Chapter Text
Things turned out to be more exciting than expected.
However quietly Adora was walking alongside her companion: From the corner of her eyes, she did appreciate how much effort the villagers had put into their handmade goods. Some of those were real pieces of art, including replicas of magical creatures that Adora, despite her extensive education, had never even heard of. In between, garments and blankets made of such warm material that one could surely endure even on this drafty plateau quite comfortably, or hopelessly overpriced fruit, proofs of the harsh farming conditions at this altitude …
For the latter, Adora had been brought up too thriftily to indulge in, though those tree berries looked very tasty. She was uncomfortable enough with Glimmer and Angella having talked her into accepting her first weekly pay, in spite of her having done hardly anything to earn it so far – at least as Adora, that was, meaning in the eyes of almost all the rebels. No reason to throw these gold coins right out the window, no matter how pretty especially this one wafer-thin necklace made of rock crystal was, too.
She much rather turned to watch the artists spicing up the event in the narrow alleys between the tightly packed stalls made of weather-resistant wood. Amid burly miners and grim-faced women in headscarves, people like a half-naked young man juggling crystal balls using only his arm muscles, immediately stood out. Or that one girl, barely ten years old, painting detailed pictures on a snow-white canvas using just a handful of the finest gravel ...
These were things, Adora had so far only ever encountered in the few novels Shakra had forced on her in the past, devoured only secretly under her bedsheets as it was, especially during the time she had lived with other cadets in a dorm. Catra and company would have beaten her to pulp for the rest of her career if they’d ever found such trash on Adora’s notepad. That was behind her now, sure. Free time was part of life, too, if she didn’t want to be the machine Hordak was trying to turn all his people into. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she should badly have used this first, crucial period right after the retaking of Bright Moon to build on that success, to forge any kind of plan that would advance the Rebellion in this war …
A soft, croaking cry from one of those animals she fortunately not only knew in theory, interrupted these discontented thoughts. Blinking away her momentary tunnel vision, Adora spotted several men and women with huge falcons on their arms behind a fenced-off area, slightly shielded from the hustle by thick tarps. For the first time today, she smiled.
Majestic, highly intelligent creatures that surely regarded humans more as providers of food and playmates than as their keepers – Adora had always appreciated these birds’ emancipated minds. Now even more so, because they would never have lifted a wing for the Horde, which was why Hordak couldn’t stand them either.
Adora would have loved to watch them perform the tricks the group had obviously rehearsed for the fair visitors, but Frosta just kept walking, so she followed. In the end, that, too, was only a distraction; besides, the fork up ahead led back to the exit. So despite their snail’s pace, they had finally covered the whole area, which meant, Adora had hopefully fulfilled her duties regarding fun for the day.
“Well, that was nice. So, can we now go see the mayor?”
“What do you want with him?” Frosta didn’t seem very enthusiastic. She preferred to nibble on an indefinable white mass on a long wooden stick that looked as if it had about the much nutritional value of bleached cotton. Probably tasted like it, too.
“Talk, of course.” Adora inevitably raised her chin a little higher. Frosta had gotten her tour; now she should kindly let Adora do something meaningful. “Queen Angella and I agree that we always have to talk to the people about the Horde when we come to a new place. Inform them about the Rebellion, about what we’re planning …”
“And what makes you think a civilization on the edge of the Whispering Woods has never heard any of that?” Frosta loudly flung the empty chopstick into the nearest trash can.
Adora already had her mouth open when she realized she had no idea what to answer. Instead, she pointedly looked around the square, where just about everything was on offer – except weapons.
Not to mention the wooden city gate, which she could probably have brought crashing down with a single punch without even changing … Children running happily at their parents’ feet, laughing, riding goats instead of armored ponies and pushing strollers in front of them instead of building their first blaster … Envy was an ugly emotion, and Adora immediately called herself to order over it, but that did nothing to change her not-entirely-friendly assessment: These people were certainly hardened by their lives on the edge of a mountain tunnel, but not because Hordak would ever have knocked on their door.
“Well, a planetary invasion doesn’t seem to be enough to faze them.”
“No? Why do you think these people live up here?”
Frosta softened her annoyed tone only when she saw the realization spreading across Adora’s features. And the recurring twinge of guilt. “Not everyone wants to go to war.”
