14 UNEDITED VERSION

"Ugh watch it!" Her hand uses a force I am unfamiliar with to push me causing me to fall backwards and land on my buttocks like a bag of corn.

Thank Boreas that the forest floor doesn't feel too hard but it doesn't also feel like a fell on a soft bed either, I frown at her, I wish she would burn.

Arcotos rushes to my side and sniffs my face, after a few licks and whines, he turns and begins to growl at Aoife.

I know that Arcotos always takes three steps before he charges or pounces at his prey, his ears would pull backwards, his entire body filled with tension ready for the kill.

His tail is as straight as a tree that reaches for the sky and his lips are pulled up showing his victim the kind of damage and pain he's capable and ready to inflict.

I like the idea of Arcotos attacking Aoife because no one has ever treated me so badly for no reason.

But Dana has been nothing but a nice fairy to me, and she's going to help me with my ritual, I don't think she would like to come back to see her companion in shreds.

"Arcotos no." He ignores me and growls louder, I see Aoife get into a fighting stance and I remember she hunts, so she could hurt Arcotos and it would kill me if anything happens to him. I don't want to find out the outcome of this encounter.

I throw myself onto Arcotos and hold him close, my hands roam his thick white fur as I try to calm him down by rubbing his body.

"It's OK, I'm OK, shh calm down Arcotos please." I don't know how long I did this before he calms down and begins to whine.

I release the breath I didn't realize I was holding.

"What happened here? One minute you both were behind us the next you both were nowhere to be seen, we kept yelling your names why didn't you both answer our calls?"

"Her rabid dog was trying to bite me!" Unbelievable! The shock is evident on my face for two reasons.

The first being that it's a blatant lie! OK, Arcotos didn't want to bite her, he wanted to kill her because she was being horrible to me for no reason, I mistakenly bumped into her and I apologized but still, she pushed me.

The second being that Arcotos is not a dog, he's a Canis wolf of the north!

"Aadya would never let Arcotos bite you and Aoife he is a Canis, not a rabid dog." My heart beats faster.

Did Dion just defend me?

He did. He was awfully quiet before, maybe he was too tired to say anything?

Regardless, he defended me and took my side instead of believing Aoife's ridiculous claims, the action warms my heart and I watch him for a while.

Those green eyes that sparkle and send warmth down my body.

"Aadya? Aadyaaaa?" I snap back into reality and my eyes meet Dion's arms waving in front of my face.

"Huh?"

"Are you OK? You looked lost in your mind. Are you hungry? Thirsty?" I do not doubt me that he cares about me.

Maybe there's hope that something could come out of this, maybe he may choose to court me.

My eyes glance behind his head to see the two pretty winter fairies watching us, one with curiosity and the other with disdain.

And that's when it clicks in my head.

Aoife must think Dion is courting me, and she's envious!

Does she think I'm competition? Is that why she's trying to put me down? A royal household member of the Northern wolfmen for that matter?!

But look at her! She's gorgeous! I don't even have breasts, to begin with, so what would he hold while we make love under the night sky in the snow?

She could have simply asked, I mean I like Dion a lot but that doesn't mean I want to fight another fairy over him.

I won't fight over him because he's mine. Period.

"I'm alright, don't worry about it."

"OK if you say so, here." He stretches his hand towards me for me to take.

I place my right hand in his and in what would be considered as an effortless attempt he lifts me off the dry ground.

I go ahead to dust myself to rid off the dirt from my attire, even though it's dirty already I just don't want them to think I like being dirty.

"I don't want to know what happened here but please try to keep up and don't be left behind, we're close by to the village. These parts are enchanted so only fairies from our village can enter, anyone else will get lost and starve to death out here." Oh.

With that Dana turns around and begins to lead us through the unknown path once more but Aoife follows behind her instead of Dion.

Aoife turns around to glance at Dion to whom she smiles at and when her eyes land on me she sends me her infamous death glare.

Arcotos follows and walks beside me.

Dion walks ahead of me once more.

No one says anything or converses. We all remain quiet as we follow Dana as she leads us through the forest. I feel tired, hungry, thirsty and sleepy but I don't want to complain and be a baby about it.

"OK, we're here." I look to Dion as I brace myself for whatever happens next because I see nothing ahead but more trees.

"But I don't see anything." Me too Dion, me too.

"We are very... Private kinds, we had our village chief priest cast spells around the village borders to disguise the entrance and lead travellers who come this way astray." Oh wow, no one practices magic or cast spells in our kingdom and I thought only witches could cast spells.

"Who's a chief priest?" For once, I would like to step out of the dark on a matter, I am terrible at asking questions on things I don't know about.

"They are the bridge between normal fairies or kinds and their gods, they hear from the gods and communicate with them on behalf of the rest of us, they also practice magic and rely on spells and incantations."

"Wow."

"Don't your kind have such?"

"None at all Dana."

"Hmmm OK, I know not every kind has a chief priest communicate with their gods, but it's alright."

"Dion close your eyes and hold my hand." Dion obliged without questioning her as to why he should do such.

Something bitter slides up my stomach into my heart and then my mouth, it brings along with it sadness, wants and anger, yes I am very much well aware of my jealousy towards Dion's act of letting Aoife hold his hand.

