House of Winter

Chapter 38, Part 2

Sanna's mother had remained an enigma for her life. She had been a woman with fire, a dream to clasp onto when she shivered through the coldest nights of the winters after the Fire War. She had been a fairytale as she grew older and imagined a beautiful woman who would whisk her away from the harsh realities of the Norrlish famines and into a warm home with a crackling fire and food on the table.

And when Sanna had indeed found that fairytale shelter, inside a palace no less, the dream of her mother faded slowly and was replaced by the very real presence of Queen Lisbet.

Queen Lisbet never treated Sanna like her own daughter, and for years she had resented the queen for that. She wanted to be treated like Katja's trueborn sister. She wanted everything that Katja had had all her life. Most of all, she wanted the adoration the queen showered on her princess.

Sanna had watched in desperate jealousy to see the queen cuddle her daughter on the sofa in front of the fire, and read her stories from beautifully illustrated books, and tell her tales of heroism of her father. Sanna had hated Katja for no reason other than she had everything that Sanna craved: a mother who loved her.

And now here was her real mother, who had held out her hand to her and offered her a new world, where she would be married to a prince and become a queen in her own right. A queen of Norrlund and the Fire Lands and more.

But what Virani offered Sanna was not a gift. She would only be queen if she submitted to the rule of her mother and father, who would dictate her life in ways they never had before. They wanted their child on a throne not for the love of their child, but for the power it gave them.

Sanna would not be a pawn of her mother's game.

And as she declared this to her mother, she watched how her mother discarded of her in her eyes.

One moment Virani was beckoning to her with love, and the next her dark eyes betrayed everything that Sanna knew was true. She was discarded by her mother once again, as soon as she would not abide by her mother's wishes.

"You're a foolish girl," Virani said. "Your have been sheltered and coddled and raised to worship a vapid and insufferable ruler."

Sanna glanced back at Queen Lisbet. The woman had never treated her as a daughter, but she had treated her well. She had taken her in, when another woman might never have allowed the daughter of her new husband in her house. She had given her the same education and most of the same privileges as her own daughter. She had given her a wolf. She had given her a place.

Sanna held her ground. Queen Lisbet was more of a mother to her than General Virani had ever been.

"Where's Lumiko?" Virani said suddenly, looking around.

Sanna glanced back. She expected to see Lumi at Tom's side, where she always was. But the girl was gone, and the room seemed to be colder for it.

Sanna had thought that Virani couldn't hurt her more, but seeing the panic on her face, she realised she could. Even now, Virani cared more for Lumi than she ever had for Sanna. Sanna was a piece to be played, but Lumi was the one she relied upon.

"Osvald, handle this," Virani instructed Sanna's father. "I need to find the fire twins before it's too late."

... to be continued

elle xx