Zucker bent his head and pressed his mouth to mine, parted my lips with his tongue and the magic inside of me sparkled to life. I heard oohs and ahhs from the audience directed at us but was too caught up in this kiss to care. I lifted myself up onto my toes, deepening the kiss and putting my hand on Zucker's shoulder, ready to let the magic flow through me and into the steps of the dance.
There were more joyful exclamations and clapping, and when I opened my eyes, swirls of colorful snowflakes spun around us, showing me exactly how and where to take my steps. It was just as Zucker had said. My spirit was guiding me, and I knew what to do without even having to learn someone else's choreography or practice any routine.
The tinkling celeste music binked and bopped as if timed to my little bourrée steps. Do do do, do, do, do, doodle-loodle-loo. Zucker followed along as my cavalier and we floated to one side of the stage, me up on my toes on pointe, and back down again. My hands and fingers flowed, chasing the streams of magic, on their spinning path. I reached for them, performing my absolute best arabesques, kicking my leg gracefully up into the air. I'd study dance for so long and knew the names and mechanics for each and every move, but in this moment none of that mattered. It was only the music and the story I was telling through the motions of each lift of my foot, each flick of my wrist.
These moves made me feel more beautiful than ever. More so than the time I'd tried on my wedding dress. How far away that seemed now. I was in a different place and time, and while I'd felt like a fairy princess that day, it was nothing compared to dancing for the gathered crowd of Sweet Fae.
All eyes were on me, and I wasn't the least bit uncomfortable with them all watching. It was as if this was the one role I'd ever meant to be cast in. The reason I'd never fit any other part. This one was here waiting for me.
I followed the magic around in a long oval piqué manège, stepping and spinning, running my hands through the sparkles, darting over mystical obstacles with quick, fast coupé jeté jumps. While the dance was exhilarating, my energy was starting to flag. But I could see the finale of where the swirls of magic were leading me, so I pushed until I was almost there. Zucker bounded his way to where I would end the dance, and Tau leaped in next to him. I gave a final Chasse up, where they both lifted me into the air, one under each shoulder, holding me above the crowd and spun me in a grand finale.
When they brought me back down to earth from my flight among the angels, I was breathing hard and feeling the glow of the most thrilling moment of my life. The Fae around us clapped and cheered. Even Nuss and Leb were applauding and staring at me like I was their absolute pride and joy.
"Princess, this performance won't be forgotten by the Sugar Plum Court for an awfully long time. What a way to demonstrate the way to the lost broken piece of the crown here in the Land of Sweets."
We all took bows which gave me a moment to consider what Zucker had just said. We turned and bowed to the other side of the stage, and I still wasn't sure what he meant.
"I'm not sure what you mean. I was just following the magic, like you said. My spirit guided me through the steps."
"I suppose from inside of the dance, you couldn't see the magical glamours around you, but the rest of us could." Tau wiped a bead of sweat from my upper lip and stared down at my mouth. "It's why I had to join at the end."
The Fae around us hadn't stopped cheering and were gathering around us on the stage. Nuss and Leb pushed their way through the throng of people to get to us. The four of them boxed me in and took a step forward to lead me off the dance floor.
"Wait." I held up my hands and didn't move an inch. "What are you two on about. What did you see that I didn't?" I thought I was just following the spirit and the magic like Zucker said I would. Now they tell me there was some kind of show going on around me?
Tau had been watching from the sidelines until the very end of the performance. "Your dance and the projections of the glamour showed you following a path from the Sugar Plum castle through the Fae lands and finding a crown."
Zucker nodded and smiled down at me sending a whole rush of butterflies whizzing from my belly and between my legs. He was as excited as the rest of his people, and I was caught up in it. "That's why everyone is cheering. You've revealed where the broken piece of the Sweet Fae crown is and now we can retrieve it."
Tau looked between the two of us. There was something more and I could almost feel his trepidation coursing out of him. I put my hand on his arm and he calmed a little. A zip of the excitement from Zucker went through me and met the zing of Tau's worry, melding the two of them together into something calmer.
They both took a deep breath and met each other's eyes, and I was swept up into a different kind of magic flowing between the three of us. Tau cleared his throat and broke the spell. No, not broke it, the zips and zings of this connection was stronger than ever, and it had my chest fluttering. But Tau was worried about something. "Your path showed you going all the way to the border between the Land of Sweets and the Land of Flowers."
"Yes," Zucker said, agreeing, but with a note of confusion in his voice. "Do you not want us to journey that close to Flower Fae lands? If my family can accept you, is there not hope that yours will welcome me too?"
Tau gave the slightest shake of his head. "I wish I could say that they would. I was raised to hate you and everything about the Sweet Fae. You know how long it took me to give in to the attraction between us."
I waited for Zucker to scowl or darkness to cloud his eyes. Instead, he grinned that cocky smile that made me giddy and more than ready to find the crown and bond with him. "Then I'll just have to seduce the rest of your Land the same as I did you and make them all fall in love with me."
Tau rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he smiled too. That was apparently the right thing for Zucker to say. Love was high on Tau's priority list and my own heart went melty because of that. No one back home had ever thought falling in love was important, especially not for me.
The Winter Realm was giving me the chance to fall in love not just with one man, or even four or five, but also with myself.
I took both Tau and Zucker's hands in mine and brought them together over my heart. "If the Flower Fae have learned to hate, we'll be the ones to show them how much more powerful love is."
The Sugar Plum Queen pushed her way into our circle and grabbed my hand from the two of them. "If anyone can do it, it's the Court of Steel Tree, but you'd better hurry. We just caught a mouse at the border trying to get in."
Where the hell was the Vivandiere when we needed her?
SUGAR, FLOWER, SOLDIER, SPY
TAU
Konig was fucking relentless. Granted, since the prize was princess Clara, we all were. I'd do anything for the magic of her love.
My own people had almost turned their backs on me when I joined the Nutcracker guard. The only way I had convinced of the DewDrop court that I needed to serve alongside the other lands was when the Mouse Queen had let her rodent army loose on our fields. The devastation had nearly caused civil War within our own land.
Not everyone had such fear and loathing of the other, especially when we didn't have enough food to feed every man, woman, and child, but the Sweet Fae did.
