I stayed in my room for about an hour after Raul vanished. It was too early for me to be awake, but I couldn't go back to sleep.

Not after finding out what I had.

The piece of paper that had lodged itself in my palm sat on my bed, unopened. As much as it would be, I wasn't going to look at it until Nutcracker or Raoul was with me. I wasn't in the mood for another plot twist.

So instead, I paced up and down the room, stopping at the window for the twelfth time in five minutes. A layer of snow blanketed the ground, completely covering the grass and tips of the trees.

I placed my hand against the window. The cool air that seeped through the glass didn't phase me like it should. I knew it was there, but I wasn't cold.

"That's it." I grabbed a long, deep brown overcoat and threw it over my shoulders. The only pair of shoes I had (excuse me, that I liked) were made of thin material that made them more suited for warm weather.

I put them on anyway.

"I'm going outside," I called to no one in particular. Who knew--maybe something would be listening.

I quietly opened and closed the door as I left my room. The halls that always seemed to have people in them were empty.

I gulped and tiptoed past occupied rooms. A giant roar came tumbling out of the room next to mine.

Raoul.

The one thing bad about him being completely healed was his snores.

The overwhelming urge to giggle punched me in the gut. Raoul with his monster snores--Mom and Dad always joked that if we could find a way to record the sound, our family could become rich in a matter of seconds by selling the sound as an alarm.

I paused at the door. It really was aggravating. If he would just wake up, then no one would have to listen to his obnoxious snoring.

Don't you dare do it, Clair.

Some of the books I read would talk about an angel on the shoulder,  persuading one to do the right thing. On the other shoulder, there would be a little demon that tried to convince the person into doing the wrong thing.

I think I listened to the wrong one.

The door creaked lightly as I threw my body weight into pulling it. It opened just enough I could wiggle through.

The sheets that covered Raoul rose and fell, copying his breathing. One arm covered his eyes, while the other dangled off the side of the bed. A long line of drool hung out of his half-open mouth, slowly wetting the bed sheets under his face.

I anchored my foot at the edge of the doorway, ready to bolt.

Isn't it the job of the little sister to bother the brother?

I pointed to a spot above his head. In my reading, I had found a bit of magic that counteracted the fire spell. I'd never tried it before, but waking someone up is as good a time as any.

"Nerua."

What looked to be ten gallons of water fell from the ceiling and hit Raoul in the face. He cried out, spouting some words that I didn't know he knew. His hands bat at his head like there was an animal pecking at it, which only made him hit himself more than once.

His eyes met mine and screamed death.

I laughed and ran, slamming the door behind me. By the time he would get it open, I'd be gone.

Unless, of course, he ran after me. Then it'd be a different story.

Yawns of a few Fiannu wandered into the hallway. Soon, they would be getting out of their beds and doing whatever they normally did. It was a little embarrassing--we'd been in the castle for almost a week and still hadn't taken the time to learn about them.

Other than the whole vyecher-murae thing.

A door slammed open behind me. I froze momentarily, then tore down the hall before the undignified scream reached my ears.

"CLAIR!"

Raoul's gonna kill me. Raoul's gonna kill me.

An image of his half-asleep, panicked face popped into my mind. I couldn't stop laughing. After all the drama of the past week, some time to kid around was good.

A week--it felt so much longer than that. The days spent in Arium's main palace had been months ago, years ago.

My eyes shut. I wouldn't think about Arium. I wouldn't think about vyechers or muraes or Fiannu. The most I would do would be to tell Nutcracker about Luschon.

And Raoul about Mom and Dad.

And ask Nutcracker about what we were supposed to do with the Cavaliers.

And practice magi--

Wham!

Something hard rammed into me-- or I ran into it. Whichever it was, it resulted in me landing on my butt in the middle of the hall and opening my eyes.

"Curly?"

I grabbed Nutcracker's hand and pressed a finger to my lips. "Hush! Raoul's after me!"

As if to prove my point, another ear piercing war cry shot down the hall.

His lever-controlled mouth dropped open. "What, exactly, did you do?" he asked in alarm.

"Very possibly used a spell to wake him up by dumping water on his head."

Nutcracker grabbed my hand and yanked, dragging me down the hall with him. Raoul's footsteps thundered against the icy floor. How he wasn't slipping and sliding everywhere was impressive.

And terrifying.

Nutcracker opened a door. A blast of cold air leaped inside the building. "Will he chase you if you're outside?"

Raoul screamed my name again, laughing that time.

His revenge was going to suck.

I shrugged and started to slip outside. "He's wet and semi-mad. If he's got enough sense, he'll dry off first. It's Raoul though, so who knows."

The door closed behind me. "Just prepare yourself, then."

Trust me, I know.

I half-ran half-trudged through the snow to get to the first trees of the forest I could. The snow piled up against my knees, soaking through my clothes and tickling my skin.

I stopped under a tree, breathless. My lungs burned for air.

I was completely alone.

The snow caught me as I flopped to the ground. The ice palace was still visible from behind the trees. Sun glinted off the ice on the roof and sides, making it seem like the castle was dipped in glitter.

It's pretty.

ISN'T IT?

