Ice melted against Lucian’s cold skin as he leaned against the vine fence, his pale blue wings folded neatly above a white fur coat. His hands were folded over the frosted vine as he watched the satyrs spin across the ice, their hoofed feet creating cuts across the surface of the frozen river as they played their flutes in tune with the fast-paced beat that issued from the Seelie Court.

 Queen Aine sat upon her golden throne amidst the spring fae, watching the dance from their side of the river. Even the Queen had remarked that winter had been unusually gentle this year.

She had called it merciful.

Lucian wasn’t sure that was the correct word.

His eyes swiveled over to one fairy, whose infectious smile widened over her face as she clapped her small hands to the beat. She wore a dress of leaves, and a wreath of daffodils crowned her blonde head, framing the frosted snowdrop that was laid delicately upon her brow. 

His hands tingled from the memory of what it had taken to retrieve that snowdrop. The fairy’s golden eyes found his and she smiled wider.

She gave two quick, sharp whistles, and he echoed a response that was deeper and longer than hers. Nodding briefly, he tucked his hands into his cloak and backed into the crowd of the Unseelie Court.

“Excuse me,” he muttered inaudibly as he wove his way through the fae.

The Fairy Glen spread before him, arrayed in soft blue lights and lanterns that shone with a vibrant orange glow. Mushrooms, taller than himself, rose up from the edges of the glen.

He made his way to the rock where the river began. Ice slicked the surface of it, and he eased himself onto the ground.

“Lucian!” Soft, caramel arms wrapped around his neck.

“Bernadette.” Lucian smiled, returning the embrace as he turned to face her. She flicked a strand of golden hair over her shoulder and settled beside him, tucking her legs beneath her body and pulling her dress over her knees.

“I missed you...” Bernadette frowned, wringing her hands, “I don’t like winter.”

 Lucian’s brow furrowed, “oh?”

Bernadette’s eyes widened, as if she had just realized what she had said, “No! That’s not…that’s not what I meant! You’re awesome! I like winter…but like…you know…”

Lucian watched her.

She was glowing. Tomorrow, he would pass the Lantern over to her…and it would finally be spring.

He sighed and leaned back, tucking his arms behind his head as he stared up into the sky.

She frowned, mimicking his action, “what are you thinking about?”

“Everything. Nothing…” he sighed, “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do.”

“It’s just…didn’t you feel it? The tension in the air?”

“There’s always tension in the air on the Equinox. It’s not exactly like the Courts like each other—let alone enjoy celebrating with each other.”

 “The Father meant the changing of the seasons to be a wondrous event. But lately…it’s just felt increasingly more like a competition. Like…who can get more humans to like you before you pass on the Lantern.”

“I never felt that with you and me.” Bernadette whispered, hands coiling around the thin grass stalks that were frosted with ice.

“Yeah, well you’re different. You’re not…stuck up like the others in the Seelie Court.”

Bernadette launched herself to her feet, wings twitching with annoyance, “Stuck up? You’re calling my kin stuck up while you live next to a Red Cap!?”

“Jackie is a very nice faery—” Lucian snipped.

“I don’t care! She’s a RED CAP!”

Lucian let out a huff of annoyance and sat up quickly, “yeah? And you’re a spring fairy! Four whole months I spend, freezing the world, and then you and your satyrs come along and ruin all my hard work in one night!”

Bernadette gasped, ears flattening completely against her head, “how dare you!” She spun around, crossed her arms, and stuck her nose into the air.

“That’s…” Lucian sighed, his ears slowly lowering as he stood and reached out a hand to turn Bernadette around. She huffed and refused to move. “That’s not what I meant.”

Bernadette turned, slowly. Tears welled in her eyes, “of course it’s what you meant. Everyone sees how angry you are, Lucian. Tommy was telling me just yesterday that you were wishing the Flower wouldn’t bloom this year.”

“You try having millions of people not like you…or prefer everyone else over you just because you destroy their warmth—because you bring death to the world. No one sees the beauty of it…not anymore.” His voice was almost a whimper. The tips of his wings sagged and his ears drooped.

“But wishing the Flower wouldn’t bloom? Lucian…that would be the end of everything. There’s no purpose to winter without spring.”

“And there’s no love for spring without winter.” Lucian’s voice had gone cold. He glanced at Bernadette with eyes that were heavy with pain. Then, crossing his arms, he turned and stormed into the forest.

