Clarion met Gliss at the autumn border, with her winter clothes, a short while later after everyone was gone and climbed on Gliss's owl.
Although she was careful to try to track where they were going, everything in winter looked the same. All she knew was it was a short flight. They landed outside what appeared to be a dead tree.
Gliss looked around before taking Clarion's hand and ducking inside an old squirrel hole. They went down crude wood steps in a narrow corridor that seemed to go on forever. Their glows were the only light.
"Gliss, are you certain?" Clarion asked nervously. Something didn't feel right.
"Yes, it's an underground tunnel. We're going to a secret hideout. Who knew we had one?" she giggled.
Clarion kept going, trying to reason why winter fairies would be below ground where it was warm. She kept telling herself that Milori trusted Gliss. And then it made sense.
They emerged in an ice cave that was freezing cold. She couldn't help but stare at the beautiful crystals that hung from above, reflecting their soft fairy glows to look like magnificent rainbows flitting on the floors, walls and ceiling. While she was busy looking up, she didn't pay attention to what was down. Clarion suddenly slid and her feet whipped out from under her. Luckily, Gliss caught her.
"Careful. Here, maybe you'll do better on skates." Gliss waved her hand and Clarion had glass blades under her boots. "Now, push your feet."
Clarion quickly discovered why she was not a winter fairy.
A few bumps and bruises later, Clarion slid into a doorframe of ice, banging her nose just enough to make her eyes water. She clutched it with a curse.
"Gliss!" a harsh scold came forth from the room. Sled flew over and carefully lifted Clarion off her skates. "You can't put a warm fairy on skates! Queen Clarion, are you alright?"
She nodded, still clutching the throbbing part of her face.
"Clarion?" The voice was weak but still familiar. She leaned around Sled to see Milori lying in a bed made of ice.
Forgetting about the skates, she wiggled to get out of Sled's grip. If it had been the ground, she would have floated gracefully to her feet. Being ice, she gracefully slammed down on her derrière.
"Would you not break her?" Milori said sternly.
"Sorry. Hold still and you can see him," Sled told her and made the skates disappear. Then he lifted her into his arms and flew her over. He set her on the edge of the bed.
She immediately brushed a kiss over his lips and then felt his brow to find him ice cold. "Are you alright?"
He pulled her hand from his brow to bring it to his lips. "Better already," he answered with a soft smile. "Are you?"
"A tad black and blue, but fine." Then she suddenly did the most unqueen-like thing of her life-she burst into tears.
He waved Sled, Gliss and another fairy out. Then he pulled her down into an embrace to weep on his chest. "It's alright, love. Let it out," he said soothingly and stroked her back.
She was too exhausted to cry anymore minutes later and looked down to see that she was melting his ice blanket with her tears. "Oh no-" she gasped and started to get up.
Milori caught her hand to keep her there. "Hold still so you don't get frostbite." He reached over to the nightstand and picked up a fresh cotton handkerchief to gently dry her tears. "My blanket is fine. You, however, are getting chilled. There's a cotton blanket at the foot of the bed."
She leaned back and took it to tuck under her and around her legs. "Why do you have these?"
He smiled. "I asked Fairy Mary for them some time ago in hopes that maybe one day you would have use for them. I always keep them here at home."
She blinked. "This is your home?" Her eyes scanned the small room made of ice that had only an ice chair in the corner. It was void of any sign of habitation. But then again, winter fairies couldn't exactly decorate with pictures and rugs.
"Well, the secret, underground part of my home. Now, tell me what happened tonight."
"No, tell me first if you'll be alright. You're not as white as you usually are." She gently touched his cheek that was slightly blue, and he had blue shadows under his eyes.
"It is from the freeze-"
"What?! They said you needed-"
He cocked an eyebrow and cut her off. "Are you going to be this hysterical all night?" Then he smiled softly to let her know he was teasing. "I did need it. Severe injury requires a freeze. It takes a bit to rise back up to a normal temperature. The blue will fade and doesn't mean anything."
"What severe injury? You're so weak," she said nervously.
He smiled fully this time, with a twinkle in his eye. "By the fairies, I didn't realize females worried so much. I'm fine, sweetheart. It will just take time to get strength back. Tell me what happened tonight."
She heaved a sigh, creating a cloud of hot air from her lips, and looked at the floor. "Two fairies were found dead under a log in autumn. The healer did an autoposy and found inhalation killed them. To the best that I can tell, I think they were hiding because they saw who started the fire but the smoke got to them too fast. We lost so many animals too. I haven't told anyone, but I found an odd-looking stick near where the fire originated. It's pale and the tip is bulb-shaped..."
His eyes grew wide. "And black at the end?"
She nodded in surprise.
"It's a match. From the human world. Used to start fire."
"What? How do you know this?"
He ran a hand over his face. Then he opened his mouth and closed it again as if hesitating. "My first year here it was just Dewey and I. We were going stir crazy but heard about Neverland from one of the rabbits. We...we went there, Clarion."
She shot to her feet, the blanket falling to her ankles. "No, that's not possible. Fairies who go there-"
"Can return unless exiled," he finished. "We were there but a day when we ran across this pirate ship. There were humans."
"Humans?"
