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The glass of ice wine would’ve caused frostbite to anybody holding the drink other than Frosta and her butler who handed her the refreshment after returning from the bar. “Thanks, Tobias.”
Tobias nodded politely, a silent ‘you’re welcome’.
Aside from that interaction and absentmindedly sipping her wine, Frosta remained standing still close to the wall like an ice sculpture that was part of the decor. Tobias stood next to her, remarking here and there about the guests in attendance of the gathering — something Frosta greatly appreciated. She just listened and nodded in agreement every few minutes.
“And I personally think we shouldn’t anticipate for any of the werewolf clan leaders to show up. They are busy this time of year, or so I heard–”
“Please hold that thought, Tobias. I’d like to tell you something,” Frosta interrupted her friend. “I want to thank you. For being here. I don’t know how else I could survive this night without you.”
“You know I’ll always be there to help you out. That’s what friends – and butlers – are for,” he paused for a second. A bright smile stretched across his face. “And you also know I love coming to these gatherings.”
His enthusiasm wasn’t lost on Frosta. “I know,” she replied with a grin. “That’s why I’ve been hiding in my palace and sending you to the last five instead of attending myself.”
Tobias chuckled, “That you did. And I love you for it.”
As time passed into the late hours of the night, the spacious room started getting more crowded as more and more leaders of realms and their entourage poured in. Even though she wasn’t a fan of these kinds of meetings, Frosta couldn’t deny the High Council had outdone themselves for the Winter Solstice Gathering. The location – the top floor of the High Council Headquarters – was simply stunning. A soft hue of atmospheric lighting was created by what seemed to be unlimited number of candles floating through the hall, along with the glass roof that let in the light of tonight’s stars.
・
“I am so glad you were able to come with us, Melisande.” Aurel sighed in relief when they reached the top of the stairs. Already she could hear the mumbling of everybody behind the grand doors at the end of the hallway.
“Don’t thank me just yet. I know this is your first solstice gathering, but I think you’ll find these to be quite energy-draining.” Melisande supplied, that infamous wise twinkle in her eyes. A look that usually calmed Aurel because Melisande was queen of the elves and knew what to do. Now, Aurel was queen and suddenly not so sure what to do. If anything, it felt like anxiety was eating her alive.
“That’s why I brought Sylvar. He can take my place to talk to realm-leaders when I want to leave.”
A noise of protest left Sylvar’s mouth, “What? You never said that! I don’t want to be left behind with these stuck-up creatures.”
Sylvar frowned and folded his arms across his chest. Aurel chuckled, “Relax. We all know you’re just here to see Gideon.”
To that, Sylvar had no rebuttal. He wasn’t one to deny the truth.
As they neared the doors, two footmen opened the heavy wooden doors and bowed politely as Aurel and her friends passed. The group ended up at the top of the staircase overlooking the enormous room. Below, guests were engaged in small talk. The official part of the gathering was still a little less than an hour away. A perfect timeframe for Aurel’s anxiety to peak. Melisande had taught her so much about royal etiquette, yet her mind seemed blank. White noise prevalent over all the chatting.
“Hey,” Sylvar said in a serious tone. Aurel turned to look at him. He grabbed her hands and squeezed encouragingly. “You will do great. These people here are privileged to be graced with the presence of the elf queen. Plus, as you so-graciously commented, I will be at your side the entire meeting to take your place the moment you feel like leaving.”
A faint smile appeared on Aurel’s face. She looked at Melisande, then back at Sylvar. “Thank you both for your kind words. I’m still as nervous as I was before, but I like to know I’m not alone.”
“Come, let’s meet some of the guests. I’m sure there are some nice ones out there.” Sylvar joked. Aurel didn’t laugh like she usually would but showed a tight-lipped smile instead, fueled by her skyrocketing nervousness as the three of them descended the stairs to mingle with the attendees.
The moment they took a few steps into the crowd, Sylvar’s attention was immediately focused on something – no, someone – else. The elves saw a creature walking in their direction who bowed upon reaching them.
“Queen of the Elves Aurel, pleasure to make your acquaintance,” the man said. “Oh, just call me Aurel. Pleased to meet you too, Gideon of Genezijde. I have heard much about you.”
“Only good things I hope.”
“I’d say so. Sylvar can’t stop talking about you.”
