The Witch and the Lich; A Dish Served Cold

Credits; Krell, Arcania,

Krell waited for something to happen.  The cold seemed to be the only thing that had appeared, but for the Fire Elemental to have fled so suddenly there must have been something summoned.  Maybe it was just some sort of pre-arrival chilling effect.  And to some extent it was, if the sound of the palace's wards being shattered and space itself being visibly ripped open was any indication.  It was, and the wards being destroyed was a fairly god indicator, just a very elaborate teleport effect.  Still, there was something about seeing reality torn like a piece of thin paper that just made the entrance even more intimidating then the sight of a Fire Elemental destroying a Lich in a burst of flame.  Chasia pulled a knife from her belt and Holine struggled to extract herself from her mother's ensnaring spear.  Toln and the guards were rushing about, fervently trying to restore the wards; the whole palace must have been frantic trying to fix those vital magical walls against entry. 
Then Krell saw a bridge of ice form, joining the tear in space to some unknown point.  He could hear the sound of heels against the ice.  The steady clacking only served to make the situation feel all the more dire.  He saw Chasia carefully edge towards the stave, discarded not far from where Holine's Guard Captain had met his end.  She crouched low as she picked it up, keeping perfectly focused on the tear, which now fluttered in a cold breeze that seemed to come from the other side.  Then, still coming, the intruder spoke. 
"Who dares summon the Frost King?"  It was not a man's voice, and something about it seemed familiar to him.  Then he saw her.  In a white dress that came to her shins, and heels that were likely icicles, Arcania stepped into the palace. 
"I was in the middle of a conversation, and suddenly my companion gets yanked across the void.  I am quite put off by all this and demand an explanation." 
Because of the cut of the dress, and the state of her hair, the thought that it may not have been merely a conversation that was intterupted leapt unbidden to Krell's mind.  But while he swiftly crushed that image, he couldn't help but wonder what she'd been doing with the legendary king of the Elemental plane of water.  And her presence still explained neither the cold nor where the actual Frost King was.
"So which one of you did this?"  She looked around the room as she walked right past Chasia, who for all her readiness was too frightened to act.  "Did you do this?"  She spun back and caught Holine's hand as she tried to punch, still pinned to the column.  "I know the things you've said about me, Holine Laerdsfeld.  I have done some pretty bad stuff, but your talk is more suited to gossiping old women in parlours then an empress on her throne.  Did you summon away my dear companion?"
Holine spat on her.  Arcania wiped it off and put a finger to the Empress' lips.  "Now now, we mustn't insult our betters.  It would be so..very..easy for them to simply, whisk you away to a land of strange and terrible things.  And do believe me when I say, I know many such lands, and that which I find strange is beyond your reckoning.  When you summoned away ZeeGee, you messed with powers beyond your ability to comprehend.  So I think it's in your best interests to suck it up and then maybe just suck up a little."  She paused and turned her back on the now more visibly frightened Holine.  "And if you really believe the things you said, you would take that literaly."
Krell watched them.  Arcania was staying perfectly calm.  If anything, it seemed almost like she was flirting, the way she walked around the spear-bound Empress, nails lightly dragging across her skin any time she touched her.  And there was a playfulness in her voice that could not be mistaken.  And then he saw her wink at him from across the room, and it hit him. 
Of course, Rea had said this was all Arcania's plan.  She was in on the whole thing.  The whole thing was an act, she was here to help him.
"Or if you really just want me to leave, how about you do something for me; a simple task."
"What do you want?"  Holine's voice was full of fear and confusion.  whatever spells she had used to make herself appear alive, though she too was a lich, had made it possible for her voice to convey more than mere words.  It sounded moist and rough.  He'd never realy taken her for that sort of girl, but apparently Arcania's efforts were not lost on her. 
"You see that Lich, not more than a week past he spurned me.  I am not in the habit of being spurned.  Kill him, and perhaps I can make it worth your while."
KILL HIM?  Krell's mind went blank at the idea.  He was him.  And she was supposed to be on his side, was this all just because he said he wasn't interested in her?  Did Rea know about this?  Thoughts of betrayal filled his mind as all chance of success seemed to fade.  Then he saw Holine reach into her pocket and pull out a lone, cut diamond.  His mind was still whirring, and the desire to not die shot to the forefront.  He began to speed towards Holine but heard a voice coming from about him. 
"Be cool man, be cool."
He stopped and looked around as Arcania drew a knife with a blade like glass.  Where had that voice come from? 
"My dear one guides your enemy's hand like a scoundrel helps the blind man to a cliff.  Soon you and your elder youth will be together again.  But you must remain cool."
"Who are you?"  Krell whispered.
"The Ice queen is not without love, and the king of the Frost is not without affection.  The elder youth brought you home for the holidays, and it was not a new year you greeted together but a new age.  She is dear to us, and so we give her this gift.  The gift of life."
"That's not what I asked."  He muttered back. 
"Z'Gnu your foe calls me, others name me Frost King.  But the name to which I come when called is that which my dear one gives me.  Now is the time, strike the blow and live.  We shall speak again when next we meet, and meet again we shall."
Krell glanced back at Holine just in time to see the knife come down.  The diamond shattered, and he felt as though the marrow was trying to burst from his bones.  It was not like any pain he had ever felt or heard described, and there was something about it that was not quite pain, something that transcended the physical and the mental.  He forced his body to move, crying out in agony as he charged. 
"That's it, don't be afraid to call us if you ever run into trouble."
Holine looked at Arcania as she stepped back.  She seemed to realize what had happened just as Krell's fading hand reached her face. 
"AsProtector of the..ERgh!"  He clung to her as he felt the pain welling up.  "Empire, I order your immediate execution."  He grabbed her shoulder with his other hand.  She was furiously trying to push him off, but he was stronger even as mere bones.  "Touch of Ash."