#ColdPrice | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

harmonyhealinghub · 6 months ago

Text

The Winter Queen's Bargain Shaina Tranquilino December 22, 2024

In the heart of winter’s unrelenting grasp, Eldric, a farmer with a once-thriving land now blanketed in snow, stood at the edge of his fields. The ground, once fertile, was frozen, and his crops had long withered. His animals huddled in the barn, their breaths clouding in the frigid air. The market was empty, his debts mounting, and with no harvest to offer, Eldric knew his family would not survive another season.

Desperation gnawed at him like the cold, and so, in the stillness of the night, he ventured deep into the forest, where the elders had warned him never to go. The trees stood tall like silent sentinels, their branches heavy with frost. At the heart of the forest, where the wind seemed to whisper in an ancient tongue, he found her.

The Winter Queen was no myth. She stood before him, draped in robes of snow and ice, her hair a cascade of silver like moonlight on a frozen lake. Her eyes glimmered like shards of ice, cold and piercing.

“You seek to make a bargain,” her voice was the soft murmur of a winter breeze, and yet it froze his very soul.

Eldric’s knees trembled, but he forced himself to speak. “My land is dying. My crops, my animals—everything is perishing. I have nothing left. Will you help me?”

The Queen’s lips curled into a thin smile. “I can grant you prosperity, but such gifts are not without their cost. What will you offer in return?”

Eldric’s heart pounded in his chest. “Anything,” he whispered, his voice barely audible in the vast, silent night.

The Queen studied him, her gaze unwavering. “I will give you what you desire, but in exchange, I will claim what is most precious to you. One life—your own or someone else’s—must be surrendered. That is my price.”

Eldric’s throat went dry, his mind racing. His life? His wife? His children? He could not bear the thought of their loss, yet the weight of his own survival pressed on him.

“Do you accept?” she asked, her eyes narrowing, her cold presence enveloping him like a storm.

The farmer, with a heart heavy as stone, nodded. “I accept.”

The Winter Queen raised her hand, and in an instant, the snow around them shimmered with ethereal light. Eldric felt warmth return to his limbs, the frozen ground beneath him beginning to soften. He could hear the distant sound of water flowing, of life returning to the earth. His farm would flourish once again.

But as the Queen began to vanish into the mist, a final whisper reached his ears. “Remember your bargain.”

The cold still lingered in the back of his mind, but as Eldric returned to his home, he saw his land blossoming with new crops, his animals flourishing, and his debts slipping away like forgotten dreams. He was prosperous once more.

Years passed, and Eldric’s life returned to its former fullness. Yet, each year, as winter’s breath came early and the days grew shorter, his mind would wander back to the Queen’s bargain.

Then, one bitterly cold winter’s night, as he sat beside the hearth, the door creaked open. In the dim light, his wife stood before him, pale and trembling.

“I’ve been dreaming of ice, Eldric,” she said, her voice trembling. “Of her.”

Before he could reply, the ground beneath their feet trembled. The wind howled through the door, and the Winter Queen appeared, her form shimmering like frost in the moonlight.

“It is time,” she said softly, her gaze cold and expectant.

Eldric’s heart stopped, his breath caught in his throat. The cost of the bargain was upon him at last. He had hoped the Queen had forgotten. He had hoped the years would erase his pact, but she had come for what she was owed.

And as the snow began to fall in heavy drifts, Eldric understood that some bargains, no matter how desperate, can never be undone.

#WinterQueensBargain #MythicalTales #FrostAndFaith #DesperateChoices #FairyTaleDarkness #WinterMagic #AncientBargains #ColdPrice #FarmerStory #SacrificeForSurvival #MagicalRealism #WinterFate #LegendaryDeal #FrozenPact #TalesOfTheFrozen

0 notes