Fairy Mary chewed her ear off at the hospital again.
"I knew it! I knew if you went to the border, you'd do something like this again! Whenever you're around him, you lose all sense of responsibleness!"
"'Responsibleness' isn't even a word," Clarion sighed from the bed.
"You know what I mean!" she barked and paced in agitation. Then she started fluttering her hand in her face to calm down. "One, two, three, four..."
Clarion dropped her head back on the pillow and looked up at the intravenous drip, tuning Mary out. She was stuck here for another day because apparently the healers hadn't been exaggerating that she was supposed to have treatment every two hours, even through the night. And now her back was spasming and her wings had to be wrapped down to her torso.
There was commotion in the hall, and she was startled to see Milori walk through the door quickly.
"Milori? You're all wet!" she cried.
He shook his head. "I packed ice under my clothes. Are you alright?" He looked up at the drip. "What is that?"
"Sugar and spice," she said distractedly. "Why are you here?"
"To make sure you're fine." He gently touched the beanstalk wrapped around her to keep her wings down. "I have to go, but tell them to use spider silk. Beanstalk is too rough for your wings, and silk is stronger."
"What?"
"We don't have healers in winter, so we've had to come up with our own medicine. Just tell them, or you'll start having tears in your wings." He bent down and kissed her hand. "I'll be back tomorrow." Then he was gone.
She slept better being tied up in silk than beanstalk that night.
Milori looked shocked to see her at the council the next morning when she arrived late. He stood instantly, and all eyes swung around to see her. The members stood too.
"My lady, should you be here?" He looked unsettled as he came around the table.
She nodded, wearing a light cape to keep the silk ropes hidden as much as possible.
He stepped into spring and offered his hand. Not sure what else to do, she took it and let him lead her to Fairy Mary's seat.
"Fairy Mary and Sled, would you please both trade seats with us? I'd feel better being near her just in case."
"Of course," they both said and moved.
Milori helped her sit and then took his seat beside her. He leaned over to whisper, "Just signal if you need me to end the meeting early."
She looked at him in confusion, wondering why he was being so kind. Then she looked at Mary, who smiled at her reassuringly.
Milori started the meeting.
"What are we to do about the animals? They're to come back tomorrow," the Minister of Spring asked half way through the meeting.
Clarion sighed. "We can take some of the berries from Summer and-"
"My queen, excuse me, but we are low for the summer food," the Minister of Summer interjected.
She held up a hand. "We will discuss the matter later." She avoided Milori's eyes.
"Perhaps the garden fairies can bend the rules this year and grow extra berries. Just a thought," he offered. "I know things have been thrown backwards this year with the flood and your injury," he said to her.
She looked at the table and said quietly, "Tell Fairy Gary that I authorized extra dust to the garden fairies." Why did she always feel so incompetent around Milori?
A cold hand took hers under the table and gave a reassuring squeeze.
A short while later he asked her, "Do you have anything else you wanted to address today?"
"No," she answered, realizing he was giving her an out. She shifted again restlessly.
He leaned over as if listening to her and then announced, "Agreed, we'll meet in a week."
Everyone was leaving, and Milori helped her stand. "You've been too long without the honey on your wings," he said instantly, reading her pain. "Guard!" he ordered.
Bernard threw him a bottle of honey.
Milori caught it, pulled off her cape, and dumped it on her wings. He crossed the border to grab a warm stone and held it in his hands to warm them before unbinding the silk wrappings around her wings.
"Milori," she scolded quietly, embarrassed by the intimacy.
"Hush," he said as he gently stroked her golden wings, spreading the honey and then carefully folding them down on themselves.
Her eyes were closed as he worked, soothing away the pain with his cool hands and soft strokes. And then she heard soft gasps. Opening her eyes, she looked over her shoulder to see her wings glittering. Her heart stopped, and Milori froze.
"What does it mean?" someone gasped.
Dewey stared. "I'll be a Yetti's uncle," he whispered. "It means the Queen has fallen in love."
She stumbled away from Milori, his face as shocked as hers. Her wings wouldn't stop sparkling like gold dust. Shaking her head fiercely, she kept backing away.
"Clarion, wait," he said softly and slowly stepped over the boarder as if afraid of spooking her. "Don't open your wings. Look at me. Forget what they said. Listen to me. We have to put the silk back on your wings."
The panic was rising. He couldn't be her mate. It was worse than having no mate-to be so close but worlds apart. Not him. He was so irritating and bossy. And kind and generous and sweet. As the panic rose, so did her instincts. And fairy instincts were to fly from distress. Her wings lifted, making her cry out in pain. Pain. A fairy's reaction to pain was to flap in distress.
"No!" Milori screamed.
She shot up into the sky, feeling her back tearing. All control was gone. She flapped wildly, jerking through the sky toward summer. Try as she might, her wings were sticky and growing worse the closer she got to the summer sun. Having monarch wings, one powerful flap for her were ten for a normal fairy. She caught a tree branch and held on as her wings beat madly.
Milori suddenly wrapped his arms around her and worked to pull down one frantic wing at a time. He struggled with the power of her wings, her pain being his enemy. He got her wings tucked down and then he pushed away from the tree.
"Hold on, Clarion," he said softly, as calm as could be as they soared down.
She could hear the commotion as the other fairies got closer. They landed hard on the ground, and then unconsciousness claimed her.