“Princess Aurelia of Etrile!”

Aurelia stepped into the icy ballroom. Her long yellow dress barely grazed the floor. She was grateful for the bishop sleeves as her breath came out as fog. Straight ahead was a large throne made of ice with a sculpture of a roaring polar bear coming out the top. On the throne sat queen Morana. A real polar bear lay in front of her as a foot stool. Her daughter Gwendalyn sat on the throne to the right of her. Morana looked at the people dancing with a cold gaze. Her daughter looked with warmth and longing. Aurelia noticed slight movement from the left of the queen. She looked a little closer and finally noticed that standing there was a man wearing a white suit that blended in with the snow next to the queen. He was wearing a white top hat with a blue flower that matched his blue tie. Aurelia stepped down the stairs and walked straight through the middle of the dance floor. The music came to a halt and everyone stopped as her elegant golden hair swayed behind her. It was safer for her if everyone was watching. She stopped in front the queen and the polar bear looked up from under her feet. She bowed and didn’t dare to look her in the eye.

“Aurelia I presume?”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“Why have you come?”

“I wish to talk to you about one of your partners, Nezzera.”

The queen’s jaw tightened at the name.

“I’m busy as of now. Perhaps after the dance. Damon!” The man came a step forward. “Do take this young lady for a dance. You were just telling me how bored you’ve been as of late.”

“Of course my queen, as you wish.” He walked forward until he was right beside Aurelia. “Well then shall we dance.” He held out his arm. Aurelia linked arms with him and they walked to the dance floor. The music began again and so did the dancing. They both bowed then he grabbed her hand and placed his other hand on her hip. She placed her hand on his shoulder and they slowly danced to the music. He stared straight at her as if he could read her soul like a book. She couldn’t help but stare at his eyes as well. One was a chocolate brown and the other was pitch black with a purple iris.

“So tell me, what business do you have with Nezzera?”

“I sincerely doubt it’s of concern to you.”

“Anything concerning the welfare of my mother is indeed my concern.”

“Your mother?”

“Indeed, oddly enough she’s why I’m here. She said someone had been causing trouble for her.

Something about killing one of her monsters.”

Aurelia thought of the so called monster and a chill ran down her spine. He stopped abruptly and bent down till his lips were so close to her ear she could feel his breath.

“You may have managed to defeat him, but if he was a monster then I’m a demon.” His voice grew more cold as he spoke. “And compared to my mother I’m simply a pet.” Aurelia shuddered as he pulled her closer and whispered in her ear so only she could hear. “My mother sent to me to kill you, but I’ve been bored lately. So what I’m gonna do is I’m gonna tear you apart. Not limb by limb, no no that’s boring. I’m gonna tear you apart piece by piece. Then…when I’m done licking the blood off your bones…I’ll kill your friends and use their bones as a toothpick.” Her body froze with fear. She wished that he hadn’t been holding her hand so tightly. She couldn’t take off her glove in time to use her magic. She would just have to run. But he would catch her! No, he could be bluffing. He was bluffing. He had never faced her before and probably had no idea what she could do. She managed to pull her self together enough to lift her face and stare straight through him.

“You can threaten me as much as you like, but your talk doesn’t mean anything if you can’t back it up.” She spit in his face taking him by surprise. He took his hand off her waist and reached to his face. She took the opportunity and sent her head crashing against his. He fell back a few steps and let go of her hand.