He raced past the crowd, his wings sweeping him up into the air and away from the thunderous music that rang painfully in his head. He couldn’t bring himself to turn around until he made it to the porch of his little house.

His fingers coiled around the wooden handle and he yanked it open, wings fluttering impatiently as he stormed inside. The shutters rattled against the walls of the house as he slammed the door shut.

All the candles had been extinguished and by the mud tracks all along the walls and ceiling, he assumed Bori had done it.

“Darn boggart.” Lucian snapped his fingers together and a pale blue flame flickered weakly on the end of his pointer finger. He lit the candle stub and then snapped his wrist, the tiny flame instantly disappearing.

He sniffed angrily, ears twitching rapidly as he crossed his arms and collapsed into his chair. It was the only chair he owned—one of the only visible pieces of furniture in the room, too—and it was padded with the hide of an arctic hare.

Snow sprinkled down from the cracks in the wood ceiling as something loud and hard banged against his house. Lucian snapped his head up.

Another crash and more snow tickled Lucian’s scalp. His ears began twitching again.

“Bori.”

Crash.

“Bori…if you don’t CUT IT OUT—”

Crash.

“BORI!” Lucian tore out of the chair; ears slanted against the side of his head. There was a silence…then another crash sounded and snow prickled Lucian’s cheeks. He let out a cry and slammed his fists against the wall, anger bristling off him in waves.

The crashes ceased.

Lucian hesitated as he drew back from the wall, face flushed.

A soft humming came from the other side of the room and he spun. The Lantern was flickering. The pale blue flame inside it was tiring. It wanted to move on.

“Don’t worry…” he muttered as he extinguished the candle on the table with a sharp flick of his wing and retreated into his bed in the corner, “I’m handing you off tomorrow.”

Then he curled up tightly beneath his downy blanket and fell into a fitful sleep.

***

Morning came too quickly.

 Lucian sighed as he slipped out of bed, running his hands over his face exhaustedly. It felt like his very bones had been emptied all at once.

He wasn’t surprised. Typically, the power faded gradually as he finished the frost. That was the way it was supposed to be…to make the turning of the seasons less painful. But this year, he stopped the frost too early.

He knew exactly when Winter was supposed to end.

He simply hadn't been able to make himself finish it.

He glanced up. The Lantern was burning happily in its metal enclosure, unbothered by the frost that clung to the edges. It knew what day it was. He eyed the Lantern with distaste as it hummed and he scowled, “at least someone’s happy.”

Then, taking the Lantern in his hands, he opened the door into a morning that was bristling with song.

As he flew down from his house in the left crook of the Winter Fir, he ignored the satyrs playing their merry spring tunes. Insects crawled from their dens, chirping lively.

The woods seemed to tower above him—even more than normal—as he made his way to the Fairy Glen. He knew what it would look like. It had been decorated the same way for the past two hundred years.

But he couldn’t help but feel sad when he saw the way the lanterns lit up the edges of the Glen, and the river ran rapidly down the slope again…the way every sign of winter had been removed and the Seelie Court laughed and danced throughout the thin stalks of grass.

Too thin. He couldn’t help but think as he flew past, that maybe he had messed up winter somehow.

Pain tugged at his chest and his ears pinned against his head, his shoulders slumping as he cut left across the Glen to where Bernadette would be.

   “Lucian!” She grinned as he approached, her fingers absently smoothing down her rose petal dress, her bare shoulders seeming to shine in the soft spring sun. He gave her a brief hug and then turned to flank her, staring out over the Glen as it bustled with activity.

 He felt her take a long deep breath beside him.

 “Doesn’t the spring air just make you want to sing and dance for joy?” She asked, her voice seeming more melodical than it typically did. He could tell that her powers were starting to return to her. He was sure she could feel it in her bones. The same way he could feel them draining from his.

Lucian sniffed, “Not really.”

“Well, it does for me.” She sighed pleasantly and turned towards him, “The ceremony is soon. We should probably get ready.”

He nodded, then walked deeper into the woods where a table of their ceremonial accessories had been laid out. There was also, to Lucian’s surprise, several snacks that he knew—even if she would never admit it—Bernadette had laid out for him because he had missed dinner.

  They meandered up to the table and Bernadette took a daisy bracelet in her hands. He ran his hand along a crown of ice that rested upon a soft pillow, but he did not pick it up. Instead, Lucian pulled on the sleek, ceremony coat; the firm membranes of his wings folding on top of themselves to fit through the thin wing holes in the back fabric.

