I don’t make it far, though, because there in the courtyard, moonlight catches on a towering block of ice. Behind the shining wall, familiar wolven eyes stare back.
“Looking good, Mika,” I grin. “The frosted tips suit you. Brings out your eyes.”
He huffs foggy breath at the barrier. I chuckle, relieved to see him safe, though I trusted Talvie to take care of him.
Another block stands nearby. “Who’s your friend?” The smaller fenriswulf inside glares, like I’ve insulted its entire family line. “I see Talvie’s royal deep-freeze special is gaining popularity. Better view than a dungeon cell, at least.”
From here, they can watch the well-dressed revel-goers coming and going, all while showing there’s nothing to fear. “Clever, Talvie,” I mutter. Pride blooms in my chest that Mika was brave enough for this display. I clap a hand against the icy surface while Hugo chitters impatiently.
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go find our girl.”
I follow the music spilling out into the night, kanteles thrumming. Inside, silver lanterns cast shifting patterns over marble floors veined with icy blue, and up flowering columns to where enchanted crystals drift above dancers.
I’m sorely underdressed in Ludo’s spare tunic, but at least I don’t smell of the road anymore. Point Fae glitter in fabrics I’ve never seen and even scattered Wilder folk in traditional dressare fancier than me. The air hums with magic and life, dazzling enough to push the weariness from my bones.
“Daunting,” I mutter. Hugo grunts agreement before squeaking a warning.
A blur of crimson hair shoots from the crowd and slams into me. Helkki in a fancy dress. With flowers in her hair. Who got Hellion to sit long enough for that? All I care about is how solid she feels as I squeeze her.
“Look, Lark,” she shouts, arms flung wide. “We got a castle!”
“Not bad for a band of misfits, huh?”
She beams, then races off into the crowd before I can ask where the others are. A silver glow slips between dancers, saving me from having to go looking.
“Lumi.”
Hugo chirps a greeting. The little moon is as bright as the one high in the sky, and her voice carries like a bell. “Lark has returned. Lumi knew.”
“Missed you, too, Lumi.” I laugh.
Without another word, she spins and streaks away, a silver comet through the crowd. There’s only one place she’ll be headed, and my heart draws me after her.
The crowd ripples and parts. Then there she is.
The Princess of the Hinterlands—radiant as winter itself, in a gown embroidered with silver and ice blue crystals, shimmering like fresh snow—turns and sees me. The tiara in her iridescent hair throws light kissed by magic, but it’s her eyes that captivate me. They find me at once, brightening as if the world has narrowed to just us.
A startled, joyful squawk escapes her, completely at odds with the dignified setting, and I barely have time to open my arms before she barrels into me.
“You’re back!” Her smile consumes me. “I missed you.”
“Sorry I’m late,kulta.”
“You’re just in time.”
Whispers rise around us, but they fade to nothing when she draws me into a kiss. She loves me, and we’re together again. That’s all that matters.
“I missed you, too.”
Her fingers twine with mine, tugging me through revelers and down a lantern-lit path into the gardens where ice sculptures blaze. Wolves prowl beside reindeer, swans glide across frozen ponds, and flowers bloom in translucent crystal, all lit by colorful charms. It looks like Queen Taynia had some help this time from a certain Ice Princess. But they’re not as beautiful as the vision standing in front of me.
Talvie draws me into a quiet alcove and another claiming kiss.
“Welcome home,” she whispers.
“Home,” I echo, because that’s where I am, here in her arms. I ask about the others, and she updates me on their whereabouts: the twins and Hellion raiding the buffet, Katja up in the nursery to check on Eevi, Aili last seen smiling with Queen Taynia.
I clutch my chest. “No. Grumpy was smiling?”
