The Snow Queen, Part 3

The blizzard had long subsided by the time the trio reached the castle. While there was still snow on the ground here, it wasn't as heavy or as cold as it had been in the city. Much like the buildings back at the city, the castle was made of stone and crystal. It reminded Leia a great deal of Lady Gerda's home with higher towers and a much smaller garden around either side.

One of the guards standing in front of the gate dropped his long crystal staff in front of them. “Halt! State your name and business.”

“I am Princess Leia, formerly of Alderaan.” She nodded at Han and Chewie. “This is Captain Han Solo and his co-pilot Chewbacca. We're looking for a friend whom may have wandered this way, Commander Luke Skywalker. Princess Zoma told us that her sister might have some idea of his wherabouts.”

“Princess Zoma, huh?” The guard snorted. “Nobody's seen her for a long time. Thought she was still in hiding.” The guards still let them in, but not until they spent a good ten minutes discussing it.

“Thank you, gentlemen.” Leia tugged at the reins. “Would you be so kind as to watch over our tauntauns while we're talking to Their Majesties?”

“We won't. Not our job.” The guard took the reins when Leia pulled them to a stop. “We'll hand these over to the boys in the tauntaun stables. They'll look after 'em.”

The other guard lead the trio through the heavy wooden doors and down a long hall. The furniture was mostly made of wood and woolly nerf pelt and was a little cozier than Lady Gerda's home. The walls were hung with brightly-dyed wool tapestries woven with pastoral scenes of daily life in this part of Norweden.

Two young people sat a small, cheerful parlor on the end of the hall. One was a woman, barely more than a girl, in bright woven dress that looked as if it were made from the same process as the tapestry. She had long red hair and glittering blue eyes.

Her companion looked a great deal like Luke. He had the same blond hair and nose and sunny smile. His eyes were a darker blue and more mischievous than Luke's gentle ones, and he was quite a bit taller, with paler skin. They were playing a game not unlike the one in the Falcon that Chewie hated to lose.

Herfa went right to Leia. “Your highness!” Her bow was more like a bob. “Forgive our guards for being overzealous. Lady Gerda contacted us and said that you would likely be coming this way. She told me that a friend of yours had vanished?”

“Yeah. His name is Luke.” Han nodded at the young man who remained seated. “Looks kinda like that guy, but shorter.”

“I'm her husband, Prince Delent.” The youth frowned. “What happened to your friend? Gerda wasn't clear on that point. We could have our guards search for him.”

“We're not sure ourselves.” The former princess of Alderaan settled down gingerly in one of the chairs. Han and Chewie remained standing. “He just...lost his temper, then took off into the snow. That was over a week ago, and we haven't seen him since.”

Han shrugged. Chewie barked. “Yeah, you said it, buddy.” The shorter of the two waved his hand at the prince and princess. “Kid was actin' really weird when he took off. He was insultin' everyone in firin' range, bein' real nasty. That's not like him.”

Herfa and Delent exchanged worried looks. Herfa turned to Leia. “Was your friend near the Fir Top Mountains when he ran off?”

“There were mountains behind us.” She looked over her shoulder at Han. “That wind...the one that popped up just before Luke ran off...it came out of nowhere, didn't it?”

Han looked thoughtful. “Now that you mention it, yeah. It did. It wasn't as windy before that, or after it.” His co-pilot let out a short bark. “Chewie swears he saw something moving on the edge of the one of the mountains. Wookies have really sensitive eyes. They can see a lot further than we can.”

“The trolls.” Herfa made a face. “Playing their pranks again. They must have used the mirror. Probably saw your friend and thought he'd be the perfect candidate.”

“How can we change him back?” Leia bit her lip. “If we're going to make that meeting with the Snow Queen, we'll need all of us.”

“The Snow Queen?” Herfa went to a holo-station. “You mean my sister. Gerda said you were going to try to get her to join the Rebellion. I wish you luck. I agree with your aims, but Frostra prefers to be neutral. Truth be told, I think she's just lonely, like Zoma. They both hide in their respective parts of the kingdom, while Delent and Gerda and I end up dealing with the day-to-day side of things.”

