Elowen sat on the bed.

She felt the silk beneath her fingers, tracing the texture and trying to become lost in her thoughts- to distract herself from the events she knew that were coming.

The sound of the door opening alerted her, but she did not raise her head. Elowen felt the shaky, nervous breath leave her when she registered the weight of the bed sink as he sat next to her.

There was a heavy silence between them.

Elowen waited for him to say something. She hoped he would. Her heart ached at the thought that this now would be her life. This now would be what would form between them.

She felt a hesitant, gentle touch from his hand as he reached out and touched her own- the same one that had been absentmindedly smoothing down the bed while waiting for him.

"Elowen."

She wanted to close her eyes against her own name and look completely away, but the word and new responsibilities that she carried, made her know she had to look up.

Blue met blue as she lifted her head to look back at Theros.

"It will be okay," he murmured. The thumb of his hand was making small, soothing circles into her palm. Elowen wanted to cry. She wanted to cry at the fact that he would be her first, and yet, she would not be his.

He seemed to be reading this thought from her. But he did not comment or say out loud any of this. Instead, he rose, moving to stand in front of her.

Her eyes followed him as he hesitated, before slowly, falling to his knees.

Elowen felt her eyes widen at the action.

A King did not kneel.

"Theros what-,"

"You are my Queen now," the words seemed choked out of him, but he still said them. He still said them for her to hear, and for him to acknowledge.

He moved forward, taking both of her hands in his own. He exhaled deeply, looking up.

"We must."

She knew what those two words meant. She knew what they had to do. What was expected of them.

"I know." She felt herself breaking, just as he had done that day on the balcony. Those words and the look in his eyes still haunted her mind. "I know but..." she felt her throat closing in on itself as she shook her head.

No. A queen couldn't cry. Shouldn't cry. What was she doing? And in front of him of all people. Him who had stared at her, more than his new bride, during their wedding and reception.

"Tell me," he said.

"You'll think of her. When you are with me. You'll think of her and I...I will fail...I'll fail every time I am compared."

There was a stunned silence on his end as he processed her words. She felt his hand rise and then pull back as the single tear she had allowed, fell down her face.

"I'll never be her."

She hung her head, finally admitting her shame. The thoughts that had lingered in the back of her mind since first meeting the summer girl.

Elowen was too scared to look up. Was he angry? Angry that she had dared bring up the idea of her, just minutes away from when they were supposed to consummate their marriage?

"Elowen."

She shivered against her name.

"Elowen."

She flinched as this time, his hand did touch her. His hand did reach for her and his finger softly trailed down her face.

"Look at me."

She slowly did so, and in that moment, she saw a desperate man.

"I'm sorry."

They looked at one another, the silence hanging between them as he said it again, "I'm sorry. I...I can't explain it...I can't...I don't even understand it."

"I want to know. Before we do this." Elowen felt her iciness come back to her, the tone she was so famous for returning as she glared down at him, "I am your Queen, as you just said. So I want to understand what she means to you. What you intend to do? Because I have a fear I cannot shake, that somehow, you want to replace me. Somehow you wished I was gone. And I cannot be your ally when you are trying to make me your enemy."

His mouth opened and closed silently in shock. Elowen felt some satisfaction at that.

But it came crashing down when he released her hands and ran his own angrily through his hair.

"Damn it," he hissed, "damn it all to hell. You want the truth? You want it even though you know it will hurt you?"

Elowen sobbed against his words as he glared up at her, "so you want the truth? That I love her? That she did something to me? Something I will never understand in all my days of living- she, she- she made me feel. It was the last thing I wanted. How many times do you need to hear this?"

"Do you want her back?"

"I can't have her!" He roared. He stood up, his words shouted at her. His breaths were coming in short, heaving pants as his blue eyes cut through her like ice. The sharpness of his gaze and anger that was held in them made Elowen wish she had never started this conversation.

"What do you not understand!" He was still shouting. He was still clinging to his head, gripping his hair as a crazed sort of laughter escaped him, "God, you love to see yourself bleed. I'm a King! I am a King and that does not mean I can have anything I want. It means the complete opposite!" He spread his arms, letting her take in the grandness of the room that surrounded them. The palace they resided in. The cage where they were held.

"You will feel it too! You are Queen now! Did you think that came with luxury? Did you think you would live a life free of worry or stress because you now claimed such a title?"

He stepped closer to Elowen, eyes livid as he hissed, "do not let her fool you. Do not let her smile fool you. She may be a Queen, but she is always hiding. Always showing something else that she does not feel. She is the master at showing the world what they wish to see. No one is the wiser at the true emotion that lurks underneath that grin."