And I don't miss the smirk she gives me, it's like she's rubbing it into my face that she's won this time because she gets to hold Dion's hand.

My eyes narrow into slits, I accept the challenge you evil being.

Before I could blink, they both disappear into thin air. I didn't have time to recover from that stunt before Dana spoke.

"Before we head in, I need to know something." I turn to my left side to see her looking down at me from her 6ft height. It's a bit intimidating and that reminds me of how Troilus acts sometimes.

Once more my heart aches as I long to see my family. This is the longest in all my life that I have ever gone without seeing a single member of my family. I don't even sleep out and I haven't travelled outside the borders of our kingdom either, so being nervous to step into an unknown land claimed by winter fairies is an understatement. I miss my family, soon I will see them.

"OK, I will do my best to answer it if I have the answer to it." I watch her anxiously as I wait for her to ask me whatever it is on her mind.

"Are you fucking Dion?" What? I don't understand.

"Uhm... Forgive me... But what does fucking mean?" She smiles and then giggles. I feel insulted and I don't know why but I try to not let my ugly emotion get the best of me considering she's leading me into her home and helping me perform my fifteen years of age ritual.

"Sorry, fuck means sex, you know... Make love, penis entering vagin–"

"OK! I get it!" My Boreas she's so crude and raw, it's not like I have anything against it but where I come from we are more reserved especially when questioning another of such intimate act.

She laughs at me and I roll my eyes, they land on Arcotos who's sitting next to where I stand. He corks his head to the side as he watches me.

"I take it that your kind is a bit more reserved than mine but no worries you will enjoy your stay with us just fine. So go ahead to answer my question." Realizing now what she just asked me, I know my face will be red due to the blush on my face.

"I–I…" she lifts a pretty yellow eyebrow as she is clearly amused with how tongue-tied I've become.

I clear my throat and gulp down my saliva, I realize I tend to do this when I'm nervous, I think, "I and Dion are just friends, and we sort of live very close, so we are like family in a way." I don't feel comfortable opening up to her just yet, it may take a while because trust is earned.

"Hmm but the way you look at him, you should never look at family like that. Does he know?" She moves farther and rests her back on a tree with her arms crossed and one leg bent with her foot resting on the tree behind her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I fold my arms across my chest.

"Oh you definitely do, you forget yourself a lot around him, always lost in that little head of yours fantasizing about him, or the obvious look you have on your face that you always wear each time you see him. Should I go on?" OK, I don't know if I like her or I don't and I can't be that obvious, she is just very good at reading people.

She read me wrong though.

"What look do I wear are you talking about?"

"Oh nothing serious you just look very thirsty, and he's your oasis except you want to drink his milk and not water." My eyes widen.

"Well... That's just very inappropriate, don't you think?" She shakes her head and laughs.

"Alright let's go before lover boy think I killed his sweetheart." She stretches her hands towards me and I take it.

"You have to tell me the meaning of all these strange words you and your companion use."

She shrugs her shoulders and closes her eyes, I quickly take Arcotos paw and close my eyes.

Suddenly, I feel very dizzy and it feels like my feet aren't touching the ground, it almost feels like I'm flying but then I have never flown before so how am I sure this sensation I feel is that of flying.

It begins to feel like my body is being gently dropped onto something very soft and cold.

The surrounding air is cold as well and it carries a fragrance that winter brings with it.

I take in deep breaths and audibly sigh as a smile stretches my lips.

I have missed the winter so much. The hot summer air felt unbearable and never-ending.

"You can open your eyes now."

I open my eyes slowly and it feels as though I just awoke from a deep slumber.

But instead of waking up in my bed, I open my eyes to be put into a beautiful dream.

Snow is everywhere, that's what I notice first, and they are moving!

Oh! no those are fairies! Tiny winter fairies! I'm here! This is the first time I enter another land that isn't mine, the feeling is thrilling.

I thought all of them would be tall like Dana but some are very tiny, and they fly around with tiny wings on their backs, they carry little things in their hands too.

Dana and Aoife have no wings, I will ask her about it later.

I see houses made out of wood, and it looks so strange to me not because they are made of wood but mostly because they are upside down.

The roof is on the ground in the snow but the doors and windows are placed in their normal positions as if the house were standing upright. It's very confusing and I wonder what inside looks like.

A lot of them are wearing the type of clothes Dana and Aoife are wearing.

Aoife! Where's she and Dion?

My eyes leave the scenery and frantically searches for Dion.

"Shhh relax she took him to our home."

"Oh OK are we heading to your home?"

"Yes we are but first welcome to Niflheim the land of the Winter fairies!" Her arms are open wide as she gestures to the people and land before me.

Besides a few fairies bustling here and there and a few downturned houses, there's not much to see. It's different to what I'm used to but it's not for lack of a better word, fascinating.

The only thing that excites me is the fact that it's snowing in the middle of summer, that is awesome.

I think she notices my lack of wonder, she throws her arm over my shoulder and pulls me into her side.

"Oh don't worry, our land is quite vast and beautiful, you just can't see it from down here."

"Princess Dana!"

Princess?! She's a princess!?