Page 14 of A Minotaur Tale

“With that magical moment complete, would you like to leave or stay?”

“What?” Could Asterion even leave? “Didn’t you plan all of this?”

“Yes, but I also planned it knowing that you might want to leave before it was all done. At this point, it’s hands off for me.”

“Hands off… are you sure? Maybe your hands would really rather be otherwise occupied?”

“You little minx.” Asterion lifted her, his hands sliding effortlessly under her ass and lifting her until her face was level with his. “I would like nothing more than to have them otherwise occupied, but only if you want to leave. I know this sort of thing is overwhelming for you–”

“Yes, let’s leave.”

Over and over, Asterion showed how well he understood her, how his time spent had truly been about observing and understanding her. She had a great deal of catching up to do, it seemed. While coming to the ball, andeven dancing in front of everyone had seemed overwhelming, she’d done so because she’d wanted to show Asterion how she valued the hard work he’d done. Perhaps a ball wasn’t her personal idea of a good time, but it was clear, from the happy faces around them, that this was many people’s cup of tea.

They returned to their friends, Asterion cupping her hand tenderly in the crook of his arm.

“Well all, we are headed out. I have been working on this all day, and frankly I am worn out. Cora has graciously allowed me to call an end to the night.”

With a round of goodbyes and hugs, they saw their way out of the party. As they ascended the grand steps at the entrance of the hall, Cora was able to take in the true beauty of everything Asterion had wrought. No longer nervous, she was able to appreciate the swags of fabric that softened the harsh cavern walls. The color-coded gemstones that shone and the sprigs of greenery that festooned nearly every surface.

“You really did a lovely job,” she whispered, squeezing his hand.

“I’m glad you think so. I tried to pay attention to what decor you seemed to favor, even if you had something against mistletoe…” He smiledout of the corner of his mouth, looking down at her.

“In my defense… you were dangerous.”

“Was I? How so?”

“Well, to my heart, I mean. And every time I saw a sprig of it, I remembered that it seemed a minotaur tradition and it made me think of you.”

“In that case, you were entirely right.”

When they left the ballroom and ventured into the cavern of the city proper, Cora gasped.

Soft snow was falling,inside!Roofs of houses had barely a dusting, but from where they stood, elevated on the border of the cavern, the city sparkled with it. She held her hands up, to catch the flakes on her hand. She looked up at the cavern ceiling in wonder, half expecting it to be gone entirely. But no, instead, soft clouds rolled across the roof. A steady fall of snow descended. Asterion tugged her hand to the side, tilting his horns for her to look.

Sitting on a balustrade that led to the ballroom entrance was another nymph. This one seemed male, and he had a smirk on his face, very aware that she was watching. Sparkles extended from the hand he casually gestured with, a current of snow magic flowing from him to the clouds above. Like her, he had white skin, though his own hair was white as well.Perhaps she should have been confused about his nature, having never seen him, or really any other nymph before, but she felt an instinctive, tangible kinship to him. On sight, she knew he was a nymph, and knew that he was tied to the element of snow.

“You truly thought of everything, didn’t you?” she asked. Her voice was barely a whisper, thick with emotion. While she could experience snow on outcroppings of her mountain, she’d never seen Berggeheimnis look so beautiful. While others could visit other places and experience the joy of a magical walk through town in the snow, she had assumed it was just one more thing denied to her based on her nature.

“Cora, I want to give you everything, not just the things that you think you deserve. Everything.”

“I don’t know abouteverything,but I am certainly excited to see what you come up with, especially if this is the result!”

Asterion whisked her up into his arms, clopping down the steps and onto the street below. When they arrived on level ground, he spun them in a circle, smiling like a giddy boy. “He said that in the morning, there should be enough to make snowmen!”

Cupping his cheeks, Cora pulled his face toward hers, fingers snaking up to his horn to tousle the mistletoe he’d tied there. Their lips fit together so easily, so perfectly aligned, that it was hard not to read into what it might mean. Asterion’s kisses were like long pulls of wine, complex and warming her through, drugging her deeper with each taste.

“Will you make one with me?” she whispered when they separated, heat pooling in her core as he surrounded her. “In the morning, I mean?”

“Of course, we could meet up early outside of the library and surprise the patrons!”

“No, I mean, well, yes that is a lovely idea, but I was sort of hoping that we wouldn’t need to meet up…”

Asterion’s eyes went wide with realization. “Oh! Yes, that would be even better. Obviously…” His ears wiggled, which might just be Cora’s new favorite of his expressions.

He lifted her and took off walking toward her home at a quick pace. “I can walk, you know!”

“Yes, but your legs are shorter. It will be faster this way.”