Then, Gideon went on to greet Melisande before his eyes landed on the male elf. Sylvar and Gideon stared at each other for a few seconds, before Melisande coughed in an exaggerated manner.
“You may be excused, Sylvar.” Aurel said jokingly, even though she was serious when saying Sylvar was allowed to leave. She didn’t need to be present if all they were going to do was stare lovingly into each other’s eyes for the rest of the night.
As Gideon and Sylvar took off to do whatever, Melisande and Aurel began walking around the room. On their way they stopped to have a few polite chats with leaders of various realms or members of their entourage. Aurel found she particularly enjoyed talking to the leaders’ counsellors as she’d been one herself before being crowned queen. A few creatures asked her about her sister Keelin and the other members of Night Watch. Strolling around the room and pausing every few minutes to have a conversation thankfully eased Aurel’s nerves a bit. At least enough to not get sick of worry before the actual gathering started. Besides talking to others, Melisande often pointed out some of the leaders in attendance and told Aurel all about them to prepare talking points if they happened to come across them.
Just then, Aurel noticed somebody on the other side of the room who she’d never heard about or seen before “Who is she?” Aurel asked. Melisande followed her gaze until her eyes landed upon somebody standing by the wall who she hadn’t seen in years. A certain snow queen who tended to shy away from public appearances.
Suddenly, Aurel’s question disappeared from her mind, “Please excuse me.”
Before the elf queen could say anything, Melisande wandered off and vanished in the sea of attendees. Aurel was sure Melisande knew where she was going so the queen shrugged then walked away to find the buffet. She had been dying to taste snacks from the other realms anyway.
・
As Frosta spotted the former elf queen coming her way, she motioned for Tobias to come closer. When he noticed Melisande as well, his eyes grew wide. He’d been Frosta’s friend for over seven years at this point and Frosta could tell he recalled her and Melisande’s history she had told him about as the woman came near.
“Give us a minute, please.” Frosta told Tobias, her gaze solely focused on Melisande.
“Just yell my name and I’ll be right there.” Tobias whispered in response. He left her side but stopped for a second to bow for Melisande as they passed each other. Melisande nodded in politeness but didn’t say a word. She, too, was focused on the person opposite her, completely taken in by her beauty.
Finally standing in front of each other with less than half a metre between them, it seemed like the rest of the world faded away. The two women only had eyes for each other.
After a minute spent in mesmerising silence, Melisande gathered all of her courage to speak up, “Dinner isn’t planned to start for another half an hour, so would you like to step outside for some fresh air?”
“Yes please.” Frosta replied, sounding more brave than she felt. She looked at Melisande like she was a knight in shining armour who rescued her from this suffocating evening. On the inside, Frosta was shaking to the bone with butterflies erupting in her stomach the moment Melisande brushed her hand against hers when she passed Frosta on their way to the balcony.
From the balcony they were able to see the courtyard down below and further away, the long driveway lined by trees. Melisande remembers the exact day she rode a carriage down that same driveway, a little over two decades ago. It was the day she arrived at the High Council’s summer solstice gathering and had ungracefully stumbled out of the carriage to escape the blistering heat inside the moment she’d been able to, only to be greeted by the most lovely voice asking her if she was alright, after the fall she took.
One part of Melisande had been burning in shame that somebody noticed her blunder, another part of her had been blushing like crazy because of who she just met.
The young woman had reached out a hand to Melisande, which the queen took with all the grace she could muster, as if to prove she could be elegant. As if to prove she wasn’t planning on making it a habit to nearly fall into the arms of attractive women.
For the rest of the evening Melisande and the other woman had stayed together and took the time to get to know each other. As it turned out the elf queen hadn’t been the only one struggling with the heat. Frosta, the young snow queen, wasn’t a fan of summer either. It was one of the first things they bonded over.
During future gatherings, the two queens didn’t stray from each other’s side, often pointing out the ridiculous efforts some leaders made to show off to the highest ranking creatures.
Truly an activity Melisande mourned the loss of. She’d tried doing it on her own at the last couple of gatherings and would sometimes even imagine what Frosta would say if she were to be by her side, but it wasn’t the same. These days, Frosta usually kept to her icy landscape and avoided gatherings while Melisande retired from being queen and was now living a less hectic life than she used to.
