FOUR

I spy Lei at the refreshments table, draining another glass of wine.

Heading straight toward her, I don't dare glance back over my shoulder to make sure I'm not being followed by Eryk. There's something off about him, or maybe I'm the problem. I'm the crazy one who has apparently been dreaming about him, or at least someone who looks like him. This must be some once in the life time coincidence.

"I need your help," I say lowly in Lei’s ear as I approach her, grabbing ahold of her hand. "I've officially lost my mind."

She turns, frowning. "Okay...Why's that?"

"That Eryk guy, I've seen him in my dreams,” I tell her, wishing my voice wasn’t shaking so much. If anyone is going to understand, it’s Lei, although I worry I’m going to sound insane. I feel insane, like maybe I’m overthinking this. 

"I'm not disagreeing, he's not average looking, at least,” she replies, smiling devilishly as she recalls the man she approached. She seems unbothered that he stopped talking to her so quickly to come and speak to me. Why did he do that? Did he follow me from the ballroom, or did he just happen to be going that way? The more I think about this, the worse it gets. 

"No, like those nightmares I've been having...They are a consequence of feeling like I'm being watched all the time. He's been in them,” I whisper. 

People around us glance our way as they replace their empty glass with full ones. Every now and again, someone who I know is familiar with myself and my mother will look over me brazeningly, looking at the dress she’s picked out for me, and how much skin it’s showing. 

"Wow, you really have lost your mind," she mutters, somewhat playfully. I don’t protest as she plucks my drink from my hand, that I hadn’t even realised I had been holding. "I'll take that."

"Everything alright?"

Startled, I turn around to see Eryk, hands shoved into his pockets as he examines me. Releasing a long breath, I glance at Lei, who doesn’t bother concealing her excitement to see him reappear. 

"Sorry, I had to ask Lei something...Leilira, I mean,” I stutter, trying to explain away my hurried exit. He doesn’t seem bothered, expression passive, eyes cool. Lei quivers next to me, interested in grasping his attention again. I wish them the best of luck, although secretly I want to warn Lei to stay away from him. But why? I can’t tell her it’s purely because I have a weird feeling about him. 

"May I interest you in one of these," a server says, coming to the table to stock up on food. I glance down at what he is offering. It’s some kind of shellfish, my stomach churning in response. Freshly made."

Eryk reaches out to grab one, plucking it off the tray to hand to me. I open my mouth to protest, yet he pauses before I have a chance, brows furrowing. 

"Never mind, I forgot..." he murmurs beneath his breath, putting it back on the tray. 

I watch the server walk away, an uneasy feeling settling over me. "Forgot what?"

"Forgot that I was going to ask you to dance,” he says after a long moment of hesitation. He holds his hand out to me, but I shake my head. I’m not going to dance with him. Not when Lei wanted him first, and I’m still shaken by what happened outside the ballroom. I can feel my friend shuffling uncomfortably beside me, likely wishing to be anywhere else suddenly. 

"It's a good thing actually, I'm deathly allergic to seafood,” I say, nodding to the discarded tray of shellfish on the table. 

Eryk exhales slowly, following my gaze. I don’t take my eyes off him though, wondering what’s going on. For a moment I could have sworn he thought twice about handing me the food, as if he knew I were allergic. That would be impossible, since it’s one of my only traits that my mother doesn’t flaunt to anyone. 

"Noted,” he says tightly, his smile faint. 

Lei grabs my arm, leaning in to whisper in my ear. "Aven...It's almost time."

"Time?" Eryk asks casually, picking up a glass to take a sip. His gaze is steady on mine over the rim of the glass. 

"Don't tell anyone, but every party her mother holds me go out onto the frozen lake and dance around in our socks," Lei exclaims excitedly. Other than the food and drinks, this is one of the only reasons Lei agreed to accompany me to these balls. “It’s only for a moment before our toes freeze off."

"I'll be the disgraced daughter the next time you see me," I tell him, sliding my hand into Lei’s. "It was nice to meet you, anyway."

