She fastened the buttons of the skirt around my waist, and I immediately saw that I’d need to practice walking in it; the train trailed out behind me for a good ten feet. I raised my arms as she wrapped the bodice top around me, and then I held it snug while she began to lace it up. After she tugged and pulled it into proper alignment, she sorted out the skirt, draping it just right.

“Now if you’ll sit on the bed, I’ll put your boots on for you.” She held up the silver boots and I saw that they, too, worked on a lacing system.

“You people need to start using zippers.”

“I agree.” She flashed me a smile. “I have a feeling we’ll be moving more into sync with the rest of the world once you and your cousin take the thrones, and that isn’t a bad thing at all. There are so many ways we could help the outer world, and they could help us. Although the Weres do not like us at all, and the vampires fear us.”

That was the first time I’d ever heard one of the Fae say anything of that nature. Oh, I knew the Weres didn’t like the Fae, but the vamps—afraid of them?

“Really, now?”

She nodded as she tugged the boot onto my foot and began lacing it up. “Oh yes, my Lady. The vampires have long feared the Fae. After all, look at what happened with Myst when they tried to turn her. They can kill us, but our magic is strong. At least it is among a number of our warriors and nobles—and we know how to use illusion.”

Another thing I hadn’t thought about. “Druise, do you have special powers? I’m only now learning about my own heritage as one descended from the Uwilahsidhe. What…are you one of the Shifting Fae?”

She nodded. “All of us are—all in the Court of Rivers and Rushes, and those who were of the Court of Snow and Ice. This land, it lends itself to the Cambyra. The Great Seelie and Unseelie Courts—the majority of them are not Cambyra. We’re an offshoot. A variation. Did you not know that?”

I shook my head. “No, I didn’t. As I said, there is so much about your world—my world, now, I guess—that I’m ignorant on. My background…Druise, I had a very harsh childhood and seldom managed to stay in school. I learned on my own. I had to. I didn’t go to any academy like the New Forest Conservatory. I didn’t learn magic from my mother, even though she was magic-born and I am a half-breed. Rhiannon is probably better schooled than I am, but…I’m not sure how much she knew of the Fae either.”

“We keep to ourselves, Your Majesty. We always have. I doubt that many of your books teach much about us, though I may be wrong. As I said, I’m not very complicated. And while I can read and write, I had to work from the time I was fairly young.”

That could have been centuries, given the life spans of the Fae. I chose to leave that question for later, but did ask, “What do you shift into?”

She smiled again, beaming. “I am one of the Avonsidhe. I shift into a deer.” And with that, she finished lacing my boots and stood back, eyeing me up and down. “You are almost ready.”

“What about my circlet?”

“Ah, but you take the true crown tonight, so you go with bare head. Here, Let me fix your cloak for you.” She lifted the silver fur cloak and draped it around my shoulders.

“What is this fur?” I hoped it wasn’t wolf; that wouldn’t set well with Grieve. But she put my fears to rest.

“Rabbit. They were eaten, so the meat was not wasted, if that is worrying you.”

As she adjusted the cloak, I saw that it had been lined with ice blue silk and had a deep hood. I stroked along the nap of the fur. It was so soft my hand sank into the pile, and I wanted to rub my face against it.

“This is so…I would say beautiful, but that doesn’t do it justice. Is Rhiannon’s outfit like this?”

She chuckled. “Oh, Her Ladyship Rhiannon’s dress is as golden as yours is silver, with shades of green. But her cloak is not made of fur, but instead of delicate leaves and ivy vines and deep, red roses. And now…” She stood back. “I think we’re ready.”

Druise crossed to the door and peeked out, saying something I couldn’t quite catch. Then she opened the door wide, and a contingent of guards came in. I was positioned in the middle—with four guards in front of me, Druise right behind me, and four more behind her. Another guard stood to my left, and one to my right. We were completely blocked in by the warriors.

As we stood, waiting, Grieve appeared from the hallway. He was dressed much in the same colors as I was. He blew me a kiss, then sobered and stepped to the front of the guard. With a loud “Attention!” he started out of the room, and we followed.

