Rowan peered into the midnight sky of the North Pole.
His mate knelt, unprotected, with her hands behind her back.
Periodically, she would taunt her captors. “The king will not come for me,” she said. “He feels nothing for me. Come, cut me loose,” she said. “My life is nothing.”
“Yer a witch,” the man with a hat said, clutching his hand.
“That’s rich, coming from one who works for a demon,” Snow taunted. “But I tell you this, the King will send no ransom for me. He has not a care for one such as I. Let me go and I will return to Ice Keep and bother you no more.”
Toffee turned to glare at Rowan. “Why does she speak so? What have you done to my Snow?”
Rowan knelt beside Toffee. “Nothing. She is taunting them, nothing more. She is as dear to me as my own heart. My brothers are out looking for her right now.”
“For Caesar’s Mushroom sake, you can’t hear the truth in her voice?” Toffee asked. “She truly believes the king will let her die.”
“No,” Rowan said, rising to attack but was tugged back down by a phalanx of snow pixies and a single determined brownie. He sighed and decided he would spend the rest of his life making sure Snow knew she was loved and adored. “Can you get close enough?” Rowan whispered, his voice hardly more than a breath.
“You’re too big to help,” Toffee decided. “You stay here if we get in trouble, but here is my plan. I will sneak into their camp and cut the bindings off Snow. You cover our retreat.”
Rowan nodded, seeing the sense in Toffee’s plan. If he were to attack, Snow could be hurt. Better, by far, for her to escape.
“We will distract the guards,” the pixies said. Toffee nodded and sharpened his claws on a nearby tree. “I will slice through the netting and get her away.”
Rowan nodded and withdrew his bow and notched an arrow. “I will protect the bolt-hole,” he said. He turned to the pixies. “Once we get Snow inside the dome, rush to tell my father.” They nodded.
Rowan turned to Toffee. “Get her to Medical. As soon as my father and the guards get here we can adjust the dome around this rock. Tell her I will join her as soon as elfanly possible.” Toffee nodded in agreement.
The pixies approached, zinging and flying and throwing ice pellets at the guards. “Ouch, that hurt,” one of them said.
“What is that,” the other said, holding his bloody hand up to protect his eyes.
“It’s a cat,” one guard said, as Toffee approached a kneeling Snow.
“Toffee,” she cried with joy. Toffee’s sharp claws made quick work of the netting and rope that bound Snow’s wrists.
“Hah,” the other said. “Wait until that witches’ gown attacks it!”
But of course, the enchanted dress welcomed Snow’s old friend. The drow looked on in disbelief before scrambling for their own weapons.
Now that rescue was imminent, Snow winked at her small friend. “Come on, Toffee,” she said. “I do believe we have better places to be.” They climbed over the rock and Rowan took a moment to kiss her lightly.
“Get to medical,” he urged, tracing a finger across her lips. “Did they hurt you, bella?”
The pixies darted past them, determined with their task to alert the King and the Guardian that Snow had been found.
“No, my love,” Snow said, brushing a lock of hair that had dared to blow across his face. “My dress defended me well.”
Rowan gently guided her behind him and pulled the arrow back to his chin. He was ready for the two dark elves who had dared tried to hurt his beloved.
The drow henchman looked at each other before raising their swords. If they had to die, they would not go as cowards.
“I will be sure to send my thanks to Serena and the Silver Falls Clan,” Rowan said, squaring off against the enemy approaching. “My father will be here soon and we will fix this flaw in the dome,” he said. “Leave, my love, so I can dispatch these evil ones.”
Chapter Five
“Where is my mate?” Snow demanded as she paced in the confines of the Medical building.
“He is helping his men secure the dome around the rock,” Crystal said, approaching her niece with caution.
“I need him here,” Snow said, her voice wobbling as lack of sleep, fear, and an adrenaline crash were imminent. Toffee curled up next to her, comforting her with his warmth.
Crystal pulled Snow into her embrace. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“Tell us what happened,” Rowan corrected as he entered the solar. Snow leapt up and ran into his arms. Rowan laughed as he found himself with his arms around both his wife and his newest friend and ally. She peppered kisses across his jaw and chin.
“I was so scared,” she said, breathing in his scent, memorizing it.
“I don’t think anyone could tell,” Rowen said, nuzzling her hair. “You were as fierce as any warrior.” He looked up as his father joined them. “I told you there was life in her, Father,” he said proudly. “I told you my mate would have both fire and frost.”
The couple stood in the center of the solar with their arms wrapped firmly around each other as though afraid to even have the whisper of wind pass between their bodies.
“You chose well, son,” Nicholas said. He raised his arms and embraced his son, new daughter, and one small brownie.
Fire laced from within Snow’s chest and she startled, pulling away. “Rowan?” she said, turning to him. “What is that?”
Rowan smiled and set Toffee down. He held one hand over his own heart and the other over Snow’s. “That is the elven bond,” he said, grinning wildly. He turned to his father. “It finally caught,” he said with glee.
“We’re connected,” Snow said as the sharp pain subsided, leaving only a mild warmth.
Nicholas whispered something to one of the snow pixies who flitted about and he left, leaving a small trail of icicles.