"Be safe..." he murmurs, gaze frosting over for a brief moment. “Oh, and your dress is beautiful tonight, by the way.”

I don’t have a chance to respond, as Lei pulls me away, and back into the swarm of people. 

*

The air is cool as Lei and I stumble outside, shoes already discarded. 

"I'm going to miss this...Only one more year of study and I'm off,” I say as we tug our socks on. Lei grins, holding her fluffy pink ones up to the lights that illuminate the pond, the surface of it just a thick sheet of ice. 

I hold Lei’s hand as we clamber onto the ice, careful not to slip. We have been doing this for years, having become awfully proficient at it. I tug my thick coat closer to my body, gliding across the slick layer of ice to the middle. 

"Off where?" Lei questions, twisting in a circle with her arms outstretched. I giggle as the glacial wind whips her blonde curls into her eyes, leaving her scrambling to wipe them away. 

"I don't know, somewhere warm,” I tell her. 

As much as I love it here, I can’t handle the perpetual winter. I want beaches, the sea and the sun. Closing my eyes, I let that feeling envelope me, my imagination having to supply me, as all I’ve seen of places like that are in books and pictures. 

All of the sudden, the sound of cracking ice beneath has my eyes flinging open again. I barely have a chance to look down at my feet, before the surface splits, and I’m plummeting into the dark water below. 

Screaming, I brace my arms out, wincing as my top half slams down onto the ice, my wait below falling into the water. Shock consumes me, all air catching in my throat as numbness seeps into my skin, battling with the burning cold. 

"Aven!" Lei gasps, falling to her knees as she grabs my wrists. My fingertips dig painfully against the surface of the ice, trying to cling on, desperate not to sink beneath the sheet to never come up again. 

"Lei...You got to get me out of here," I exclaim, as she tugs on my wrists. "The water is freezing."

My feet kick out weakly beneath me, rendered almost useless from the shock. I can hardly breathe from it too, my attempts to heave myself back up futile. 

"Your coast is weighing you down,” Lei hisses, using all her strength to try to pull me back up. Just as I think she has it, my wet skin slips from her grasp and I sink deeper into the water. 

"I'll drown..." I scream, just before I clasp Lei’s hand. She takes a deep breath, bracing all her weight against me. Slowly, I drag up from the water, until my waist, my hips then my legs are out of the water. I sprawl out across the ice, gasping for air as I grab at Lei. 

"I got you..." she breathes, likely as shocked as I am. I fall against her, my head on her lap as I stare up at the sky, looking through the cloud cover at the moon beyond. For a moment I just focus on breathing, trying not to think about the fact that I nearly died. 

Again...

"I can't believe that just happened,” I exhale, forcing myself to sit up. Lei’s eyes are wide as she looks over me, wet herself from my frantic splashing. 

"Are you okay? That could have been really bad,” she exclaims breathlessly, brushing her hair back. It could have been, but in that moment, we thought of nothing but survival. When I glance back at the manor, the music still faintly pounding inside, I realise no one would have heard had Lei called for help. I would have died. 

For some reason, a sense of amusement falls over me, attempting to conceal my fright. "I'm alive. That's all that matters."

Lei shakes her head at me, dumbfounded. My smile fades as she gets up. 

"Come on...Don't slip,” she orders, trying to sound playful, but her voice shakes uneasily. I let her help me stand, my legs still quivering beneath me, threatening to give out at any moment. I’m still numb, as I let my coat fall off my shoulders into a wet heap on the ground. I can’t feel the cold, from the water or from the wind whipping my face. 

"I've only had a few sips of wine,” I joke. 

Lei slings my arm over her shoulder, letting me brace myself on her body as we pick our way carefully over the ice. It’s even more slippery under foot, my splashing having sent a layer of water across the surface. 

I open my mouth to mention to Lei that my mother is going to kill me once she sees how wet I am, but I’m cut off as my foot wobbles pathetically beneath me, my body finally deciding to give out. Lei doesn’t have enough chance to grab me as I stumble back, feet falling out from under me. 

The crack of my head against the ice is the last sound I hear before darkness shrouds me, and everything goes black.