Frozen Lands - Throne Room

  Yuno sat back on her throne… and the room finally went still.

  The doors were already shut.

  The guards were gone.

  Even the air felt quieter, like the palace itself was listening.

  “Forgive me… but I needed to be sure we were alone.”

  Isaac didn’t sit. He stayed where he was, shoulders squared, eyes tired.

  “Okay… what do you want?”

  For a second her fingers tightened on the armrest—just a small slip—then she let go, forcing control back into her hands. The frost on the throne creaked under her grip.

  “Very few know what I’m about to tell you, Isaac…” Her voice came out steady, but thin at the edges. “I had a son.”

  Isaac and Yu froze.

  “A son…? You?”

  “Yes.”

  She swallowed. Her eyes didn’t look weak… just old. Like she’d lived too many winters without warmth.

  “His name was Tatsuo. I loved him… until I lost him.”

  Isaac’s jaw moved like he wanted to say something and couldn’t.

  “Lost him how?”

  Her gaze drifted past Isaac, past Yu… like she was seeing a road that no longer existed.

  “He traveled to the giants’ forge in Ironkeep… a routine trip. He never returned.”

  Yu’s expression sharpened. Isaac stayed silent, waiting.

  “Days passed… then weeks. We searched the routes. We sent scouts through the snow.” Her fingers tapped once on the throne, then stopped. “We bribed smugglers, threatened bandits, prayed to gods I don’t respect.”

  Her voice cracked for half a breath… then hardened again, like she hated herself for letting it show.

  “And then we found what was left of him… in the forest.”

  Isaac’s eyes narrowed. The air around him felt heavier for a moment, like his body was fighting to stay calm.

  “Dead… torn apart.”

  She brought a hand to her face like she could cover the memory… but her fingers trembled anyway. Not much. Just enough to betray her.

  “Those were the worst days of my life. He was my jewel… my pride… my—”

  The word wouldn’t come out clean. She stopped, breathing through her nose, holding her own throat like she could force the sound to behave.

  Yu watched her carefully… then glanced at Isaac and noticed the change in his eyes. The same look he got right before violence—only this time he was swallowing it.

  “I’m sorry.” The words came out lower, slower. “I didn’t bring you here to hear me suffer.”

  She stood up.

  Not dramatic. Just heavy.

  She stepped down from the throne and walked toward Isaac until she was close enough that her cold breath could reach him. The chill didn’t feel like weather. It felt like a warning.

  “I brought you here because I want a favor from the Great King.”

  Isaac didn’t flinch.

  “Say it.”

  “You’re powerful. You endure things that crush others. You break what cannot be broken.”

  Yu’s eyes narrowed immediately.

  “I want you to enter the Limbo… and find my son.”

  Isaac and Yu spoke at the same time.

  “What?”

  “The Limbo? That’s insane.”

  Yu let out a short, bitter laugh that didn’t match her face.

  “You’re joking.”

  Yuno didn’t blink.

  “I know what it sounds like.”

  “It sounds like a death sentence.”

  Her voice dropped.

  “I need to know who did it. Or what did it.”

  She looked straight at Isaac, and for the first time her control wavered in her eyes—just a crack, like ice starting to split.

  “I know I can’t bring him back… I’m not na?ve.” Her mouth tightened. “But I won’t reach the end of my life without the truth in my hands.”

  Isaac’s voice stayed calm, but it cut.

  “You want me to walk into the land after death… to search for information?”

  Her composure finally broke in her eyes.

  Not sobbing. Not begging like a child.

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  Just a mother with no other door left.

  “Yes.”

  Yu stepped forward, cutting between them a little.

  “No. Absolutely not.”

  “Please, King Isaac…”

  She reached for Isaac’s hand.

  Yu’s gaze snapped to it, sharp and possessive.

  She held Isaac’s hand anyway, desperate enough to risk offending Yu. Her grip wasn’t strong—more like she was afraid he would vanish if she let go.

  “Listen to me… just once.” Her voice trembled. “I’m not asking because I want to. I’m asking because I have nothing else.”

