Icen was met with Violet's shocked stare as she was dragged into the large white room by none other than the Dollmaker himself. She grimaced, having spied the white-haired Alpha Lord sitting on the sofa, moments before she was placed down opposite him, next to her apparent friend who seemed to have lost the ability to speak coherently.

"Violet, be polite." The man sitting next to the Alpha Lord said, staring reproachfully at his own doll. "That's Lord Aldrik's Doll."

"Of course." She bit her lip, staring down at her lap.

"Be as rowdy as you like, idiot." Icen grumbled, swiftly unstrapping her high heels, placing her aching feet on the coffee table. "I don't care."

"I see you're going to have your work cut out..." The man mumbled, glancing over at the Dollmaker. "She seems a bit prickly."

"You're the second person to call me that, swine." She scowled. "Try to be a bit more original next time."

"Now that you've seen her," the Dollmaker's voice stopped her train of thoughts, "it's time to decide what sort of program you want her on." He said, completely ignoring her outburst. "It'd probably be best to give her an in-depth course, seeing as how she's going to be an Alpha Lord's Doll... She'll need to learn table manners from scratch at the very least."

"I'm sitting right here, pigs."

"We know, doll."

"Then stop talking like I'm not, imbecile."

"Could you be quiet for a little while?" The Dollmaker sighed, his shoulders sinking at Icen's expression. "Tch. Fine. Let me put that another way. Shut up, or else I will gag you."

Icen, being Icen, just had to provoke him further. "I'd like to see you try, hog."

That was why, five minutes later, after a lot of scuffling, Icen was lying on the sofa, hands and ankles bound, along with a nice bit of cloth wrapped around her mouth.

It was safe to say she wasn't very happy.

"I think I could get used to this..." The Dollmaker smirked, ignoring the muffled protests spewing from her lips. "It's nice and quiet..."

"I trust you'll look after my little doll to the best of your ability." Aldrik said, his dark blue eyes softening ever so slightly as he stared down at Icen's bucking form on the sofa opposite. Violet and her Alpha had decided on the wise course of exiting the room as soon as Round Five of Icen vs the Dollmaker had begun, leaving the rest of them with plenty of room to work with. He stood, handing the tablet back over to the man. "All my choices are written down there." He said, striding towards the door. "I need to be getting back to the castle... but, Lake, I want you to promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Don't hand her over to your brother, no matter what she does."

"Which one?"

"Breaker." Aldrik said, glancing over at Icen yet again. "Because I have a feeling that if you do any damage to her, she'll shatter into pieces... and you won't be able to glue her back together."

"Fair enough." He shrugged. "I'll let Breaker know."

"Sounds good." And with that said, he was gone, the only evidence of him being there the slight indent in the pale blue sofa cushion opposite her.

"Now..." The Dollmaker smiled, sitting in the space the man had vacated only minutes before. "Let's see if I can't sort out a curriculum for you..."

Icen grumbled into her gag.

"What was that?" He stood, making his way over to Icen, pulling the cloth away from her lips. "I'll warn you now," he said, pressing a finger to his lips, "if you're just going to insult me, then the gag goes back on."

"Git."

"Right." He sighed, tying the cloth back in place, earning him another round of muffled complaints and insults. "After breakfast, every day from now on, you'll be coming with me to my office where you'll be learning your duties as an Alpha Lord's Doll. That'll go on until it's lunchtime."

Icen rolled her eyes.

"You won't be eating lunch with the rest of the dolls either." He continued, ignoring her murderous expression. "That'll be when I'm teaching you all about table manners and what cutlery you need to use for any fancy dinners you might have in the future." He sighed deeply. "After that comes self-defence."

Icen's eyes lit up.

"Stop drooling at the idea of taking a pot-shot at me." The Dollmaker scowled. "You need to learn how to control your magic."

Icen muttered questions into her gag, earning her a loud sigh.

"No insults." He warned, pulling the cloth down from her mouth.

"Magic?" She tilted her head. "What are you on about, pig?"

One black eyebrow twitched, pale alabaster hands clenching momentarily. "You're of pure Fae Blood, so of course you have magic."

"I'm not Fae. I'm a werewolf, swine."

"You're Fae." Exasperation lined his expression. "Those ears and that hair of yours proves that much. You're a Winter-borne. Winter's Magic flows through your blood. Why do you think your skin temperature is so cold...?"

"My awesomeness?"

"It's magic." He said, watching as Icen struggled to keep a straight face. "Otherwise, every single fluid in your body would be frozen as well – following the laws of nature."

"Some fluids in my body are frozen." Icen said, freezing when she realised what she'd just said. "Gah. That sounds gross. Oh and, dog, could you untie me already?"

"Tch." The Dollmaker scowled, swiftly climbing to his feet, undoing the expertly tied knots. "There. Happy?"

"Not at all." She said, slamming her fist into the side of his face. "Now I am, mutt. Continue."

"Careful, doll." He said, his expression oddly dark. "Every time you hit me outside of sparring, I'll tie those dainty little hands of yours behind your back before you can even say pig."

"Bring it, maggot."

"Don't test me, doll." He sighed, sitting back, nursing his red cheek. "Honestly..."

"What, swine?" She folded her arms. "At least finish your sentences."

"Come on." He stood, offering her a hand which she promptly ignored. "Let's get you off to your first lesson before lunch."

"Tch."

"You took the words right out of my mouth, doll." He said, grabbing her hand, preventing her from walking off as he led her through the empty corridors.

"Shut up and walk, dog."

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