Delent took her hand gently. “But you love it, dear. You love the people, and Gerda's like a mother to you.” Han didn't miss sappy pure adoration in the guy's eyes. He was lucky, he thought. Too bad the princess wouldn't give him that kind of look, if he even wanted her to.

“And I love you, dear.” Herfa gave her husband a hug and a kiss before looking up at the others. “I'd talk to Frostra. You said he was wandering in the snow. She's the one in charge of the snow and ice here. If she hasn't seen him, someone in her court might have.”

Leia nodded thoughtfully. “Could you possibly contact your sister and tell her that we'll be attending that meeting after all? It'll just be a few days late, and at her castle instead of the city.”

“We'll do what we can. It's not always easy to get through to her when the blizzards are going.” Herfa gave them a gentle smile. “Why don't you sleep here tonight, and get a fresh start in the morning? We have plenty of room.”

“That's very kind of you.” The former princess of Alderaan gave her a small smile of her own. “I think we'll accept.”

Han shrugged. “As long as you've got hot kaff and meat for Chewie, I don't care where we shack up for the night.” Chewie gave his own growl of agreement.

“Very well.” Delent stood and took Leia's arm. “Why don't we go see your rooms? As soon as you're settled, we'll see about some warmer clothes and better supplies for your trip up to the Frozen North.”

Leia's room was small, but cozy and well-appointed, with more woven tapestries, a heavy wood and wool bed with bright woven blankets, and thick nerf wool carpets dyed in shades of red and gold. She, Chewie, and Han ate heartily together. She was surprised at how much fun Han could be when he wasn't being a scoundrel or a selfish idiot.

They headed out the next morning after a hearty breakfast. The prince and princess gave Leia and Han heavy velvet and fur coats and wool scarves and gloves, trimmed with colorful woven ribbons. Leia had a muff made from the softest white fur she'd ever felt. Chewie's fur had been brushed to a soft copper glow, and he'd even polished his bandolieer. They packed their repulsor-sleigh with cheese, dried meat, and hot-house fruits that were considered a delicacy on Norweden.

“Thanks for everything!” Leia hugged Delent. She couldn't help noticing Han's slightly jealous frown out of the corner of her eyes and smirked a little. “You know...if you were shorter,” she went on, “you could almost be Luke.”

Delent patted her shoulder. “I hope you find him. You've told us so much about him. He must be a truly wonderful person to have friends like you.”

“Yeah, he is.” Han took Leia's hand a little rougher than she thought was really necessary. “But we've really gotta move along, before we're late to meet with the queen.”

“Here's the map.” Herfa handed Leia a small holo-pad. “Just watch yourselves in the Thieves' Woods. We've been having problems with bandits raiding people's carts and stealing their valuables for months.”

Han patted his blaster before taking the reigns. “Don't worry, Princess. Chewie n' I can deal with a few thieves. We do it all the time.”

“All right.” Herfa finally pulled back. “Stay safe!”

Delent nodded. “And good luck!” They stood at the gate and waved to the trio until they disappeared around a corner and out of sight.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The snowy forest seemed to continue for miles. It grew darker as they continued onwards. Light filtered through snow-topped trees, while tiny brown birds with sweet red caps chirped overhead. Leia pulled the velvet blanket with the gold thread trim around her and Han. The rhythmic clip-clop pace, broken only by the occasional bump on the path, made her feel a little sleepy. She leaned on Han's shoulder. Chewie kept an eye on the road in the back. Han wanted to steal his hand around her waist, but thought better of it. This was good enough for now.

Maybe he was being lulled to sleep by the pace, too. It would explain why he didn't see the bandits until it was too late. He thought they were just ancient brown leaves in the trees. It came as more of a surprise when those leaves leaped onto him, grabbing at his jacket.

“Hey!” Leia screamed when a female bandit in a scarlet coat leaped onto her. “What do you think you're doing?”