“But everyone wants freedom,” Adora blurted out, her composure finally at an end. She didn’t even care that some merchants and villagers were staring at her curiously when she actually raised her voice for the first time today. “People need to understand that you have to work for it.”
“That’s what I think.” Frosta gently took her by the elbow and led her away from the busy pathways, to the edge of the settlement, where the installed mountain niches sloped steeply, unprotected, down into the open ravine.
“And many in my Kingdom also do.” She absentmindedly rubbed her fingertips together, causing a few tiny ice crystals to scatter through the air, glittering and brightening the dreary gray landscape. “But not everyone. Not even the majority of the population, so far. And I won’t make decisions over their heads. That’s how the Horde operates, not a democracy. So for now, we’re going to war just as little as these people here. But many of my fighters, just like me, are always there for the rebels when they need us. And the more victories like in Bright Moon we achieve together, the more people will join us. But none of that happens overnight. Even if we wish it would.”
For the first time, Frosta let a glimmer of compassion shine through a few cracks in that wall of distance. Just a little, not that wave of pity with which Glimmer, Angella, and Madam had loved to overwhelm Adora so much in the last few days. And perhaps that was why it was so much more effective.
The warmth in that voice, which had sounded so shrill just moments ago, and the brief caress of a cool but very soft thumb across the back of Adora’s hand helped her instantly blink away the emotional turmoil of her returning homesickness, and instead give Frosta’s words a real thought.
What came with the latter was more than anything, disillusionment. No matter how hard Adora tried: The world wouldn’t move at her pace right away. She’d have to come to terms with that, for better or worse.
And perhaps make use of breaks she was forced to take, because you just couldn’t build a Rebellion in a week. For whatever activity. “Okay, so no recruiting today. But then what are we doing here?”
“I already told you. We’ve come to see Etheria … Oh.”
When a male voice nearby suddenly called out Frosta’s name cheerfully, a flush of color spread across her pale cheeks. “And to visit old friends.”
“Fraps.” That bright giggle when she turned around, Adora heard from the Empress for the first time that day. Despite Frosta’s embarrassment though, there was no dreamy glow of affection in her eyes. Her smile expressed genuine joy and deep affection, nevertheless. The way she threw her arms around the sturdy brunet running toward her spoke of hundreds of shared memories.
“I can’t believe you actually accepted an invitation to the fair for once. And then they say miracles have died.” The very tall guy kept Frosta at arm’s length and eyed her so unabashedly from head to toe that Adora inevitably continued to spin her already discarded silent theory of a romance. “Beautiful as the first unbroken blanket of winter snow at our gates, as always.”
“Flattery is not getting you anywhere.” Frosta gave the guy a playful little slap on the chest and waved Adora close.
“I hate to disappoint you, but we just happened to be in the area. This is Adora; she’s part of the Rebellion, too.” A surprisingly likable introduction without any unnecessary mention of her title. Slowly but surely, Frosta was starting to grow on Adora after all.
“So? What is it that you’ve built this year?” Frosta asked eagerly after Fraps had greeted Adora with a gallant kiss on the hand, ignoring her wrinkled nose.
“Come see for yourself. I’m not one to brag, but this year, I think it’s turned out quite nicely.” The man led them even closer toward the edge of the cliff. Into the latter, he’d driven massive iron rods. Hanging from that framework, at a safe distance from the rock, was a freestanding swing with two seats.
“Well, what do you think, you guys?” Fraps winked invitingly. “So far, only two people had the guts.”
“Funny, I wonder why.”
Adora had to laugh, but to her surprise, she realized she was in the mood for this nonsense. She’d been an adrenaline junkie long before she’d seen Etheria from above for the first time on Swift Wind’s back. And she had been ordered to enjoy herself, hadn’t she? That could be arranged. “Alright.”
Frosta, on the other hand, eyed the ride over the hundreds-of-yards-deep abyss with slightly raised eyebrows and uncertainly parted lips, her shoulders pulled up defensively.
“What’s the matter, Serpentine Queen?” Adora couldn’t resist saying. “Chickening out?”
“I’m just not suicidal,” Frosta growled, crossing her arms in offence. “My horse, I can trust, unlike a few rusty metal bolts.”
