Falling For Fire

by Talia Jager

  Three Winter Fae were standing in between the fountains. One of the faeries on the end moved her arms gracefully toward the water fountain. The water rose up into a ball, and she tossed it over the faerie in the middle to the faerie on the other side, who caught it and sent it up into the air. The faerie in the middle raised her hands to the sky and then out and down to her sides. A light snow started falling. I glanced over at Skye, who was grinning with excitement.

  One faerie changed the shape of the ball of water into a long stream and sent it neatly winding around the audience like a worm and then back to the fountains. Then they all faced the fountains and shot their hands out more forcefully and the water turned to ice.

  Before anyone could applaud, the Master of Ceremonies said, “Please turn your attention to the lake.”

  I stepped over to the right to get a better view of the lake at the back of the castle. Music started playing, and the water started dancing at the hands of two faeries. It was a beautiful show, and when it ended, most of the audience was clapping and whistling.

  I searched for Aurora and found her surrounded by kids—Skye, her brother, and the Spring prince. She whispered in her brother’s ear, and they both lay down in the snow and started moving their arms and legs to make snow angels. The other kids started doing the same. Laughter came from all of them when they stood up and looked at what they had made. Then she knelt down in the snow and swirled her hands to build a snowman. Skye’s eyes lit up, and she clapped. Aurora cupped her hands on the outside of her brother’s and together they created a big snowball. She was so good with the kids. It came naturally to her. She’d be a good mother someday. I would want her to be the mother of my kids. I felt my cheeks warm as I thought about her that way.

  She looked up just then almost as if she knew what I was thinking. Her lips curved up in a smile, and she tossed a snowball at me. I moved quickly and dodged it.

  Bells rang, signaling the food was served. The kids all ran inside, and Aurora started following them. I took a few long strides to catch up with her. I didn’t say anything. Just being near her was enough for now.

  A variety of soups and salads filled one side of the table. The middle had breads, and the other side was cabbage rolls and some kind of mixture. “I recommend the cheesy potato soup, winter kale salad, cabbage rolls, and winter vegetable hash,” Aurora said when she saw me eyeing the food. “And bread. You should always have bread.”

  “What’s in the hash?” I asked.

  “Potatoes, mushrooms, squash, some other stuff. Nothing that’ll hurt you.”

  I filled my plate with the suggestions she gave and sat down at one of the tables. Roux, Baize, Aya, Aurora’s two sisters, and Dune came over. “Guess this is the royal teen table,” Roux joked.

  Aurora eyed the table and then joined us, sitting next to one of her sisters and taking sips of her soup.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the boy she danced so gracefully with at the Summer celebration staring at us.

  I listened to the others chat as I ate my food. They started asking questions about the Iron Fae and what had happened. Aurora’s jaw tightened, and she chewed her food slower as I talked about it. After a few minutes, she said, “Sorry. I’ve got to go.”

  I found her later, standing in the entrance to the ballroom.

  “May I have the first dance?” I asked, holding my hand out.

  “Of course.” She placed her hand in mine, and I led her to the dance floor where a few others were dancing. I placed my left hand on her waist and held her other one in mine. It felt so right to be dancing with her. Somehow it just worked. I hated for the dance to end, but it did, and others were waiting.

  The whole time I was dancing with Daisy and a couple of other girls, my mind was on Aurora. My heart had done for her what I had been waiting for it to do. I had feelings for her long ago, but that jumping thing my heart did, it made it real. What was I going to do?

  “Sorin?” Daisy called my name.

  “Hmm?”

  “Do you want to dance again, or shall we go do something else?”

  “Oh. I…um…you go. I’m going to go outside for a minute.” I wandered outdoors where fresh snow had fallen. I couldn’t believe how the past months had changed my life. I had fallen in love with a girl completely opposite of me. How had that happened? And what was I supposed to do now? Should I tell her? Or should I stay away?