“Taking your valuables, sister.” She yanked at Leia's coat, trying to get it off. “Hey Tenner, I think this is made of real cottine velvet. Only royalty can afford that.” Her long fingers snatched Leia's muff. “And this is kittatane fur! Ain't too many of those left in these parts.” She tugged at Leia's braid. “Are you royalty, sister?”

“Yes,” Leia snarled, “but not for this planet. And don't call me sister!”

Her fingers went around her blaster, but the bandit got to it first. “Don't even think about it,” the girl snapped as she pointed Leia's at her chest. “You try it, and you'll have a hole in your belly the size of your fuzzy buddy back there. They won't kill you if I say you're mine, but I ain't got any problems with killin'.”

It took five men and women to subdue Chewbacca, yanking his bowcaster out of his arms and pulling him down like a tauntaun. An elderly woman with coarse black hair nearly as thick as Chewbacca's put her arms around Han as two of her sons pried off his parka and took his blaster. Han tried to protest, but the woman gagged him with a strip of cloth from her pocket and threw him to her sons in the back.

“Let's take 'em back to our camp, Mudder.” The girl stroked Leia in a way that sent fearful shivers down her spine. Her grin was feral and sharp as an icicle. “I'd like to keep this one, and the furry beast will look good with my collection.”

Her mother gave them a nasty, toothless grin. “Suit yourself, Diefta. I claim the man. He's a real looker. Haven't had a good man in three years. Wore out m'last one. I think this one might last a little longer. He's got meat on his bones.”

Diefta shoved Leia into the back of the sleigh. “Let me drive! Ain't never driven one of these fancy vehicles before! I wanna have fun!” She shook the reins, and they all took off like a shot before Leia could protest. Her brothers tied Han and Leia with heavy rope and clamped handcuffs on Chewie.

“Take us home!” her mother called over the thumping and bumping of the repulsors over rocks and roots on the path. “We'll decide what to do with our new prizes there.”

“Home” was an ancient stone castle that looked like it had been abandoned decades ago. There were long cracks in the walls, and the tapestries were frayed and chewed by rodents. The snow was much heavier here than it had been back in Herfa's domain, and far colder and icier. The wind shook the laden branches, sending more snow raining down on them as the sleigh pulled in to the main courtyard.

They were dragged into a large main room, made smoky by the lack of chimneys. The smoke from the cook fire in the great fireplace just went out the open windows. At the very least, the bandits did share their food with them, allowing them small portions of thick tauntaun meat and stringy green brocchio vegetables.

“You're mine now, sister!” Diefa took Leia by her arm as soon as they finished eating. “You're gonna stay with all my pets, and be mine, at least until I get bored with ya.” The princess watched helplessly as the old woman dragged Han in the opposite direction, towards the east side of the castle. Two men shoved Chewie behind the two young women. “You n' the furry beast. I like to keep the things I find.”

Leia shoved her away, glaring at her. “I would thank you not to call me a 'thing.' I am not a thing, and neither is Chewbacca. This is the second time in less than a week that someone has tried to treat me like a toy. You Norwedens need to find better ways to amuse yourself!”

“Look who's so salty!” Diefa's gun pressed into Leia's side. “Keep movin'. If you upset me, I might just blast your head off, and your furry buddy's, too.”

“Have you seen a young blond man?” Leia asked her. “Small, only a little taller than me. Golden hair, blue eyes. Answers to the name of Luke.” Chewie growled and lifted his paw over Leia's head to indicate how tall. “He vanished a week ago. We were told he might be with the Snow Queen.”

Diefa clapped a hand nervously over where she assumed her heart was. “Oh no. We don't got no dealin's with her. We don't like havin' our hearts frozen 'till we can't feel nothin' no more.”

“That's why we have to find him.” The princess bit her lip. “He's never been in snow before, and I'm afraid...I think something terrible has happened to him.” Chewie nodded, tossing in a worried bark.

The thief's savage smile softened a bit. “You're really thinkin' of him, ain't ya? I ain't never had a man who weren't my brothers who I thought of that way. Mudder says I'm too wild, but I just ain't never found the right one. And the guy you were with...is he your brother? Or maybe your lover.”