“I thought you wanted to see more of Etheria. Come on.” Adora had a good eye for technical structures; that had been part of her training. This one was welded flawlessly, as long as you didn’t weigh 800 pounds or pull on it with She-Ra’s strength. Maybe this was exactly what she needed right now. A little breeze on her face, without any pressure to rush into the next battle.
“You and Fraps would make a great team. You’re both a pain in the ass.”
Still grumbling, Frosta followed Adora and sat down on the hard plastic seat next to hers so that Adora could pull the safety bar down over their heads and latch it in place.
The fact that Fraps hadn’t taken his eyes off her during any of Frosta’s graceful steps up the metal staircase did, of course, not escape a keen observer like Adora. When Fraps ran off to wind up the swing’s crank, she couldn’t resist making a correspondingly annoyed remark, her thoughts promptly drifting to a slowly awakening morning on her true home planet, a horseback ride with her twin brother and his long-time secret love. A sad smile curled on her lips when she imagined what Teela would have told this guy here about manners.
“Well, I sure hope he’s staring at my butt,” Frosta snorted, to her surprise. “After all, we sleep together every few months.”
“Oh.” So much for being single. Not for the first time today, Adora was hit over the head with prejudices she hadn’t even known she held, with more force than this ride could muster.
She tried to go for a genuinely curious tone to make up for her faux pas, swinging her legs remorsefully. “The contender for the imperial throne of Snows?”
“No.” Frosta’s hands clenched around the thin iron bar above their thighs, her voice suddenly rising a notch. “One of the handful of men and women who get me back on the right track when I feel the urge to ride to the Fright Zone and freeze it forever.”
Adora was speechless, albeit not because of the rather unusual revelation. Just how incredibly wrong had she judged this woman, based on a few sharp remarks and an energetic presence that was, after all, exactly what was needed to snap her out of her own stubbornness? “I see.”
Frosta, too, seemed thrown off balance. There was that flustered blush on her cheeks again. When a jolt ran through the swing, causing it to break free from its secure mooring and be slowly pulled backward, she inevitably scooted a bit closer to Adora. Her skin was even colder than before. “No lectures on etiquette and the exemplary behavior of a noblewoman, Your Highness?”
Adora didn’t get a chance to answer because Fraps let out a boisterous yelp. “Hold on tight, ladies! Your journey on the Death Swing starts now!”
Adora’s stomach dropped hard when the contraption detached from the winch and raced across the plateau at breakneck speed, so far out that Frosta’s and Adora’s dangling legs briefly hovered above their upper bodies before the swing swung back just a little slower.
A gleeful squeal escaped her lips. She quickly wrapped her hand around Frosta’s when she saw the other woman clinging ever tighter to the bar. “We’re fine!” she shouted over the whistling of the wind. “Look! The Woods!”
From up here, they had a wonderful view of the purple and turquoise of the Whispering Woods in the distance and their constant, faint magical shimmer, which now had Frosta smile as well. Even in a moment of weightlessness, one couldn’t ignore that in the same direction, the pointed towers of the Fright Zone also raised into the sky, and that one could make out Hunga’s realm in those eternal shadows from the corner of their eyes as well. But for at least a minute of freedom, one could pretend that it didn’t count.
Both a little unsteady on their feet, they stumbled back down the steps shortly afterward, and Frosta thrust the fare for both of them into Fraps’ hand without asking, along with a generous tip, even though she had turned a little paler around her delicate nose.
“You’re right, this time you really outdid yourself.” After glancing quickly in all directions to make sure no one was watching, she left a quick kiss on her friend’s lips, which broke into a blissful grin, and playfully ruffled his long, somewhat tousled hair, which his hood could barely contain. “Thank you. Come by again once this whole circus is over, okay? Starting tomorrow, I’ll be home for a few weeks.”
“I’d love to, Empress.” The young man pulled her close for another warm hug and this time politely shook Adora’s hand.
Then he turned his attention back to the other fairgoers to attract more customers. Hopefully, a few more of them, now that Frosta and Adora had set a good example.
Frosta still seemed unsettled. When they strolled back toward the stalls, she kept watching Adora cautiously from under her thick bangs, obviously waiting for a scolding that Adora wouldn’t even have given her even if she’d wanted to, and not only because it wasn’t her place.
