Page 33 of The Enchanted Frost

“What about now? If you could wish for anything without the weight of your duties holding you back, what would it be?” I already knew what I most longed for if the tomorrow that might never come was more certain—the very thing I had now held in my hand. My grip lacing through his tightened.

Vulnerability flickered in his eyes, as if my question had stirred something deep within him. When he finally spoke, his words emerged quietly, almost uncertain. “I wish…I could know what it feels like to truly live. To experience warmth, not just as a fleeting sensation but as something constant. To laugh, to love, to share my life with someone who sees me for more than what I can do with my magic. I wish for a life where I’m not defined by the cold, where I can be somethingmore.”

His words tugged at my heart. I squeezed his hand gently in reassurance. “Unlike me, you have forever stretching ahead of you.”

His gaze sought mine, full of a longing too deep for words. “I would give anything to transfer to you a portion of my time in order to share the remainder of my existence with you. What about you, what is your wish?”

I didn’t even need to ponder his earnest question. “I’ve spent so much time running from my past and regrets that I never considered about who I wanted to be. But now standing here with you, there’s no doubt that the future I want is one where I’m not just surviving. Without my noticing, my greatest desire shifted from finding a way to reverse the destined death fate has awaiting me…to simply being with you.”

“You are all I want too and more,” he murmured, his voice filled with quiet intensity. “I want to build a life with you, to experience the world through your eyes and discover the beauty in the seasons beyond winter. I want to be not only the Keeper of Winter, but the keeper of your heart—I want to live, with you by my side.”

Tears pricked my eyes as I smiled, a mixture of joy and longing. “Is such a future possible with your claim on my soul?”

He lifted his hand, gently brushing away a tear I hadn’t realized had fallen, his cool touch tender and soothing. “Whatever the future holds, I’ll find a way, no matter what it takes. You deserve to not only live, but to do so with joy.”

Leaning into his touch, I let hope and determination fill my heart. “You deserve that as well. I will be happy as long as we’re together.”

He leaned in so close our foreheads nearly touched, his voice a whisper of resolve. “Together, Blanche.”

The warmth of our connection enveloped us as he pulled me into his arms. We stood there beneath the sky’s dance of fuchsia and teal, its light reflecting our shared hopes and dreams in the vibrant colors above. The aurora’s glow softened the usual stoicism on his face, revealing the man beneath the title of Keeper of Winter. The beauty of the intimate moment and the promise of a future we both desired filled the spaces between us, as though everything we had shared since meeting had been leading to this moment.

As the unspoken emotions swirled in the air, time seemed to slow, the space around us narrowing until the world outside ceased to exist. The aurora’s shimmering cast a soft glow across his dear face, illuminating the vulnerability and longing in his eyes—a reflection of my own unspoken feelings. We stood so close that I could feel the faint chill of his breath mingling with the warmth of mine, creating a delicate balance just like the one we shared.

Without conscious thought we leaned closer, as if drawn by an invisible force, our hearts pounding in unison of quiet anticipation. When our lips finally met, it was like two worlds colliding—his cool touch against my warmth, a tender melding of contrasts that somehow fit perfectly. The kiss was soft at first, hesitant, as if we were both savoring the newfound intimacy, the quiet realization that we had crossed a threshold from which there was no return.

Gradually, the kiss deepened, filled with the harbored emotions we had both been holding back. There was sweetness in it, a promise of the life we both longed for—a future where we could be vulnerable, strong, and free together.

Frost’s hand gently cupped my cheek, his thumb brushing against my skin with such tenderness that it made my heart ache. My fingers threaded through his hair, the strands coolbeneath my touch that contrasted with the tender warmth spreading through me.

The world around us seemed to fade into a blur, leaving only the two of us. The distant sounds of the ice garden—the soft tinkling of frozen streams, the gentle fluttering of ice butterflies—became a quiet symphony that played just for us. The aurora above danced in rhythm with our heartbeat, casting a kaleidoscope of colors across the ice, wrapping us in a cocoon of light and shadow. No matter what the future held, this moment would stay with me forever.

