Chapter 33
Lark
They should be here by now. For the tenth time, I wander to the edge of the festival to scan in the inn's direction, but there’s nothing but frosty awnings and stragglers making their way toward the noise and bustle of Ylvara’s town square.
She said they’d be right behind us.
Now the stage is ready, the props are in place, and Katja is trying to charm the mule into not sitting down mid-scene again. And still no sign of Val and Aili. Where are they?
Worst-case scenarios and worries play through my mind before I close that door.
Aili probably lost her shoes or had a full-blown wardrobe meltdown.
I’d worry more about Grumpy’s tantrums if Val hadn’t proved time and time again that she can handle things with the kids.
I can trust her. She’s better with Aili than I am.
They’ll be here. The knot in my chest might nag at me, but I have to focus on making this play a success, on reaching the queen’s frozen heart so that Val—no, Princess Talvie—can go home where she belongs.
Juani’s balancing on a crate he’s definitely not supposed to stand on. Helkki is crouched over I-don’t-want-to-know-what, and Johannes is arguing with Mikael about his entrance timing. I should be focused on fixing all of it and making sure everything goes perfectly, but my mind is stuck on her.
I can’t help remembering the way she looked in the glasshouse last night.
It was our first chance to sneak away since the day we had the cottage to ourselves, and my body goes hot at the memory.
We haven’t been able to keep our hands off each other since that day, but a busy, crowded cottage means it never gets much past scorching kisses and wandering hands, cut off far too quickly in those stolen moments.
When she had to run to the glasshouse for the evening watering, I jumped at the chance to accompany her.
The kids had all eaten, the little ones already asleep, so I could afford to slip away.
I intended to tell her about my magic’s mirror ability and admit I know the truth about her.
But with how her face glowed in the low light of the glasshouse, joy flushing her cheeks at being among flowering, growing things, I couldn’t find the words.
Then she set down the watering cans and kissed me.
Before I knew it, she frosted the lower windows for privacy, and we came together with a desperation I’ve never known before.
We had to be quick, so it was hands and mouths and mutual pleasure, and it was still enough to leave my heart thumping, my soul torn open, and that gut-wrenching knowing in my heart that I’m only just finding something I need to survive, but am destined to lose.
I got lost in the warmth of her hands and the way she uttered my name. We both ended up with dirty knees and breathless laughs, but I’ve never felt more whole than I did as we ran out of there holding hands and giggling when Ludo came to investigate the suddenly frosty windows.
I want to give her the truth, now more than ever.
Maybe even more than I to feel her around me one more time.
To find the perfection I felt in filling her, like I was carving out a home for myself.
To see the special smile she wears after she falls apart, the one that’s sated and shattered at the same time.
But mostly, I want her here, now, for this moment. I want to give her back the family she lost when Queen Taynia locked herself away from her stepdaughter. I want Princess Talvie to have everything she deserves…and more. Even if it means leaving me behind.
Katja appears at my side. “Still no sign of them?”
I shake my head, sharing the worry in her voice.
“Want me to fly back there and find them?”
“You can’t,” I say, even as my heart shouts yes. “The queen will be here any—”
A sharp intake of breath and voices interrupt me.
The crowd gathered for the performance ripples and surges as villagers shuffle to clear a path for the royal entourage spilling into the square.
Rustling velvet and clanking armor accompany Point Fae nobles and guards, fanning out with practiced precision to reveal the figure at their centre.
The queen is here.
“It’s time,” I tell Kat, lifting my hand and sending sparks into the air to signal the troupe and our helpers. “If we try to delay, we’ll lose the queen, and she’s the whole point of this thing. We’ll just have to adjust.”
If this insane, love-addled play can reach whatever sliver of warmth might still live in that frostbitten woman’s chest, we have to try. For Talvie’s sake.
If it works, if we thaw her heart, maybe the princess gets her stepmother back.
She can go back to her real life, where she doesn’t have to fight for survival every day.
She can fulfill the role she’s meant to, where she can make a difference.
The Hinterlands deserves to have its princess back, and Talvie deserves the life to which she was born.
Which is not this little pretend life with me. No matter how much it hurts, she was never mine to keep. But I can leave her with this gift…as long as this works.
A blur of movement cuts through the crowd. A cabbage sash flutters behind the frantic figure who barrels into me.