“Well, he's...I guess he's a good friend.” Leia hoped the robber woman didn't hear the slight wistfulness in her voice. “I mean, he can drive me crazy, but he's also loyal and funny and helpful when he's not thinking about money.”

Diefa snorted. “Only time I ain't thinkin' 'bout credits is when I'm thinkin' bout my collection.”

They were shoved into a large room on the very end of the castle, near the stables. Animals filled every crack and crevice. Gray peace birds nestled in a cage in the eaves. A shaggy tauntaun was tied to the remains of a wall with a gold collar and a rope. The girl thrust her vibrator-knife under the poor creature's chin and laughed when it reared back in fright. “I like to scare this boy a little. Tickle him a bit. It's fun.”

“It's not fun at all!” Leia snapped. “It's abusive! You shouldn't do that to animals!”

She tried to grab at the knife, and Chewie reached for it in anger. Diefa shoved Leia back into Chewie's arms. “I ain't hurtin' him! I just like seein' how he acts. He's a big coward, but he rides good.” The creature let out a shocked honk and reared again, but that just made Diefa laugh harder. “He's mine, an' I can do what I want with 'em.”

Leia ended up sleeping with Diefa that night. It was one of the least-comfortable nights she'd spent since the time she had to share a cramped bunk with three other women when they were stationed at the Crait salt flats. The savage girl robber threw her arm around Leia and hugged her like a rag doll. Her snoring was matched only by Chewie's as he tried to settle on a pallet of straw on the floor. Even when the princess finally managed to drop off, her dreams were all of Luke, trapped in a tower of ice and snow, somewhere far north...

~*~*~*~*~*~

Luke knelt at the feet of a stunningly beautiful woman dressed all in shimmering white. Her long, lithe form, swathed in velvet, white fur, and crystal beads, reclined in an ice throne on a frozen lake in the very center of the castle. Leia was shocked to see that the young Jedi's skin was blue under his padded snow outfit, almost the same color as his icy blue eyes.

“Mother,” he complained in an oddly thin voice, “why can't I figure this out? What is this puzzle you've given me?” Pieces of colored ice were scattered around him on the floor like shards of a rainbow. “Why is it taking so long? None of the other puzzles I've done have taken more than an hour or so! I want to be perfect, like you!”

“Patience, boy.” The Snow Queen patted Luke on the head like he was a puppy or a recalcitrant child. “When you have figured it out, you'll be your own master, and can go wherever you like. Until then, you'll remain here as my dear companion and pet.” She stroked his cold cheek with her velvet-clad fingers. “You do make a lovely pet. It's too bad I can't keep you for very long.”

“Why?” Luke's loud whine was enough to make Leia cover her ears. “I want to stay with you forever! You're beautiful and perfect, not like those idiots back there on that dumb old, breaking-down Falcon. Everything here is perfect!”

His perfect queen sighed. “You're human, my pet. Even with my protection and the will of the Force, you'll never be able to survive a full winter here. Humans weren't made to exist in such frigid conditions.”

“But I don't want to leave!” He shoved the tiles away. “I'll never be able to figure this out, even with that stupid Force! Why did I ever think I could be a knight anyway? What did Obi-Wan know?”

“Obi-Wan Kenobi knows a great deal more than you do.” Frostra smirked at Luke's surprise. “Oh yes, I knew General Kenobi well. He and Anakin Skywalker came here during the Clone Wars to get my mother's support. We've always been neutral. Father gave him artillery and weapons, but did not fully join the Republic army, which is likely why the Empire went fairly easy on us when they came into power.”

Luke made a face as he pulled out his lightsaber. “Stupid war! I lost everyone I had to this damn war! It's dumb, that's what it is! I just want everything to be perfect! Why would I want to be a Jedi, anyway? They all died! Just like Obi-Wan!” His blue face was purple with rage as he threw it against the crystal wall, sending chunks of crystal falling to the snow-covered floor.