  It wasn’t like we could act on those feelings. I couldn’t court her, date her, or be with her. I couldn’t marry her. I couldn’t be in love with her. But…I was, and I realized I had been for a while. I had been trying to convince myself this was just a fling—an intense fling, but still. I couldn’t deny my feelings were one hundred percent real.

  If I couldn’t be with Aurora, I didn’t want to be with anyone. Now that I knew what love felt like, nothing would compare.

  The doors opened, and faeries poured out of the castle.

  King Zohar called out to the crowd, “Our eldest daughter, Rory, is one of the best ice-skaters in our land. She has paired up with one of the High Knight’s sons who is also an excellent skater to perform for you tonight.”

  I pushed my way through the crowd and saw an area of ice. Aurora stood in the middle. She had changed to a short vibrant blue dress that faded to white and was covered in sparkles. Next to her was the male faerie she had danced with so well at the Summer Solstice, Tannon.

  Raina placed her fiddle under her chin and started playing. Both Aurora and Tannon started skating together. It was a beautiful ice dance, and the two were in tune with each other. Nothing like when we skated at the falls. I was clumsy and all over the place. But this guy, he lifted her up into the air and held her there for a few seconds before lowering her back down and ending in a pose with their hands outstretched toward the audience. The smile on Aurora’s face was that of pure joy. She loved this, as she should. She was a Winter faerie.

  When she got off of the ice, she greeted a few faeries. I got closer so I’d be one of them. “Aurora.”

  “Sorin.” She lowered her head as I did mine. “This is Tannon.”

  “Your Highness.” Tannon bowed his head too.

  “That was quite exquisite,” I complimented.

  Tannon looked at Aurora, and I could feel the love he felt for her. I wanted to push him away and take her in my arms, but I remained calm as he said, “Rory makes it that way. There’s no one like her.”

  “I don’t imagine there is.”

  Aurora’s cheeks turned bright red. “If you two will excuse me, I need to get back into my gown.”

  “Of course.” I stepped out of her way and watched as she walked back into the castle.

  Before Tannon had a chance to say anything, I nodded to him and joined Keir, Navin, and Cedar near the bonfire.

  “That was something, huh?” Navin said.

  “Sure was.”

  Ivy walked by, and I waved her over. “Do you all skate like that?” I asked.

  “We learn as soon as we can walk, but Rory and Tannon are like the super couple of skating…Oh. I didn’t mean it that way. Well, it should be, I suppose.” She stumbled over her worlds.

  “It’s okay, Ivy,” I said.

  “Everyone thinks she and Tannon will be married.”

  “They seem good together.”

  Ivy shrugged. “Maybe they will be.”

  Aurora emerged from the castle back in the long blue dress she had started in. She started walking toward us, and I met her in the middle.

  “Let’s walk this way.” After a few minutes of silence, I blurted, “Tannon has feelings for you.”

  “Yes, but my feelings for him are as friends only.”

  “Does he know that?”

  “He keeps hoping I’ll change my mind.”

  “And will you?”

  She stared into my eyes, and it took everything in me not to kiss her and hold her against me and tell her that I loved her.

  “I suppose I’ll have to ac
cept his love.”

  It felt like a sword pierced my heart. I knew we weren’t supposed to have feelings for each other, so this shouldn’t be an issue, but it was. I loved her, and we’d both have to walk away from that love and marry someone else.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Aurora

  I stood with Sorin in the yard of my castle. Faeries were all around, but nobody paid much attention to us.

  We had been talking about Tannon, and I could feel how much it bothered him. He cleared his throat and said, “I need to take a minute.”

  “Okay.”

  Not two minutes after Sorin walked away, Cedar walked up to me holding the hand of a girl with deep purple wings and hair. Cedar winked at me and then said, “Princess Rory, this is Kiona.”

  “Nice to meet you,” she said with a slight bow of her head.

  “You too. Are you enjoying it here?”

  “Yes. It’s beautiful!”

  “It’s kind of cold, Rory,” Cedar said. Kiona shot him a look. “Princess Rory,” he corrected himself.

