She told her advisors about this winter man the next day, omitting how she had found him. They went with her to the border.
Three winter fairies were at the border already when they arrived. They bowed.
"Queen Clarion, the Lord of Winter had an avalanche he needed to see to. He sent us ahead to start discussions on his behalf so as not to waste your time," a man fairy said, who had black hair and a broad physique. "I am Sled, the snowflake keeper."
A small man with wild white hair, spectacles, a white mustache and a staff bowed. "I'll be a Yetti's uncle," he grinned excitedly. "I am Dewey, the keeper of knowledge. I knew of the warm fairies-I can converse thoughts with the animals who cross." He started mumbling to himself about needing to write a new chapter.
"I am the frost keeper, Queen Clarion. My name is Gliss," said the dainty fairy who had short, black hair.
"These are my ministers, Autumn, Spring, and Summer," Clarion said.
They had begun the transferring of information when Clarion spotted Milori flying toward them. Her temper went up a notch.
The winter fairies gave slight bows to him, to Clarion's confusion.
He stepped forward with a graceful bow. "Forgive my tardiness, Queen Clarion. Ministers. I had an emergency to attend to."
For the life of her, her mind couldn't seem to put the pieces together.
He straightened and watched her closely as he gently reached over the border and took her hand. "It is a pleasure, my lady. I am Lord Milori." He leaned over slightly into the warm season and kissed the back of her hand softly before slowly releasing it and stepping back into winter. He looked slightly nervous.
She stared at him, her mind racing.
"Queen Clarion?" the Minister of Summer asked.
She cleared her throat, straining to get her mind on track. "Thank you for agreeing to meet, Lord Milori." She turned to her ministers and discussions continued while she listened with half an ear. Glancing once at Milori, she noticed him watching her with concern as she worked hard to ignore his presence.
A grueling three hours later, they all parted ways, agreeing to meet again in two days.
He stopped her with, "My lady, may I have a word?"
Her ministers hesitated until she nodded for them to leave her.
When they were alone, she spoke before he could. "I do not take kindly to being mocked, Lord of Winter," she said icily, using his most formal title. "I agree to meet with you only because it will help those for whom we care."
If possible, those icy blue eyes faded slightly to gray. "Forgive me. I thought perhaps you would take lightly to the surprise. I meant no disrespect. You could use a little humor, and I wanted to be the bearer of it for you."
Pushing aside the fact that he wanted to make her smile, her eyes froze him over. "Do such again, especially in front of advisors, and relations will cease. Understood?" she hissed.
His eyes searched hers, concerned not by her words but what lay underneath them. He finally gave up and bowed. "My deepest apologies, Queen Clarion. My keepers are responsible and trustworthy. I will entrust the meetings to them and not distress you with my presence," he said softly.
And she sensed it was heartfelt. When he straightened and met her eyes, she was uncomfortable that she felt guilty for his sadness.
He turned and flew away before she could reply.
Keeping true to his word for the next week, he did not attend any meeting. Although, she knew he was keeping track of the agendas because he would send word with his advisors of any issues he wanted discussed.
Even though she hated to admit it, he was an admirable and fair ruler.
"Queen Clarion," Gliss said at one of their council meetings a few days later. "Lord Milori thanks you for the extra nuts that you had sent for the squirrels. He asked if you would like an early frost on the pumpkins to keep the disease from spreading to the corn?"
"I had no such request," she said in confusion.
"He wanted to return the favor, Queen Clarion," she replied.
"Very well. Please extend my thanks," she said calmly.
"Yes, my queen."
Two weeks after her meeting with Milori, an unexpected flood swept through Spring, destroying nearly everything. Clarion and all of the fairies were up for two days trying to save what they could of the crops and flowers in preparation for the next round of animals to return from winter. She went to bed exhausted, but thoughts of what would happen to the other seasons kept plaguing her mind. If the animals came back now, they would starve and Nature's entire balance would be thrown off.
She had gone over every scenario with her ministers, but they had no solution. Finally giving up on sleeping, she got up and decided to go visit her friend owl where she could think the best without being disturbed by bats and owls.
Pulling on her coat at the border, she crossed the stone and walked slowly for several minutes to her tree while letting the cold air clear her head.
"It's dangerous for you to be here at night. We have mountain lions who don't take kindly to glowing fairies."
She spun around and saw Milori. "Oh." Her feet started quickly leading her to the border.
He fell into step beside her. "Why are you here?" he asked in curiosity.
"Couldn't sleep."
"I heard about the floods. Is the damage severe?"
Wishing she could say he was gloating, she sighed upon hearing the distress in his voice. "Nearly everything was lost. We're working on it. Winter won't be affected for three more seasons."
"I'm not worried about that. It isn't much, but I can keep the animals here for another couple weeks if it would help."
She suddenly halted and looked at him. "Why would you do that?"
He stopped too. "You have three seasons to oversee. I can't offer much knowledge or assistance, but I can do this. I wish to help."
Looking down at her hands in her gloves, she hesitated.
"Taking help doesn't mean you're weak or incapable," he said gently. "A good leader knows when to ask for help."
She looked up at him, her heart weary. "Do you ever wonder why we were picked?" she asked softly.
"Sorry?" He cocked his head.
"Nothing," she said quickly and started walking again.
He caught her arm. "Do you not like being the queen?"
"No," she answered quietly. "I just never expected to be alone for a thousand years," she whispered too soft for him to hear. Or so she thought. She pulled away and hurried home.