Tale as Old as Time

II

Ice is crystallized on my eyelashes when I finally open my eyes. The Bears have stopped and the thin, snowy air hints that we're somewhere in the mountains. No one in my kingdom has ever seen the Bears land. No one dares venture further than our own border so all of this territory is unfamiliar. I lift my heavy head from the bears shoulders and try to look around. My sleepy eyes make everything blurry and the cold air stings them. I fist my hands and bring them to my eyes, rubbing the sleep out of them and forgetting all about the makeup Aunt Clara had worked on. A pair of hands grip my hips and pulls me down from the saddle. My numb body doesn't react to being handled. The hands then shift into arms cradling my body. Words of a different tongue and I'm being shifted once again to a different set of arms.My sleepy eyes drift shut as my handler's steps sway back and forth. There's the sound of a door opening and then blessed warmth flows around my frozen limbs. I crack my eyes open to see the interior of a cabin. The ceilings soar higher than any I've ever seen and rich, honey colored beams run across the vaulted rafters. The air is filled with the scent of cinnamin and burning pine. We don't stay in this main room for long as the person carrying me turns down a hallway and ducks into another door.

This room is much smaller than the main room and the fire in the hearth is much smaller but it feels just as cozy as the first room. I am lowered onto an enormous bed, piled high with pillows and blankets. My cold body sinks into the fluffy material. I curl my legs up to my stomach and close my eyes. My nerves tingle painfully as I thaw out in the warmth of the room and my stomach is groaning with hunger but exhaustion wind out over the pain and I'm fast asleep in minutes.

Morning comes with pools of golden sunlight seeping in through the gaps between the curtains. A long streak falls over my waist, making the green of my gown shimmer. I stretch my sore muscles and shift to my other side. I've never felt more rested in my life. After laying in bed for a few minutes, I roll off of the bed and go to the window. Pulling aside the curtain, the view steals my breath away.

A ridge of snow frosted mountains pierces the cloudless blue sky on the left of my view. Below is a snow covered valley, glinting under the unmasked sun. My breath fogs the cool pane of the window as I gape at the scenery. A gentle knock startles me from my state of wonder.

"Yes?" I ask softly. The bronze knob turns and the door glides inwards from its frame. My neck cranes around at an uncomfortable angle as I watch Queen Mab come into my borrowed room. I immediately sink into a curtsy.

"Good morning Elise," the queen says gently. Her ensemble is much more humble today. She wears a simple white dress with wide sleeves that are as long as the skirt. A silver locket rests on her chest exposed by her sweetheart neckline. In her hand she holds a single red rose. "You must be starving. And stand up, dear. You needn't curtsy to me. We're almost family."

"Is this your castle?" I ask, trying not to think about my salivating mouth at the prospect of eating. The queen laughs at my question.

"Heavens no. The palace is much too far from your compound to reach it in one night. This is simply one of my mountain châteaux on the way," Mab explains.

"It's beautiful,"" I murmur.

"Let's get you dressed. I'll put you in something warmer than whatever that idiot out you in yesterday," Mab says. "And then we'll get some food in your belly. You look starve half to death."

Mab motions for me to follow her through the door. It's not until I shut the door as quietly as possible that I realize my feet are bare. The queen is already down the hall and I dare not ask her to stop. The stone is cool beneath my feet but the warmth of the château keeps the floor from being I've cold.

I follow the queen to an enormous bedroom that I would assume to be hers. There's a bed larger than the one in my room and the fire in the hearth can rival the one in the front room. On the left wall is a door left ajar, revealing rows of gowns.