THE ICE KING

Chapter 1

THE MIRROR

By Bryton4ever71

         I suppose it all started with a mirror.

         No, that's not right. That's not really a good way to start a story like this. Let me try again.

         Once upon a time, so long ago, in fact, that your grandmother's grandmother's grandmother's grandmother had not even been born yet and in fact whoever her grandmother was would have been a small, small child, there lived an evil goblin.

         This goblin lived in a different reality, high above the earth, in a kind of ether, his own dimension. This evil being had created a mirror that distorted the vision of anybody who looked within it. What was happy and beautiful became ugly and depressing. The most beautiful rose would appear to be stunted and blemished or ugly in some other way. The cleanest streets looked as dark and dingy as the filthiest alleyways. The best-looking people would look so ugly and distorted they would barely be recognized. And look out of you had a pimple or a mole! It would appear as if it were spread over your nose and mouth.

         The evil goblin chortled in glee as he thought of all the lovely unhappiness that his mirror would cause mankind below on Earth. Friendships and marriages would break up. Pets would appear violent and rabid even though they were not and have to be put down.  Sunny days would always seem cloudy and rainy days! My goodness, rainy days would seem like night.

         At last the mirror was complete and the goblin looked on it with pride. With a claw, he ripped a hole in the fabric that divided his universe from our own. He looked down. Perfect. The North and East winds were blowing the snow and the cold in a most irresponsible way over all the earth. But that's how the winds were, he reflected, foolish and stupid and indiscriminate. And especially now in winter, the North wind was all these things and cocky, arrogant and power-mad besides. He would never guess he was about to help him spread his evil.

         The goblin took a special, silver hammer and smashed the mirror into a hundred million and more pieces. A few were large and would be found and made into window panes. Some were smaller and would be made into spectacles. Oh, the unhappy souls who would come across these, for they would never see or feel anything happy ever again. Eventually, they would be driven mad and kill themselves, the goblin figured, and death would take them as his own.

         Worse of all were the rest of the mirror pieces, which were tiny splinters some as tiny as a grain of sand. These pieces would be blown around on the wind and eventually they would blow into someone's eye and become stuck. And once this happened there would be no hope. The eye of that person and his heart would become dark and he or she would see only evil things and think evil and perverted things continually. For you see, every piece of that horrible mirror had the full power of the whole, even the ones as small as a grain of sand.

         Every bit of this mirror fell through the hole between universes and just as the goblin had predicted the winds scattered them over the whole of the Earth. The smallest ones looked like bright stars or snowflakes and before people could tell the difference it would be too late.

         His mischief done, the goblin stitched the hole in the fabric of his ether back up as only he could do and settled back to watch the fun.

Many years later...

         In the city of Pittsburgh there lived two young men who loved each other very much. In many ways they were opposites but where it counted they were in agreement. They loved each other deeply and were devoted to one another. They had been through many trials and hardships together. A cancer scare. A bombing.  They held hands, went to clubs, hung out at their favourite Diner and kissed long and deep and oft. When there was mistletoe, they would often...
         What's that? What's that you say? What's wrong? What? You say you can't imagine two men loving each other like that? Well, I tell you this. These two men could not imagine their lives where two men could not love each other with their whole soul, mind,...and body. It was as natural as the water you drink or the air you breathe that gets blown icily around on Christmas Day. They figured there were enough heterosexual people in the world already so that the human race would not become extinct without their help. And besides, even though they were homosexual one of the men had helped, and had a son of his own. But more on that later.

         As I said, in many ways they were opposites. Justin was about 21 with blond hair and blue eyes and a smile that lit up a room. Brian (but everyone called him Bri) had brown hair with hazel eyes and was older about 33. He rarely smiled but would give a half smile with tongue in cheek. Justin was open and happy when he was happy and sad when he was sad but Bri had learned to be more reserved and keep his thoughts and feelings secret and close to himself the way one does with a hand of cards at a poker game. He showed his feelings only rarely when it was absolutely important. However, when he was with Justin he opened up a bit more and relaxed because he knew Justin was devoted to him and his confidante in all things. Justin was artistic and a free spirit. Bri worked in advertising and was rich but more conservative. Justin was a beta male and a bottom. Bri was alpha and a top.

