A Wolf of Ice and Iron [OLD]

Chapter 11

Adras

The fact that Winter was calm and collected about where we were diminished my exaggerated reaction to some degree. But it did not decrease my sheer wonderment at what I saw.

As we passed the border from the human to faerie lands, something in me definitely shifted. My body felt like it buckled and heaved, and although it was a source of discomfort, my senses heightened and peaked. Sounds flooded my ears, and stars filled the air above me with twinkling dark light. Music reached my ears, a crescendo of beauty that thrilled my blood to sing along.

I did not feel at home. Far from it. I did not belong in a place as beautiful and flawless as this, in a place that made me stand out in all the ways that were not admirable. But I did not feel mocked. Part of me felt wanted, but I knew I should not be foolish enough to believe it.

Those fierce amber eyes looked back at me curiously, waiting for a reaction. As if to gauge my approval, but I knew a faerie would never need it.

Regardless of what I thought, I was rendered speechless. The stars above me glittered with a light I had never seen before, a sort of light that left me feeling weightless and yet filled with bliss. It was a feeling I did not think I could ever describe well enough.

The court of Stars.

The name rings in my mind. It does not stop repeating itself as we walk forward, but somehow fades into background noise.

I'm shaken, yes, but the magic of the fae is something I've known my whole life. I've read books and heard complaints and ghost stories since I was but an infant. And I have not forgotten the exaggerated but somehow true tales.

The barrier I have passed through senses I am not one of them. It reaches out to touch me, but then reaches back again as Winter fixes the space behind me with a fiery glare.

The sensation it leaves behind is like I've choked on cinnamon and it burns my throat, but it is silky soft on my skin and leaves me feeling as if I've been dunked in a vat of warm paraffin wax.

Above me, Darkness. But not pure darkness. Darkness with freckles, silver freckles that blink like sequins and water droplets upon ice.

Winter is ahead of me. Those amber eyes glitter like the stars above, perhaps even brighter. And I believe it is possible. He runs a hand across a tree made of sparkling jewels, a tree I can see my reflection in. Distorted and full of refracted colors, and images from the other jewel trees hidden amongst the ground.

Winter turns around to look at me. He wears the most brilliant toothy smile I have ever seen - a grin of purity and a grin of freedom. He has returned to his home, his birthplace. Returned to the place he loves.

"Winter..." I start, but am at a loss for words. I cannot think of what to say to him. This is his home, and he has trusted to let me here. Trusted me enough to show the world he desires so much.

"I know." Winter smiles a little less, until it is gone. "Adras... there is a lot to show you here. If you'd like to see it. If not... I can escort you back home."

I nearly fall over, a dangerous place to do so with so many sharp diamond trees. "No, anything but that... although..." I wince a little. The pain is raw, and I miss them already, miss them more than I thought I would. "Although I miss it. I'd like to... remain here."

Winter breaks into another smile, but somehow it is smaller than before. A little more embarrassed and unsure. But still radiant as ever, I think.

"Good. Well... I'd say we need to start with some introductions." He runs a hand through his straight, white silky hair. I watch it fall across his shoulders.