Winter's Child

Chapter Nine~Ellie's Nightmare

Elodie shot upright in her bed. She hadn't had a nightmare that terrible in years. Before her eyes, she had witnessed her family crying and begging her to stay. They reached out with shaking hands but what pierced her most was the despair and loss in their shining eyes as they watched their daughter and sister disappear forever. She couldn't do that to them. She couldn't.

What got her the most was watching her little brother, Jake, tears flowing down his young, round face, leaking out of the corners of his large eyes and asking sweetly, in a barely audible voice, if she would stay. And Jake, who was never sad, was never upset, cried then. It tore her to pieces.

Her father had been there as well. Her father whom she'd lost years before, appeared to her in her dream. He gave a small, sad shake of his head, the way he used to when he was disappointed in her. It had broken her heart then and it still did now. She had never felt such pain, such remorse. She had made a terrible mistake. She was sure of it.

Elodie sat on the side of her bed as the memory of the dream returned to her weary mind. She felt the small tear slowly run down her cheek. It was followed by another, and another. Soon, Elodie was sobbing. She covered her mouth as she took in small, sharp, hiccuping breaths and the tears rolled over her fingers. How could she have been so selfish? As strict and irritating as her family could be at times, they loved her. She knew they did. She couldn't just up and leave them.

Don't cry, Ellie. Don't cry.

The voice wasn't her own. It whispered in the back of her mind with the innocence of a child and the softness of a mother. Yet, it wasn't either. She saw light form in front of her through her teary, blurry vision. She took in long, shuddering breaths, trying to calm herself down. She blinked back the few tears that remained in her eyes and still hadn't fallen. In front of her, he knelt down to her level. His eyes were compassionate and sad like her's, as if he too could feel her pain. He glowed with a luminous light for a moment but it quickly faded. And he was physically with her.

His presence alone calmed her. He gave her peace and she couldn't deny it. He reached forward and brushed her tears away with the back of his hand. She had never known of a king who would lower himself to the height of someone lesser than himself until that night.

"They would understand, my dear," he whispered. "This is your destiny." North reached out a hand and she gladly took it, needing as much support as she could get at the moment. "You mustn't be afraid to accept it."

"But...what if I don't belong here? What if this is...too big for me?"

"Believe in yourself, Ellie. You are stronger than you think, braver than you feel and wiser than you can see." She met his eyes steadily, holding onto his words as if they were a rope tossed down to her that would save her life.

"Do you...really think so?" He smiled warmly, amused by her child-like hope.

"I know so," he answered gently. The king seemed so different when she spoke with him. He wasn't harsh or cold like the biting winter winds. He was kind and clement like the light, gentle flurries that fell from the heavens. This king reflected his season well. His appearance and mood reflected all aspects of winter. From the storming, howling winds to the calm, winter's breeze.

Elodie looked up at North and realized just how much she appreciated him. Jack had certainly helped her get used to life in Talvimora. This friend had helped her in other ways. He had helped her emotionally.

She couldn't hold back. She fell forward and threw her arms around his torso, holding him as close as he could get. She needed someone to share her pain so badly. As good of a friend as Jack was, she wasn't sure he would be able to understand her sadness. North, who had seen hardship, who had felt hurt, could feel her pain with her. Instead of trying to find ways to relate to having lost the ones he loved, much like Jack would, he simply could. Because he had felt it before.