  She inhaled, then forced the words out like pulling glass from her chest.

  “I will give anything for this.”

  Isaac looked down at her hand on his… then back at her face.

  He didn’t answer fast. That pause alone made Yu’s stomach drop.

  “…How do I enter the Limbo?”

  Yu’s eyes widened like she’d been struck.

  “Isaac—no.”

  Yu grabbed him by the front, forcing him to look at her.

  “Do you even understand what the Limbo is?”

  Isaac touched her shoulder gently, trying to calm her without fighting her.

  “I do.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  Her voice shook now. Real fear.

  “No one knows what happens in there. It’s forbidden for the living.”

  “And there’s the hole…”

  Isaac stayed still, listening.

  “If you fall into it… you’re erased.”

  Yu’s grip tightened.

  “Not just dead. Erased.”

  “The universe forgets you. Your name disappears. Your face disappears.”

  She swallowed hard, eyes wet.

  “No one remembers you, Isaac. No one.”

  Her voice broke on the last word.

  “Not even me.”

  Isaac’s expression softened… but he didn’t step back.

  “I know, Yu…”

  “Then don’t do this.”

  Yuno cut in, quick—like she feared she’d lose him if she waited.

  “I have a plan.”

  Yu turned on her instantly.

  “A way to keep you away from the hole.” The words came out fast, like she’d rehearsed them to stop herself from shaking. “I’ve been preparing it for a long time.”

  “Come. I’ll show you.”

  Isaac hesitated… then nodded once.

  Yu stared at him in disbelief… then followed anyway, breathing hard, trying not to break in front of them.

  Yuno and Isaac moved first.

  Yu trailed behind them… jaw tight… eyes wet… silent fury building under her skin.

  Yuno’s Laboratory

  The corridor ended in a steel door sealed with frost.

  She pressed her palm to it. The ice didn’t melt— it moved, like it recognized her. The lock clicked from the inside.

  They stepped in.

  The room was colder than the palace. Not winter-cold—grave-cold.

  Tables of metal. Shelves packed with jars. Old tools. Strange glass tubes. Notes pinned to the walls in tight handwriting. A faint hum sat under everything, like the air was holding its breath.

  And in the center…

  A circle drawn into the floor.

  Not chalk.

  Not paint.

  Carved lines—filled with something dark that swallowed light.

  Isaac stopped without meaning to.

  Yu’s boots scraped once as she slowed beside him.

  “This is my laboratory,” Yuno said. “I’ve been working for years… and I finally found a way to open a door to Limbo.”

  Yu stared at the circle like it might bite.

  “This is madness…”

  Isaac didn’t answer right away. His eyes tracked every line, every symbol, the way the circle felt wrong compared to normal magic. Like it didn’t belong in the world of the living at all.

  “So that circle… is the entrance.”

  “Yes.” She exhaled. “It took me years to make it stable enough to hold.”

  She walked to a shelf and pulled out a black belt—thick, heavy, with a clasp shaped like a lock.

  She held it out.

  “Put this on.”

  Isaac took it, frowning.

  “What is it?”

  “A magic belt. It has a tether.”

  She opened a drawer, and a thin golden cord slid out—shining even in the cold, like it carried its own light. When it moved, it made a soft sound against the metal, like a chain brushing a blade.

  Yu’s face tightened.

  “I’ll hold this end while you’re inside,” Yuno said. “The tether will guide you back to the exit… so you don’t get trapped.”

  Isaac looked down at the belt, then at Yu.

  Yu turned her head away, jaw clenched—like she couldn’t stand watching him accept it. Her fingers dug into her own sleeve, white knuckles under the fabric.

  Isaac put the belt on anyway. The clasp snapped shut with a sound that felt final.

  He tested it once, pulling lightly. The belt didn’t budge. The tether felt warm against his palm—wrong in a cold room.

  Yuno stepped to the circle and raised her hand.

  She didn’t shout. She didn’t pose.

  Her voice was low—controlled—like she’d practiced this a thousand times and still feared it every time.

