It arrived too quickly, too sudden, without warning. The shivering lessened and the hypothermia began to fade, and the cold that once stung my fingertips, turned to warmth. A kingdom of ice, a frozen abyss, how it was meant to be. I was told three more years of iced solitude, but here I am, watching as the snow begins to melt and the castle walls are grey once more.
Bollox to the witch. I knew she was lying from the very start, damn it to hell! To open the gates I sold my soul to seal! I swore they would never see the frozen city until my final days, but here I am, the powerless king, forced to watch as nature takes its course.
I stood at my bedroom window as I watched the witch, one by one, release each district from its icy bonds. And with every bond removed, an emotion unchained from my cold, cold, heart. Anger flooded my veins as the entire lower half was stone again, and I threw my wine straight to the streets below. It was a pain in my chest, a lack of air, an attempt to close my lungs completely, to kill me or perhaps to simply torture me.
“HAG!” I screamed, shuddering as the sudden pain increased as I strained myself. “LEAVE ME!” I fell to the ground, helpless in pain, desperately searching for some way to cease that horror. That warmth, that… feeling. But as much as I screamed and as loud as I yelled, the witch would not leave. With each slur and curse I shouted, another district melted, and another emotion erupted.
“I have rejected you from this land, none to be permitted but me! Do you hear me! NO ONE BUT ME!” But the pain increased, and when I could no longer support myself, the witch came to me and lifted me to my mattress.
“After all these years of this bitter cold, you have learned nothing.” She whispered, warming my frozen hands as she spoke. “I am not harming you, my love, but simply freeing you.”
I struggled to speak but further strained myself to reply, “You... Don’t understand.. You harm me by freeing me.”
“No, Achille, I don’t. Three years you have been hiding behind your walls, too afraid to let anyone in.”
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My words came easier as her warmth spread from my hands to my head. “And it was to be three more.”
“Time is truly an interesting concept, perhaps where I’m from it has been a whole six years already? But how would you know? You have been here, rotting away, alone.”
“You know nothing of my time here, Woman.”
“ Oh, Achille, you know that's a lie. I’ve been with you this whole time and you know it. I’ve been with you for everything. Every tear you’ve cried, every painful moment re-lived over and over, I was there, through all of it. And now it is time to let me in.”
“This is none of your business, you broke our deal. You promised me six years alone, and here you are, watching me the whole time and cutting my time in half. How can I let you into my life, besides you’ve practically been in it already. Why do you want me? I am nothing, a helpless craven who prefers to rot in his melancholic fortress than to try to be happy? I curse you and send you away, not accept you and love you as a man should a woman. Why do you return over and over again?”
The wind blew heavily, but no longer with a chill, but with a bitter warmth. She lifted one hand to her face to wipe away a rogue tear, forcing herself to open up, and expose her thoughts. My numbness had ceased, and I now sat upright, resting my back on the mahogany headboard, the sun shining down onto my face.
“Achille, it is not as simple to leave like that. You make me happy and I wish to bring you the same joy. Perhaps you see nothing but pain in your future, but I see happiness and love and passion. I want you to be mine, Achille. I want to be the one to show you that joy, and give you that love.” She moved closer to me and looked into my eyes as if they were the most magnificent thing she had ever seen and said, “So no matter how many times you curse me, call me names, or send me away, I will always be here with you. Because I love you.”
At the sound of those words, the anger in my veins fled within an instant, leaving space for a bittersweet sorrow to take its place. I flung my arms around her and began to sob into her shoulder, my tears staining her golden attire, her hazel locks tickling my nose. And as she wrapped her arms around me, I felt as if I was hugging Persephone herself, goddess of spring and warmth. She held me close and kissed me long and passionately before letting go and pulling me close to her. Hours passed as we lay in bed, I rested my head upon her chest and simply listened as she sang to me. And before I drifted off, she whispered in my ear, words I would never forget, “King Achille, Of Haven. You are no craven, and as you let the people back into the city, let me too back into your life. You have offended me in no way that I have not forgiven, and in this life, I am with you, and will do you no harm.”