When we finally pulled away, breathless and dazed, I kept my forehead resting against his, our eyes still closed as we lingered in the afterglow of the kiss. Neither of us spoke, as if words would shatter the fragile spell that had woven itself around us.

We remained intertwined, hearts open and exposed, sharing a moment that would forever be etched in the very essence of who we were becoming together. As if to symbolize what had happened, I looked down at our clasped hands to see a tendril of frost encircling our hold, a springlike vine that wound around the two of us, as if to bind us together.

In that quiet aftermath as the aurora’s dancing light slowly faded into the night, I knew that our kiss had been more than just a culmination of our bond—it was a quiet vow, the promise of a new beginning, and the first step towards a future we both secretly hoped for where we could be free to live and love…not as the Keeper of Winter and a wandering soul, but simply as Frost and Blanche.

CHAPTER 15

Frost

Ipaced back and forth in the dim light of my icy sanctuary, the walls shimmering with an otherworldly glow as if they were attuned to my inner turmoil. I couldn’t escape my racing thoughts, desperately seeking the elusive solution that would save the mortal woman who, despite all my denials, was becoming alarmingly dear to me.

I had tried every possible avenue—scouring ancient texts, whispering to the winds, and even consulting the spirits of the frozen north—but no answer had revealed itself. The weight of my urgency grew heavier with each passing moment as time slipped away in the hourglass that measured Blanche’s life. The few grains that remained seemed to have been frozen in time while she dwelt in my realm, but I constantly feared that now that her soul was free for my capture, it would progress again, causing her fleeting life to slip away.

While she slept, I frantically searched for a way to save her, my mind consumed by the fear of losing her. Long intoeach night I worked until I inevitably fell asleep over my books, a sign of my growing weakness. Yet during her waking hours I spent every spare moment I could with her. Each conversation, shared silence, and simple interaction took on a new depth, as if the world had shifted. Her smile felt like first thaw of spring, melting away the frost that had encased my heart for so long.

Somehow, the short duration of our time together—nothing more than a fleeting drop in my endless existence—had become the most cherished I’d ever known. I allowed myself to bask in her presence, the cold of my realm forgotten in the face of her happiness. The sight of her in this place that had been mine alone for so long stirred something deep within me—a mix of emotions I couldn’t fully comprehend.

No moment surpassed that of our first kiss. The moment our lips met, something within me shifted—a warmth spread through my chest, melting away the last remnants of the ice that had once encased my heart. The fact that she’d just shared her most painful, shameful memory with me—baring her battered heart to my view—made it even sweeter.

Though our kiss shouldn’t have happened, I found myself returning to the memory often, reliving it like a treasured melody, each note sweet and resonant—the softness of her lips against mine, the way her breath had mingled with the cold air, creating a delicate mist between us, almost as if our worlds were intertwining.

Every day after that felt like a gift, each more precious than the last. We continued to explore my realm together, but now a deeper connection existed between us, an unspoken understanding that we were no longer just two individuals bound by circumstance but something more. Our conversations grew more intimate, our silences morecomfortable, and the small touches we shared carried a weight of meaning that I had never known before.

We spent hours in one another’s company, sometimes wandering through the icy corridors of my castle, other times venturing out into the snowy landscape. Blanche told me stories from her life, sharing memories that were as colorful and varied as the seasons themselves, and I listened, captivated by the vibrancy of her experiences. In return, I found myself revealing parts of my own history, fragments of my long existence that I had never shared with another. It was as if, in opening myself up to her, I was rediscovering parts of myself that had long been buried beneath layers of ice.

I began to notice the little things that had once eluded me: the way her eyes lit up when she saw Shiver running to meet her or when she saw a new ice creation I’d designed, the way she’d tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear, or the way she seemed to bring light and warmth into the coldest corners of my realm.

---