  “Aperiam…”

  The carved lines answered.

  Light bled through the floor—not bright like fire, not clean like lightning—a pale glow that looked too old. The kind of light you’d see in deep water.

  The circle opened.

  It didn’t explode.

  It split, like the world made room for something it hated.

  A hole formed in the center—deep and black, with a faint pull that made Isaac’s cape drift toward it.

  Yu took a half step back without noticing. Her eyes stayed locked on the opening like it was staring back.

  Yuno pulled the golden cord tight between her fingers and looked at Isaac.

  Her eyes didn’t beg.

  They commanded—because if she didn’t command, she’d collapse.

  “You won’t have much time down there. You need to be fast. Do you understand?”

  Isaac nodded once.

  “I understand.”

  “Find my son.” Her throat moved. “Please.”

  Isaac stared at the opening.

  For a moment, he looked like he was measuring death the same way he measured battle—quiet, exact, already counting exits.

  Then he turned to Yu.

  “Come on, Yu.”

  Yu’s laugh was quiet and broken.

  “I can’t.”

  “What? Why?”

  Yuno answered before Yu could.

  “Dragons aren’t permitted in that plane, Isaac.”

  Yu’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t argue—because she already knew. That knowledge didn’t make it easier.

  “Our afterlife is different. Unique. If a dragon enters Limbo… it breaks a cosmic law.”

  She tightened her grip on the tether.

  “That’s one reason I needed you.”

  Yu lowered her head, the anger draining into something worse.

  “Do you understand now why I hate this?”

  Isaac’s eyes shifted to the queen—confused, suspicious.

  He didn’t like the way one thing didn’t match the other.

  He kept his voice low.

  “If dragons can’t enter Limbo… then why would your son be there?”

  A beat.

  Yu’s gaze snapped to the queen too.

  The tether in her hands tightened.

  “What aren’t you telling us?”

  The queen didn’t answer right away.

  Her mouth opened—then closed again.

  Like the words physically hurt.

  She lowered her eyes.

  And when she finally spoke, it didn’t sound like a ruler anymore.

  It sounded like someone confessing a crime.

  “Because he has High Elf blood too.”

  Silence hit the room.

  Yu’s eyes widened.

  Isaac didn’t move, but his whole face changed.

  “…What?”

  Her grip on the golden cord shook once. Just once.

  Then she forced it still.

  “His father was a high-ranking general under Sovereign Fall.”

  She swallowed, voice tightening.

  “During a campaign… we—” she stopped, then pushed through it, “—we fell for each other.”

  Isaac’s jaw clenched.

  “You kept it secret,” he said, more statement than question. “Because of Fall’s hatred for dragons.”

  The queen didn’t look up.

  Her shoulders dipped like the weight finally crushed her.

  “Yes.”

  And for the first time, she didn’t try to hide the tears.

  Isaac stepped closer to Yu and pulled her into a brief, steadying hug.

  She froze for a second, surprised by how gentle it was. Like he wasn’t trying to win an argument. Like he was just trying to leave her breathing.

  “Isaac…”

  He pulled back just enough to see her face.

  His voice dropped.

  “I’m coming back.”

  Yu’s throat tightened. She didn’t answer. Her eyes did.

  He kissed her—soft, careful, like he was trying to leave something real behind in case he never returned.

  Then he stepped away.

  Yu’s hand lifted like she wanted to grab him—to stop him—but it fell back to her side.

  Isaac faced the hole.

  He didn’t hesitate.

  He jumped.

  The darkness swallowed him instantly, like it had been waiting.

  Yu’s breath hitched.

  “Isaac—”

  Silence.

  Only the tether remained, stretching down into black.

  Yuno stood rigid, holding the cord with both hands, eyes locked on the opening like she could force the universe to behave.

  Yu stared into the hole, shaking… then forced a thin smile that didn’t match the fear in her eyes.

  “…Good luck.”

  Her voice dropped to a whisper.

  “Don’t take long.”

  Yuno didn’t move. Didn’t blink.

  “Good luck, Isaac.”