Dream of a Vast Blue Cavern

Chapter 10: Iskalon's Sacrifice: Glace

 Glace did not put a dutiful pace between himself and Stasia when he emerged with her from the cramped cave. Instead he walked in step with her, not caring what it might look like to Casser or anyone else. His heart was a maelstrom of relief and anxiety, relief at having finally told Stasia the truth, terror that he might lose her now. He was watching her beautiful face, seeing the icelights play in her golden-green eyes, when her expression twisted into a frown. He followed her gaze into the large cavern they were entering, every muscle in his body ready to fight, and saw what displeased her.

 The Council of Iskalon had convened, not just the people. A ledge had been shaped at one end of the widened-out tunnel, and before it, the members of the Council stood. There were gaps, councilors killed in the invasion of the burial chamber, but the majority of twenty required to offer proposals was present. Behind them, about a thousand of the remaining citizens of Iskalon filled the vast cavern. Those who could stand stood shoulder to shoulder. The wounded and ill were crowded together in one corner. Icers hovered in the air to leave room for more humans on the ground. Thousands more citizens filled the tunnels and the ore-veins beyond the cavern; nearly ten thousand Icers and humans had been tallied by the scribes. Most were out of earshot, but the words of the Council would be passed along to them. Most of the Warrior Guild was absent; Glace had helped Kiner station them in tunnels further down, where they could give warning if the Flames broke their word and attacked.

 Stasia marched stiffly up the steps of the ledge and stood before the Council. Glace followed her, along with Larc and Casser. Instinctively, he knew they would be of more use standing beside her than in the crowd. And he did not intend to leave Stasia's side until she ordered him away.

 Wyfus had survived, and he began to speak. For once, he came straight to the point.

 “Your Majesty Queen of Iskalon, this Council has received word that the Fire King will let us go if you alone surrender.”

 “How did they find out, Larc?” Stasia asked the question through her teeth, lips barely moving, inaudible to the assembly.

 “I don't know, Majesty,” Larc replied just as quietly. “The prisoners released with me—they must have heard it from the other Flames.”

 Below, Wyfus continued. “The Council has a proposal to lay before her Majesty.” He stepped forward and knelt. Stasia's gaze was colder than burial ice. “We ask that you surrender to Chraun for the protection of the people of Iskalon.”

 Stasia was silent for a long moment, continuing to stare at Wyfus like he was a rockworm under her foot. Glace wanted to jump down and throttle the man. Throttle the whole Council. How dare they? What did they think would become of them, without her?

 Without warning, Stasia laughed, an incongruously merry sound in the midst of the solemn moment. Wyfus, still kneeling, gaped like a fish. Stasia’s laugh ceased as quickly as it began, but she continued to smile as she spoke.

 “I came in here full of pride, ready to sacrifice myself, and here I find I have already been sacrificed by my people,” she said. Her face grew somber. “So much for pride.”

 Stasia used T'Jas from the cold rocks at her back to amplify her voice, and the crowd hushed. “I will accept the proposal set forth by this council. However, I do not intend to ask you to wait with hope and trust the Fire King's mercy. Today our tunnels will branch.”

 She paused, and the crowded cavern echoed with a susurration of murmurs. Glace barely heard it. Surrender. Even if no one else died, Stasia would. Chraun wouldn't leave her alive to raise trouble later. When she died, there would be nothing for him—he would cease to exist. Would he know the moment of her death, if he wasn't there, or would he hear of it later? Foolish as it was, with all the dangers she’d faced, Glace had never allowed himself to consider the possibility of outliving her. 

 Stasia was speaking again. Glace forced himself to listen. “I ask for fifty volunteers to sacrifice themselves for the survival of the Kingdom. Do not make this decision lightly. It is very likely that you will die or be enslaved.”

 There. His last chance. He would go with her, a volunteer. At least he could die by her side, even if he couldn't die to save her. “Casser will rule Iskalon in my absence. He will lead the people of Iskalon who cannot fight into the Outer Tunnels. There, you will seek a new home where the Flames will not find you. I have seen this in a Dream. I promise, you will find it. Casser, you will choose your path long after the volunteers and I have gone. We must not know your path, for our minds will be read.”

 The noise of the crowd grew louder. Wyfus pounded his gavel and Mowat bellowed for silence. Glace glanced at Casser. The older Icer's lips were compressed in anger. “Lady Larc, General Kiner, and Captain Glace will lead all able Icers and warriors to guard the rear of this escape and misdirect the Flames' army.”

 An emptiness opened in the pit of Glace’s stomach and threatened to swallow him whole. Of course. He was too valuable as a warrior. He would not be allowed to surrender with her. His last chance to do his duty, denied. She would die alone in Chraun, and he would fade from this world. Duty and her were all he had. Once, he had thought he must choose between loving her and doing his duty. Now he was to be denied both.

 As if she could sense his thoughts, Stasia turned from the crowd and faced him. “I'm sorry, Glace. I have to do this. Please. This is your duty to me—to protect my people.”

 Glace stared at her, drinking in every line, every hair, every inch of her. He wanted to sweep her off the ledge and carry her away to safety. But, Ancestors, there was no safety to take her to. When the cavern shook and scouts ran in from all the tunnels, heralding the approach of the Flames, he found his voice.

 “Your wish is my command, My Queen.”

 The pain in her eyes as she turned away was the last he saw of her. Then he was down, off the ledge, wading through the crowd, shouting orders. Doing his duty.