Solstice Balls and Snow

A snippet from my work in progress, Project Royalty!

Disclaimer: This is a snippet from my Work In Progress, Project Royalty! All of the names have been changed to protect character privacy. 😉 Enjoy!

The Elven Winter Solstice Ball was underway, and Leah couldn’t go. 

She was walking outside, the snow crunching under her boots. Ahead, she could see Gustav, Aileen, Caiden, and Koker laughing, kicking up snow and shivering in the frosty air. It was the middle of the day, but it was cloudy and the elves were occupied with the ball, so she didn’t think anyone would wander outside at this time of day.

Violin music hummed through the air, and she hurried to the nearest window to see the elves dancing inside. Their ballroom was huge, with gold crystal chandeliers providing light for everyone in the room. Most of the elves were over by the drink table, laughing and making light conversation. But Leah couldn’t spot Thea or Sander anywhere.

“Are you looking for us?” a laughing tone said, and she spun around to see Sander and Thea, both dressed in glittering blue coats. “We decided we’d step out for a moment.” Sander’s eyes twinkled.

“Sorry you can’t come in,” Thea added. “It’s wonderful in there, but we can’t risk it. Too many people would notice you. And it would certainly make a scene if they found out about Gustav.”

The first notes of a new song pierced the air, and Sander glanced towards one of the doors. 

“Shouldn’t you go back inside?” Aileen asked, following his gaze. “Won’t someone notice you’re gone?”

Thea shrugged. “We’ve snuck out of plenty of these before. Odin never notices. Besides, it’s been a while since we’ve been able to sneak you outside. Do you want to do anything out here? Go on a nature walk? Ride the horses? Practice our fighting skills?” 

“That’s a good idea,” Gustav agreed. “Practicing in different weather and terrains was something they had us work on at…” He trailed away. “Never mind.” 

“No, tell us,” Leah begged. Caiden and Aileen added, “Please?” while Koker nodded her head, gesturing for him to go on. 

Gustav hesitated. “It’s Faun protocol. I pledged to never tell the elves any of our training secrets.” He glanced at Sander and Thea apologetically. 

“Well,” Leah said, after a long period of silence. She fidgeted with her bow and glanced at Sander, who quickly added, “Should we?”

The clouds floated away, revealing a bright blue sky as they walked deeper into the forest to train. Thea cleared her throat, standing on the stump of a tree near the center of the clearing. 

“Alright,” she said. “Welcome to Elf Boot Camp. The rules are simple: everyone’s going to take turns using different weapons until you get the hang of them.”

Everyone except Gustav and Koker groaned. 

“I know,” Thea said, holding up her hands for silence. “But if you’re in a battle, you need to be comfortable with a multitude of weapons. It could mean the difference between life and death.” 

“This is a weapon!”

Sander took a snowball from his pocket and nailed Thea in the shoulder with it. Snow exploded on her coat, and she looked up at him, half laughing, half serious. 

“Oh, you are going to GET it!” she howled, already picking up snow and forming it with her bare fingertips. Sander threw another snowball at Gustav, and the faun started laughing. No one noticed Koker’s throw until it exploded in Sander’s hair, bits of snow melting into his white-blond hair. 

“Nice!” Leah chortled, while Sander tried to brush the snow out of his hair unsuccessfully. She beaned one at Caiden. He ducked, laughing wildly. “You missed!” he called, dancing around with happiness. 

Another snowball was headed towards Thea’s face. With quick reflexes, she whipped a throwing star from her pocket and aimed it at the snowball. It crashed to the ground.

Wow, Leah thought. I want to know how to do that.

The group burst into applause. Sander looked at his fiancée with a surprised look on his face.

“And that’s why you need to know how to handle different weapons,” Thea said, brushing the throwing star off and handing it to Caiden. “What if that snowball was a knife or an arrow?” 

“I’ve never seen you use that skill before when teaching,” Sander said, going over and hugging her. 

“Wait…you teach? ‘Elf Boot Camp’ is a real thing?” Aileen asked. Thea blushed red, tucking a lock of black hair behind her ear. 