"You're doing it again," Bernadette muttered as she slipped the ring of daisies over her wrist.

Lucian turned to look at her, "What do you mean? -fix this?-" He added as an afterthought, stepping closer to her so she could reach his haphazardly arranged collar.

She fixed his collar as she spoke, "you're freaking out.” She sighed, then spun and placed her wings in Lucian's hand.

Lucian smoothed a wrinkle in her wing, "I am not freaking out."

She shrugged her shoulders, "Is my hair good?" Then added, "you left before the feast…you totally freaked out."

He threaded his fingers through a knot at the bottom of her hair and nodded, "Yeah it's good.” He paused, “I left before the feast because I wasn't hungry."

"Liar. You're always hungry." She frowned. Lucian allowed her to spin him around. She clicked her tongue, smoothing her hands over the stray tufts of hair on his forehead, "Is this because you yelled at me?"

Lucian paused and stepped back, "I yelled at you? YOU YELLED AT ME!"

Bernadette’s hands fell to her side, "I did not."

"Yes! You did!"

"Alright--it doesn't matter. You’re still not answering my question.”

“What question?”

Her ear twitched, “Why are you freaking out?”

“I’m not freaking out!” Lucian exclaimed, ears pinned against his head. Bernadette raised an eyebrow but did not ask any further questions. The next several moments passed in silence, until Lucian reached out and took the daisy crown in his hands, turning to Bernadette.

Lucian smiled and murmured for her to bow her head. She obeyed and he raised the crown, frowning ever so slightly as he rested it upon her brow. When she stood, he grinned, "You look stunning."

She smiled, ears pointed straight towards the sky, "Thanks.” She twirled for him, then playfully tapped him on the shoulder, “You're not so ugly yourself."

Lucian turned to the Lantern.

He cocked his head, “Bernadette?”

“Hmm?” Bernadette spun. But when she saw the Lantern, her hands flew to her mouth. “What happened?”

Black flames burned within the Lantern. Never had Lucian seen such a color. Dark as coal and angrier than Jackie when Lucian had called her cap “pink”.

“Almost ready—oh! What happened?!” Tommy’s voice sounded like nothing more than a squeak as his tiny, brown body squeezed between them.

Lucian looked down at the short brownie and narrowed his gaze, “You tell me! It wasn’t like that this morning.”

“I didn’t do anything! I wasn’t even here!” Tommy exclaimed, hiking his shovel higher up on his shoulder.

“Oh, Tom that’s not what he meant…” Bernadette dropped to her knees, wings flapping anxiously, and placed a hand on Tommy’s small shoulder. “He’s not accusing you.” She glared at Lucian.

Lucian scoffed and turned around, ears flicking with annoyance.

Tommy glanced at Lucian as he gingerly approached the Lantern. He stuck out his hands as if to ask to hold it and Bernadette obliged, taking it off the table and placing it in his callused palms. He turned it over in his hands, eyebrows pinched together in confusion as he watched the way the black flames slammed against the interior of the cage.

“It’s angry.” Tommy looked up at Lucian, “I’ve never seen it act like this before.”

“Me neither.” Lucian crossed his arms, his ears flicking faster. Because he knew the Lantern better than either of them. He had spent long hours talking to it…listening to its whispers in response. And somewhere beneath the black flame…he thought he knew what it was trying to tell him.

Tommy paused for a moment and then his eyebrows launched upward and he looked at Bernadette, “Could something be wrong with the Flower?”

Lucian couldn’t help but notice the way Bernadette glanced at him before responding, “Maybe? What are you thinking…”

Lucian scoffed when Tommy glanced at him too, “I don’t know. When was the last time it was checked?”

 Another look at Lucian and he threw his hands in the air, “I didn’t poison the Flower!”

Tommy and Bernadette both looked at him, then at each other.

Without a word, they stood up and Tommy clicked his tongue, the Lantern disappearing into brown dust. He held out firm, brown hands and the Keepers each took one.

Tommy clicked his tongue once more and Lucian’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, all consciousness slipping away from him.

Down…down…down they spun.

It felt like they were burrowing into the very core of the earth.

When they stopped spinning, Lucian cautiously opened his eyes. They were in a cave. The air was thick and the walls pressed down on him with a suffocating sensation.