  “I’m not one for formalities. I’ve known Cedar for a bit now. We’re cool.”

  Kiona looked confused but seemed okay with the friendship.

  Raina, Ivy, and a few of the others from the falls noticed us talking and came over. After introductions were made, Raina asked, “So Kiona, how are you liking these celebrations?”

  Kiona looked at me almost like she was afraid to talk. I smiled, trying to be encouraging. “It’s been neat getting to see the different lands,” she said.

  “Have you been making friends?” Navin asked.

  Kiona looked a little uncomfortable, but she answered, “I’ve been talking to others, but I’m not sure I’ve made friends yet.”

  I shot her a smile and said, “Any friend of Cedar’s is a friend of ours.”

  She returned the smile. “Thank you.”

  Sorin walked toward me with a smile on his face. His sunset wings and russet hair were so odd looking here against the whites and light blues. It was another reminder that he didn’t belong here.

  He stopped about a foot from me. “I’m sorry I walked away earlier. I needed to clear my head.”

  I studied him for a minute. “Is it clear now?”

  “Not crystal, but it’ll do.”

  The sun, now halfway below the horizon, cast a beautiful glow to the snow and icicles of our land. I wanted to grab his hand and run, run far enough that nobody would see us, have a romantic kiss in the sunset, but that would never happen. It was just a dream.

  Sorin rubbed his hands together.

  “Let’s go inside,” I suggested. “We can dance again.”

  “I won’t argue with that. Without the sun, it is chilly here.”

  “You should have worn a heavier coat,” I teased, walking past him back into the castle.

  I waltzed to the middle of the ballroom—the one place it was acceptable for him to touch me—and let him take me in his arms and dance with me. The song ended too quickly, and others asked for the next dance.

  I was dancing with an older faerie from Spring Land when Navin cut in. “You looked miserable dancing with him,” Navin whispered.

  “Thanks. He wasn’t a good dancer.”

  “You doing okay?”

  “Yeah.” I forced a smile.

  “Your aura says different.”

  “I’ll be fine. I’m just sad that things aren’t different.”

  Navin twirled me. “The faerie you were skating with earlier, he’s walking over here right now.”

  I looked over his shoulder as we turned and sighed when I saw Tannon coming toward us.

  “Do you want to dance with him?”

  “No.”

  “Start coughing.”

  “What?”

  “Do it, Rory. Quick.”

  I started coughing and Navin stopped dancing and patted my back. He put his arm around my shoulders and said, “Let’s get you some water.”

  He led me out of the ballroom and into the great hall. I stopped coughing and smiled. “Nice.”

  He handed me a glass of water. “For show.”

  I drank it. “Thanks.”

  Lumi ran in. “Rory? You okay?”

  “Yes.” I smiled. “Navin, have you met my sister Lumi?”

  He bowed his head. “In passing. Nice to see you again, Princess.”

  “You too.”

  “Why don’t you two go dance? I’m going to catch my breath.”

  They looked at each other and nodded. “Okay.”

  Outside, I gazed at the stars and daydreamed about what it would be like if Sorin and I could be together in public. I imagined us dancing together the whole night, holding hands, kissing, and nobody caring. It was normal. Scanning the yard, I studied the faeries. Most of them were with their own Season. Only a few were mingling with the other Seasons. Sighing, I knew the odds of the fae accepting a relationship between two different Seasons were astronomical.

  Sorin walked up and stood a couple feet from me. “I want to take you in my arms and kiss you.”

  I felt the heat rush to my cheeks. “I want that too, but right now this is all we get.”

  “I’ll take it,” he replied. “Just being here with you is amazing.”

  We stood there, near each other, stargazing and fantasizing about a future that was never going to happen.

  When the moon was high in the sky, the Master of Ceremonies announced the celebration was coming to an end. Slowly the fae started making their way to their carriages and the paths that led back to their homes.

