A Tale That Dawned [Book 4 of Selvina's Tale series]

Chapter 36: The Ice Queen

"You might be right," said Selvina before she straightened her hair as best as she could. She thought about the ribbon but decided against it. Best to play it safe.

Moments later, she was led down the hall by Ytali. He brought her to the lifts and down to the main floor. Hiding behind Selvina's neck, surrounded by hair, Tinkerbelle remained quiet and readied herself to meet not only the empress of Noyr but her ally, the queen of Sworden.

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Whereas the empress was calm, studious, and elegant, the queen of Sworden was loud, spontaneous, and overly glamorous. The two women couldn't be any more opposite and Selvina was shocked they were allies.

Standing a few steps behind the empress before the open gates of Caer Gobiyth, she watched the grand procession approach the steps to the castle. Queen Svala arrived at the castle standing in a chariot pulled by not horses but two white reindeer with sparkling bells upon their necks and in their antlers. The woman was little older than Selvina, to her surprise, and wore a dress that seemed to be made of diamonds. It shimmered brightly and seemed to create its own rainbows when the light reflected off its surface. Unlike Selvina's this one was cut quite low, revealing ample cleavage, and upon the shoulders were mirror-like pauldrons that curved upward like crescents. Upon the Ice Queen's head was a tall, sparkling crown of ice with gold and silver coils wrapped around its spires.

As the queen traveled down the road to the castle she had her arms spread wide and blew kisses into the crowd of onlookers. Behind her trailed a band of men with drums, trumpets, violins, flutes, and other instruments Selvina didn't recognize. She called for praise from the watching Noyrans but received little, only hard stares.

Glancing at the empress, Selvina thought she saw a small grin upon her smooth face, as if she was proud of her people denying the egotistical queen her desires.

As the queen's chariot entered the courtyard she caught sight of the empress and made an exaggerated expression of pure joy. She called out to the empress in a loud voice, ensuring that everyone around could hear, praising her for her successes. When she reached the stairs she made a sweeping bow, her diamond-like dress swishing aside and her long, twisting blonde hair dangling.

"Great Empress Rhiannon!" Queen Svala said with a wide smile. "It is the greatest honour to meet you again. It has been far too long! We must visit one another more often!"

Rhiannon gave the queen a tiny bow and said, "It is a pleasure to greet you on this fine day, your highness. I must admit that I am rather surprised at your arrival. I was not expecting you so soon."

"Yes, I know I'm early but how can I not be? I was simply too excited to meet you again!"

Rhiannon blinked her half-closed eyes slowly. "Indeed." She gestured to the open doors of her castle. "Shall we take this inside?"

"As you wish, oh great and wonderful empress," said Svala, her smile unfaltering as she followed the empress inside, trailed by a retinue of guards and nobles.

Once the doors were closed behind them, the atmosphere changed instantly.

"You know, Rhiannon," said Svala, purposely stepping ahead of the empress, as if she was leading the way. "It should be you coming to my castle, considering what I've accomplished and what, well, you haven't."

"Your conquest of Nordara was impressive," Rhiannon stated flatly. "We shall celebrate it."

"Yes, we shall, but not now and definitely not here," the queen said, gesturing the entrance hall and its tapestries of war. "I'm not here to celebrate Nordara anyways."