Frostbitten Past

X X V I

TO KYLE, getting Andorra and beating Noah meant everything to him. When he looked back on his childhood, he remembered his father, the dutiful merchant, always saving up money and always dreaming of going back to Anlithamy. His father had always been a dreamer.

His mother had been something different, something harder. She was a realist, someone who knew the probability of things happening and the reality that Anlithamy was out of their reaches.

Kyle never understood how his parents managed to fall in love and get married. Their differences were so large that Kyle wondered who he should be: a dreamer, or a realist. He felt that if he picked a side, he picked a parent, and he wanted both.

He got along with his father more than his mother. His father was easy going, a kind man with a big heart. He was easy to talk to, and he could sell things like that was a power of its own. He was a big, burly man with a big smile and a strong embrace and the ability to make Kyle feel safe.

But, it was his mother that Kyle looked up to the most. She was quick on her feet, and she wasn't impulsive. She was safe, secure, and she was protective of Kyle. She always told him before bed that dreams were for the foolish. But, there was always a kindness in her words, always a shared look between both mother and father.

Growing up had been strange between both parents. He lived the life of a merchant's son, poor enough that they struggled to buy things, but not so poor that they never had food on the table. His father dreamed of a different time when they would be dining in Anlithamy, eating wonderful food, wearing wonderful clothes. His father dreamed of a time when he could be a merchant to the rest of the faeries in Anlithamy, joking around with other merchants that lived similar lives to his own.

His mother knew that they would never have much money, and so she treated the money they did have with such care that Kyle wondered if she ever bought anything for herself. It was always new clothes for him, or better things for his father. She was careful with their money so that Kyle was never really wanting anything he needed, but wanting enough so that he understood where they stood financially.

Kyle was a realist, even if he wanted to be a dreamer. And the reality was that getting Andorra to come back to the sun clan was harder than he thought it would be. The reality was also that if he brought Andorra back, he would have enough money to get his mother something she actually deserved. It would bring honor to his family of dreamers and realists.

He hated that Noah had never wanted anything. Noah had it all; Kyle knew this because his own Clan Leader's son had it all.

Noah didn't have to dream; he had the dream.

The only thing Noah had ever wished for was Andorra, and now he had her. It made Kyle so angry that he found himself pacing in his apartment, head down and eyes narrowed. Kyle knew that Noah wanted Andorra because when the two of them were children, Noah never wanted to talk about her after the prophecy had been announced. Kyle could spot the longing in Noah's eyes that often matched his own father's, and that was how he knew that she was something that he wanted. Something his title as Clan Leader's son couldn't give him.

Kyle threw himself on his couch when the pacing had become enough. He threw his head in his hands and let out a groan that sounded more like something come undead, and then he wondered how he'd get her back.

Paul was right; Noah would have her on lock and key. Now that Noah had her in his clutches, there was little Kyle could do to take her away, or even have a private conversation.

What made Kyle most angry about the situation was the fact that he once had Andorra. She had been all his, and she would have gone with him to Anlithamy just to spite Noah, he was sure of it. Even if, deep down, she liked Noah more, Andorra hadn't realized just what type of connection she had with the dark haired, cold-looking boy. And Kyle had used that to his advantage.