"You don't know what's on the other side. The Land of Spirit and Magic was destroyed. That's why this barrier is here. There's nothing there for you to see," Nuss argued. "I can't let you."
"Why don't you see for yourself, Nutcracker." Konig jumped behind both of us and shoved us into the glowing gash.
I spun and grabbed both Nuss's hand and Konig's shirt, dragging him with us at the last moment before we fell through the broken barrier.
My mind exploded with images of armies marching through the snow, animals being whipped while pulling machines of war behind them, Fae men and women murdering each other, and Viking axes smashing buildings, bodies, and everything else in their path.
The most ruthless of all were the magicians. They used their magic to tear people asunder, to make anyone who opposed them fall to their knees in pure agony until their heads exploded and feasted on the bodies of the animals that lain slain in the fields.
All but the Vivandiere — the Queen of Spirit and Magic, of the Steel Tree court. She was no longer the young woman who'd hidden the broken crowns around the realm on her adventures. She was a mother, a queen, and a magician. Instead of fighting in senseless fighting she'd tried to prevent, she took her children and disappeared, lost to the war.
I fell on my hands and knees into a pile of rubble. The broken pebbles scraped my hands, and only the thick blankets wrapped around me, saved my knees. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't hear with all the high-pitched buzzing in my ears.
I turned my face to the side and vomited into a burned skeleton of a long dead plant in a broken pot. When I looked away to wipe my mouth, I saw the ruins of a once great castle. It was the only thing left standing in a barren wasteland.
There was no snow, but it was bitter cold, and the wind blew relentlessly. This... this is what was left of my home. Nothing but horrific memories and the relics of hubris.
Konig and Nuss tumbled through the gash a breath later and behind them, the rip in the barrier closed. Where it had been was now only more destruction as far as I could see. The two of them quickly rolled to their feet and Nuss punched Konig in the face.
It didn't take long before they were shouting slurs at each other and doing their best to beat the other into a bloody mess. I couldn't stand it.
I stood and held out my hands, drawing on the latent magic energy still in the ground, air, and ashes here. My voice boomed and echoed, "Stop."
They both froze and looked over at me as if I'd grown three heads. "No more fighting. No. More."
I turned my back on them and stumbled away, toward the only shelter from the biting wind. Small chunks of the castle remained, and someone had put a blanket across a tattered archway to serve as a door and windbreak.
"Clara, wait." Nuss ran after me, but I didn't stop for him.
I shoved my way into the stone room and found carpets, a bed, a fireplace stacked with wood, and provisions on a shelf. I hobbled toward the shelf and grabbed up a jug filled with pungent liquid. I didn't care what it was. I needed to rinse out my mouth and get my bearings.
Nuss and came flying into the room, Konig on top of him, wrestling him to the wall. What I hadn't noticed were the steel shackles bolted into the wall.
"I said no more fighting." I could hardly get the words out. Everything had drained out of me, even though I'd absorbed energy from this place. That wasn't exactly right. It was more like tired after eating and drinking too much. I was both full of that latent energy and exhausted from it.
Konig shoved Nuss up against the wall and clasped his good hand into one of the manacles. Nuss wasn't even fighting back. Konig then grabbed his broken arm, tearing the sling away, and closing the other on his bad wrist. Nuss cried out but gritted his teeth. I didn't even have the wherewithal to go to him.
I would do what I could to heal him as soon as I rested a little.
"My apologies, my lady." Konig gave me a little bow. "We weren't fighting. I was simply apprehending this enemy of the realm."
I lifted the jug to my lips and took a long gulp of potent wine. I'd meant to take a small sip, but I was suddenly so thirsty. Konig came over and gently lowered the jug, carefully taking it from me. "I'll not have you drowning your sorrows and getting drunk on me."
I knew I shouldn't, but I leaned into him and laid my head on his shoulder. Even if his was the only arms available to me, I needed this small comfort. Everything was wrong, it was all broken. This wasn't how the stories Drosselmeyer told to me and Fritz ended.
Konig stiffened at first, but then he wrapped his arms around me. "I'm afraid this is only the beginning of the harsh lessons I have for you, princess."
"Don't you touch her, you bastard. We could be out there saving the realm from your greedy mother if you hadn't betrayed us. Let us go so we can get back to the duty you gave up on." Nuss hadn't ever sounded so enraged before. He was the calm, cool, and collected captain of the Nutcracker Guard. My hero, my protector.
Now when he needed me to save him, I couldn't. I didn't have anything left in me. I peered out at him and saw so much pain written in lines around his mouth and eyes. I mouthed the words I didn't have the energy to say to him. "I'm sorry."
"You're the one who gave up on me." Konig's words were controlled and measured. Though he addressed Nuss, he looked at me, lifting my chin so I had to meet his eyes. "I never stopped fighting for what was right, but you did, Captain."
"You turned on us and allied yourself with the fucking Mouse Queen." Nuss yanked against his chains. "The same woman who destroyed everything around us. I didn't give up on you. You forgot who and what you are."
"Never." He whispered that last word and then lifted me into his arms. In just a few long strides, he crossed to the bed and laid me down. I know exactly who I am. Consort to the Queen of Spirit and Magic."
He took my hand and kissed it. "Long live the Queen."
