks to a bunch of writers too, people that helped keep me sane during the process. The YA Word Nerds for one. Our live chats are something I look forward to every Sunday. Also, the Wattpad4: Thank you for listening to me rant (seriously, it was probably every few days near the end) you guys, I would be bat-shit insane if it weren’t for you. Also, to the girls from writing group. We get so completely off topic and I love it.

              To my family, particularly to my mother, who got excited phone calls over the course of this process, and has somehow never stopped believing in me.

              Lastly, thanks to everyone at Patchwork Press. To DJ, who poured hours and hours into helping me polish this thing. I owe you gardens of flowers, or hundreds of cups of coffee, or truckloads of wine. Something like that. Thanks as well to the other amazing interns at Patchwork Press! You all rock!

Jessica Allain, for the world's most kick-ass cover design

              To the rest of the interns at PWP who combed over the first few chapters and who helped spread the word about Frost. Thank you, guys!

              To Erica and Kellie, who both worked their butts off to make this happen.

              Kellie, I would probably be moping around on the couch watching reruns on Netflix if you hadn’t championed this. This wouldn’t have happened.

              Okay, I still watch too much Netflix, but you know what I mean. I couldn’t have done this without you.

              See? I told you this would get long.