         As you can see, they were opposites in many ways but it only served to make them more compatible with each other.

         December that year started out snowy, biting and cruelly cold. Bri and Justin took Gus out window shopping at the toy stores to see where Gus' head was at regarding toys. Typical of little boys everywhere, Gus was into cars, robots and dinosaurs. The two and a half men wore three hats, layered coats, three, mittens, three scarves, three...everything. But finally the blowing wind was too much for little Gus and he started to cry.

         "Daddy! The wind is hurting my forehead! And I can't feel my feet!"

         Justin looked down and saw with a bit of alarm that Gus' face was a light shade of blue. He alerted Bri who crouched down and told him, "Just a little ways further and we'll be at the Diner with Nana Deb and we can have hot chocolate and whatever else you want. Think you can make it Sonny Boy?"

         "OK, Daddy. I love you."

         "Love you too, little man," Bri answered, relishing the warmth that spread through his insides that had nothing to do with temperature.

         With no further delay, they set their feet toward the Liberty Diner, each holding onto one of Gus' hands, the little child trying hard to keep up with their grown up steps between them. After five minutes it began to snow, the winds blowing it all around. In ten more minutes, they were finally at the Diner's entrance. They pushed their way in and then had to push the door closed again behind them, finally shutting out the snow and the cold.

         Inside, the Diner was warm and cozy. The floor was a little damp from all the melted tracked in snow and the front windows were covered by insulating curtains. There were many warm bodies filling up the joint and warm food everywhere that helped to contribute to the temperature.

The diner was decorated copiously with holly and evergreen garlands and poinsettias and Christmas lights. Above every table was hung a garland of mistletoe.

         Justin and Bri grabbed a booth and slid in.  Justin started to unwrap Gus but soon the boy slapped his hands away. "I can do it! I can do it! I'm a big boy!"

         "You sure are! OK, then." Justin left him to it.

         "I can see Debbie went all out on the decorations," observed Justin.

         "Yup," answered Bri, "Especially the mistletoe. Above every table. Looks like you have to kiss me now."

         "Oh, I do, do I?" Justin answered, playing along.

         "Yup. That's the rule. It's practically an unwritten law."

         "Well, I guess that's that. I can't very well go around breaking the law..." Justin answered with a sultry smile, leaning forward for his kiss. Bri leaned forward from the other side and they kissed madly until a piercing shriek indicated that they'd been spotted.

         SUNSHINE!! BRI! When the He-eck did you get in here!? Were you planning on saying hello, or what? And where's my grandson?'

         "I'm right here, Nana!" giggled Gus, who was in plain sight.

         "Ohhhh, THERE you are! How're you doing, munchkin?"

         "Cold!"

         "Hot chocolates all round, Deb," Brian ordered.

         "Comin up! Give Nana a hug first, kay, punkin!?"

         Gus joyfully lifted his arms up and Deb swung him up in one of her overbearing trademark bear hugs before putting him down again.

         "My goodness you weren't kidding! You're all blue!" she said, giving Bri a worried look.

         "Yup! And I can't feel my legs neither!" Gus supplied proudly...and unhelpfully.

         "My goodness! It looks like you got a kiss from the Ice King!"

         "The Ice King!? Who's that?" asked Gus curiously

         "What! You've never heard of the Ice King? Well, let me grab you snow fairies some hot chocolate and I'll tell you all about it!" Deb said as she did just that.

         A few minutes later, when the four of them were snuggled into the booth together, Deb took one of her infamous "breaks" and began.

         "Well, you've probably all heard about the Snow Queen who is in charge of all the snowflakes of winter. This is a big job but Justin has already told you all about her and besides I think there's enough queens in this diner much less Liberty Avenue to bring her into the picture."

         Gus giggled and asked, " Are the Snow Queen and the Ice King married?"

