Frostbitten Past

X X X I

ANDORRA FELT a tiny sliver of remorse for her actions in the study. She hated how she'd spoken to Noah, but even more, she hated that he had talked to Oberon the way he had. The help. She hated those words.

Her time at the clan base thus far had been spent in her room, alone, or better yet, training with others. Her training had ended the same every time: with her feeling useless. Unlike when she killed the man in her school, her powers seemed pretty dormant inside of her, not wanting to be relinquished.

She laid back in her tub, closing her eyes. She felt stressed, and if she were being honest, pretty useless. At least when she was a human, she knew what to do, what others expected from her. She knew how to make her parents happy, knew how to blend in during school, knew how to be invisible.

That was the thing that bothered her most: she was great at being invisible, but knew nothing about being a Princess. She knew nothing about dealing with attention, dealing with the bowing, with the way people addressed her.

She hated that Noah wasn't helping her through this all. In her dream world, he would be right next to her, leading her and teaching her all the ways of being a faerie. Instead, he barely looked at her.

It made her chest ache.

Chasing after him made her feel like she was in high school all over again, wondering what about him drew her interest. Why him?

A knock on her bathroom door made her sit straighter in the tub, then slouch down again so her chest was covered by the bubbles in the water. Cheeks flaring, she called out, "yes?"

The door opened, and her maid stepped in hesitantly. There was something fearful in her eyes that made Andorra sit up again, forgetting that the water and bubbles no longer covered her. "What's wrong?"

"Sir Noah has requested your presence."

Something akin to hope flared in Andorra's chest. Still not used to the audience, she didn't immediately step out of the tub, wondering if she should wait for her maid to leave, or if she should act less embarrassed.

The maid made the decision for her, grabbing a towel and holding it towards Andorra, who stood up in the tub and took it gratefully. She stepped on the tile, careful not to slip, and wrapped the towel around herself.

"Why do you look afraid?"

She shook her head, not wanting to answer, but Andorra saw something in her eyes that told her there was something wrong, perhaps with Noah, and Andorra felt a sliver of fear slice through the hope.

As the maid brought her to the main room and sat her down to brush her hair, Andorra gathered up her wits. "What's your name?"

She'd been meaning to ask, especially after she realized there was a resemblance between her and Oberon, which could be a coincidence, but Andorra wanted to get to know her better. Sometimes she could be sharp, but she had also been kind.

The woman began brushing through her hair carefully. "Melisande." The answer was short, and was met with a bit of a bite, but Andorra ignored it and hedged forward.

"I met a kid that looks kinda like you..." she let the rest of her sentence die away, hoping Melisande would answer the unasked question that was prompted. Instead, Melisande made a grunt, not bothering to make more a response.

"His name is Oberon," Andorra continued, meshing her fingers together nervously, "and he's been somewhat of a friend to me here, so far at least. I was just wondering..."