"Beings like us but without wings and a thousand times larger. Perhaps you know them as giants."
"I thought those were myths." She slowly sat down.
He shook his head. "These humans use matches. It has to be a fairy who has been to Neverland. I know it wasn't Dewey who started the fire because he was with me at the library when it started."
"But why matches? There are so many ways to start a fire. It makes no sense!"
His brow furrowed. "No, it doesn't make sense. But on the other hand, how many fairies know how to start a fire?"
"All warm fairies can..." her voice trailed off. "You think it was a winter fairy?"
"I'm not sure, but it makes sense. I only knew how to start the fire for you because I saw a pirate clicking two stones together over wood. A winter fairy is my best guess. But I know of no fairies who have been to Neverland."
"Neither do I. Milori? What if it's one of my ministers? I'm worried because Gliss said she served you for ten years before you trusted her. I didn't ever think that I could NOT trust a fairy. And you said that the ministers refused to give you updates when I was injured, particularly Autumn."
His eyes looked at her as he searched his mind. "I would be weary of Autumn, but I don't know that he has the spine to do this. Although, his personality could be a good cover," he sighed.
"I'm afraid to trust anyone but you." She took his hand.
"I know. I'm baffled who it is and why. I'm scared that maybe it was meant to be a fire for you." He took her hands, the concern deep in his eyes. "You must exercise extreme caution with everyone, Clarion. It was close enough to the border that it could have been one of my fairies. Everyone is a threat."
"Milori, were you supposed to be somewhere else when the fire happened?"
He hesitated. "I was supposed to be at the border to oversee the animals cross for winter. Dewey is always there to learn what the animals have to say, and I was going to come this time. You?"
It wasn't the answer she had wanted to hear. "I was reviewing what supplies we had in spring that the animals could take to winter. I was heading over there too. I can't help but feel one of us was meant to be the target."
"Clarion, there was no reason for me to get close to the fire. It is most likely that the fire was meant for you. Or to at least scare you." He kissed her hands. "I will have my keepers patrolling the borders. You must keep close with only those whom you trust. I think my keepers are trustworthy, but I'm no longer certain."
"But, I don't know who to trust!" she cried in a panic at the thought of having to leave the only soul with whom she felt safe.
"Your heart will help you. Now, you must get back. It is too cold for you down here. I will come as soon as I can."
She leaned down to wrap her arms around his neck. "I'm so frightened. Are you certain you're alright? You don't look alright."
He gently held her. "Stop worrying about me. You have to go, love. Your wings are just beginning to heal, and they do not need the stress of this cold."
"Kiss me," she whispered, and lifted her head back so their lips were inches apart. "Tell me everything will be alright and you'll come soon."
"It will, my Clarion. And I will come as soon as I can." He gently laid a hand over her heart. "I'm right here. And Gliss will be at the border at all times if you need to reach me." His icy blue eyes met hers, searching her heart in hope that he had given her comfort. A tear trickled out of the corner of her eye that he caught on his finger and it turned into a sparkling crystal. Then he kissed her.
She drank in his cool, fresh taste of wintergreen, letting his scent of evergreen wrap around her like a blanket. His arms held her tight, offering protection and strength that she so desperately needed. She buried her fingers in his silky hair and pressed her body to him for but an instant because she feared of warming him too much.
A moan of desire rose from deep in his throat, and he pulled her against him again as his lips hungrily claimed hers. Then he slowly broke the kiss, both of them breathing heavily. "Go," he said huskily against her lips. "I can feel you getting colder. I love you."
She kissed him again softly and then forced herself to get up. "I love you. Do as Sled says," she told him more for her own comfort than because she was worried about him being as uncooperative a patient as she was. When she stood, she saw the wall at the foot of his bed.
The rose she had given him was encased in a layer of ice. And around the edges a beautiful scroll was carved, bringing out the beauty of the large bloom.
She looked back at him, and he gave a tender smile. Debating for but a moment, she lifted her hands slightly and released a burst of Pixie dust from her hands to float down over him to help with the healing.
He swallowed hard. "Be careful, Clarion."
Sled stepped in to help carry her out. She blew Milori a kiss and then they left.
Sled entered minutes later. "Does she suspect?" He carefully pulled back the blanket.
Milori shook his head. "And she is not to know." He carefully rolled over, revealing a battered back and a crumpled wing.
"Why did you tell her before that only a queen's wings can hurt?"
"She would only worry if she knew wings hurt unless they break."
"She must be told that your wing has difficulty withstanding any warmth. It gets more fragile every time you cross the border," he scolded.
"No," Milori said sharply over his shoulder. Then his voice calmed. "She would be devastated and try coming into winter more than she does. It is more of a danger to her life to cross than it is to mine. If my wing breaks, so be it."
Sled sighed in defeat and started to apply the deep freeze therapy to Milori's wing and back.
Milori held a hand over his mouth as a cry of pain broke free from his lips, threatening to echo through the corridors.
Clarion paused in the stairwell, swearing she heard a faint echo of something. "Did you hear something?"
Gliss pulled her hand. "Nope. Come on."
She reluctantly followed. That night in her dreams, the noise she had heard transformed into a terrifying scream.