The Barrow had been cleared, it seemed. Not a soul was stirring, and at first I thought they’d been told to keep to their rooms, but I couldn’t hear any movement at all—the Barrow was still.

When we exited, however, a ring of guards stood around the Marburry Barrow, guarding it from intruders. I wondered where the coronation would take place—would it be in the Court of Rivers and Rushes, just outside? But my question was answered as we headed through the portal in the Twin Oaks, back into the winter world. A horse, as black as the night sky, waited for me, its sidesaddle giving me pause. Black leather, with silver embellishments, it loomed as the hardest challenge I’d been through yet.

Grieve stood back as the guards broke rank. Check and Fearless approached me. “With your leave, Your Highness…”

I wasn’t sure what they intended to do but nodded and suddenly found myself hoisted up—very gently—into the saddle. Relieved to see a sturdy belt attached to it, I quickly fastened myself in as Druise gathered up my train and arranged it so it would trail in a fashion that wouldn’t trip up the horse’s hooves. She then made sure my cloak draped down in back and that it was snugly fastened in the front.

After she finished, the guards gathered to the sides of the horse. Grieve mounted a matching horse and took the lead, as the guards followed with me in tow. Druise swung aboard a horse behind me, this one gray dappled with white, and followed us, with one of my guards at her side.

Silver bells on the bridles jingled as we headed through the winter forest, the horses silently making their way through the falling snow. We wove through the woodland, through the towering firs, and I caught my breath when animals started to appear, standing at attention as we filed along the path.

Snow hares with their twitching noses, and winter white foxes, looking to camouflage in the snow. And there, a wolf, and to the left, a white stag watched us from the shelter of the trees, as if they gathered to send me off.

Or perhaps, they gather to greet the new Queen of Winter?

Ulean! I’ve missed you! Where have you been? I was delighted to hear her voice on the slipstream. I didn’t feel fully myself without her near me.

Lainule had something for me to do, but I’m here now, and I’ll be with you during the coronation and ever after.

I whispered into the slipstream. I feel like I’m walking through a surreal dream, Ulean. My life—what is it becoming?

What it was destined to become, Cicely. You will feel more like yourself tomorrow, this I promise you. All of the past few days—it has been so alien to what your life has been. And the initiation and coronation…they are journeys in their own right. You have passed through the former, and are nearly through the latter. So take heart. All will be as it should be, and tomorrow life will seem more akin to what you are familiar with. Enjoy today. Not every woman gets to become a queen. This is a day you will never forget. Even when you are at the long-distant end of your life, you will remember tonight.

Feeling less alone, I tried to relax. The rocking of the horse sent me into a light trance, and the snowflakes kissing my skin seemed to freeze against me, as if I were colder than they. I reached up to brush them off but then stopped, not wanting to disturb the makeup. The snow was falling thickly now, gathering in my hair, on my eyelashes, and while it was cool against my skin, I wasn’t cold. The rabbit fur cloak kept me toasty, but I knew there was more to it than that.

I could run atop the snow now, like Grieve, although still not as fast. And the winter winds didn’t bite through me.

Ulean, as time goes on, will I become immune to the cold and ice?

Not immune, no, but it will buoy you up; it is your realm now, Cicely. The chill winds of winter are your melodies, and the calving of glaciers your strength. You feared the darkness, but now…even after such a short time, how do you feel?

As I turned the question over, mulling it, deep in my heart I heard the answer. I no longer fear living in winter. What changed?

You changed. Your heartstone—it is bound to the Court of Snow and Ice, and so a part of your soul, your heart, is bound to the realm of Winter. When you are connected to something at such a deep, internal level, you can no longer fear it. You will grow to understand the winter, to become part of it. Are you beginning to understand now? You won’t just rule the throne; you will be an integral part of the season.

And then it all clicked. I let out my breath in a slow stream, watching it fog into the air before me. Now I understood. I wasn’t losing myself. I was becoming more than I ever thought possible.

And Rhiannon, she is going through this, too, isn’t she? Only with the summer? She is becoming the heart of Summer.

You do understand.

