Lord Milori stared off over the North Mountain, silently watching all the fairies as they flew to their homes. Slipping into a cave at the very top of the mountain, he sighed.

"Welcome home." He whispered to himself.

The cave was mostly empty with only a single chair, a bed pushed into the corner, and a nightstand with only a few books and a small framed picture. Picking up the picture, he smiled as he traced the faces on it. Two smiling faces, one a much younger version of him. The other, a beautiful woman in a golden dress. I remember the day this was painted. He thought to himself.

Unclipping his owl feather cape, he tossed it over the chair and lay on his side on the bed. Moving his hand to his back, he touched the jagged edges of his broken wing.

Oh how I wish I could go back in time. His thoughts whispered as he drifted into a restless sleep.

FLASHBACK:

It was a normal day in the winter woods. Milori walked near the border, watching the warm fairies fly to and fro over in their side. Crossing the border was allowed, but few were brave enough to do it. They knew the dangers.

The snapping of a stick made him spin around. Drawing an ice dagger out of his belt, he pointed it towards the noise. Surprise glinted in his blue eyes as he saw what had made the noise. It was a young, pretty fairy. Her auburn hair was in a single braid down her back and she had beautiful golden butterfly wings.

He recognized her instantly, no other fairy had wings like that. Dropping his dagger, he fell to one knee. "Your majesty! Forgive me, I did not know it was you. What are you doing in winter?"

Her cheeks were red from cold and she shivered. "Forgive me, but I seem to have lost my way. Could you show me the way back to spring?"

Seeing the blue tint in her wings, Milori leapt up, heart filled with fear. Without thinking, he grabbed her hand and raced through the woods, pulling her with him. Their fingers were entwined as he pulled her through the woods.

Making it to the border, he pushed her into spring and fell to his knees in winter, panting. Looking up at each other from either side, he gasped, "Forgive me your majesty. But do you have any idea how close you got to breaking a wing?"

Rubbing the freezing tips of her wings, she nodded. "I know, thank you for saving me. Who are you?"

Changing position so that he was sitting cross-legged, he grinned. "My name's Milori. I am the Lord of Winter. What were you doing in winter anyhow? That was rather foolish, you could have frozen to death." As an afterthought, he added, "Your Majesty."

Still rubbing her wings, she answered with a bell-like laugh in her voice. "I saw a rabbit whose foot was trapped under a small log. I ran to it and managed to free it. But by that time, snow had started to fall, and I could not tell how to get back to spring."

"Good thing we ran into each other then! Winter is a dangerous place for a warm fairy."

"So is Spring, for a cold one." Queen Clarion laughed and Milory held his hand to the border.

Grinning back, she pressed her hand to his. Neither crossed the border.

"Can we be friends?" The young queen asked quietly. "I like you. You speak your mind around me. No one else does that- the ministers just agree with whatever I say whether they agree or not. It gets tiring."

"I wouldn't like that." Milory frowned. "Opinion should always be voiced. And I would really like to be your friend. Being the Lord of Winter is lonely, everyone looks up to me and expects me to know what to do- I have no one I can truly talk to. Except perhaps Dewy."

"Who's Dewy?" The queen asked curiously.

"You know him as the Watcher. He knows everything- literally."

"What an amazing talent!"

"It is."

They stayed that way for a couple minutes, hands pressed together before a voice yelled over in spring.

"Oh dear!" Queen Clarion jumped up, "The ministers are calling for me."

"Wait!" At Milori's cry, Clarion turned around. "Meet me here tomorrow?" He begged.

With a happy look, the Queen nodded. "Tomorrow, when the last rays of light touch the river." With that, she spread her wings and disappeared into the flowering trees.