A/N: Let's see how this goes! :) Please R/R!
A long time ago in a kingdom that never was there lived a young peasant named Sophie. She worked as little as she could because she disliked who she worked for. He was a cruel man who always whipped his servants when they did not do as he bade. Because she was stronger than the other girls Sophie took as many whippings as she could so the others wouldn't have to. It was the honor among the servants of Lord Bardolf that the weak should do the least and get hurt the least. Since Sophie preferred not to work she got beat many times a day. The other servants tried to take care of some of her work to stop these endless punishments but Sophie would not let them. She would have quit working for Bardolf, but she was indentured there because her father was in debt to the lord. Bardolf took this to mean that he could do what he liked with Sophie until she turned eighteen and no longer was ruled by her father's debts.
Bardolf the Drunk, as they called him many times, married a girl who his parents were not pleased with. This girl was called Collis and she was of Darkwood, a hideously dark forest few ventured into. She had no noble bloodline, but she had an infinite amount of riches because a dying wizard had adopted her and given her his money and his magic. Collis only wore black because she was in mourning of the poor wizard and the fact that she hadn't seen her family since she was ten years old. Collis never spoke to the servants unless it was absolutely necessary because she believed it did not become the lady of such a fine mansion.
When Collis came Bardolf spent less time beating Sophie because he was so much in love with his wife. As to be expected of a noble couple, they soon had a little girl to grace their home. Sophie was taken away from her position as scullery maid and made into a nurse. She cleaned after young Malva and changed the diapers. Collis, however, was displeased that Sophie could not be a wet nurse as well because it did not become a lady to nurse her own child. But Sophie did all she could to make Wee Malva smile and was not beaten except when Collis was in a bad mood.
One night Sophie lay in the nothern window bench of Malva's room right after she had put the babe to bed. Sophie couldn't help but fall asleep on the soft cushions. She only intended to nap and then get up and finish cleaning the nursery, but she fell into a deep, deep sleep.
When she awoke she was not in the window sill, nor was she in her own bed. She was in the middle of a snow covered field, covered in furs. Sophie sat up and looked around, shivering in the cold. Before she could call for help a wind blew her hair in all directions and took away her fur coverings, leaving her with only her thin clothing. The wind howled around her and tore at her, blasting her with ice bits and snowflakes. Suddenly a man of sorts stood before her. He was young, perhaps her age, with a scraggly beard and long tangled hair. His eyes were the deepest blue she had ever seen and he wore the clothes of a rich king. The most noticeable thing about him was that he seemed to be made entirely of wind and snow. He was handsome to say the least, but he was also melancholy in appearance. He walked closer to Sophie and she back away, more afraid of this… thing... than curious. His eyebrows knit together crossly and he stepped even closer, grabbing her arm before she could even flinch. She tried to break away from his grasp but could not push against the strong wind that made him up.
"Please, please, I've done nothing wrong sir!" She cried, the tears that began trailing down her face froze in the cold and hardened her cheeks. so she could not feel them. He leaned in to her face and looked her in the eye. She tried to look away but he held her gaze as if by magic. "Please…" She gasped, finally closing her eyes.
Sophie felt his lips of wind against hers and then she was no longer cold. She opened her eyes and found that he had backed away and was smiling at her. She touched her lips and wondered why it had suddenly warmed up around her.
"Sophie," The wind man said. His voice sounded like a breath over a pipe and like the wind blowing down the chimney on a cold night, "Don't be afraid of me."
"Who are you, sir?"
He chuckled. "I and the Northern Wind, but you may call me Aquilo."
"Where am I? Why am I here?"
"This is my home, the most northern place in the world. You are here, because I have fallen in love with you."
Sophie gasped and blushed. "Oh sir, you must have made a mistake. I am a servant in the house of Lord Bardolf, perhaps you came for his lovely sister, her name is Sanya. It is an easy mistake, milord."
His face grew dark and he swooped in on her before she could take a breath. And when she went to take that breath he snatched it away from her using only his fingers. He loomed over her. "You think I would mistake the one I love for a silly noble woman? You truly know little of me."
Sophie, not being able to breathe, shook her head and wheezed. "No, milord!"
He allowed her to breathe once more and took her hand in his. "I'm sorry, I am very excited that I may finally speak to you and I get so touchy. Please, forgive me."
Sophie nodded. "Yes milord."
"Don't be so formal, call me Aquilo as I told you earlier." He demanded.
"Of course… Aquilo."
"It sounds wonderful when you say it!" He exclaimed.
