First Kiss
Kallista walked through the large halls, feeling small and extremely cold. It was her first winter, or at the very least, the first time she remembered it being so cold. Her cloak was too big for her so she kept tripping on the hem when she walked. Right now, it was covered in dust. Tristan was hiding somewhere, she thought, and she didn’t know where all the best hiding corners were. She eased open another door, instinctively quiet.
There he was, short blond hair mussed and a quill pen tapping at his cheek. She didn’t mean to sigh in relief, but she couldn’t help it. No one else here was her age, just him. She knew she was different, that he didn’t have the same tiny buds of horns growing on his head, that he didn’t have a tail to help him balance when he climbed trees, that he was special and important and she was supposed to protect him forever and next month she was going to swear that in blood and words that she still hadn’t memorized quite right. But. He was already the best friend she could ever imagine.
“Lis!” he said in delight, spotting her in the doorway. He brightened, and she smiled back. She couldn’t help it, even if he couldn’t pronounce her name properly. It wasn’t his fault that he still had some trouble saying the letter K, and that even when the Lord and Lady said it, it wasn’t with the inflections that her people would say it.
Not that she even remembered those people, just a vague sense that they weren’t saying her name right. Kallista shook her head and bounced over to him, turning a cartwheel and almost sticking the landing, before tripping on the cloak and falling into a heap. Tristan offered her a hand without laughing. She liked that about him.
“I’m working on something,” he said triumphantly, waving the parchment in front of her.
“What is it?” she asked, forgetting about her fall.
“It’s a contract,” he explained. “My mom and dad have one, and that’s why they live together forever. And I was thinking that if you wanted to be my best friend forever, we should put it in writing.” He was obviously mimicking his parents, but she understood anyway.
“You want a formal alliance?” she asked, stumbling on the word a bit. Common didn’t have nearly enough consonants, but she was learning quickly. She had to.
“Yeah,” he said, thrusting the paper towards her. “I just need to put in your birthday and then we kiss and it’s sealed!”
“We have to kiss?” Kallista asked, making a face.
“Of course, Lis,” he said, rolling his eyes. “That’s why my mom and dad kiss. Mom said it’s because they’re reminding each other of the contract they signed. So instead of needing to find a knife for blood, we can sign it like this!”
“But I have a knife,” Kallista pointed out, pulling the tiny blade from inside her cloak. Tristan frowned, and looked back at the paper.
Kallista sighed. “I guess your way is good too.”
“Great! So what’s your birthday? I’ll write it down!” Tristan sat down, his tongue poking out of the side of his mouth.
Kallista sat down and stared at the tiles under her feet. “I don’t have one.”
“Everyone has a birthday, Lis.”
“Well not me, okay?” She shrugged like it didn’t matter.
Tristan was silent for a long, long time.
“What if today is your birthday?” he asked.
“Why today?” she asked, turning to look at him.
“Because today’s the day that we’re gonna be friends forever from,” he said. “Oh, and! It’s the first time you’ve ever seen snow!” Tristan pointed over her shoulder and grinned.
Kallista spun at his words, and dashed to the window. Her jaw dropped. Little flakes danced outside the window and the ground was already beginning to be coated in white.
“We have to go outside,” she said, opening the window. A cold gust pushed her away and she shivered.
Tristan came up and closed the window. “We can go out the front door, and get mittens. But first, can we do the contract? I’ll say your birthday is the day of the first snow, and then we can celebrate it every year at the same time as the Frost Party!”
Kallista leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. “Done. Now can we go out?”
“Race you!” Tristan shouted, abandoning his quill and parchment. Kallista ran after him, trying not to trip over her cloak.