“Technically speaking, yes. However, I’ve never trained with throwing stars before.” Thea frowned at the object in Caiden’s hand. “They can be unpredictable if you don’t have practice. You have to throw them just right.”

“So like this?” Caiden asked, holding it with one finger like it was something he’d be fine with dropping. Leah smiled at her cousin, watching as Thea came over and adjusted his grip, moving his fingers tighter around the throwing star.

“Not exactly. You need to hold it more firmly, but you have the basic form down.” Thea glanced at him. “I didn’t think you would have trained with throwing stars.”

“I didn’t,” Caiden said sadly. “My uncle used to practice every day on the castle grounds. He showed me a few times, but I was really little, and by the time I was actually ready to be trained…” 

He didn’t finish that thought, swallowing hard and adding, “Anyway, I’m ready to learn now. Does someone else want a turn?” He handed the throwing star to Thea and scrubbed at his eyes, not looking at anyone. 

“Actually…let’s do six on one,” Thea said, grinning. “I’d like to know if you can beat me. Then we can train one-on-one.” 

“I don’t want to hurt you!” Aileen protested, but Sander cut her off, grinning. “Don’t worry. She’s done this before with children younger than you. The worst she’s ever gotten was a cut on the side of her face.” 

Thea winked, crouching down, weaponless. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

The first one who attacked was Gustav, which Leah found surprising. He pulled a knife from his belt and lunged at Thea, who easily blocked it and pushed him to the ground. “You’re out, Gustav!” she called, and the faun sighed, heading to the back of the group. 

Sander went next, nocking his bow and arrow and aiming it at Thea. The bowstring pulled taut, and she barely had time to knock it aside with a swish of her knife. Sander raised the bow again, but Thea slashed again and the string broke, rendering the bow useless. 

“You’re out, Sander!”

Aileen charged at her, throwing her knife at Thea, the sharp blade spinning in the air. At the last second, Thea ducked, and Aileen’s knife lodged into a tree branch right over Thea’s head. 

“You’re out, Aileen!” Thea called, and she barely had time to react before Caiden pulled out his sword, ready to parry with her. It was a tense match, swords clanging over and over again, sweat running down both faces. With another clang, Caiden’s sword flew out of his hands, landing in the snow. Thea held the tip of her sword to his neck. “You’re out, Caiden!”

“Who’s next?” Thea asked, her eyes going back and forth between Koker and Leah. 

Leah glanced around, but Koker’s eyes were closed as she dug in her bag, feeling for something. She seemed busy.

“I’ll go,” Leah said, pulling out her bow and arrow and aiming it low, by the ground, blocking it with her body. It was risky, but she didn’t want Thea’s knife to cut her string in half. She managed to get the bow nocked and pulled the string back. The arrow flew through the air, but Thea knocked it away. 

“Sorry, Leah,” she said, looking disappointed. “Koker?” 

But Koker had disappeared. Her bag was on the ground, still open. “Koker?” 

Leah watched as the young woman, now standing behind Thea, expertly reached into Thea’s pocket and took out one of her throwing stars. Thea turned. “There you ar-”

Koker didn’t let her finish her sentence. Their purple-haired friend tripped Thea, sending her crashing to the ground. With a flick of her wrist, the two paintbrushes in her hands turned into small knives. She held one over Thea, whose eyes widened in surprise.

“That was amazing!” Caiden said, rushing over to help Thea up. “Koker, I didn’t know you could DO that!”

Koker blushed and shrugged modestly.

Thea extended a hand. “Good work, friend. That was great strategy.”

Something white floated down from the sky. And then another. A speck of snow landed on Leah’s jacket, and she looked up at the sky, now filled with snow. Caiden ran around the clearing with his tongue out, catching the snowflakes one by one. 

“Come on!” he shouted. “They taste delicious!”

“You know they’re just water, right?” Aileen asked, but she was laughing. 

Another song from the ballroom began to float through the air, mingling with the snow as a snowball nailed Thea in the shoulder. 

“Hey!” she said, laughing. “Who threw that?”

Leah brushed snow off her gloves, winking at the elf princess as she called, “Don’t you know you’re out, Thea?”

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