"It is a lovely name." Sophie agreed.
"Now that I have told you of my feelings, what say you?"
"Sir? Uh, Aquilo?"
He sighed and took her other hand. Then he looked into her eyes once more. "I love you! What do you think of that?"
Sophie swallowed nervously. What would she say to someone as powerful as the North Wind? If she said she loved him in return would she be trapped here above the rest of the world with no one else? And if she said she did not love him, would he smite her down? Surely he would be upset. "I, I, I hardly know, Lord Aquilo, I do not know you!"
He danced around her, pulling her hair in every direction. "But I know about you, my love! You are kind to the baby Malva and the servants of your work place, you are strong, wise, thoughtful, funny, and…" He looked her in the eye once more, "More beautiful than freshly fallen snow."
Sophie blushed once more and avoided his gaze. "I'm flattered, milord, but with due respect, you do not know me enough to be in love."
Before when the wind had blown it was playful, but now it pushed her to her knees and bit at her skin. It was cruel and took her breath once more. Aquilo remained in his same place but his face had grown angry and dark as night. "You dare tell me what my feelings are?! How would you know, you silly mortal girl!"
"Milord!" There was no response, "Please milord!" He did not respond except to make the wind blow harder, "Aquilo!"
His face lightened once more and he let out a cry when he realised what he had done. "My dear Sophie! I am sorry! Oh my dear one! I am just too excited!" He helped her to her feet and embraced her. "I didn't mean it my love!"
She took deep breaths and let him hug her to him, but when she had recovered a little she broke away and fell backwards. "Please, let me be!"
"I cannot."
"Please, Aquilo, you are too powerful! You will hurt me!"
"I would never harm you."
"The only way to make sure of that is for you to leave me alone!"
"I cannot!"
"Why?!"
"I love you!"
"But I do not love you!"
"You could…"
"Not if you keep throwing me around!"
He bit his lip and sat down next to her. "I am sorry. Is there anything I can do…"
"Take me back to my servants' quarters."
He looked confused. "Servants' quarters, but you do not belong there!"
Sophie curled up and looked down at her hands. "I do. My father gave me to Lord Bardolf as a servant because he owed a debt. I am a servant until I turn eighteen."
Aquilo gave a whimper. "And you wish to return?"
"Yes… no. I have nowhere else."
"With me! If you stayed with me…"
"What of my debtor father? He would go to prison." Sophie mumbled, "It is my duty to stay with Lord Bardolf."
Aquilo jumped to his feet and blustered across the plane. He blew snow in all directions and after a while he finally came to rest next to her. "What if I found a way to pay your father's debt?"
"How?"
"My brother, the West Wind has some treasure and he owes me a favor. I shall take his treasure and pay the debts of your father. Then you shall live here, in my home."
The deal was struck, much to the distress of Sophie. How could she stay with the North Wind? He was violent and unpredictable. She didn't know him and though he thought he loved her, he knew nothing of love. But her worries made no difference and the North Wind paid her father's debt and built her a palace of snow to live in. The base of the castle was made of snow and packed down by brutal winds and then he brought water and covered the walls and floors in it, turning them to ice above the snow. The windows were just ice and little could be seen through them because Aquilo did not want his Sophie pining for home or the outside world. Once the grand chateau was complete the wind picked Sophie up from her place in the field and brought her into her room. It was grand, but cold and harsh. It wasn't cozy in the least. No fireplace to sit by, no rugs or wall hangings to keep in warmth, and not one cande. Sophie supposed she would freeze to death before she could ever love the North Wind. When she had settled in and gotten as comfortable as she could in her room Aquilo blew open the solid ice door and stood before her. She would not look him in the eye.
"My love, you will freeze in this room." He announced.
Sophie felt the bed made of fluffy snow. "Yes."
"Let me make you warm again." He leaned toward her but she turned away from him.
"How could you make me warm? You are coldness itself!"
"Do you remember how I kissed you when you woke up?" She blushed, but he continued, "That was me making you resistant to the cold, but it will wear off soon."
"How is it so?"
"I put frost in your veins to cover every drop of blood and protect it from cold. Let me do so again and you will never feel the chill of a cold day or the stinging after touching snow and ice." He took her hand in his and with his other hand lifted her chin to him.
"But I don't want to be frost. It means death, it kills! I do not want to be that."
"No, frost protects against the bigger storms to come! It coats the grass and flowers in a bubble of warm air and then saves them from the harsh winds and snow storms. Frost saves, let me save you." Before she could protest again he kissed her and held her tightly so she could not back away. She resisted at first but she soon realised that it would help her to be warm and she let him. When he broke away Sophie could see her veins were more blue than before and that her fingernails had turned to ice. She was frost.