Lucian could hear Tommy’s voice in the back of his mind, “we’re going to have to be quick. We only have an hour or so before the ceremony.”

Then the soft patter of his feet grew closer.

Lucian looked at the brownie, who seemed to be upside down the way he was standing over him. The brownie stuck out a hand and Lucian took it, flapping his wings to ease himself to his feet.

Tommy clicked his tongue and the Lantern materialized in his hands. The black flames seemed to be even angrier.

Lucian watched the Lantern, unease curling in his stomach. “So, where’s this Flower of yours?” He asked Tommy through gritted teeth.

“This way.” Tommy pointed down the passageway, dark and yawning from the end of the cavern.

Lucian wrung his hands as they stepped into the darkness, his ears pinned tightly against his head. He smiled slightly when he felt Bernadette’s soft hand slip into his. She gave his hand a slight squeeze.

“Thanks.” He whispered.

“Always.”

It seemed like no time had passed at all by the time the tunnel widened into a cavern that was lit by a faint dull glow. The glow was coming from a large flower that…would have been beautiful…if not for the way it wilted as if the air itself was trying to kill it.

Lucian dropped to his knees before the flower, hands hovering over the petals, terrified at the truth that gnawed at his stomach. Bernadette slumped to the ground beside him.

“It’s still alive…” She whispered, fingering a rotten leaf that stuck to the ground.

“I know.” Lucian swallowed hard.

“That’s…good…right?”

“No…because that’s the problem.”

He felt a hard hand touch his shoulder and he glanced at Tommy, whose eyes narrowed at him knowingly. Lucian averted his gaze.

“Lucian…did you finish the frost this year?” Tommy’s voice was soft but clipped with a hard edge.

Lucian frowned.

He knew.

Yes…he knew.

He had tried to make the winter softer.

Gentler.

Easier to cope with.

He had frowned when he noticed the way the streams in the OtherPlace had hardly frozen over. How some of the trees never even lost their leaves. It had felt wrong…like he was wounding a part of himself.

But it had all been worth it when the people loved the weather. Loved the season. Loved his season.

He looked at the Flower and frowned. The Flower wasn’t dead. The Flower was supposed to be dead. If it didn’t die…it couldn’t bloom again. That was the whole point of winter. The whole beauty of the season.

Death…so beauty could come again.

Bernadette’s voice whispered in his mind, “You wished for the Flower not to bloom.”

He had gotten his wish.

Bernadette looked at him, as if she was reading his thoughts, “What are you going to do?”

“I have to kill it.”

He threaded his fingers into the damp earth beneath the Flower, feeling the slow pulse of the plant in his palms. He felt Bernadette’s hand on his shoulder and looked up at her, smiling. Tommy watched him curiously, his small brown face bunched in intense thought.

Lucian paused and looked back at him, “I do…have to kill it…right?”

Tommy hesitated, then nodded.

Lucian pushed a hiss of air through his teeth and locked his jaw.

He heard Bernadette’s voice again in his mind.

“There’s no purpose to winter without spring,” and his own voice in response, “and there’s no love for spring without winter.”

They were meant to help one another.

Spring could never exist without winter.

Winter would never be there if not for Spring.

And this Flower had to die to be reborn.

 With that in mind he squeezed his eyes so tight that his head began to pound and he reached deep inside himself. He felt the sharp power that always coiled in his stomach. He felt it flooding down his arms, tingling his fingers. He felt the way the cold ran in shooting streams through his blood and relieved him of his pain.

It was cold.

So…cold.

But the cold didn’t bother him anymore.  

Bernadette trembled from the chill to his right and Tommy’s earthen hands grew harder on his shoulder as they froze in the cold.

When Lucian opened his eyes, his breath puffed out in a cloud in front of him and Bernadette clung to his arm for warmth. The walls of the cavern were white with frost and the earth beneath him was frozen to the touch.

And the Flower.

The Flower was black and its brittle stems were cracked in several places, weighed down by the leaves that were patched with white. As they watched, the leaves slowly broke off and floated lazily to the ground, where they rotted almost immediately.

 Lucian clenched his fists tight at his sides as he felt the rest of his power seep from his limbs. He had used all of it. He had finished winter.

Now all they had to do was wait.

 They sat, shoulder to shoulder, and waited with bated breath for something… anything… to happen. Tommy sat down, crossing his legs and leaning over to rest his elbows on the frozen ground and place his head in his hands. Bernadette laid her head on Lucian’s shoulder, and Lucian held her hand tightly.

