I’m more than intrigued and gladly follow her out the door after saying goodbye to Silene and Fionn for the day. She leads me up several flights of stairs to a hallway of the palace I haven’t seen yet. We walk to the end, then Laurel stops before a set of double doors, grinning brightly. My heart practically stops at the warmth of her expression, the genuine smile that lights her face from the inside out.

“We’re almost to the Winter Solstice,” she says, mischief in her eyes. “If you think it’s cold now, you’re going to turn into an actual glacier when Abscission begins.” I raise my eyebrow, unsure what she means. “The deciduous plants in Thayaria hold on to their leaves much longer than elsewhere, because of the magic here. They do eventually die off like everywhere else, but for a much shorter period. On the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice, they drop their leaves, and the kingdom enters a frigid cold. Everything is dreary and gray for about two weeks, and we call that Abscission. But after the two weeks, the biting cold lessens, and the plants re-bloom.”

“And what does this have to do with the roguish gleam in your eyes?” I ask, excited and terrified for whatever she’s going to show me.

“Well… like I said, you don’t have a very strong cold tolerance. None of you do. So, I have a… sanctuary, of sorts, for you.” With that, she throws the doors wide, and a wave of warm, almost tropical air hits me. It’s a balm against a cold I didn’t even realize I felt so deep in my bones. I walk through the doors into a room filled with lush, exotic plants. Neon pinks, bright reds, and lime greens fill the space, tucked away under a clear dome. The flowers are unlike any I’ve ever seen, even here in Thayaria, and ivy that’s different from what grows along the rest of the palace walls lines every surface that’s not already filled with a tropical plant.

“What—what is this?” I ask.

“It’s a greenhouse, kind of. It’s older than our archives, so we don’t know a lot about its origins, actually. I know that water from the nearby hot spring is pumped into here, but there’s some kind of spell work even I can’t decode. All we know is that it’s self-sustaining, always warm, and has plants that don’t grow anywhere else in the Four Kingdoms. It’s a delightful mystery.”

The humid air tickles my neck as I walk farther into the domed solarium. There’s a salty dampness that comforts me, and I laugh. “This is amazing, Laurel.” She blushes, and I take a step toward her, wanting to close the distance between our bodies.