Mirror, Mirror

2.22 Team

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Frostine. She was the smartest girl in the world. 

❖

As soon as Starla stepped into the room, she felt she didn't belong.

It was the night of the Send-Off Ceremony. People recognized her immediately, and they looked at her with open hostility and dismissiveness. She lifted her chin indignantly, ignoring their looks. She wasn't here for them, anyway. She was here for Rayvin. Fuck that noise, as he would say.

She made her rounds of the room, wanting to scope out threats before Rayvin got here. Ideally, everyone would accept Rayvin the way she accepted him. They accepted Crystallia, after all. Well, tolerated. Enough so to be OK with her being a teacher at the Academy.

But Rayvin was the Ice Princess. Starla knew rather intimately how narrow-minded of expectations people could thrust upon their beloved Ice Princess, as progressive as they were on other things as a society. And they were already upset about the mix-up with Starla. How much more could they take?

And then there was the King. As Starla turned a corner, she took note of the place he would be sitting today, along with the rest of the royal family. He wasn't there yet, instead socializing with the rest of the people. The table was close to the front of the room. Starla worried that that would make Rayvin anxious. Would the King accept Rayvin, his long-lost "daughter"? Or would this be just a bridge too far?

If things went wrong, Starla would do whatever she could to protect him. He might have ice magic, but he was nowhere near as skilled at her in combat in defense, even after a year of training.

She would protect him. She would. This was his choice, to come out now, and she would honor that. She knew she couldn't change his mind, and she shouldn't, anyway.

More than once, Starla tried to approach the cousins. They were still mad at her, and they made that clear. She retreated.

As the room filled out with more and more people, Starla became increasingly anxious. She snacked and sipped drinks, avoided conversation, and fidgeted with her gloves. She kept glancing at herself in the reflection of her wineglass, in the mirrors in the hallways, checking to make sure she still looked radiant, or at least more radiant than she felt.

She noted how packed it was in here. Normally, these types of ceremonies took place outside in the big amphitheater where they could easily fit everyone. However, with the freezing temperatures, they simply had to do it inside. Not for long, though! Rayvin would go on his journey and save them all. Soon the Winter weather would abate again, and people would be able to go outside like before. Starla wondered how it was for the older people who had lived through multiple generations of Ice Princesses and had seen Winter come and go many times. Did this make them nervous the same way as everyone else, or was it just another Winter?

Then, a hush fell over the crowd and the lights dimmed. Starla's attention snapped to the stage, internally cursing that she'd ended up near the back of the room. The black, velvet curtains parted, and... there he was.

She'd already seen him in the suit that she'd made him, but her heart still skipped a beat. He wore the traditional white, head-to-toe, but in a blazer, shirt, and pants rather than a dress. Instead of the traditional glass heels, he wore sturdy white boots. He also wore a sparkling silver cape, which draped across his shoulders. Starla hadn't been happy about the haircut she'd given him, but in the glow of the stage light it looked good. Starla felt an odd surge of pride and affection.

At first, hushed confusion rippled through the crowd. Starla heard someone whisper "Where's the Ice Princess? Who's that?" next to her.

"Hi— hi everyone," Rayvin said meekly, clearing his throat. "Oh wow. There are a lot of people here. Hi." He blanched. Anxiously, Starla started pushing through the crowd to get closer to the stage. People shot her unfriendly looks, and she shot them back with twice as much ferocity.