         "Oh my, no! They are brother and sister. Neither can get married for they are made of the ice and snow they rule and this includes their hearts which are lumps of ice. They can love nobody but themselves and if they were to try to...marry ...a mortal, they would freeze them solid. As it is, a kiss from the Ice King will paralyze you with cold and the second would kill you."

         "Ohhh, I don't think I'd like that!" said Gus.

         "Not to worry, punkin! There's a sure-fire way to cure the Ice King's kiss. A cup of hot chocolate and nosh from a Nana."

         "What's a nosh?" Gus asked.

         "THIS is a nosh!" Debbie swooped down and nuzzled his neck and clicked her teeth and growled, "NOSH, NOSH, NOSH, NOSH!!!"

         Gus squirmed and squealed and laughed delightedly.

         "Feel better?' she asked.

         "My legs are all needle-y," Gus replied.

         "Ahh good! That means the treatment is working!" cried Deb triumphantly.

         "But why does the Ice King go around kissing people and freezing them? Is he mad at me?" Gus asked sadly.

         "Oh yes, do tell!" said Bri sarcastically. Justin smacked him on the arm.

         "Thank you Justin. No, punkin, he isn't mad at you. The Ice King or Snow Queen would only kiss you in an emergency, to keep you alive if you ever got lost in a snowstorm or something. And they'd never kiss you twice. They can never kill. For since their hearts are ice they cannot love but it also means they cannot feel cruelty as well. They cannot hate and they wish us no harm. Besides at this time of year, the Ice King is much too busy with his other duties to worry about us. But, I'm probably boring you guys, I should get back to work."

         "That's for sure!" yelled someone two booths down.

         "Hey, unless you're looking for a new butt plug made out of coal, PIPE DOWN, ASS...uh...sweetheart! You got legs! Get it yourself! It's a burger, not a bar of bronze!"

         The three men sharing the booth with her were unfazed, being used to Debbie's outbursts for a long time. Gus pulled on her sleeve. "I'm not bored, Nana! I'm not! What else does the Ice King do?"

         Well!" Deb lowered her voice conspiratorially, "While the Snow Queen is in charge of the snow, the Ice King is in charge of where they blow. He is the master of the four winds that blow over the Earth. Especially the North Wind who is the coldest and noisiest of them all. He is in charge of all the blizzards and icebergs of the sea. He is in charge of all the colors of the Northern lights and he is the one who slowly brings the sun back to the Arctic slowly every year. He lives up at the North Pole and it's his job to keep Santa Claus' village hidden from the rest of the world. It's a big job being the Ice King."

         "Boy it sure sounds like it!" said Gus. The three adults smiled at him in adoration.

         By this time, all three of them had finished their hot chocolate, and burgers. Bri decided it was about time to shove off. They wrapped Gus up in his three of everything and pretty soon he resembled a colourful, woollen Christmas package. They bid Deb farewell and left, headed home to the loft.

         The wind was stronger, and blew the snow around even more. The night was dark and they hurried the few blocks they needed to.

         They were about halfway there when it happened. The wind blew stronger, snowflakes swirled around and suddenly...

         "OWW!!!"

         Bri clutched at and covered his left eye. He blinked madly. He felt a sharp, piercing pain in his eye but then it was gone.

         "Brian! What is it? Are you all right?" Justin asked in alarm.

         "I - I don't know. I think a bit of snow or ice blew into my eye. Hurt like a bugger but I think it's gone now."

         "Let me see!" Justin tried to look at Brian's eye but he shoved him away roughly. "I said it was gone!"

         "Well, we'll look you over when we get home! Speaking of which, let's hurry and get there!"

         "Oh, leave me alone! I said I'm fine! Stop fussing like a Nellie Queen! You're being worse than Emmett!"

         Justin looked at him steadily trying not to let the hurt show. "All right, Brian. Suit yourself. Come on Gus. Let's hurry!"

         But of course Bri was not fine and it was not gone. And it was not ice. A wicked shard of the goblin's glass, the one that was as tiny as a grain of sand had blown into Bri's eye and was working its way down to his heart where it would freeze it solid and uncaring, forevermore.

TBC