The Tale of the Winter King and the Spring Queen

Chapter 2

They say if you dig a hole in a frozen lake, you can't trust it to be stable once it freezes back over.

That's how It was for Douma with each passing transition of winter into spring. His palace melted with the increasing heat, forcing him to only join Kotoha in the evenings and mornings before going to the realm of the dead.

His heart would refreeze over and over again,

Each laugh or smile thrown his way, a crack to his heart.

The day his heart couldn't take it anymore was the day he began planning.

—
Akaza would go to the heavenly realm, joining his fellow assistant gods for a time.

Douma doesn't go to the heavenly realm often, knowing his presence along with Yoriichi would put the delicate balance of the world out of tilt.

He does go for one thing.

He had made an order from the gods of blacksmithing. He had been told to stay far from their ever-heated forges or he would drop the temperature.

He did as he was told, frost growing around him as he waited in the shade of a tree.

A small blacksmith would make his way over, shiver when he came near, and set down the box he carried.

"Here's your order! Thank you for doing business with us, Winter King!" Douma tosses the ores of iron from the coldest of caves to the spirit before taking his leave, his footsteps leaving frost as he goes. In his hands a small box.

—

Douma wanders the land, his hands forming kunai when he spots a mammal with soft fur.

He tried his best not to go for mothers or particularly young animals even when they would provide the softest of furs.

His season may be considered cruel to those who lived through it, but he didn't want to do it on purpose.

No, that would upset her.

—

This winter was mellow in comparison to the past recent winters, with light snows and winds of the night not howling as much as the wolves that run through the white. Even a bear or two had been spotted sticking their head out early.

They bring offerings to the gods and goddesses for good health, fortune, and everything else when the snow melts and spring comes.
—
Kotoha would wave goodbye for now to her fellow gods and spirits who would join her for spring. When she had brought enough green for them.

The Kocho sisters, for example, would help with the blooming of flowers and the spread of life through the birds, bees, and butterflies.

Kotoha would often watch them at work at the height of her season.

How colorful and wonderful the land becomes once life returns to the area.

The streams rushed and the sun warming for young animals that had been born in burrows during the previous season.

She loves her season, having watched it every time since the dawn of time and when the gods found their place in the world.

Now here she was, dawn had come but the cloud cover was thick this morning as she landed in the land of snow with a crunch. She shivers, always dressed for warm weather instead of the chill of winter. A kimono that had too few layers.

But her heart doesn't care when she sees him.

The one with a bright smile, more blinding than that of sparkling snow in the morning light.

"Hello Kotoha-chan. Spring has come already?" Douma lifts himself from his bow, his height much taller than her by a head. The only ones who could challenge him in height among the prime gods were the sun and moon.

She laughs behind her hand before coming to him.

"Hai, I've come. How was winter for you? Any blizzards knock down trees?" Though it saddens her to see a grand tree fall from the heavenly realm at any time of the year, she is thankful for what they provide. Space and nutrition for the next trees that can grow from where they once stood. Animals can make a home under it.

Every action of the world isn't always wrong, it provides an opportunity for something new.

And new is what Douma wanted to do.

She should have read those colorful eyes more closely when he offered his arm, not his hand that is too cold for her without the presence of the sun.

"Would Kotoha-chan like to see my palace? It's my grandest one yet." Kotoha couldn't resist and so she accepted.

—

The Palace of the Winter King is temporary. Sometimes Douma will make it small enough for a throne that he'll sit upon to watch the snow fall.

But this was by far the biggest he had done.

The ice is so thick it turns black with the lack of light.

It was so cold. Her skin was getting goosebumps but she trusted the Winter King.

Kotoha has to be close to Douma as they walk through the palace. The Winter King always kept his balance but already he would have to tighten his arm and let Kotoha grab his front and arm when the ice became too slick.

The Spring Queen would stop for a moment, shivering but noticing a glow.

A warm glow of orange from down a corridor.

As they continue, frost begins to spread more rapidly behind them.

When they arrived at the doorway, Kotoha was all too glad to step into the room to rid herself of goosebumps.

Before her was a blazing fire in a marble fireplace and a pile of furs. Douma leads her and lets her sit upon the furs and near the fire.

"Douma, what is this?" Kotoha was quite curious for the Winter King only makes things that are temporary.

Douma simply sits with her and with the blazing fire before them, he finally takes her hands into his own.

His hands are chill and hers warm but she doesn't fight the contact.

For his eyes are so bright in the light and his smile makes him quite handsome.

"It's all for you, Kotoha-chan."