Hearts Under Ice - CS Patra Page 0,95

to make the world stronger, and we can do that without having anyone lead it unilaterally. It’s especially worse when the person in charge is not as benevolent as she appears. That’s the truth with the Queen. She has told everyone that we firebombed that factory because we wanted to kill everyone. But really, we just wanted to send a message out there. We had nothing to do with the bombs. We were supposed to meet her that day at that factory, and that’s when the bombs went off. She planted them, not us. She did it to frame us and get everyone on her side.”

“So you didn’t kidnap Donnie in the first place?”“We’ve never even seen him. In fact, I didn’t know about him until word got around. I had no idea what happened, but I knew that the Queen had to be behind it. Once again, she is trying to mar our name and make us out to be the bad guys. That’s why we are after him—we were trying to get him out. Unfortunately, we have no idea which castle she’s put him in. Each one is built to last, with the same patterns on the side. Then your name was mentioned, and I heard you were in our world. We made it our goal to find you. You are the one with the power to change things.”

“I still don’t know why people think I have some special power,” Olivia said. “No one’s ever told me about this. If I could choose to have a power, I’m sure I would pick something better. Even still, I would use whatever power I had to keep the peace.”

“That’s what we want to do—keep the peace. I can’t explain how exactly, but your abilities would be useful for us. You could help us fix all of the worlds out there. Ours is not the only one in trouble. Others are in far worse shape,” he explained. “I know you’ve heard all kinds of things about us, but only half of them are true. The real source of evil is the Queen, and whoever she is working for.”

“She’s the real villain, and she’s working for someone else? Everyone seems to like her in this world. I’ve heard nothing but how good she is and how she’s been trying to protect the world. As far as I’ve learned, she’s been the best ruler you’ve had.”

There were so many different stories in her mind now, and Olivia was starting to have trouble keeping track of them all. The more Olivia heard, the more she had trouble believing anything. Maybe this entire world was all in her head now. She could have been making it up as she went along, and this was all just another dream. She probably fell down again and was still dreaming. That was the only explanation that made sense.

A blast of cold air hit her in the face, and she realized that it was all very much real. The weather was real. Her pain was real. Donnie was real. Everyone she spoke to existed, and they were caught in some war that she could not even begin to understand.

“Everyone told me that the Queen was trustworthy,” Olivia went on. “They told me that she kept this place safe.”

“They are lying to you. You see, she’s got people all over the place who are keeping track of every villager’s move. If one person dares to take a step in the wrong direction, she’ll make sure to have them eliminated. We try to stay under the radar as much as we can. They have deemed us to be terrorists, but we’re the ones who’ll win in the end. We are far more powerful now that we have you on our side.”

“Um,” Olivia bit her lip. “I’m not even sure what side I’m on. I’m hearing so many different things. All I really want is to be with my boy—Donnie.” She put her hand to her mouth. “I mean, all I want is to save Donnie. Yeah, that’s what I meant.”

“I’m sure,” Mina said with a sly grin. “Look, you don’t have to tell us anything about your relationship. We know that he’s the reason you’re in this world in the first place. Whether you like it or not, you are stuck with us. You are stuck in a world at war.”

“At war?” Olivia repeated. As far as she could see, nothing in this world seemed to indicate that it was in