North Mountain was completely uninhabited. At the peak, the air was too thin for trees to grow, and aside from the occasional fool who wanted the challenge of a climb, it was completely deserted. It had been the perfect place to build her ice palace. It was solitude incarnate. If she had been thinking clearly, […]

She thought that she would feel guilty afterwards, or somehow debased. Instead, she felt light and airy, like a great weight had been lifted from her shoulder. There was no second guessing herself, no thinking about whether Jack was a person or not, or the ethics of a man created just to please her. It […]

She was having the dream again. He was a large man, broad of shoulder and thick with hard-earned muscles. He was a lumberjack or a porter, some hard physical job of that nature, though in the dream it was never clearly defined. He locked eyes with her and stalked forward, towering over her. One of […]

The pykrete ships were an unqualified success. They needed to be constructed differently from a regular ship, with a much thicker hull and an appearance more like a barge than a sailing ship, but given that they cost next to nothing, it was deemed well worth it. Elsa built the ships, while Admiral Pyke oversaw. […]

Elsa had the dream again. He was a strong man, who worked with his hands. He stalked towards her like a hunter towards its prey, calm and sure of himself. His hands were warm against her cold skin, and her normally sluggish heart beat a quick tempo in her chest. She felt foolish when she […]

Workmen dumped barrels of sawdust into the water, until it was a dark slurry. “Make sure it’s stirred up for the Queen,” called Admiral Pyke to the workmen. He turned towards the queen. “I’ve found the proper ratio is about six parts water to one part sawdust by weight, your majesty,” he said with a […]