A Gift of Ice and Snow; Chapter 1

I propel myself out of the cove, hacking up the water I had inadvertently taken in as my heart beats frantically. I glance back at the stilling water in time to see the dark shadow pulling back into the depths.

A hand touches my shoulder. I look up into Lydia's questioning eyes.

A smile spreads across my face as I laugh. I look at Nia, smug grin in place. "I told you I could."

Nia rolls her eyes. "Congrats. By the way, you may have made it, but that is by far the worst run I've ever seen." Her eyes flick to my arm and she smirks. "How's the arm?"

I look down at my arm. Blood trickles down from a gash on my bicep. The creature of Claw Cove had cut my arm. It looks deep, but the rush from my flight has prevented me from feeling it yet. I had nearly forgotten about it.

"Hope that thing wasn't venomous. We wouldn't know. After all, everyone else can make it across without that thing getting close," Nia sneers.

Lydia pulls me to my feet. "I'm sure all the boys will be dying to talk to you after they hear about what happened. You're probably the only one who's ever been close enough to see what the creature of Claw Cove looks like."

"If they talk to the human."

Lydia takes a step towards Nia, bearing her teeth. I catch her arm. "Come on Lydia. She's just upset that a human proved her wrong."

I catch a glimpse of Nia's face turning red as I turn to leave, filling me with grim satisfaction. It wasn't often I got to put her in her place. Our trek back to the mouth of the cave is silent. I know we're defiantly out of Nia's hearing range when Lydia touches my uninjured arm.

"Seriously though, how is your arm? That looks bad."

I look down at my arm, blood still trickling down. If it weren't for the fact I was walking with Lydia, I'd be concerned about leaving a blood trail in the forest. It still didn't hurt all that bad, but my heart was still racing. "Ask me that again when the adrenaline wears off."

Lydia shakes her head as she rolls her eyes. "You really had me worried for a second there. I thought it was going to get you for sure."

"It did get me," I point out.

Lydia shoots me a look over her shoulder. "I thought I was going to have to tell Eda you did something stupid and instead of stopping you, I encouraged you to do the stupid thing and now you were dead."

"If you ever do have to take that news home, make sure you tell my da first. He'll be a lot calmer about it than my ma." I pause on the trail as my words really sink in and hit me. I was going to have to explain my injured arm to Ma and Papa. Ma was going to kill me.

Lydia pauses, turning to face me. She crosses her arms. "You just realized-"

"Yeah, I just realized."

"Maybe only your da will be home?"

I give her a look. With my luck?

Sure enough, I don't even make it through the front door without getting caught. Ma gasps in shock, dropping the bowl she's holding. In seconds, she's upon me, examining my arm, berating me with questions, and yelling for Papa. Papa just appears on the landing of the second floor as Ma herds me along, shaking his head and beckoning me up when he spots my arm. I wait until I'm seated in the washroom, Papa next to me, a physical barrier between Ma and me before I tell them what happened.

Ma's foot is tapping before I've even finished the story. Papa sits silently beside me, calmly continuing to bandage my arm. I don't dare meet Ma's eyes.

"What were you thinking?" She demands.

"Tomorrow is the Festival." I hesitantly look up to meet her eyes, praying she'd understand. "The first one I'm old enough to attend. I had to best the Claw Cove before my first Festival."

Ma sigh. "There is no requirement that says you have to."

"It practically is here!" I exclaim in exasperation. Of course, she didn't understand. "Everyone else has!"

"You are not everyone else, Aspen!" Ma snaps.

I flinch at Ma's words, dropping my gaze to the floor. I can feel hot tears stinging my eyes. "I know." I hate how quiet my voice is.

"Then act like it!"

"Eda!" Papa snaps, hands falling away from the finished knot of the bandage. "A word?"

Ma is silent for a second before she orders me to stay put and turns on her heel, leaving the room. Papa touches my cheek, planting a kiss on my head before following after Ma.

When I hear the door shut, I wipe the tears from my eyes. I had expected Ma to be mad, but I hadn't expected her to be so angry- at least not to the extent she was.

You are not everyone else.

Her words echo in my mind. How many times had I been reminded of that fact? Like I could ever forget I was a human living among Fey.

I glance out the window, the idea of leaving dancing around the edges of my thoughts.

How many times I had considered leaving? At least once for every time someone reminded me I wasn't Fey.

Not that I could. I could hardly remember the language of the humans- my language. Even if I did- I certainly didn't belong there either. I wasn't wanted there. I was here because I had had to flee for my life.

I wipe the last of the tears from my eyes and the thoughts from my mind.

This was my home. I was wanted here. My family here didn't care that I was different. Lydia certainly didn't care. Ma just worried about me, as any mother would.

But I was twenty now. So was Lydia. Tomorrow, we would attend our first Festival together. We would become adults of the community. After tomorrow, I would be given a position within the community, a job. No one would be able to tell me I didn't belong anymore.