“Lark!” Aili is red-cheeked and out of breath. “She’s gone! Val’s gone!”
Katja gasps. My own lungs spasm.
“What do you mean, gone?” I crouch to grasp Aili’s tiny shoulders.
“The queen—she cursed her!”
The words hit like a blow. “What? Where is she? Show me!”
“You cannot go to her. Not yet.” The disembodied voice stops me cold.
From behind Aili’s back, a soft glow gathers, and Lumi rises to hover between us. I toss the illusion of a curtain around us, hiding the moon from any onlookers.
“Lumi? What happened? I have to go to her.” My pulse is wild with the need.
Lumi’s glow thrums. “There is nothing you can do except what you are already doing. We will need the queen’s help. Only she can break the curse. If you abandon this now, you will lose her forever.”
I grip my hair with both hands. “I can’t just stand here—”
“You must,” Lumi says. “The story must play out. Let Taynia’s heart be moved, and the rest will follow.”
I stare at the moon, stunned, then turn back to Aili. “What happened? Start from the beginning.”
The other kids join us, curious about the delay and the secretive curtain.
Aili wipes her nose, her eyes shining. “Val told me to hide when the man came. She made me swear not to leave the cupboard, but I heard them talking. I could tell he scared her. She f-felt sad…I didn’t want her to be alone when she was scared and sad.
So I snuck out even though I wasn’t supposed to, and I—I followed them. ” Her lip trembles.
“You’re not in trouble,” I soothe. “You’re so brave.”
She nods, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.
“He t-t-took her to a pond. And the queen was there with more scary men. I hid in some bushes. But I saw the queen…She took Val’s necklace—the one with the stone where Lumi hides—and she threw it in the pond!
And then Val turned into the princess from my coloring pages. ”
Confused murmurs ripple through the kids, but Mikael stiffens. Katja gasps again. Their eyes flick to Lumi, then to me.
We’ve all seen the stacks of flyers with Princess Talvie’s face on them, and the reward for her return.
No time to explain.
“Then what, Aili?”
“The queen was so mean. She made Val—or, I mean, she made the princess drink a bad potion. She had all these big icicles, and she forced her to drink. I wanted to help, but I…I was so scared,” she whispers. “I couldn’t move.”
Tears spill down her round cheeks, and I wipe them away. “You did the right thing, sweetheart. She wanted you to hide and stay safe, just like you did. And you’re here now.”
Aili sniffles a few times before finishing.
“The princess went all stiff and weird, and now she’s frozen in the pond.
I stayed in the bushes until they all left, then I crawled out to see.
I couldn’t melt it. I tried.” She pauses again while I rub her back.
“Th-the n-necklace was there. It floated into some reeds, and I…I used fire magic to melt it out. Then Lumi came out of her stone.”
“The little one was very brave,” Lumi says softly. “We could not free Valkie, and I urged the little one to run when we heard guards returning. We took a circuitous path back to town to find you.”
I hug Aili close while she sniffles against my chest. “You did so well, Aili. And you too, Lumi. Thank you.”
Lumi rotates slowly in the air. “You must finish what you started. Reach Queen Taynia’s heart. Let the story guide her. It is the only hope.”
I rise, my chest tight. Around me, the kids are wide-eyed and shaken.
Helkki is the first to speak. “What does she mean, Val turned into the princess?”
Wary looks all around tell me what I need to do. Hugo squeaks a word of encouragement from my pocket.
“She’s still Val,” I say, trying to hold them steady.
“No matter what she looks like, she’s still the girl who helped you learn lines, and made Karelian pies with us.
She’s the same girl who talked books with Kat, and brought interesting tea blends for Mika, and held Eevi when that storm shook the cottage.
She helped you boys with your homework and showed Hellion how to roll snow cones, and now she needs us. All of us.”
Katja’s chin lifts. “Then we finish the play.”
Mika nods. “For Val.”
One by one, the others raise their heads and nod their agreement. Even Aili pulls herself up with a big sniff. Lumi vanishes back into the necklace, which I drop into my pocket.
“Hang on, kulta,” I whisper. “We’re coming for you.”
“Wait. What about Val’s role?” Johannes asks nervously.
“You’ll have to play Lena.”
He groans.
Juani smirks. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you with the wig.”
“That’s not the problem!” Helkki stage-whispers. “Lena enters with the mule. And Tahto only listens to Val!”