Render Me Starless

♛ | Chapter 25 - "angels and balls"

"Is that..." I walk closer to the window, tilting my head to the side. "Snow?"

"Have you never seen snow before?"
I turn to my mate, shaking my head. "I didn't go out a lot with Seraphina," I say, looking back at the fresh blanket of snow. It never snowed where we used to live. Besides, it only snowed in a few select places in this country anyway.

I hear the front door open and see that Orion had opened it, snow tumbling into the cabin. I cross my arms to fight against the onslaught of cold that has been released inside. We don't have to worry long about the mess as the snow is soon gone, right before our eyes. Magic cabin, I remind myself. I join my mate at the front door and we both peer outside. The layer of snow wasn't too thick from what we could see. It was untouched and smooth.
The first bit of snow; pure and glistening from the dull sun that shone through the clouds.

I reach down and let my fingers touch it. It was like I expected it. Cold and even more cold. I smile to myself. It reminded me of Orion. Before I can trample into the snow, my mate stops me.
"You're barefoot," he reminds me.
I frown, glancing down at my feet. Not wanting to get frostbite, I trudge to my room and open my magic closet, finding the essential clothes for the freezing temperatures.

I exit, fully decked out in gloves and a beanie. I find Orion dressed similarly to me. Although he wore a much thinner jacket in comparison to my heavy one and no beanie. "Aren't you going to be cold?" I ask, my brow furrowing.
He shakes his head. "My body is accustomed to the cold. It comes with the magic," he explains and I nod my head, satisfied that my mate wasn't going to get hypothermia or something.

I skip over to the front door, not letting the heavy boots slow me down. I open it back up and don't hesitate in stepping out. My sinking footsteps don't deter me from walking further out and I turn to see if Orion has joined me. He has.

I sink to my knees, gathering a bunch of snow in my hands. "How have I missed out on all of this?" I attempt to make a snowball, somewhat struggling to get the snow to stick together. I manage though, creating a lousy but nonetheless solid snow ball. I turn to Orion who stands watching and instantly grin. Orion being Orion knows exactly where my thoughts are and he quickly puts his hands up in a sign of surrender. "You don't want to do that," he says, giving me a glare.
My grin only widens. "I think I do." And with that, I launch the snowball at him, aiming for his face but hitting him on the shoulder instead. I don't bother feeling bummed about my horrible aim. It hit him.

The prince doesn't flinch which isn't a surprise but instead, he begins walking towards me. "Ah shit," I curse, quickly standing and inching back. His eyes flash gold for all but a second and I'm greeted by his shadows as they battle with the snow, creating multiple snowballs. "Hey, that's not fair," I whine, still stepping back. Orion shrugs. "I didn't claim to play fair."

I scoff and in response, I'm hit with a snowball. Right in the face.

"This is war," I declare, falling onto my knees once again. I gather the snow with my gloved hands, attempting to create another horrible snowball. I'm hit with another snowball but carry on like the resilient woman I was. I launch whatever I have at Orion who sat on the ground a few metres away. He let his magic do all the work for him as he watched me lazily. This was the most I had seen my mate use his magic so freely and I loved it. There was something so freeing about Orion as he sat that made me pause. His magic does too. If there was a word I would use to describe my mate at this very moment, it would be content.

Lords, he had never looked so attractive.

I throw a snowball at him, hitting him square on the face. Score.

I let out an unapologetic cackle but shriek as I'm hit rapid fire with snowball after snowball. I throw my hands up to cover my face and stand. "Stop or I'll-" I pause, still shielding my face. What in the world could I threaten a mage prince with? It's not like I could withhold sex from him. We weren't even up to that stage yet. "Or you'll what?" Orion taunts, throwing another snowball before the onslaught stops. I slowly put my hands down, peeking down at my mate. He was still sitting, leaning back on his arms. His pants were starting to get soaked but it didn't seem like he cared.