  My parents and siblings took a spot on the balcony and said good-bye to the other royal families. My father shot me a look to join them, and I quickly took my place with them.

  Skye ran up and threw her arms around me. “Thank you. This was the best party ever.”

  “I’m sorry,” King Verano said. “She will be reprimanded for her manners.”

  Shocked, I answered, “She’s fine, Your Majesty. I don’t mind one bit.”

  I knelt down and smiled at her. “I’ve got something for you.” I took out a snowflake barrette from my hair and handed it to her.

  “For me? Really?”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  Skye took it in her hands. “Ooh, it’s cold.”

  “It’s a real snowflake,” I whispered. “I used magick to make it stay like that forever.”

  Her eyes widened. “Thank you!”

  “You’re welcome.” I stood back up.

  Sorin scooped Skye up. “I hear you’re causing a ruckus.”

  “What’s a ruckus?”

  I laughed. “Nothing. Don’t mind him.”

  Sorin took my hand, brought it to his lips, and gave it a kiss. “Thank you for opening your home.”

  My heart beat quicker, and I took deep breaths to calm it down before anyone picked up on my feelings.

  “Be safe.”

  Sorin nodded and moved down the line doing the same thing to my sisters and mother so it wouldn’t look odd that he had kissed my hand.

  Sorin’s eyes were on me until his carriage turned and left down the road toward the gate.

  I didn’t want to get out of bed the next morning, but I still rolled out when the bells went off. I stepped into a gown, brushed my hair, and put on my crown. Downstairs I was surprised to find everything completely back to normal. There was no evidence of the celebration that ended only hours ago.

  I took my place and stepped outside with my family. The crowd was quieter this morning, I assumed because they were all tired.

  My father took a step forward. “Good morning! Last night was a success. You all did a wonderful job. I’m very pleased. Our land was represented beautifully.”

  Cheers and clapping erupted from the audience.

  “I’m sure we’re all tired today, so I have decided to implement a day of rest. We all worked hard to make sure the celebration went off without a hitch, now take the day and enjoy it with your families.”

&
nbsp; Father turned and walked into the castle, and we followed. We sat down at the table, and breakfast was served.

  “What did you girls think of the celebration?” Father asked.

  “I think it went well,” I answered.

  “Your demonstration was beautiful, Rory,” Mother complimented.

  “Thank you.”

  “Everything was good,” Lumi agreed. “The food was delicious, and the dancing was fun.”

  Eira scoffed. “It wasn’t that special.”

  Rolling her eyes, Lumi said, “Didn’t you like anything?”

  “I like when it’s just us. We don’t need to put on a show for anyone else.” Eira gave her opinion.

  “You need to embrace the fae, Eira. All of them,” our father said. “I want you to try. Be more respectful like your sisters.”

  “Yes, Father.” She put her head down.

  Later on, I was walking down the hall. “Rory,” Mother called to me from inside her room.

  I halted in my walk to the library and turned into her room. “Yes, Mother?”

  She patted the bed. “Let’s talk.”

  Sitting down next to her, I patiently waited as she folded and unfolded her hands. “Your father and I would like you to be more serious about choosing your groom.”

  “I just turned seventeen!” I reminded her.

  “I know, and that leaves only a year. It’s time to really start thinking about it.”

  “I do, Mother. Every day.”

  “Good. I won’t pressure you any further. I know you’ll choose the best faerie.”

  I wandered down to the training fields, but nothing was going on. I didn’t feel like going anywhere else, so I plopped down on a log there. Zev came up to me and put his face in my lap. I stroked his head. “You understand, don’t you?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Sorin

  I was bursting with excitement to tell Aurora how I felt. I couldn’t get there fast enough.

  “What’s the rush?” Keir asked as we dismounted our horses.

  Shaking my head, I answered, “Nothing.” I couldn’t tell Keir that I was about to tell Aurora how I felt.

  “Right.” He rolled his eyes, and I opened my mouth to respond but saw Aurora out of the corner of my eye. She was talking to Raina and Navin.