It took Elowen a second of confusion before she realized that he was talking about her. He was talking about Lumikki. Indeed, Elowen had been thinking that. She had been thinking that the former summer princess seemed to have luck on her side. She had won the heart of the Winter King, and now she had won the heart of the Galexious leader. Wherever she went, she was sure to be provided protection, because the men simply seemed to fall at her feet. Elowen had been thinking as she watched Lumikki with her new husband, how envious it was that she seemed to rise and rise. Whereas, Elowen seemed to do nothing but fall.

"She is happy," Elowen whispered, "anyone can see that."

A wry grin seemed to form on the King's face. Elowen wondered if he was delusional- if this was how he was coping through his pain- by seeing something else in the image. Or if he was right.

If he really did know her better than anyone else.

If he really was able to look at her and see the true emotions that were held in her image, when no one else could.

Either thought made Elowen deflate.

"Enough," she whispered, "I didn't want to go this far in the topic. I didn't want to hear this."

He seemed to realize also that he had taken a step over the line.

His face covered back into an emotionless void, one that Elowen was used to. This was the face that brought her comfort because of its familiarity. Theros was not a creature of emotion- he was not someone who displayed it so outwardly. So seeing that side to him made Elowen realize just how much Lumikki brought him out.

There was another silence between them. She patted the spot on the bed beside her, where he had been formally sitting. He reclaimed it, letting both of them sit there now in silence.

"Will you...can you...?" She hoped he did not snap at her again.

With a sigh, Theros looked at her.

"Elowen. You are a beautiful woman. I am capable of making love to you."

Her heart skipped a beat in her chest as he closed the distance between them, and kissed her.

She had expected him to not be passionate. To not kiss her in the way he did now. She thought he would be indifferent.

Maybe he was picturing her, Elowen though. Maybe he is seeing her in his arms.

He seemed to be reading her thoughts. But this time, he addressed them as he leaned her back onto the bed, his arms framing either side of her as he looked down.

"It is just the two of us, Elowen."

She sobbed again, causing a sorrowful smile to fall on his lips as he kissed her cheek. With a sigh he leaned down, wrapping her gently in his arms.

"Theros," she felt weak in this moment, but it just hit her then that she had him. She actually had him. She was worrying about another woman and the feelings he had for her, but Elowen was starting to realize that they were married. Married.

He was hers.

She was his.

They belonged to each other now, and despite what he said, despite how he made her feel, or how he acted- at the end of the day- it would always be this room and their arms that they returned to.

Not hers, Elowen thought. She does not belong here, she wanted to say as she felt Theros' lips connect back to her own.

Elowen rose, taking him by surprise as she returned his kiss deeper, with more passion than he had been expecting. As her hands went to his hair, feeling the strands, taking in the texture.

She may have felt this body, she may have known this heat- but no more, Elowen reasoned.

No more.

After all, she thought with a vengeance, hearing his small moan beneath her as she made him unravel in her arms, a summer soul cannot last in the winter lands.

Lumi laid on the bed, eyes closed as she tried to even out her breathing.

"I should call the physician."

"No," Lumi shook her head.

"This is becoming concerning Lumi. I was worried before but now I am...I'm very worried..." Josiah's stressed voice made Lumi smile.

"It will pass."

She could hear him pacing back and forth in the room.

"You're sure you are able to attend today?"

Lumi nodded, her eyes still closed.

She could hear him stop.

"Maybe you should wear something warmer."

The grin was back on her face.

"Josiah. Please. I like this dress."

"Lumi, you will look nice in anything...I'm just asking for something with more...well...more."

She finally opened her eyes, laughing as she met his gaze. "Are you ashamed of me?"

He shook his head, "you know I'm not."

She rose, pushing herself to the edge of the bed and standing as she glanced in the nearby mirror. Finally, she sighed. "Okay. But you have to pick out the outfit." She wanted to laugh again at his expression. But with a quiet resolve he approached her wardrobe, shuffling through the contents before pulling something out.

"This is dangerous."

"Those are heels, darling."

Josiah shuddered at the sight and quickly put the object back inside. "Don't you own a coat? Did I not get a coat for you?"

Lumi winced as he pulled out a long red material. "Here's one."

She shook her head, "not that."

He looked down at it, "why not? Red suits you. You are obviously a person who would wear such a bright color."

"I said no."

Josiah jerked back in surprise at the sudden harshness in her tone as her gaze turned dangerously on him. Without another word, he put the cloak back.

"Here's something..." he hesitantly pulled out another object, unsure if she would react in the same way or not. He had never seen her angry, but that was the closest she had ever come.

She looked at the material, before nodding in approval.

* * *

Ramus walked several feet behind his King and Queen, shivering against the cold. His King seemed affected. His Queen on the other hand...she seemed delighted with the wet lumps they called snow.

Ramus felt annoyance as the slush made its way onto the edge of his cloak. Like him and the King, the Queen wore boots to help as they walked through the substance. Her blue jacket that fell to her knees looked warm. Ramus was almost envious of the blue and gold material as an icy breeze hit them.

