The Winter Queen beads a reflection of autumn’s embrace

a reflection of autumn’s embrace and the shimmer of dawn’s first light

Elara pushes herself upright

the word catching

I stride into the hall

its lost buttons

The Winter Queen beads a reflection of autumn’s embraceThe Winter Queen stepped into the clearing with empty hands. There were no others brought out this time. The necklaces that once held the longer nights had already been spent, their beads dulled, their weight gone. This was the last one left. They placed it in her hands without a word. Even before she moved, you could feel it the stored cold, pressed deep into the beads, held through the long stretch of summer when the nights had grown too short for