“Haven’t we already established that we don’t let anyone dictate how we should behave as nobles?” she asked indulgently. “As long as everyone involved is one the same page and no one has false expectations, I’ve never been one to make a scandal out of something that’s completely normal.”
Frosta stopped so suddenly that they nearly stumbled – when had they linked arms again anyway? “I thought … the Horde wouldn’t exactly be liberal about something like that,” she admitted after hesitating for a few seconds.
Adora’s posture stiffened inevitably, as it always did when her past was brought up, even when it was done in such an apologetic tone. But she didn’t change subject; she rarely did. This was what she had been, even though it hadn’t been her fault. She couldn’t undo that.
But she approached a few boulders lying nearby so that she would no longer have to support Frosta’s still somewhat unsteady steps. Going on that journey into that past, the one that had stolen half a life from her true family and her, she always needed that distance of not having to look at anyone, and above all, not being touched.
“Liberal would be an exaggeration. More like sober. As a Horde soldier or worker, you’re not supposed to let personal ties distract you from your job, but there’s no law of celibacy. After all, Horde Prime does want his loyal subjects to reproduce. Besides, the troop leaders don’t want to risk female soldiers possibly being sidelined because of stupidity, or because they have no idea what’s actually going on and why some classmates are after them. That’s why sex education in Horde schools is comprehensive and biologically accurate, especially compared to other subjects. You’re taught all of this in theory before you’re even sexually mature.“
in theory
mostly
the fracture at your shin bone top has healed rather poorly
“I’m only just realizing how little I know about how things really are in the Horde.” Frosta crossed her arms thoughtfully over her knees, calm having returned to her body after the little adventure. “My people have probably indeed been hiding for far too long. To be honest, I didn’t think those bastards taught kids anything.”
Adora just smiled wearily; that misconception, she wasn’t hearing for the first time. “People mainly think so because they’re often confronted with Hordak’s strongest mutants. Most of them come from Hordak’s lab and have been partially or even completely dumbed down by the experiments he’s used to grant them their powers. But there are plenty of human soldiers in the Horde’s ranks, just as I once was, and one should never make the mistake of underestimating their intelligence.”
Instantly, she saw people like Sunder in her head, people Adora fully intended to set on the right path in the near future, if possible. That she had ditched not only violence and lies but also old friends, even harmless romances, when she’d left the Horde was one of the few things she regretted about her dramatic resignation. No, you couldn’t just blow up the Fright Zone or ice it. And not just because Horde Prime would have responded to that with even more occupation troops and, above all, a kind of vengeance that not even She-Ra would have been able to counter.
She had to proceed slowly, no matter how much she hated it. And if she wanted to open the eyes of as many Etherians as possible who were working against their own people, she also had to raise understanding among the rebels and their allies that not all Horde people were heartless, power-hungry monsters.
“The Horde wants to conquer as many worlds as possible and bask in that, not destroy their own empire. A functioning planet requires a strong population, and that doesn’t work without offspring. Offspring comes from procreation, it’s that simple. It simply wouldn’t make any sense to raise Horde children ultra-conservatively ... Did I say something weird?”
“Not exactly.” Frosta once again placed her fingers on her chin in that fascinated gesture, shaking her head jerkily as if she still didn’t quite know how to categorize Adora. Well, that feeling was mutual. “I just find it fascinating that you can share the same view and still arrive at the right solution through such flawed lines of reasoning. That’s not your fault; that’s Horde philosophy.”
Adora tried not to snap again, though she felt misunderstood once more, but instead put herself in Frosta’s shoes. “What does sex mean to you?”
“As you said: We exist because of sex.” The suddenly incredibly warm smile made Adora forget any misunderstandings from earlier. Even Frosta’s skin suddenly didn’t feel so cold anymore when she took Adora’s hand, just briefly, respecting her need for distance. “It’s not something to be afraid of. It’s something to honor. To enjoy.”
“I think I like that explanation far more.”
Adora was hardly surprised that her hand was already back on a certain ring she still wore on a chain around her neck, so as not to reveal it to everyone. Today, worn under a thinner blouse than usual, the piece of jewelry wasn’t nearly as hidden as usual. A ring she didn’t even remember when she’d received it. Only, from whom. That, she knew exactly.