Melisande turned her head away from the view to look at Frosta standing next to her instead. Frosta looked at the elf at the same time. Her hand, which was placed on the ledge, slowly inched closer to where Melisande’s. Both briefly glanced at their hands when their pinky fingers touched, followed by a blush creeping up on their necks and cheeks.
“I won’t bother with the pleasantries, if you don’t mind.” Frosta said with a small smile, indicating she’d like to go back to their behaviour of the older days. “I don’t mind at all. We’ve never done those before, not even when we met, so I don’t see why we should start now?” Melisande replied , sharing the same feelings about wanting to go back to the ways this were .
Frosta decided to be blunt, “Well, we haven’t seen each other in… a while.”
Melisande looked away. She knew Frosta was speaking the truth and it was high time they talked about it.
“I don’t blame you.” both spoke at the same time.
“What?” Frosta said immediately after. Melisande repeated her statement, “I don’t blame you. And I don’t blame myself either. We both were swept away by royal duties and though it was so agonisingly lonely, it was during that period of time I realised I want to be with you. Forever. Or for however long you will have me.”
“I… I don’t know what to say. I mean, yes, I want to be with you. Forever. Forever long I can be. Though you must know, I blame myself. I was mistaken to leave you by yourself the last couple of years. It mustn't have happened and when I understood that…” Frosta took a deep breath. “When I realised that, I was too stubborn to admit that I was wrong. And not a day goes by that I don’t regret it. I know now I should’ve gone back to you. You deserved better and I let you down.”
Melisande was stunned. This outpour of emotions was rare. It was unlike the Frosta she knew before, but it had become clear from today’s interactions that Frosta was more in touch with her feelings this time. Unlike the last time they were together.
“As I said, I don’t blame you one bit, Frosta. I love you and that will never change. You weren’t the only one who felt like they made a mistake. It took me a long time to see that, too. I thought I was weak, but I’m not. Not anymore, at least. And you helped me see that, even when you were on the other side of the Underworld. We both needed to seek ourselves and get better. And we are better. Better now. I’m better now that I’m here with you.” Melisande finished. For a few seconds, Frosta stayed silent as she tried to put her response in words.
“I agree. I am a better person because of it and because of you.” Frosta replied, looking down to hopefully avoid Melisande seeing her blushing.
After that, the two women were left standing in a comfortable silence on the balcony. Frosta took both of Melisande’s hands into hers and looked her in the eye, “I want to be with you. With all my heart.”
“And I want to be with you. With all my heart.”
They stepped closer and pressed their foreheads together. “I love you.” “I love you too.”
“I wish we could stay like this for at least another hour.” Melisande laughed.
“I know, right? So sad we have to attend the gathering.” Frosta replied in the same light tone.
“Well, you have to. I am no longer a queen. I have no obligations. I’m just here for the free food.” Melisande replied cheekily.
“That’s not true.” Frosta said.
“No, it’s not. I have to stay. I have a duty to fulfil. A good one, this time.”
“I like you being a mentor to the queen much more than being the actual queen.” Melisande chuckled in response, “I do too.”
It took a few more minutes of silence before anyone, Frosta in this case, spoke up again. “You know, I was thinking,”
“Hm?”
“Now that you’re officially retired as queen of the elves, maybe when you have completed your tasks as mentor or if you ever need a break you could come see my new palace? I built it myself, you know.”
“I still have a lot of things to teach Aurel about being queen–”
“I know. And I would never ask you to abandon those duties. I know how important those are to you. But when– if you ever feel up to it, my door is always open. Just like my heart.” Frosta said with a playful look.
“Cheeseball.”
“I know. It’s why you love me.”
“That I won’t disagree with.” Melisande declared.
The remaining time left until the actual gathering was spent reminiscing about the past solstices and making plans for the future. It wasn’t until just before the bell signalling the start of the gathering rung, that they kissed.
“Let’s get inside. I can’t let Tobias do all the negotiating.” Frosta mumbled. Melisande pressed a chaste kiss to Frosta’s lips. “Yes, we better go. Can’t let Aurel get overwhelmed by the demanding members of the council. I don’t get why they have to attend the gathering anyway.”
In the end, the two women were only a few minutes late as they took their seats next to each other at the long table to discuss trades, alliances and regulations across the realms. It might’ve been the most boring gathering yet, but at least they had each other and a happy future to look forward to.