CHAPTER TEN
THE NORTH POLE, GRAND BALLROOM
The spectators applauded and cheered as the walls of the courtroom burst into sparkling glitter and dissolved, revealing a glorious, golden ballroom.
An elven orchestra swung Christmas classics from a stage across the great hall, while enchanted snow fell from the cathedral ceiling, disappearing before it touched the ground.
The Christmas Court judges were nodding and shaking hands as the Yule Cat stalked out of the room, to the obvious relief of everyone.
In the center of the great hall was the biggest Christmas tree Avery had ever seen.
Parked next to it was a red wooden sleigh.
She’d seen that sleigh before.
“Ho, ho, ho! I knew you could do it!” Avery turned to see Santa emerge from the cheering crowd. The real Santa. Her Santa. The one she’d known since she was a baby.
Avery ran to him and threw herself into his outstretched arms, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Oh, Avery, I’m so sorry,” he said, patting her shoulders.
“To take on this job, the magic requires a test that truly challenges your understanding of Christmas and your commitment to its spirit. Your understanding was so deep, your commitment so true, this was the only thing for it. I hope you’ll forgive our ruse. I never doubted you for a moment.”
“You have no idea how glad I am to see you,” she said, reluctantly ending their hug.
“You have no idea how glad I am to see you,” Santa softly insisted.
Avery saw Louis desperately trying to navigate the crowd that had formed between them. “Avery,” he gasped. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“Consider us even,” she said, raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms.
“Please know that I never wanted to go along with this in the first place,” Louis insisted, with a sidelong glance to Santa. “But it was the only way. And the stakes were never meant to be so high. I never dreamed in a million years that Avery Hoarfrost could…”
Louis took her hands.
“Losing Christmas, those memories with your family, that was already asking too much.
You were never supposed to be risking this," he said, squeezing her hands, "on top of all that.
" He shook his head. “If you need space to sort all this out, or if you simply never want to speak again, I completely un—”
Avery put a finger to Louis’ lips.
“Please don’t finish that thought,” she said quietly.
He exhaled hard. The color returned to his face.
Avery brushed her finger across his cheek. “I couldn’t bear the thought of forgetting you.”
Louis wrapped his arms around Avery and pulled her into a hug. “But how did you solve it?” he asked quietly, still holding her tight.
“I knew something was wrong the minute I met your fake Santa,” she said, pulling out of his arms and gesturing at the man walking toward them through the crowd.
“But I didn’t piece it together until after we—” Blushing, she took his hand.
“He said that there were no more Christmas miracles. But this, you and me,” she said, as the skin where their hands touched began to glow, “it’s all quite miraculous, as you keep saying. ”
Louis kissed her hand.
“And why would you have bothered recruiting me and testing me if you wanted someone who was willing to immediately throw everything they knew about Christmas out the window? Not to mention,” Avery said loudly, turning to the false Santa Claus who had joined the group, “you never gave me a present when we met.”
“Terribly rude of me, I do apologize for the breach in etiquette,” he insisted, reaching out to shake Avery’s hand.
“I’m Stephen. Santa’s current lawyer. I didn’t believe a single thing I said in that meeting room, and it absolutely killed me to say them out loud, especially to you, Ms. Hoarfrost. I do hope that you’ll give me the opportunity to make a second first impression. ”
He produced a small gift box, which Avery opened. A miniature mechanical cardinal, studded with rubies, launched from the box. It swooped along her cheek, gathered a few loose strands of hair, clipped them in its tiny talons, and secured itself firmly to the side of her head.
Avery could only smile, speechless, still not immune to the wondrous nature of the gifts she’d been given.
“And I believe this is for you, Santa,” Stephen said, reaching into his jacket pocket. He produced the present Avery had given him earlier that day.
Santa looked up at Avery and smiled as he opened it. Inside was a small, framed photo of Avery, her mom, and Santa. Avery was four years old, dressed in red velvet, sitting on Santa’s lap at the Candle Emporium. He hadn’t aged a day.
To Avery’s surprise, Santa’s eyes began to shimmer. Tears began to fall down his cheeks. He didn’t wipe them away.
“You look so much like her,” he said quietly.
Avery paused.
Santa sniffed. “This is for you, my dear. Merry Christmas.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, wrapped box.
She unwrapped it to find a candle made of golden wax in a glass jar. The label across the front said “Avery.” She took off the lid and inhaled: it smelled like molasses, coffee, and freshly baked caramel corn. Her perfume.