For the first time in days, her heart didn’t ache with longing for her family, but because of the man she couldn’t even consciously remember … only from her dreams.
She should remember Frosta’s words next time she felt the urge to completely overwork herself. As much as she had to throw herself into this job, for her family’s sake: She couldn’t let that make her forget everything else that was important to her.
Sea Hawk didn’t deserve her to keep pushing him and their shared history further and further into the background. And not just because he, too, was a soldier on the wrong side who needed help.
Frosta was tactful enough not to comment on Adora’s distracted gesture. “Come on. You surely haven’t eaten anything all day. Time for snacks.”
By “snacks,” Adora hadn’t exactly imagined Frosta signing them both up for a competition without asking, where they had to chug down sausages that were spiced up more and more with each round. Undoubtedly revenge for the swing incident.
“What’s the point?” she tried to protest when they were already sitting at the table with the other participants – all of them male –, waiting for their plates. “Food is supposed to provide nutrients and to enjoy it in company, not torture.”
“Chickening out?” Somehow, after that unsettling conversation, it was almost reassuring that Frosta could still be a bitch.
A damn tough bitch, though, slight fear of heights or not. Without batting an eye, she devoured one thick sausage after another, while the burly, grunting, and whining guys around them gradually gave up.
Eventually, Adora, too, reached for a jug of calf’s milk kindly provided by the innkeeper, panting, and pushed her still half-full plate away with a pained expression. “You really do enjoy suffering, don’t you?”
“If the reward is right …” Frosta continued to nibble impassively at her own portion … on which a very thin layer of ice had formed, as Adora suddenly noticed upon closer inspection. Well, well. Mystery solved.
“And our winner of the Spiciest Duel of the Year in Rocky Hide this time: Empress Frosta of the Kingdom of Snows!” the potbellied innkeeper exclaimed enthusiastically. “A round of applause for our enchanting guest, please!”
He took Frosta by the wrist and pulled her hand, clenched into a victory fist, up, unconcerned that his breath immediately formed a cool cloud in front of his mouth.
“You know that’s called cheating, right?” Adora whispered to Frosta with a grin after the innkeeper had hung a small necklace made of rough mountain pebbles around the Empress’s neck as a medal.
“Did you get the impression so far that I fight fair?” Her new acquaintance leisurely wiped the last traces of sauce from her lips with a napkin.
“Exactly.” When Adora just rolled her eyes – a rather theatrical gesture this time –, she playfully nudged her in the side. “And now off to the falcon show, before you miss the third round, too.”
“How did you know …?”
“You’re not as subtle as you think, Eternia.” Frosta practically shoved her toward the airfield by the shoulder so she wouldn’t even get the idea to protest. “Now, could you please stop acting like none of this is good enough for you, Your Highness?”
“What? I wasn’t …” Adora clenched her teeth. To a casual observer, it might have seemed that way, and that should serve as a lesson to her. The last thing she wanted was to feel like an outsider, to give the people the impression that she didn’t see herself as their equal. “That wasn’t my intention.”
“Then do something about it. Or would you rather leave? Go back to work? Or will you take five minutes to relax and enjoy what a simple life on the mountain has to offer?”
Frosta let go of her demonstratively and nodded contentedly when Adora continued toward the animals and their trainer in the distance on her own. “Better. For stars’ sake, speak up when you want something, not just when you don’t like something. There won’t always be someone around you who had to learn early in life to pay attention to even the smallest signals from their surroundings, because cold and ice dampen all activity in their environment and people prefer to keep a fifteen-foot distance from you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” And Adora, too, was someone who didn’t miss the quiet notes. Even more, she now made an effort to stay close to Frosta and simply ignore the constant slight chill on her skin.
That was easier at once when they were finally able to watch over the fence in amazement the reddish-brown and black animals, some with a wingspan of more than three feet.
There were birds that untied knots with the help of small wooden sticks. Others solved simple math problems by choosing the correct solution from three possible options to get the treat in the corresponding box. The next ones, upon verbal command, retrieved glowing sticks in the desired neon color from a rocky ledge on the other side of the valley.
“They’re perfect.”