“The Feast of Sinterklaas has been laid out in the Great Hall,” he said, beckoning the collection of friends, family and allies to follow him. “But instead of this being about me and the anniversary of my birth, I want to celebrate a new mating bond,” he said, his hands lightly touching first Rowan’s and then Snow’s shoulder. “I want to make it about new allies,” he said, shaking the paw of the startled but proud brownie. “And about coming together in a time of crisis,” he said, looking at Aerick and Crystal.
“And let’s not forget the snow pixies,” Toffee said, rising on his back legs. “For shiitake’s sake, did you see their aim? I wouldn’t want to anger them any time soon!”
Two weeks later
“Hurry! It’s nearly Solstice,” Crystal said after the evening meal. “If we all work together, we can provide all the magic needed so Lady Winter can pass from one hemisphere to the next.”
“Happy birthday, my beloved,” Rowan whispered against his mate’s glossy hair.
“Thank you, kind prince,” she said with a curtsy.
“They’re kissing again,” Toffee muttered to no one in particular.
Snow went to a balistraria and pulled back the tapestry covering it. “It’s snowing now!” she said, her voice rising with excitement.
“Come,” Rowan said. “Let’s go to our pond and dance in the new season.”
“Can we?”
“Of course. My father is King Nicholas and I’m kinda’ a big deal around here,” Rowan said with elfish impudence.
“Interesting because King Nicholas is my father-in-law and I’m kinda a big deal around here, too.”
“That you are, bella,” Rowan said.
“Get your mantle,” Crystal ordered. “You, too, young Toffee. What a Winter we will bring in with all of this collected magic!”
Toffee worried on his speck of leftover mushroom. “Will your father and brothers be joining us, Rowan?”
“Indeed,” Snow cried as they crossed the gatehouse towards the skating pond. “Look, there are Ames and Birch now, already skating.”
The enchant
ed family joined hands at the pond. Crystal began the song, her voice resonating in the hush of the air. Snow joined her and the clarity of their voices sparkled and spun amidst the snowflakes. Toffee joined in, emotion ringing in his voice as he joined their a cappella chorus. Their voices sang the timeless song of the seasons and the endless cycles of life. Snow smiled as her boots slowly turned into leather soled dancing shoes. She accepted her mate’s hand and began to pirouette in the star sprinkled lapis blue midnight sky.
As their voices decreased and increased with vigor, the snow pixies joined their concert. Magic called to magic and the Winter winds began to swirl and spread across the globe. The elves, impervious as ever to the frigid temperatures, were lulled and lured by the timeless fae melody.
And Winter soared across the hemisphere.
December 24
Hand in hand, Snow and Rowan stood in front of his father.
“Little busy here, Rowan,” Nicholas said absently as various elves and gnomes filled his sleigh.
“I know, Father, but this will only take a moment.”
His father sighed and finally looked up.
“Snow and I made this,” Rowan said, handing a snow globe to his father. Inside a swirling snowstorm was a young couple dancing across a frozen pond. Their love for each other was as palpable as the Christmas Eve rush in Santa’s keep.
“It’s beautiful,” Nicholas said.
“Ames provided a finding charm. As a testament to our love we want to send this out into the human realm for their Christmas celebration. We want whoever to find this to receive the gift of eternal love and loyalty.”
Rowan’s hands brushed his mates and the intense enduring love of elves passed from his soul to hers. “An enchanted snow globe reaching out to all in need of finding their true love as we have found ours. The human realm could do with more love, don’t you think, father?”
Snow giggled at his romantic vision. She brushed a kiss across the crystal orb before they handed it to Nicholas.
“We infused this snow globe with fae magic and elven love.” She looked down at her hands. “Will you help us send this into the human world, so that those in need could find their own enduring love?”
King Nicholas smiled and traced a finger down the exquisite crystal globe. He nodded at his son and smiled. “Let the love begin,” he said, taking the enchanted globe.
Epilogue
The dry January snow was a mild annoyance in the small village of Harper’s Mill, New Jersey. A former railroad settlement, it was nestled between the Delaware and Kittatinny Mountains and had its own mystical dome that shielded it from discovery from all but the most devout souls.
“Let’s go in here,” Honor said to her best friend. She stomped the snow off her boots on the front stoop. “Spence has both kids playing in the park and I get an entire hour to go Christmas shopping all on my own. Is this store new? I don’t think I’ve seen this antique shop before.”
Emma’s smile was sad around the edges. She hated being jealous. Rarely fell into such an ugly trap, but it was hard being happy when her relationship with David was up in the air. She knew it was her fault. He was ready and prepared to offer her the world. She was at fault. Her gift of sight didn’t work on matters of her own heart and she couldn’t seem to breech the wall and trust in her heart. In his heart.
“An antique shop? Oh, Honor – that doesn’t sound like much fun. Why don’t we go to New Town and shop there?”
“Because I only have an hour, Em.”
Emma continued to drag her feet. After working all morning, the last thing she wanted to do was shop.
But Honor wasn’t listening as she propelled her best friend into the dimly lit interior of the store. “Hey, it looks like there’s a snow globe back there,” she said.
The End.
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Other books by Summer Donnelly
Harper’s Mill books
Hummingbird Dreams, Harper’s Mill 1 by Summer Donnelly
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Dandelion Dreams, Harper’s Mill 2 by Summer Donnelly
Fae and Frost, a Christmas Romance by Summer Donnelly
Stand-alone titles: Midnight Honey by Summer Donnelly
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Fae and Frost: A Christmas Romance (Harper's Mill Book 2) Page 5