They felt like they had been waiting for hours before Tommy stood up quickly, “Look! Look! Look!”

   Lucian snapped his eyes open and Bernadette straightened, ears flicking slightly as she yawned.

   At first, he didn’t see anything different. The Flower’s brittle stalks had all but dissolved and its leaves had all fallen off.

  But then he saw it. A small green shoot that curled up from the center of the dead plant.

Lucian laughed, “I don’t believe it…”

“It bloomed again…” Bernadette breathed, looking at Lucian with a look of wonder on her face.

Lucian’s smile broadened, “Happy Spring, Bernadette.”

  Bernadette shrieked in joy and flung her arms around Lucian’s neck, sobbing with ecstasy into his shoulder. He laughed and embraced her. When they separated and looked back at the Flower, the green shoot was even larger, rising towards the ceiling with a fierce determination.

Lucian raised himself to his feet and helped Bernadette up. Tommy looked up at the two of them, tears on his cheeks, and grinned, “We did it.”

Bernadette smirked, “Lucian did it.”   

Lucian shook his head, “No. We did it.”

Then Tommy yelled and the Keepers looked down at him. “We have to go! We’re gong to be late! We’re gonna be late! Late! Late I say!”

Lucian laughed and gave Tommy his hand. Bernadette did the same.

The brownie clicked his tongue, and the cavern swam out of focus.

***

Bernadette smiled as she rested the ice crown on Lucian’s cold brow. She fixed his cloak pin at his throat and rested her hand over his heart.

“You’re a good fairy, Lucian.”

Lucian glanced at the Glen, which was filled with fae from both the Courts, awaiting the start of the Ceremony. None of them knew what had just occurred miles beneath them. No one knew that Spring—for a moment—had threatened to die before it had even been born.

Then he turned back to Bernadette and grinned, “I know.”

She scoffed and punched him in the shoulder.

Then she let her hand fall into his and, together, they went out into the Glen.  

 The Courts came to meet them in a large horde. Bernadette looked at Lucian and he smiled, squeezing her hand softly as they stepped into their midst.

Queen Aine stood on the soft green stalks that spread out from the ground beyond Bernadette’s feet. Queen Beira rose to her feet opposite her, the ground beneath her feet frozen and white from the winter cold.

  The queens beckoned to the Keepers, who looked at each other. Lucian dipped his head and whistled quietly, two short whistles. Bernadette responded with a single long whistle and then returned to her court. Lucian did the same.

“High Queen Beira, goddess of winter and darkness. Do you agree that the stars have united and that it is time to pass the Lantern?” Queen Aine’s typically beautiful voice was taut with bitterness, but Lucian did not care.

Queen Beira looked at Lucian and nodded at the pale blue Lantern that flickered eagerly in his hands. Then she turned to the Seelie Court across the Glen, “It is time.”

Aine turned to Bernadette and nodded calmly. Bernadette locked eyes with Lucian as he walked across the Glen. They stopped where ice and green met, scarcely an arm’s length apart.

  “I, Keeper of Winter,” Lucian began, holding the Lantern in front of him so Bernadette could wrap her fingers around it, “do hereby pass possession of the Season from Winter. Let the world be swathed in the new birth that is Spring.”

Smiling, he released hold on the Lantern.

  It flickered once, the fierce blue fire devouring itself. Each tongue that it ate returned as a vibrant pink flame that burned happily within its enclosure.

Bernadette held the Lantern close to her chest and bowed her head, “I, Keeper of Spring, accept this Lantern. I hereby swear that I shall fulfill what is required of my kind before the flame dies and the Season is passed on once more.”

The flame burned brighter and Lucian glanced away, the fierce pink fire burning his eyes.

When he looked back, Bernadette had cast her shawl over it to protect its light from the sensitive eyes of the Unseelie Court. Just as Lucian had done for the Seelie fae four months prior when the flame burned blue.

Lucian watched as vines crawled over the metal. Lush and green, they pried the frost off the Lantern and allowed it to fall to the ground. The soft ice flakes shattered as they hit the ground without a sound.

As he watched, the vine began to bloom. Brilliant white flowers that seemed to shine in the sun. And Lucian knew, thousands of feet below them, the Flower was blooming as well.

Lucian smiled.

   Spring had begun.