A little girl’s face dropped before mine, tilting as if to get a better look. Brown waves cascaded, obscuring part of her features, yet her golden eyes gleamed with mischief. Icy flecks danced within her gaze as she giggled again, then straightened. I tracked the motion, mesmerized as she twirled, her fluffy pale blue dress swirling around her. Frost cascaded from her like a gentle snowfall, scattering in all directions.
I was dreaming.
Or dead.
That was a definite a possibility.
“It’s… it’s still… dark,” I mumbled, gaze fixed on the starless sky.
The twin moons vanished too, leaving nothing but a void above. Yet I could see everything with clarity as if they were both full and vivid.
“Oh, but it’s morning!”
She laughed, her cheeks rosy with warmth while I shivered blue with cold. She crouched in front of me, her eyes sparkling.
“I always run away when Loth comes out. She’s too bright and scary.” She scrunched up her face as if recalling something distasteful. “But once night ends and morning arrives, Papa says I can do as I wish!”
“Papa?”
The cold didn’t seem to touch her. She twirled and leaped around the courtyard, her movements light and joyous.
“Nothar! Don’t you know anything?”
The girl laughed again, but it faded when she noticed Adastrus. She approached him, her curiosity piqued, and circled him like a cat inspecting a new toy.
Nothar was a god… wasn’t he? The one that Gilead served? None of this made sense. I’d never seen this girl before, yet she acted as though she owned the castle. Her confidence and ease felt out of place in this cold, desolate courtyard.
She stopped behind Adastrus, peering at me with bright, curious eyes. “Oh! You really don’t know?” After another giggle, she skipped over and dipped into a curtsy. “I’m Nellie!”
With a spin, she kicked her leg out above me. Her hair splayed, giving her an ethereal, fairy-like appearance.
“Goddess, actually. I told you, silly. My papa is Nothar. You know, God of Snow and Cold?”
If I could feel any colder, I would have.
I was definitely dead—gone beyond the Veil.
“You’re not dead, chicken.” Nellie clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle her mirth. “I found you two! You’ve got my papa in you, otherwise you wouldn’t see me.”
Was she saying Nothar was my father? None of this made sense.
“You’re royalty, chicken.” She settled outside my circle, staring at her feet. Her bare toes, warm and toasty, wiggled as if she were on a sunny beach in Landing’s End. “You’re part of my papa’s line. That’s why we can see and talk to each other!”
If only I could get my mouth to move.
“Oh, let me help you!”
Nellie tapped a single finger against the ice ring encircling me. Frost flared out, spreading like delicate tendrils on a windowpane. An unfamiliar sensation crept through my body—uncomfortable yet oddly soothing. The biting chill dissipated from my skin and limbs. While warmth didn’t replace it, and my bones still ached, I wiggled my fingers, marveling at the sudden ease of movement, free of pain.
Cautiously, and under the watchful gaze of Nellie’s twinkling eyes, I sat upright. Apparently, I was not frozen to the ground, and my skin was pale blue, not blackened or broken.
“See? Now I won’t have to look into your soul.”
That wasn’t disturbing at all.
“My name is Elspeth.” I spoke slowly, testing out the movement of my lips. They were numb and dry, but no longer painful or splitting.
“Oh! Ellie! Like my name!”
