THE CLAN Leader was alone, in his bedroom, laying on the floor. He was surrounded by blood, and Andorra wasn't sure if it was his or not. His chest was moving, which indicated he was alive, and Andorra just watched for a moment.
He looked weaker than he had ever looked before. When she stepped through, he bent his head towards her, his eyes narrow. "So you weren't killed after all."
She pursed her lips. "Where is everyone else in the palace?"
He let out a wet laugh, then groaned as if it hurt to do that. "How would I know? I ran to safety the moment the attack started. Who cares about the help when they're so disposable?"
Hot anger ran through Andorra at those words, making red flow through her veins. She felt it run down her spine, through her arms and legs, pressing against her skin, begging to be let out.
"You're a shit leader." She wasn't prone to cursing, but it just came out, fueled with hatred. Hatred stronger than she thought she had. "You don't deserve your clan." You deserve to die. The thought was sudden and violent, but it was true.
"Did my son find you? That worthless boy was too concerned about your whereabouts to do much of anything."
She scoffed, hating that he was lying to her face. "I know about the plan. I overheard you talking about it. I'm not staying behind, and I will become queen, whether you want me to or not."
The Clan Leader's mouth twisted. "Guess that cat is out of the bag. My son was pretty shit at it anyway, wouldn't you say? Since he failed his job to keep you here."
Her chest ached at those words. At the thought that Noah truly didn't care for her. "Truthfully, he probably would have gotten away with it if I hadn't overheard you." She loved him, and she let him trick her into believing he loved her, too.
I almost played the life of a human, just to be with you. He had told her that. He had made it so obvious he wanted her to stay out of Anlithamy the whole time, and she hadn't seen it coming.
"So, is this the part where you kill me?" He rasped, laughing. It was painful to hear, due to the wheezing and the injuries to his body.
"Looks like you're dying without my help. And I can just leave you behind. I honestly just came to ask about the others, but if we're done here..." she took a step back, towards the door, gesturing to leave, and the Clan Leader shot up. He grunted, his hand going to the side of his stomach.
"Don't leave me here!" He wailed.
"Why shouldn't I?" Her voice was acidic. "You said I was useless. You made me feel useless. And now you want my help, after admitting that you wanted your son to trick me into staying behind? I don't think so."
She stepped into the in-between before he could say anything else, and the fire in her chest burned. She felt like she had right before she killed that man in her high school. She tried to tame it, tried to push it away, but she couldn't. She could feel herself falling apart at the seems, but she held it together enough to think of the Clan Leader's wife, Noah's mother. Despite her being a toxic part of Andorra's time there, she was still Noah's mother.
When she found Noah's mother though, she was dead, laying in a lump on the corridor floor, her wide eyes looking up at what had probably killed her in fear. There was something in her expression that made Andorra's stomach immediately sour, and she pulled herself back into the in-between, thinking of Anlithamy at once.
When she stepped back through, she had expected there to be hoards of people, waiting, but there was no one but Princess Carling, waiting patiently. She looked for a moment to be worn, with her beautiful hair pulled back, but when her eyes met Andorra's, she smiled. It was the smile of someone who was relieved, and for a moment, Andorra wondered if the woman perhaps thought Andorra wouldn't be returning.
Carling embraced Andorra, wrapping her arms around the younger girl and squeezing tightly. Andorra for a moment felt blessed. Blessed that someone in Anlithamy seemed to care about her and her wellbeing.
"My dear, welcome home to Anlithamy." When Carling leaned back, her smile was warm. "I didn't see the Clan leader, though."
Andorra tried to make her face neutral, but she failed. "He was dead. As was his wife. There was nothing I could do." Andorra figured saying he had died would be easier than saying she left him alone, bleeding out in his room. She still wasn't sure how she was going to break the news to Noah, who probably already knew by the lack of their presence.
Coralia exited the shop then, alone. She too looked tired, but she gave Andorra a smile. "There's a guy in there demanding to see if you've returned." She hitched her thumb towards the shop. "Well, I guess there's more than one guy. There are a few people dying to see you, Princess."
Andorra turned towards Carling, not sure how to thank the older woman. "I want to thank you. Seriously. This... this means a lot to me. To these people."
Carling tucked a strand of Andorra's hair behind her ear in a motherly way. "It's no problem at all, Princess. There is much you will do for me and for Anlithamy, and take this as an early thank you. I knew your parents, and they would be very proud of you, Andorra."
Andorra should have felt pleased at that, but her birth parents meant little to her. She wished Carling had been talking about her human parents, Lithe's parents, but the woman wouldn't know about the human parents who raised Andorra.
Coralia rushed Andorra inside the shop, which was empty. Coralia though began to head towards the back of the store, ushering Andorra along. "C'mon, Princess. They're all downstairs in our cellar."
Andorra couldn't picture a cellar being big enough to hold hundreds of people, but Andorra followed the girl anyway. There was a tightness to Andorra's chest that made her nervous about seeing Noah, because she had no idea of what she would say to him.
When they descended the stairs, Andorra looked below at the hoards of people sitting, rocking back and forth, waiting. When they looked at Andorra, they all jumped up at once, bowing into submission, saying thank you Princess in unison. It stole her breath away, just watching them all bow to her.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw that the cellar was huge, stretching on for miles it seemed. There were racks and shelves of fabric, so much fabric Andorra couldn't believe it, and the Snow Clan stood between the aisles, looking at her, cheering for her.
She swallowed thickly, trying not to make eye contact, afraid she would see Noah. "All those who are alive made it over safely. Your Clan Leader and his wife, however, lost their lives today." She looked around the room at the reactions, and was surprised to find no one seemed to care. They were all watching her still, their faces neutral.
