The next day we reached the capital. I had expected Oliver and Giselle to almost fly down the last part of the trail, but instead they seemed to slow. I could read the reason in their eyes. For all their hope, there was fear as well. Had the invaders retained enough willpower to complete the coup? Would we find a capital ruled by Lord Treestone as a tool of Eliam? Or, much worse, would we find a capital full of people who had wasted away, stripped of the will even to live? Had we destroyed the enchantment in time?

But the bustle of the mountain city itself as we moved through it was enough to reassure me, if not them. People seemed to fill the external roads, drinking up the bright sun and newfound warmth in the air. And none of them seemed bowed down with the weight of an invasion.

A rustle of voices followed behind us, our presence clearly causing a stir, so I wasn’t surprised when we reached the gate into the palace and found a group gathered to meet us. My eyes latched first on Lord Treestone and Cassandra, with Alexander close beside, flanked by several guards in the colors of Eliam. My heart seized. Perhaps the coup had happened, after all. But a scream from behind me told a different story.

“Emmeline!” Giselle almost tripped in her hurry to fling herself into her sister’s arms.

“Giselle!”

Both girls cried, happily ignoring their tears as they talked over the top of each other.

King Leopold gestured several Eldonian guards forward to take charge of Sterling so that nothing would hamper Queen Camille as she pressed her son into a warm hug. She seemed to be crying as freely as her daughters.

I met Cassandra’s eyes, and she smiled. Relief filled me. Whatever had happened here, it appeared to have happened peacefully.

I stood back a little, watching the family reunion, feeling out of place and tingling with nerves I hadn’t expected. But this was my future father- and mother-in-law, and I hadn’t truly met them before. What sort of impression of me would have lingered in their dream-like memories? I hadn’t exactly put out much of an effort to please or impress when I had stayed here before.

But Oliver quickly detached himself from his mother, pulling me forward and tucking me under his arm. His mother’s eyes flew quickly between us, and then she broke into an enormous smile and fell upon my neck, crying all over me.

“Sorry,” mouthed Oliver over her head, but I just smiled and shook my head. Who could resist such a welcome?

Everyone on every side wanted answers, of course, but when the queen eventually stopped crying, she insisted that we all get inside and comfortable first. And given the length of the story, I could only be grateful.

We were made to talk first, when the time for stories finally came, although our explanation was peppered with questions and exclamations from the others. Everyone wanted to remember what it had been like from their own perspective, and no one had imagined anything like the Snow Queen or her Palace of Ice.

But we made it through the story eventually and finally were able to demand a more cohesive version of events from their side. It turned out that the weather had turned so bad that Lord Treestone had been forced to lead the Elamese contingent to the palace not long after we left.

“We would have frozen otherwise, camped out in the open like we were,” he said with an apologetic look at Oliver.

“And it’s a good thing we did,” said Cassandra, who had somehow wormed her way into the meeting.

Her uncle gave her a repressive look but nodded. “We found no opposition whatsoever, and soon realized we would be needed in the role of caretakers if we wished to prevent a mass tragedy.”

“Basically, we had to cook all the food and keep all the fires burning,” said Cassandra. “For the entire city.”

“However did you manage that?” I asked.

“We had to cram as many as we could fit into the palace,” said Alexander, speaking for the first time. “And anyone who didn’t fit we sent to the biggest of the noble houses further up the mountain.” He shook his head. “My men had a time of it trying to round everyone up from those blasted tunnels, I can tell you.”

“And you might find some missing silver,” said Cassandra, although she didn’t look apologetic. “Some of those who were sheltering here looked less than honest to me, and I wouldn’t put it past them to have filched something on their way out. Once they all woke up, of course.”

King Leopold didn’t look too pleased, but Queen Camille merely shrugged.

“A small price indeed for all our lives.”

“Unfortunately, by then,” said Lord Treestone, continuing the original thread of the story, “it was clear that the evil was coming from the northern mountains. But the weather had grown so bad, no one could follow you. There was nothing for us to do but wait and hope we could keep everyone alive.”

I examined his face, glancing between him, Cassandra, and the Elamese colonel in charge of their troops. As they had approached the palace, they too would have been infected, as my own servants had been. How much had their slow descent into an enchanted state affected their decision to do nothing but stay alive? Somehow I suspected none of them would admit it had been anything but true helplessness and altruism that drove them. And we could all only be grateful they had maintained initiative long enough to gather together the locals and keep them alive as well. I, for one, had no desire to challenge their motives.

“And then one day everyone just woke up,” said Lord Treestone. “We had no explanation for it, although we understand now, of course.” He inclined his head toward where I sat on a small sofa with Oliver. “When the weather began to ease almost immediately, we realized that something had happened to break the enchantment. Naturally we ceded control back to Their Majesties, but we have lingered under their gracious hospitality in the hope of your return and an explanation such as we have just received.”

King Leopold inclined his head regally toward Lord Treestone, and I suppressed a smile. Clearly everyone had decided that the best approach was to ignore everything that had happened while under the enchantment. An approach of which I heartily approved.

The colonel thanked us for our efforts and said he would make plans to start the march back to Eliam the next day.

“My own monarchs will want to hear the news as soon as possible, I’m sure.” He glanced over at Alexander. “But we will leave a couple of representatives as a delegation of sorts, to lend all support possible for the upcoming royal wedding.”

He bowed toward my sofa, and I realized with a jolt that he meant my wedding. A giddy rush of excitement filled me, although I noticed that a fleeting look of annoyance crossed Alexander’s face at the clear implication that he was to stay. Still, his lack of desire to attend my wedding couldn’t damp my joy, and the mention of the event successfully derailed conversation on any other topic as Queen Camille immediately began to discuss the necessary preparations with great enthusiasm.

It was a long time before I left to find my way back to my old room, my stomach full and my mind still whirling with plans and possibilities.

“Do you know the way back on your own?” asked a familiar voice at my elbow, echoing the words from my first night so long ago.

I turned to regard my betrothed, looking up at him through my lashes just as I remembered doing on that distant-seeming occasion and echoing my own words. “I don’t suppose you would be willing to show me?”

When he bowed and offered me his arm, I laughed and threw myself against his chest for a stolen kiss. When the sound of an opening door made us spring apart, I took his arm and laughed up at him again.

“Could you have imagined back then that it would all end like this?”

“The details? No. But even in the half-haze of that night, I had already formed the strong impression that you were someone I didn’t want to let go.”

I bumped him with my shoulder. “You had not!”

“Of course I had.” He smiled down at me, glancing behind us before pressing his lips briefly down over mine. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten what kind of an entrance you make, Princess Celine? How could I not be captivated?”

I flushed, remembering now his expression when I appeared that night.

“And somehow,” I said, “despite everything, I knew you were the one I wanted to make an impression on. I think that’s why I managed to free you that night. Something in me was drawn to you from the moment the curse began to lose its grip.”

“One day I want to visit Lanover and see the kingdom that created a woman like you, Celine,” he murmured against my hair.

I gazed up at him. “One day I’ll take you. And I want to see more of your kingdom. I want to see all of it. There are so many things I want to do with you.”

“Then it’s a good thing we have the rest of our lives,” he said as he pulled me against his heart and kissed me again.