12: Snow Angel

A week into training, Aurora finds the daily pain of pulling and hanging the sunlight intense but increasingly bearable. Afterward, she explores the mountain with the Starmaker, discovering how centuries of Starmakers’ slowly released magic—and the Sun’s tears at the castle grounds—nourish Reverie and heal injuries. She learns burial sites near villages explain uneven magic across the land.

The Starmaker recounts the Sun’s sacrifice in giving the first Starmaker to the mountain so its magic could oppose the Frost. Their day shifts when he says they must find Tilly, a snow angel born when a young woman died making a snow angel. He has cared for Tilly for centuries despite her confusion and restless searching for “herself.”

In the village, a crowd surrounds Tilly. The Starmaker calms her by describing what he sees—her radiant wings and sadness—earning her trust and leading her away. After hanging the light at the glacier, he releases it, explaining why the lamppost is hidden and the process too dangerous for spectators. On the walk back, he confesses that his care may be a failure that prolongs false hope; Aurora argues that hope is essential, though he insists even hope has limits.

They return Tilly to the castle, where Ina is relieved. Tilly drifts happily toward the gardens. The Starmaker notes Tilly’s rare trust in Aurora, contrasting it with how others patronize the angel. Aurora offers to carry hope for both him and Tilly so he no longer must, and he quietly accepts. Aurora is left warmed and unsettled by the intimacy of his gaze.