"So, I believe it'll be Sir Nohx now. He'll be your Clan Leader." Using his real name felt strange on her tongue, but that was how it had to be. He was no longer her Noah; he was a Clan Leader now. He hadn't been her Noah since she found out his plans to keep her in the human realm forever.
There was a murmuring in the crowd, sounding mostly of discontent. The raw pity in Andorra's chest made her speak up again, to save Noah from their boos. "Sir Nohx will be in charge, whether you like it or not. And this, I think is probably where we will leave each other. I... your clan has been like a family to me. I thank you for all you have done, and without you, I don't know where I would be. Thank you, all of you. I won't let you down as Queen."
Andorra, figuring that was enough, turned towards Coralia. "Now, how do we get them home?"
"That won't be necessary." It was a deep, dark voice on the stairs, looking down at her. She wanted to flinch from him, at how big and tall he was, but she held her ground at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for him to introduce himself.
He walked down the stairs as if he were royalty. When he was standing beside Andorra, so got a good look at him, at the darkness that seemed to roll off of him in waves. He looked like midnight entirely.
"I am Prince Puck. I will take the Snow Clan back to the Winter Court, if that is alright with you, Princess Andorra."
She stared at him, open mouthed for a moment, realizing this was man was just as in charge as Carling was, only Princess Carling had been much more welcoming than Prince Puck. His voice was like ice, and his gaze was hard, and all at once he reminded her of Noah.
He was old, nearly the age of an old father who had children old enough to be in their thirties, but there was something so dark and sinister about him that had her cowering despite his age. "You may." She hoped her voice was strong, but she had a feeling Prince Puck saw her as nothing more than a child.
Prince Puck turned towards the Snow Clan, his arms crossed. "Welcome Back, Snows. Things have changed since you were last here. Let me be the first to tell you that the rest of Anlithamy isn't thrilled you're back, so you better be on your best behavior."
He turned towards Andorra, then. "Princess, Palace Security is upstairs, waiting to take you to the Royal Palace, where you'll be staying from here on out. I suggest you go up before they come down here."
It was all happening too soon. She looked into the crowd, trying to find her friends, looking for Oberon's shock of white hair. "Okay." She swallowed thickly again, looking out into the crowd for Oberon, desperate now to find him. "Give me a moment to say goodbye." She didn't ask for permission, because as far as she was concerned, Prince Puck was below her in status.
She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Oberon! Lithe!" She didn't bother calling for Noah, she couldn't do that to herself. Seeing him, one last time, would ruin her.
She saw Oberon then, running towards her, shoving himself past people. Lithe was in tow, holding onto the back of Oberon's shirt, weaving in and out of aisles and people. When they finally reached the front of the pack, Andorra dove into them, wrapping her arms around Oberon tightly, pressing her face into his neck. "Obe, oh my god, I love you."
Oberon laughed, but it sounded weak in her ear, like he was crying. "Wait until Sir Noah hears that."
She pulled back, nearly crying now, knowing this was goodbye. "I don't want to leave you behind."
Oberon rubbed the back of his head, looking at her with darkened eyes. "You have to, Princess."
She shook her head, then turned towards Lithe, hugging the human tightly. Lithe hesitated for a moment before wrapping her arms around Andorra, hugging the fae tighter than Andorra thought possible. "You will always be my sister, Lithe. Always. I'm sorry you got pulled here, if this isn't what you wanted. I can still bring you to Maine."
Lithe pulled back first, wiping away a tear. "No, this is my home now. You and Obe are my home."
Then, as she stepped back, she saw Noah standing there, in front of Prince Puck, his face cold and distant. It had to be, she told herself, because Noah didn't finish through with his master plan of forcing her to live with the humans.
She looked at his face, at the stubble on his chin, as his waves of dark hair, at his dark eyes, and she told herself this was it: she was letting him go. She had a real Prince waiting for her, and she had friends who loved her, and she didn't need Noah. She never needed Noah, who had been mad when she started showing powers. Who didn't support her when she needed it most. Who told her he loved her, then left her behind.
"Good luck, Sir Nohx." She turned towards Puck, giving him a closed lip smile. She had no clue what to say to him, so she said nothing as she ascended the stairs, leaving behind her friends, the boy she loved, and the clan that saved her.
This was the end of her frostbitten past with the Snow Clan, but it was the beginning of what would be the rest of her life. She was the golden prophecy that would save Anlithamy, and it was about time she got started on being the Queen her people deserved.
* * *
THE SEQUEL IS ALMOST HERE!
Go check it out on my page and leave a vote on the prologue! I'll be picking a random voter to dedicate my first chapter to!
GOLDEN will be released January 1, 2021
See you soon ;)
Omg, it's all over!!
Frostbitten Past was my FIRST EVER wattpad novel . I first published it on Wattpad in 2012, and I instantly fell in love with my characters. I loved Andorra, I loved Noah, and I loved the story behind the characters.
My inspiration came from the book Wings by Aprilynne Pike and Switched by Amanda Hocking. I was in love with the idea of a human girl who didn't know she was a faerie, and later finding out she was and had to leave the humans behind. Thus, this story was born!
In the original book, the ending differs (Noah actually loses his memory, and Andorra's birth parents show up at the end) but I didn't like that. There are a lot of things I changed about this story the second time around, but I prefer this version way more!
If any of you are interested in the reading the original (but beware, writing in it sucked lmao) let me know! I'd def be okay with re-releasing it!
To everyone who enjoyed this book, thank you for sticking around! It's not my most popular work, but I do love these characters and this plot. And I can't wait for the sequel (;
Love you all, always. XOXO