The winds are broken. Howling frozen gales flow through the corridors of Argossa, the force of a hurricane squeezed into corridors and ball-rooms. Anything that can break does break. Splintered doors, toppled suits of armour, closets full of dresses and chests full of gemstones. They are spun and hurled like shot-puts, freezing even as they fly. Damp, icy mist pours out like smoke from a subterranean fire. 

Step by step, Princess Adila advances. 

Her wings are open wide and swept back, curving the wind around her body and the line of princesses that follow close behind in her shadow. She ducks her head and endures the blows of things blown loose by the breath of the World Seed where they slip through the magical and technological shields conjured by her friends. This is a battle of endurance, each step requires so much strength to make it's like she's climbing a sheer mountain.

But she has all the strength she needs, shielded here beneath her wings, warming and warmed by her heart.

Every night, the divine squirrel Ratatoskr gathers every star from the sky and hides them inside the Hollow of Argossa until the daylight comes. They were the first to freeze - crystal diamonds shining no light, little pin-pricks that form a small and shivering pile on the ground, perfect for picking up with eye-droppers and using as fashion accessories. Above them is the World Seed, and oh, how much it looks like the grandest of those diamonds - what a brilliant star it must have been, once.

But now it is dark and its light is cold.