Sophie spent countless months in her room. Aquilo didn't tell her that he knew she was crying and trying to break free. He didn't want to believe it himself and so he never acknowledged that she was unhappy in the manor he made for her. He visited her as often as she would let him and she always put on a brave face for him. She still wore the rags of a serving maid, though they became more and more tattered with each week. Aquilo did not know what he could do to make her happy and that frightened him. He gave her gifts of jewels and knick-knacks, but she just piled them neatly in a corner.
One day Aquilo brought with him a gift he was sure she would like. A fine dress that was crafted from ice, frost, and the finest silk. When he presented it to her she simply nodded at it and put it with the rest of her gifts. This was too much for the short tempered wind and he blew the gifts across her room and threw her back against the wall. He held the dress before her and shook it angrily.
"Why don't you like my presents?! You insult me!" He shouted.
Sophie barely blinked, though her breath was being taken from her. "I do not need gifts."
"But I want to give them to you!"
Sophie let one tear escape and she wheezed. "Why do you love me?"
Aquilo dropped her to the floor and turned away. "You make it so hard, it's a wonder I still do. But I suppose that it because I am stubborn. I love you because you have always been kind to the other servants, you have always taken punishment with pride, and because you never ask for more. Why don't you love me?"
Sophie took a few breaths before she answered. "I would have said it was because I don't know you, but I have seen you every day for nearly a year so that is no longer the case. I do not know why I don't love you, perhaps because you captured me and brought me here. Or because I simply do not. Or maybe it is because I too, am stubborn."
Aquilo gazed softly at her. "I know. I know that you could never love me because I am only the wind and you think that you are human. But you are no longer of that species. You are frost! You are a beautiful frost princess!"
Sophie looked away. "I'm just a serving girl."
Aquilo walked up to her and put his hand over hers. "No, you are a princess - nay - a queen! Will you please come down to dinner with me? Or at least wear your new dress? Please?"
Sophie smiled gently at him. "I will come to dinner, but let me at least prepare."
Aquilo left the room and went to find some human food for his love. He planned to prepare a spectacular feast for her though he himself could not eat.
Sophie, meanwhile, found the dress that Aquilo had dropped and put it on. She hated to admit to it, but the dress was lovely. It was white with long sleeves and an ankle length skirt. When she turned in swooshed around her legs. The neckline looked like frost crawling toward her neck and the slippers that were with it created the same effect on her feet. She took one of the pieces of jewelry from her pile, a choker designed like a snowflake, and tucked a snowflake hair clip in her messy brown curls. When she finished getting ready she opened her door and walked down the hall. She had no idea where she was headed, but she wanted to explore a little anyway. After much wandering she found herself in the dining room. The room was huge, but taken up mostly by a long table made of ice. The chairs were delicately carved ice as well and Sophie feared that if she sat in one it would shatter. So she remained standing until Aquilo entered, bearing a heavy tray laden with food.
The wind man set the tray down on the table and bowed to her. He pulled out a chair next to the head of the table and motioned for her to sit. She did and was surprised when the chair held her weight. Aquilo sat at the head of the table and used wind to move the food onto her plate. He then smiled at her.
"I told you that you were a queen. You look magnificent, my love."
"Thank you, and many thanks for the dress."
"Please, enjoy your meal. I cannot eat, but it would give me joy to watch you."
Sophie was surprised at the little variety of the food. She assumed that the food would be plentiful and in many different tastes, but she only had a prime cut of meat and a handful of fruit. It didn't matter though, she enjoyed it thoroughly and Aquilo was gladden to watch her.
"That was delicious." She told him when she had finished, "Thank you."
"Would you care to dance?" The North Wind asked eagerly, "There is a ballroom!"
"That'd be lovely."
He took her hand and escorted her to a ballroom. They danced to the music of the wind howling against the walls and went on for hours. When Sophie could dance no more they sat on a sofa and laughed at the fact that they were the only ones dancing. Aquilo conjured some people out of wind and they laughed even harder at watching the images dance.
Sophie was more tired than she had ever been and she yawned, laying her head on Aquilo's shoulder. He was surprised by this and nearly jumped away, but he stayed still and soon held her in his arms as he carried her sleeping form back to her room. He laid her in her bed and began to close the door. A moment before the door closed her heard her mumble.
"I think I do love you…" And then she slept.