Page 22 of Winter Goddess
I go to him and pull him up from his chair, taking him into my arms. "It's not your fault," I whisper into his ear. "None of this is your fault."
He shakes his head as if he doesn't agree, but that's when Frost runs into the room, panting heavily. "What's up?"
Behind him is Tamara, a net covering her grey hair. She looks even more grandmotherly in her bright purple dressing gown and her fluffy slippers.
I step back from Crispin, wishing once again that I could see his face. His aura is dark and broody, full of sadness and regret. Does it show in his expression? In his eyes?
I take a deep breath and face my audience. "The Spring Goddess has disappeared. The guards saw Crispin lead her away, and asmyCrispin didn't do that, we have to assume that we have another clone in the Palace. Crispin, from now on you're going to stay by my side so that if your clone is seen on his own, everybody knows that it's an impostor.
"Guess that's one way of spending more time with you," he says under his breath, but I don't have time to reply. There's too much at stake here.
"Flora’s disappearance fits with what Blaze said during his vision."
"Is that what it was?" Tamara interrupts. "A vision? I didn't know unicorns had that power."
I shrug. "Neither did I, but apparently, they do. He said that Spring would be taken, and that's exactly what happened. We need to find Flora, but there's more we need to be aware of."
"Summer will be betrayed," Crispin recites. "Find Autumn or Winter will thaw. The balance must be maintained. Darkness is coming, there's no escape."
"Does that mean the Morrigan will betray Angus?" Tamara asks, hope swinging in her voice.
"That would be nice," I mutter, "but life hasn't been very nice recently. Maybe there's going to be betrayal inside the Realm? Maybe his wife will betray him? Who knows. For now, I think we need to focus on Flora and Autumn."
I've put off asking the most important question for now because I don't want to show my ignorance. I thought I'd learned quite a bit about the Gods and Goddesses by now, but once again, my lack of knowledge is showing. Well, no way around it.
"Who's the God of Autumn?" I ask, kicking myself internally. Such a stupid question. I should know this. "Or is it a Goddess?"
"There isn't one," Storm replies with a shrug. "Never has been."
"Wait, so there are Gods for Spring, Summer and Winter, but not for Autumn? Isn't that a bit discriminatory?"
"I'm not sure you can discriminate against a season," Frost jokes. "I think there was never a need for one. In autumn, Beira takes over from Angus and slowly introduces winter to all life. In spring, she retreats, but during winter, some beings die, so the Spring Goddess is needed to breathe new life into the worlds, before passing the baton on to Angus."
That doesn't really make sense to me, but alright, so there's no official Autumn God.
"I think Blaze disagrees with that," I point out. "He says to find Autumn. How can we find a God that doesn't exist?"
"Maybe it's a riddle," Tamara suggests. "Perhaps we shouldn't be taking it literally."
"What else could it mean, though?" Storm asks. Nobody answers, we're all just as clueless.
"Autumn... harvest... end of summer...," I mutter more to myself than to the others. "Beginning of winter... third season of the year..."
"Wait," Frost says, his aura brightening. "Beginning of winter. Winter. Maybe it's a hint that you should be crowned?"
I sigh. "Please don't interpret things into this that don't make sense. I know you all want me to take the throne, but that's not your decision to make."
"But don't you see?" His enthusiasm confuses me. "We'd be crowning Autumn. Not Winter. Your mother wouldn't have to give up the throne if we don't crown Winter, but Autumn."
I shake my head. "As lovely as that sounds, this Realm needs a Winter Queen, not an Autumn one."
"Ha!" Tamara explains. "You said it needs a Queen. Finally."
"Stop it, all of you." I grimace. "This is not up for discussion."
"End of the warmth, beginning of the cold," Crispin says quietly. "Fire and Ice. I think we may have already found Autumn."
My heart is starting to beat faster as I realise what he means. "Dewi? The Dragon Goddess?"