His queen went to him and stroked his neck this time, calming his breathing. The young man's eyes drooped, and his face became more peaceful. “Shh, my little pet. I don't understand the Force entirely myself. Our powers come from a different, more mystical source. I do know that it's not something that takes years to train, rather like my own magic.” She lead him to a pile of snow next to her throne. “Why don't you go to sleep? It'll do you some good. You'll awaken refreshed in the morning and ready to tackle the colored tiles again.”

“I don't want to...sleep...” As Frostra continued to stroke Luke's neck, his eyes fluttered. “Well, maybe just for a little while. An hour or two...” He finally dropped off by her side, with her running her fingers through his golden hair and across his icy blue cheek.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Luke!” Leia shot out of bed the second her eyes opened.

Her robber companion pulled the tauntaun-hair pillow over her head. “Could you not scream at this hour of the mornin', girl?”

“I have to get to him.” She was already pulling on her heavy pants and thick shirt. “He's at the palace of the Snow Queen. He'll freeze if we don't save him!”

Diefa continued to hide under her pillow. “You are way too noisy for this early in the morning. You're gonna wake the whole castle.”

“Good. We need to get out of here as soon as we eat breakfast.” The princess clipped her belt and stuck the knife in a kittane-hide sheath, then went to Chewie. “Come on. Let's get Han, then go find the Frozen North. If we keep going up, we should hit it eventually.”

Nasal tones honked from under the tauntaun-hide blankets. “Ask the tauntaun. He's been up there. He knows. Or so he says.”

Leia frowned and stroked the beast's neck, letting him nudge her cheek. “But I don't speak tauntaun, and we left C3P0 with Mon Mothma and the Rebellion.”

“He says he can take you there.” A long, dirty nose and wild, thick black hair could be seen under the covers. “He knows where the Snow Queen lives. He has relatives up there, or something.” Two black eyes squinted at Leia. “You ain't gonna be able to get out of here. Mudder's probably passed out drunk, but I ain't gonna let ya leave, and my brothers sure won't.”

“You won't have much of a choice.” Leia snatched the vibrator-knife out from under the robber's pillow and held it to her throat while she was still emerging from her blankets. “How does it feel now to be the one who gets tickled?”

Diefa stared at the knife until she went cross-eyed. “Don't feel too good.”

“Chewie, tie her up and release the animals.” Leia wrapped the girl's tauntaun-fur cloak around her arms. It was dirty, smelled like unwashed tauntaun, and was too big in the shoulders, but it would keep her warm. “We'll deal with her brothers next.”

“What? Are you crazy? You can't take on the Snow Queen alone! You can't...” Chewie gagged the robber girl with a piece of woven cloth and rolled her in her blankets until she could no longer move and only her head stuck out. He shot the lock to the birds' cage open with his bowcaster and let the creatures fly out the window, while Leia cut the tauntaun free.

Leia dropped the muff next to the struggling girl. “You can keep this. I don't need it. Just stick to collecting objects from now on. Live creatures weren't made for your amusement.”

“Sweetheart! Chewie!” Han met them in the hall. Like Leia, he was clad in a dirty tauntaun-skin jacket and heavy fur boots. A fur hat that was nearly bigger than his head covered his scruffy hair. “I got lucky. That old crone and her sons had so much ale last night, they passed out and are still snoring back there. I think it would take another Death Star attack to wake 'em up, and even then, they might not move for a few hours.”

“We dealt with Diefa. She's unharmed, but I don't think she'll be capturing animals or humans again.” Leia stroked the tauntaun's nose. “This gentleman is going to take us to the Frozen North. Diefa said he's from there and knows the way.”

Han raised an eyebrow, but finally shrugged. “Ain't any stranger than anything else we've gone through on this trip. I managed to snare some dried beef and fruit and a jug of water from their stores. If we've got everything, let's see if we can get the repulsor-sleigh outta here, before that bitch of a thief manages to get free and wakes up her family.”

They heard the first crash and screams of anger and surprise just as Han finished hitching the tauntaun up to the sleigh. Leia cracked the reins only moments before the first laser beams hit the ground where the sleigh had been. Han and Chewie exchanged a few blasts before the sleigh managed to turn a corner into the woods and out of sight.