In the Land of Fae ♔ (gxg)

2. blizzard

It was one of the coldest birthdays she had ever had.

Her mother woke her up that morning with the smell of eggs being scrambled in a pan over the fireplace, and even as she lay in bed she could hear the scraping of her mother's wooden spoon across the sizzling iron pan. When she smelled a few strips of bacon being fried, she jumped out of her springy bed and dressed herself quickly, throwing on her favorite olive green tunic. It was loose on her waist and chest just how she liked it, and its fabric was so silky that it felt like it melted around her fingertips. Her mother had bought it for her with a chunk of their savings on her sixteenth birthday only two years prior.

The blonde pranced out of the doorway of her room just as her mother was setting her plate of eggs and bacon down on the dining table. Nyx's eyes alighted with excitement—it wasn't often they had breakfast at all, and if they did it would only be a chunk of bread and some butter on a lucky week.

Valerie had not even heard her daughter prance into the room like an ungraceful antelope, so when she felt a figure grab her from behind in a monstrously warm hug, she gasped in fright. "Oh, dear," she breathed when she saw the golden wisps of hair splayed over her own shoulder. She chuckled airily, placing her hands over Nyx's that squeezed her waist a little hard. "Happy birthday, my sweet."

"Thank you, Ma," Nyx whispered into the shoulder of her mother, inhaling her lavender scent that she could never possibly forget.

"Now, just wait before you get sappy on me," Valerie chuckled, untying Nyx's arms around her. "You need to open your present before your breakfast gets cold." She turned around to her daughter, not being able to restrain the smile on her face when she saw Nyx's dark blonde eyebrows raise above her glimmering brown eyes that held fluorescent flicks of gold in them brighter than the flames of the fireplace behind her.

"Present?!" Nyx asked in a tone of restrained excitement, her voice soft and grateful all the same.

Valerie smiled at her impishly as she wiped her hands on her dirtied white apron before untying it, walking towards the side of the room where her cooking table and shelf of ingredients sat. Tossing her apron down onto the table where the pot of leftover stew sat, she took the huge package of flour off the shelf, revealing a rectangular box that was sitting against the wall behind it. It was a white box with a golden bow sitting at the center of it, and Nyx cursed herself for not having located it before since it was in such an easy spot to find.

She sat down at the table eagerly, gingerly pushing her plate of food aside as her mother neared and gently placed the box down in front of her, quickly taking the seat across from Nyx at the table.

Nyx smiled between her mother and the box, staring at the golden bow that had a few spots of glitter. Her mother had always used golden bows that she made herself.

"Well...open it," Valerie urged, sitting her elbows up on the table and biting at the side of her hand to restrain her excitement.

Seeing how delighted her mother was for her to open made her realize that it must have been a very nice present, especially since it was a milestone birthday. Grinning up at her mother, she placed her hands on either side of the white box, slowly lifting up the lid and squeezing her eyes shut. Once the lid was off, she held her breath for just another moment as her mind burst with everything she imagined it could have been—a new pair of shoes, a painting, a book, or even a cozy throw. Not being able to restrain her eagerness, she inhaled deeply before finally opening her honey brown eyes.

She could hear her mother's breath trifle with joy, and Nyx wished she had the urge to shriek and jump into her mother's arms with gratefulness, but something was trifling her.