They emerged into a clearing, other royalty and dignitaries there and gathered. There seemed to be an obvious annoyance and unhappiness at the fact that the gathering was held outside, similar to the wedding.

Ramus noted that Queen Lumi was the only female present who had forgone the traditional dress, in favor of pants.

The guests mingled among each other. Many were waiting for a turn to visit with the Winter King and Queen. Ramus thought the whole ordeal awkward. The celebration for the wedding should not last a week, but instead, end the day of. He felt uncomfortable- but maybe he was the only one, afteralll, not being married himself- since everyone present knew exactly what the new King and Queen had done last night.

He felt like sighing. Damn Winter lands and their uncomfortable and stiff traditions.

His King turned to him then, "the men are stationed?"

Ramus nodded, "there is one at every corner."

He watched as his King looked to the said corners, but of course, the guards would not be seen to the naked eye. They were well hidden as they watched the events below them unfold.

"Go. But stay close."

Ramus nodded and bowed quickly, departing from their presence. Queen Lumi bowed her head back to him, a gesture that had always taken Ramus by surprise.

He moved to the back of the crowd, finding a familiar face in the guard he had met on the way to the Winter Lands.

"Ramus, how are you doing?"

Besides Marcos was another guard that he introduced as Felix. The three men greeted each other and then returned quickly to their posts, watching and observing.

Ramus found, through the months of looking after the Queen, that it was easy to watch her if she was in your line of sight. She always had a way of drawing in your attention. It was just making sure she remained in said vision, and that nothing happened while there.

An hour passed of nothing eventful happening. Ramus felt some tension from Marcos when it was time for his King and Queen to greet the Winter rulers, but only the simplest of words of congratulations were spoken between them before they moved on and the next guests took their place.

It was calm. Peaceful.

Ramus should have been alarmed at that. That should have alerted him to the coming danger.

He was not prepared for it and certainly none of his men were.

Not even the winter guards who were next to him, who seemed to watch his Queen just as much as he did- if not more.

In a split second, she became a blur in Ramus' vision. She was running somewhere.

"Shit."

He was running before he could even think about it. He could feel Marcos chasing after him.

Screams erupted around them as they pushed aside any who were in the way. Ramus tried to follow where his Queen was going and in that split second, his eyes saw the woman Lumi was pushing aside, and the reflection cast by the object from the sun, falling.

"No!"

It was the only word he had time to shout before he heard his Queen's cry of pain.

Lumi felt the cry leave her before she could even think about it.

The falling object hit her back, knocking her down and leaving her breathless. She couldn't move. Pain exploded along her shoulder as she fought to catch her breath.

She registered the movement around her.

Josiah's voice was the first one she heard.

"Lumi! Lumi!" He was frantic, desperate. And that desperateness caused him to lose rational reasoning as he reached for her.

Lumi cried out in pain again as he tried to lift her.

"Let go!"

She did not even have the care to think twice as the sound of Theros' voice came to her now.

"You fool! She's injured! Don't touch her!"

"She is my wife! Do not tell me what I can or cannot do!"

A harsh laugh left Theros, "she is only your wife because of me. Now, do not touch her."

She heard the loud snap of Theros as he commanded guards to bring the physician and a stretcher.

"She needs to be looked at. She's already in a fragile position and cannot afford-,"

"Fragile?"

There was a pause and Lumi groaned. No. Don't tell him. But she knew Theros better. She could almost see the triumphant flash in those blue eyes and felt her confirmation as she heard his quiet whisper for only Josiah to hear.

"She did not tell you? Your own wife did not tell you that she is with child?"

"Ch-,"

Josiah's gasped sound of shock had Lumi groaning again. These men. These males and their pissing contest were honestly pissing her off. She was injured here? Dying on the ground in the cold wet snow? Did no one care about that fact?

"Lumi when were you-,"

"For the love of all things holy, both of you shut the fuck up."

There was a stunned silence. Lumi thought she heard Elowen's laughter in the background but the pain was becoming too much for her.

She groaned again and heard Theros' urgent shout for medical aid to hurry.

Hurry. Hurry.

She wanted to plead with them and yell also, but her mind was spinning. She could not move her shoulder and that fact scared her.

She had seen the woman innocently talking underneath the balcony. Lumi had seen the flash of the ice against the sunlight. The way it dangerous cracked and then looked as if it was barely holding on.

She ran without thinking. She had pushed the woman aside without thinking because Lumi knew the icicle would not hold.

And she had felt the pain of it hitting her. The shard of ice falling as the weight collapsed onto her body.

Now Lumi saw a darkness in her mind as she closed her eyes and let it take her away.

If anyone is interested, I posted a new story! It is titled 'Broken Lines'!

Thank you for reading and being so patient with me! I'm sorry about the delay in updating. I hope you enjoyed ♥