"Gramps, over here! This way!"
Athena's voice cut cleanly through the high-ceilinged auditorium, bright and unmistakable.
Gianna pivoted toward the sound, her eyes scanning the massive, bustling hall of the elite private academy where Athena's twins were enrolled.
The school had spared no expense for the Pageant of the Frost King—the traditional mid-November festival that officially heralded the winter season and served as the grand prelude to the Christmas holidays.
The architecture of the hall had been transformed into a breathtaking, cinematic winter wonderland. Massive pillars were wrapped in thick garlands of frosted pine and silver tinsel, interwoven with thousands of tiny, warm-white fairy lights that cast a soft, dreamlike glow over the crowd.
Huge, hand-cut paper snowflakes hung from the vaulted rafters, spinning gently in the draft, while deep midnight-blue velvet drapes lined the walls, dusted with faux snow that shimmered like real ice under the stage lights.