We were approaching the twin hollies, and I stared at the portal. It crackled with energy and called to me like a siren, luring me in. But it wasn’t setting a bait. No, I could feel it in my core—a resonance that I had only ever felt with Grieve. He looked back at me, his dark eyes flashing. And then, without a word, he rode through the trees, and a flash lit up the forest as he vanished into the swirling vortex of energy.

The guards led my horse toward the opening and I sucked in a deep breath, as I realized that I was going home.

A crackle of blue and white light then, a whirl of energy, the smell of ozone in the air, and the sprinkle of snow turned into a flurry as I crossed through the barrier. The night was dark here, lit by the clouds covering the sky, and in the distance I could see the lights of the Barrow within the grove. The castle in which my heartstone had been created was some distance from here—I had no clue in what direction, but I could feel the steady beat as my heartstone awakened the land. I resonated with this realm now, this world was part of me, and my fate was forever entwined with it.

We crossed through the clearing toward the grove where the Eldburry Barrow awaited, and as the jingle of the horses sounded through the night, I glanced up at the trees. They were sparkling with lights, the snowflakes illuminating them like fireflies. And standing between the trees, next to the animals, I caught sight of the Snow Hag and her kin—the Wilding Fae. They bowed low as we swept by.

I raised my hand, waving quietly, and the Snow Hag caught my gaze, and her snaggletooth smile spread into a wide grin. Her eyes twinkled in the darkness of the forest, and then we were past and they fell in behind us as we approached the Barrow.

There at the entrance stood a double line of guards, at least thirty of them, and they bowed as we came into sight. Grieve lightly jumped off his horse, and then he walked back to stand by my horse’s side. Check reached up and took hold of my waist as Fearless and Druise untangled the train of my gown and held it until I was safely on the ground.

Check and Fearless stepped back, bowing, and as I turned, Grieve dropped to one knee, his head bowed.

“Your Highness,” he murmured. “Allow me to lead you to the Court where the Lady Lainule awaits?”

“You may stand,” I whispered, realizing that he would stay on his knee until I gave him permission. He rose, and my wolf tattoo let out an excited yip. He extended his arm, his palm facedown toward the snow.

Overwhelmed by the beauty of the night, by the sparkling lights that illuminated the air and the Barrow, and by the attention that was focused on me, I could only reach out and place my hand lightly over his. Our arms outstretched, my hand lightly resting on his, we approached the entrance. As we passed each pair of guards, they stood and fell in behind Check, Fearless, and Druise.

The horses whinnied softly, and the jingling of their bells echoed the soft chiming of the bells on Druise’s shoes. I started to glance back, to smile at her, but something stopped me, and so I took another long breath as we passed through the shimmering arches. The great doors of the Barrow were standing wide, guarded by another troop of warriors, and I began to realize just how large of a contingent of guards rested under my command.

We entered Eldburry Barrow and crossed the common court, where Fae were milling—throngs of them. I wasn’t sure if they were all from the Court of Snow and Ice, or if they were visitors from Marburry, come to see my coronation. But there wasn’t time to ask.

The great doors to the inner court were open again, guarded by a line of warriors on each side, and they bowed as Grieve led me into the large chamber. It was beautiful, it was home. In the brief time that had passed from yesterday when I’d first laid eyes on it until tonight, I’d gone from fearing this land to loving it.

Ahead, at the back of the room, were two hand-hewn yew thrones, embellished with silver designs. Over them, against the wall, hung a huge tapestry of the snow and ice, of the moon and of owls and of wolves. It looked new, and I realized it was to represent my rule, and the rule of Grieve.

I glanced at him and quickly whispered, “Do you take the throne with me tonight?”

He shook his head ever so slightly. “I cannot, not until we are wed. But fear not, I will be with you, as your consort, until then.”

Glancing to the side, I saw that seated near the throne were Luna and Peyton, Chatter and Rhiannon. Rhiannon wore a dress like mine, only as Druise had told me, it was of gold and green, and her cloak was woven of leaves and roses. Her hair had shifted, and I realized that it was no longer red but had changed to a honey gold, shimmering in the lanterns holding the Ice Elementals. And Lainule, her hair was deep red, almost mahogany.