“How?” she asked, astonished.
“Louis came to me this morning, completely out of sorts,” Santa explained.
“He said he had just encountered the most intoxicating thing. The scent was lingering on his suit. He asked me how he could preserve it. And, as you know, candles are a specialty of mine. So, I captured it and made one for him. It seemed only fitting that you should have one, too.”
Louis turned to her, bashful. “I—hope that’s not strange. I needed something to remember you by, in case you chose to leave.”
Avery squeezed his hand. “I think it’s wonderful,” she said.
“And it’s an excellent start to your legacy,” Santa said.
“Quite,” Stephen agreed, nodding alongside him.
“My legacy?” Avery asked, putting the lid back on the candle.
“Ah, yes,” Louis said, stepping in. “There’s one more thing we haven’t been entirely straightforward about.”
Avery gave him a pointed look.
He shielded himself with his hands, ducking slightly. “I know, I know, but I promise this is the last one. It's, erm, regarding the nature of the job you’ve been interviewing for.”
Ander arrived with a tray of champagne flutes filled with swirling, sparkling liquid, Gregory waddling beside him. Tilly joined them, swiping a glass from the platter and handing it to Avery with a wink before taking one for herself.
“You are, of course, more than welcome to join the legal team and succeed Stephen as our North Pole General Counsel and Special Advisor to Santa, if that’s what you’d like,” Louis explained. “But the job you were interviewing for was—”
“Mine,” Santa said, putting a hand on Avery’s shoulder.
She gasped. A vibrating pulse of energy, unlike anything she’d felt before, rocked through her body. An explosion of glitter burst from her core into a shimmering cloud around her, sweeping down her body and transforming her green suit into a golden, glittering gown.
Avery looked down at her sparkling form, mystified. “What did you—”
“Oh, ho, ho,” Santa laughed, putting a hand to his heart. “That was you, Avery. Or should I say, that was Christmas Magic working through you. My word. Sometimes it has a mind of its own, doesn’t it?” Santa said, nodding at Louis.
Louis was leaning on Tilly for support, hand over his mouth, stunned into silence.
A giant green cluster of mistletoe hung in the air over Louis’ head. It was rapidly expanding. Tilly had to duck.
Santa cleared his throat, and Louis jumped, hitting his head on the mass of green shoots replicating above him, swatting them away.
“Part of my job is to ensure the continuity of Christmas,” Santa explained, turning back to Avery.
“I’ve been scouting for a successor for the last three hundred years.
I brought Louis on board about a century ago to help me with the search after I had begun to lose hope that anyone suitable would ever come along.
It was only when he introduced me to your grandmother, Jane, that I saw the potential for change. ”
Avery froze. “My—huh?”
“Louis identified Jane Hoarfrost as a candidate back in 1950 when she organized a Christmas parade in your hometown. A magnificent event. They were looking for a Santa, and Louis arranged for me to take part. She had me arrive at the parade by train. The Santa Express, they called it.” Santa stared into the distance for a moment.
“She even had a mechanic put wheels on my sleigh, so my reindeer could pull me down the street. Thousands of people came to enjoy it. She was responsible for spreading so much joy to so many. She truly embodied the Christmas spirit.”
Avery remembered hearing about her grandmother’s Christmas parade when she was growing up. She’d seen photos, but she’d never considered how much work that must have taken, and what a splash she must have made to get noticed by the real Santa. She shook her head, trying to take it all in.
“She had so much natural talent. So much spirit. But, sadly, after spending some time with us, it was clear that she would never be able to wield the magic on her own—not the way one must in order to do the job.”
This information had Avery staggering back. Louis, who had regained his composure, stood by her side, a firm hand on her lower back, steadying her.
“Grandma was here? In the North Pole?”
“Oh yes. For about a month, wasn’t it, Louis? She opted to go home. She wanted to start a family.”
“She left a sweater in her locker, I think,” Louis added.
Avery thought back to the engraved nameplate above the locker in the changing room: Hoarfrost.
“You—knew my grandmother?” Avery asked Louis, astounded.
Louis gave her a small, sad smile. “Yes, but—I don’t think she remembered me,” he explained.
“Oh my god,” Avery gasped. “Her memories.”
She looked askance at Santa. “But wait. Grandma loved Christmas. How?”
“Like any mortal who leaves here, we tried to wipe her mind,” Santa said. “But her memories put up a fight.”