Erik~~

It's like my family's gone poof.

Jonas and Iris were secreted—not so secreted—away during the ball. Worrisome but not really something I can do anything about. As for Percy, Colton, and Vienna, I haven't seen any of them since some point during the ball.

I lower my fork, finished with my eggs, and reach for my glass of water.

Maybe they haven't yet woken. Though breakfast is being held late today, so they don't really have an excuse. Basile and Andrew are absent from the dining room too.

I'm sure it's nothing.

Across from me, Rydersin cuts into her pastry. She's hardly looked at me this morning. Though if I want to be completely honest with myself and only myself, she's been in a very anti-Erik mood since I didn't stop my cousin and Iris from performing the Death Waltz. What was I supposed to do? Run out into the center of the ballroom and yell time out?

Doesn't she see I'm putting her goal before my family? Shouldn't that mean something even if I don't particularly like my family?

Finally, after too many half bites of my muffin, I decide to break the silence. "Will the Order give their decision today?"

Her eyes languorously slide to mine, and for a brief moment I can imagine what it would feel like to have her run her eyes over every inch of me.

I wet my lips, reaching again for my glass.

"They are supposed to."

"If they say yes, we go to Acquaellia?"

She tenses. It isONLYONWATTPADBENDERafter all her father's Order she'd be standing before. "Yes."

"And if they say no?"

"We stay."

I cut into a slice of meat. "I'm not sure it's wise to overstay our welcome." Especially considering my family went poof.

Her eyes narrow. "I will not give up on this, and Gadfrie already said they won't see me again until I have the support of the rest of the Orders. And I," she lowers her voice, "won't have my father's support. My only hope is the rest of his Order." Whose heirs' initiation into their own Order has been delayed by the age of Rydersin's brother.

I stare down at my food; the eggs and the meat haven't looked appetizing all morning but now they aren't feeling very appetizing in my stomach either. I don't want to stay in this mansion any longer. I don't want to discover the bodies of Jonas and Iris. I don't want to find out what fate Percy, Colton, and Vienna met.

And Andrew and Basile—what would the Order do to them when their purpose here was to testify that Andrew did in fact try to murder his cousin, his Preeminence—attempted regicide?

I push back my chair and stand. "Send word if you require my presence."

*****

She never does.

Either her meeting with the Order is going well or she's gone poof as well.

Standing on the powdered-covered path in the snow garden, I clench and unclench my hands.

What happened to Iris and Jonas? I've managed to catch a brief glimpse of Basile, which must mean Andrew is fine—I think.

Below me the stream is frozen. At the end of the curving stream is a stone fountain jutting out of the wall. The water has frozen solid in its short plummet through the air, and behind me the stream expands to make a tiny pond, barely large enough to be suitable for three ducks.

The ducks on Amoria look different and also have purple eyes. Can they also see Expiration Dates? When they stare at me with those beady purple eyes are they judging my Date?

They creep me out.

Right now, the glass ceiling is closed to protect me from the cold, but once I leave, it will probably be opened to let fresh snow in to blanket everything.

I let out a sigh, and my breath curls in the air before me. Maybe I should have dragged one of Rydersin's Veil out here with me.

            Should I really care if some terrible fate has befallen Andrew? If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have this scar on my cheek. I wouldn't have been hit, caught in the explosion. What should it matter that we were good friends once? That maybe out of the entirety of the Society, he's the one who could understand me best?

"Erik?" Rydersin stands at the end of the path in the doorway. She's garbed in a deep purple dress, the sleeves falling in layers down her arms. "Meilin told me you had been out here awhile."

I shrug and tuck my handsONLYONWATTPADBENDERinto my pockets. "I like the snow."

"You struck me as the type to find it annoying." She walks toward me.

"Those are your feelings, Rydersin."

She tilts her head. "How did you know?"

"Acquaellia isn't known for snow unless you all are hiding a fantastic snow resort I haven't heard about."

She comes to stand beside me and stares down at the frozen stream before her eyes shift to the snow-covered ground. Stones and rocks have been laid underneath the white powder to create variation in the landscape. "You'll get to see more of Acquaellia."

I look at her. "They said yes."

She's not smiling but there's something like pride shining in her eyes.

At what cost did they say yes? Was it because they believed in Rydersin or was it Leorus keeping his end of his bargain with me where I stood out of their way if I wanted them to consider Rydersin's petition?

What fate have Iris and Jonas suffered because I didn't get involved? And which answer is worse? That Rydersin wasn't able to win them over on her own or that she did and I let my family suffer anyways?

"Erik, about your family . . ."

I narrow my eyes. "It's not your business to lecture me on them. You don't know them. They aren't how they appear."

Her shoulders tighten. "Is this about the Death Waltz?"

"And how after you ignored me for the rest of the night."

"I was expecting the Order were going to kill them."

"Then why didn't you do something?"

Her eyes widen, and she takes a step back.

"Because it would have jeopardized your mission? Why do you think I didn't stop the dance? Why do you think I let Veil drag Iris into a room and why I listened to her scream and didn't do a thing to stop it? And why I didn't keep them from taking her and my cousin last night?"

She shakes her head. "Erik . . ."

"Leorus threatened to throw out your petition if I raised one finger to help. And now . . . and now they're gone." And I hate myself.

Rydersin closes her eyes, and when she speaks her voice is calmer than I expected it to be. "They freed them."

"What?"

She nods. "It's all the Preeminence would say about them, but your cousins—the Beta and Iota—and Miss Rosen left during the ball."

That must have been before Iris and Jonas were taken.

I imagine Colton and Vienna want to find a way to marry, but why would Percy go with them and leave Jonas?

Why is Percy even here?

"If you need to leave, to figure out what's going on with your family, you can."

"I thought you needed me." To show that she has my support.

"I can wait."

Since this is Rydersin, I don't know if she's having a selfless moment or if this is about avoiding her father a little bit longer.

"My family can take care of themselves." Debatable. "And if the Preeminence released Jonas and Iris, then they'll be fine as well." Also debatable. But she doesn't need to know that.

"You're positive? If any Order member thought I was coercing you—"

I step toward her, close enough to feel the heat coming off her body. "If they thought you managed to coerce me, the runaway prince of the Blackwood family"—I step even closer—"then, darling, I'd think they'd only be impressed."

I'm absolutely thrilled to share with you all that I've signed with Wattpad to write for them exclusively! You'll be seeing a lot more chapters from me every month as well as possibly a new fantasy🧚🏻‍♀️🦄 🎄story I'm working on. I'm curious if you can figure out what kind of story it is based on the emojis. I really can't believe I'm getting to do two of my dream jobs: working in publishing and writing stories at the same time! Thank you all so much for your support.

If you're looking for a Halloween story to read, I wrote that non-cannon Expiration Date one years ago.