Solar Reign

X L V I

THE CHILL of Icewood dove beneath Andorra's layers. She felt a shiver race up her spine, and she turned to look at Nohx. She wasn't surprised to find his gaze stuck on her already, his eyes so blindingly white that it made a smile begin to curve against her lips.

The cabin stood in front of them, and for the first time in days, Andorra felt at home. Actually, for the first time since she had become Queen, she felt like the rest of the world dropped away, and she was nothing more than a girl standing beside a boy.

A boy who grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly.

"I've missed you," was all Nohx said. His voice was low, so low Andorra felt it race against her skin and leave goosebumps in its wake. His eyes seemed to eat her up entirely, starting at her face and traveling down her skin, across her jaw, following the path of her coat zipper and to her toes. "Let's go inside."

Andorra found she didn't want to go inside. She wanted to stay right there, breathing in the crisp winter air and feeling it sting against her exposed cheeks. Her brain could barely seem to remember how it had felt in Maine.

"I want to build a snowman," Andorra said in response. The snow was falling in flurries around them, and the night sky was too cloudy to see stars, but Andorra wasn't quite ready to go inside.

"A snowman?" Nohx moved so that he was standing in front of her, grasping both of her gloved hands. He brought them to his mouth to press a kiss against them. "Just like old times."

And now, Andorra could remember it. She could picture her and a young Nohx rolling snow, laughing when it toppled off of the bottom ball, grinning when they finally finished. Young children, exhilarated from the snow and the freedom of being carefree.

A different world. A different life, for the two of them.

"Let's get started. I'll do the bottom, and you do the middle." Andorra bent down, building her first snowball, then patting more snow onto it. Nohx watched her affectionately for a moment, a soft smile stretching across his pale face.

"I'm going to light a fire inside. Get it warm first. I'll be right back."

Andorra didn't bother looking up from her snowball. "Don't be too long!" She hollered in his direction. She had her snowball big enough to begin rolling it against the ground, grinning as it picked up more snow. She ran it in circles around the front yard, then widened her space to continue building. She felt excitement race in her heart, wishing genuinely for the first time that she had grown up in Maine instead of California.

She could only imagine how much fun this would have been with her human parents. She could picture her mother smiling, a coffee cup in hand on the porch. Her dad would have been right there in the yard with her, helping.

Andorra braced for the feeling of homesickness that usually took hold, but she felt nothing but fondness and love. Her smile was soft and nostalgic. She missed them, but for the first time, it wasn't a cavernous longing that threw her into a dark, sad state.

She looked up when she heard the front door shut. Nohx jogged towards her, his face open and loving as he approached her. He rubbed his hands together, looking at her handiwork. "You're certainly making... something."

She looked down at her lumpy snowball, which was beginning to reach her mid calf. "Hey, it's not done yet. Focus on your own snowball." She humphed in good nature. She continued pushing her snowball until it grew and grew, and by the time it reached her thigh, Andorra took a pause.

Nohx was already almost finished with his, and much to her chagrin, it looked nearly perfectly round.

"What? Admiring my handiwork?" Nohx grinned over at her, and then he lifted the snowman's middle, placing it on top of her snowball. "I know, I know. It takes talent."