Flight of Frost and Aurora

Chapter 63

Lucifer did as the sisters instructed. He summoned all the people of Snejotep Haven to the village square. One by one, they came—Heinrich, Natasha, Baxter, Molly, Augusto, even Charlotte's spiteful stepfamily and Anthony's dreadful father. And when everyone had gathered, the most extraordinary thing happened.

It began to snow.

Snow—in summer. Such a thing had never been seen in Snejotep Haven. Yet flake after delicate flake drifted down, swirling into graceful flurries. Then, mingling among them, fell flower petals—soft and fragrant, spinning through the chill air. It was as if summer and winter had chosen that moment to dance together in the sky.

The townsfolk gasped in utter amazement as a sharply dressed young man descended from the sky—a frost sprite, gliding gracefully through the air. In his arms he carried a beautiful maiden draped in silk and velvet, her gown shimmering with diamonds and pearls.

"Charlotte!" Lucifer cried, recognizing his daughter before anyone else could.

"No!" his wife Eisheth shrieked, stepping in front of him. "It's a trick! That girl isn't your daughter—she's some kind of witch! We must destroy her before she puts us all under her spell!"

"Out of my way, woman!" he roared, shoving her aside, desperate to reach his child.

The moment the frost sprite's feet touched the ground, he pressed a tender kiss to his sweetheart's lips, then released her. Charlotte ran to her father's arms, and the two embraced tightly, tears of joy streaming down their faces.

"My darling girl," he sobbed. "Is it really you?"

"It's me, Papa. I'm not dead—I've been alive all this time, safe and loved with my bridegroom."

She reached out to the sprite, who took her hand and smiled tenderly before turning to face the judge.

"I told you I didn't kill her," he said. "I told you I loved her."

"Alastor?" Lucifer gasped, recognizing the sprite's voice.

"Now do you believe me?" Alastor replied. "You nearly hanged an innocent man—when the true would-be murderers were your own wife and stepdaughter!"

He raised a hand and pointed a finger directly at Eisheth and Lute.

"He's lying!" the wicked woman cried. "My dear husband, you know me—you know I could never do something so cruel, so evil to you. I love you!"

But Lucifer only glared at her, fury burning in his eyes.

"Get them out of my sight!" he thundered.

"Lucifer, please..." Eisheth crooned, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "You can't believe him. That creature has bewitched her—bewitched all of us! We are your family."

But Lucifer's expression was stone. "You and your wretched daughter tried to murder my child, and tried to trick me into sentencing an innocent man to death. There will be no forgiveness for that."

Eisheth's lips quivered—then froze. Her eyes flicked past him, drawn to a glimmer behind Alastor and Charlotte: a small wooden chest, its lid barely closed, leaking soft light through the seams. The faint gleam of gold.

Her breath quickened.

In an instant, the pitiful act vanished. Eisheth's face twisted with avarice. "Lute—look!" she hissed. "Behind them!"

Before anyone could react, she lunged forward. With a snarl, she shoved Charlotte and Alastor aside, sending them sprawling into the snow and petals. The chest clattered open, and a dazzling flood of gold coins, silver coins, and jewel-encrusted trinkets spilled out.