After the show, Adora was only too happy to accept the trainers’ invitation to the audience to take a closer look at the animals. Hesitantly, she stroked the bird on her arm over the head, looking deep into its sharp eyes. That the animal seemed to be staring right at the inconspicuous glistening beneath her blouse brought the sadness back into her soul, along with the memory of what she had promised herself earlier. But that wasn’t really what had been on her mind since the twin flight of the smallest, fastest animals over the valley.
“How is their sense of direction?” she asked the older red-haired woman who owned the animal. “Do they always find their way home, even from a great distance?”
“Even from the other end of the planet,” the lady smiled. “By the way, he likes you, Miss Adora.” She watched, touched, as the animal rubbed its beak against Adora’s shoulder. “Would you like one? We can include you in the next breeding.”
“I’ll think about it.” Adora gently returned the animal to her and bid farewell to the group with a small bow, with a heavy heart, but without hesitation, fun or no fun.
The sun was starting to set. Hunga might not pay any attention to this village, but at night, a rebel shouldn’t linger carelessly in this area.
Frosta didn’t object, just watched her from the side through narrow eyes. “You have an idea.”
“Yes, but I have to talk to Glimmer about it first. We’ll come back here, I think.”
Adora cast one last long glance back at the people who were gradually beginning to take down their stalls.
They, too, undoubtedly knew the dangers of darkness all too well; after all, they had been hiding from it unnoticed for many years.
“They don’t have to fight if they don’t want to, don’t worry. But maybe they can help the Rebellion another way.”
Frosta let out a deep sigh. “Why did I know you’d say something like that? Alright. I could talk to Fraps. If I explain everything to him, he’ll do his best to get his fellow citizens to agree. But only if you do something for me in return.”
“Why did I know you’d say something like that?” Adora repeated her exaggeratedly nagging tone. “Go on.”
Admittedly, her thoughts were now on the way home after all, and on the proposal she wanted to present to Glimmer and Angella, preferably as early as today. She hurriedly paid the very young stable boy for taking such good care of the horses and, after a distracted pat on Spirit’s neck, swung herself onto his back.
Frosta didn’t follow her example. She stood motionless next to Spirit, holding her mare by the reins, ever until Adora was forced to dismount again because she hated talking down to people from above.
Then she placed both hands firmly on Adora’s shoulders and this time, didn’t let her back away. “Allow yourself to be human, Adora Randor. Not a Princess, not a leader, but a human. Sleep enough so that you don’t have to recover first before you can speak to village leaders on behalf of the rebels. Eat enough so you don’t collapse at the feet of the first Horde soldier you see. When you go on a ride in the morning, do so instead of trying to do the job of tree guards you only trained two days ago. Don’t look at me like that. Do you think Bow and Glimmer are blind just because they don’t always say something? Don’t give them so much to worry about, okay? These people really like you, and I’m slowly starting to understand why,” she added cheekily.
When she saw Adora’s frantic blinking, she leaned in for a quick kiss on her forehead. “Oh, and most importantly: Go visit the one who gave you that bling you’ve been clutching the whole time as if your life depends on it.”
“I … He … still works for the Horde.” Adora was amazed herself that she was telling this to Frosta of all people, when Glimmer and Bow had so far tried in vain to get anything out of her about the ring.
She’d been afraid that the two of them wouldn’t understand, that they’d be afraid she was being drawn back to her former tormentors. For some reason, Frosta didn’t give her that feeling.
“I’m not so sure he even wants to see me.” And that was true, too, even though she’d used her work as an excuse these past few days. A small part of her was afraid that this castle on a flying ship which Sea Hawk and she had once built in a vague vision during their youth, would crumble once they saw each other in real life. That Sea Hawk, unlike her, wouldn’t understand, that he just couldn’t.
“Then find out. You’re not usually a coward, are you?” Frosta remarked with a meaningful glance toward a certain rocky ledge in the distance. “Your personal life is just as important as your calling as a warrior, Adora. You can’t be of any help to anyone if there’s nothing left of your heart in a few months.”
“Thank you.” Now she just had to throw her arms around the young woman’s neck, even though that was so much unlike her. And she was very grateful that her tears froze in the corners of her eyes before they could fall. Not here. “I’m sorry I misjudged you so badly.”
Frosta shook her head jerkily. “It’s okay. Do you know why? You treated me more like a normal person than most others I’ve ever met.”
One last firm hug before they finally mounted their horses.
It was to be the beginning of a very long friendship.