The War of Queens

Chapter 29

Elizabeth

 On the morning of the cleansing ceremony, Elizabeth awoke in bright and red light. The sun had risen barely above the horizon, bathing earth and skies in crimson and gold. The ice reflected the light, making the world appear on fire - or bleeding.

 Angelique was already awake, sitting up in her furs, pressing a hand to her head. Her other hand was closed around a steaming cup. “Damn their wine,” she muttered drowsily as she crawled down and pulled on a pair of trousers.

 “I thought you slept in the icehouse,” Elizabeth noted. Last night, Angelique had been very keen on keeping her away from their shared sleeping space and she had retired to her tent instead.

 Angelique looked up at her. “I did, until I was awoken by chanting this morning,” she said. “Are you ready?”

 Elizabeth’s stomach was in knots and she felt like vomiting, but she nodded.

 “You look pale,” Angelique stated. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

 “I have to.”

 “No, you don’t.” She narrowed her eyes. “You have a choice. They cannot force you to do this.”

 Elizabeth sighed. “You know what I mean.”

 “And you know I don’t believe in it.”

 Elizabeth simply sighed again before stepping out from her furs. She walked away from the tent, shaking her limbs back to life. The sun warmed her face, but her feet could feel the cold creep up through the soles of her feet. She looked down and began kicking at the snow, digging until she reached the ice. It was as white as the snow, but hard, and gleaming. And sometimes, it seemed the white was only fog that covered for the blackness underneath. Soon, I’ll be underneath it. Soon, I’ll see what hides underneath the world.

 She sat down with a bowl of soup that she got from Ishmael. When Jamie joined her, she asked how long he thought it would take to make it to Etheron.

 He frowned, clenching his eyes against the sun as he looked to the south-west. “I spoke to one of their navigators yesterday, while you were preparing,” he said. “It is not that far. A month, maybe a month and a half.”

 Her hand tightened around the bowl. “That’s too long. Shakan’s men are dying like flies. They can’t stand the cold.”

 “I know. It is a strange thing, to see so many of them die while the ashmen live.”

 “A thing I can’t explain.” She let out a frustrated growl. “For all my fine education, I can’t explain it. I cannot think what I could possibly need epistemology for right now, and yet that is what I spent three years of my life studying. What difference does it make?” She laughed to keep from crying in desperation.

 Jamie ignored her stress. “Epistemology?” he asked instead.

 She sucked in a deep breath, blinking away the tears that had collected at the edges of her eyes. “It’s… the theory of knowledge. What is real, what is not, and what can you be certain of. That kind of questions.”

 “Those are important questions,” he told her. “Especially in a society like Hi’taab. Once you learn how to survive, you need to learn how to live. You need to start asking questions, so that you can evolve. And you need to know what is right and wrong, once people start craving more. It will be needed in Etheron.”

 Her voice trembled when she spoke. “But I can’t use it now, can I?”

 “No,” he admitted.