I groaned. "Haven't you bothered me enough today?"

The trees did me the courtesy of not answering.

Crazy-me did not.

I'M ONLY HERE BECAUSE I'M BORED.

Join the club.

The wind rustled a few tree branches, sending snow flying into the air. I concentrated on a few of the flakes, trying to call them over to me.

I managed to get a snowball to hit my face.

CALM DOWN. YOU'LL BLOW UP THE ENTIRE FOREST.

No thanks to you. I wiped some snow from my eyes. If you're going to hang around in my head, I need a name for you.

WHAT?

A name. You know, what I call you?

She went completely silent. I held out my hand to the ground, imagining something coming from my fingertips and picking up some of the soft powder covering the grass.

WHY DO YOU WISH TO GIVE ME A NAME?

If it was possible, she seemed quiet.

I kept my attention on the snow that was hovering in the air. So I can address you directly. I think I like Beatrice.

NO.

Why? You seem like a Beatrice to me.

NO.

Stubborn. Okay then... I clenched my fist. The white powder formed a ball that I then proceeded to throw against a nearby tree. It hit its target and exploded into dust.

"I can always call you Jackass," I giggled.

WHAT? NO!

AND WHAT HAPPENED TO NO CURSING?

"It's not cursing if it's true. I don't know what you look like. You may look exactly like me, like in my dream, or you may be a cat, dog, or donkey. If you are a donkey, then I can call you Jackass and not get into trouble."

I DO NOT LOOK LIKE A DONKEY.

Attempt succeeded. Aggravating the evil person inside my head--check.

How do I know you're not lying to me?

I AM NOT A DONKEY!

That was too much fun.

I pressed my back against the tree. Rough bark bit into my skin, pushing against my shoulder like someone held me. I waved my hand again, calling some more snow from the ground. A hole about as wide as my hand appeared, leaving one or two blades of dead grass showing.

A small section of the hovering snow fluttered into the hole and landed on a blade of brown grass.

I stared at the snowflake. "Rosinka," I whispered.

What?

"Hey, you're quiet! Score!"

Answer the question or I'll start yelling again.

"I'm going to call you Rosinka. It's Arian for 'dewdrop.'"

I know what it means. Why such a nice name?

"Because I like to think that when dew falls, it helps grass and vice versa. I think that the water droplet gives moisture to the grass, which may not get any other liquid that day. In return, the grass blade gives the dewdrop a home until it dies."

I set the pile of snow down. "I'd like to think that's how it works with us. You continually help me with my magic, and I am the one who gives you a home."

She was quiet.

"It's not that we have to like each other. I mean, I'm sure the grass blade isn't happy about the dewdrop invading its space. We do have to live with each other though."

Okay. Rosinka it is.

"Curly!"

I jumped. Nutcracker trudged to me through the snow.

"Why so far out?" he asked once he was beside me. "Not wanting to be found?"

I laughed. "No, it's not that. I'm just practicing." I flicked my fingers toward the sky. A ball of snow about five inches across rose into the air. "I've gotten to where I don't need to say or think the spell on a few of these."

"Wow. That was fast." He crossed his arms. "Who were you talking to?"

Lovely time to not have an answer.

I felt heat rise to my cheeks. I looked away. "Ah... myself?"

"Please don't tell me you were talking to the evil-Clair."

"No!" I squeaked. "Why would I do that?" I waved my hand like I was brushing something away. "What would give you that idea?"

He smacked his forehead. "What did you do?"

"Possibly gave her a name?"

"A na--"

Smack.

The snowball I held in the air magically made its way over to Nutcracker and got very acquainted with his face.

Well, that's one way to make him shush.

He paused. "Curly..."

In one quick motion, he swooped to the ground and managed to gather snow in his wooden hand. I shrieked and took off through the trees, dodging his throw.

Only to be hit by another.

I whirled around, fists clenched, ready to attack. Raoul held his stomach like he'd been punched, laughing his you-know-what off.

I grit my teeth. The whole time, it was a setup!

And I hadn't guessed it... shameful.

I splayed out my fingers, imagining snow rising from the ground. Not as much as I wanted came, but it was enough that I could send it flying toward both Raoul and Nutcracker and scoop up snow without magic.

"Oh no, you don't!"

Cold fingers lifted the material around my neck up and dropped something cold and wet down it. I stood quickly, shrieking and batting at my back to get the wet gone.

Raoul smirked at me. "Gets you back!"

I may have cursed at him.

To make matters worse, Nutcracker decided that when I was madly trying to get snow out of my clothes was the best time to chuck more of it at me.

They were going to die.

The two boys laughed at me while they pelted me with more and more snow. Don't mistake me--I loved the white powder--just not that much.

The fight lasted for a few more minutes, and while I managed to grab a few handfuls of snow, I had a terrible aim.

With Nutcracker's last blast to my head still "stinging," I took cover behind a bush. 

What do I do...

Climb the tree, idiot, Rosinka ordered. You know a spell to get them both. 

I do? I stared at a tree in front of me. There was a branch low enough I could grab it and climb, but if it was low enough for me, it was low enough for Raoul. 

But Raoul had never been good at climbing trees. He usually fell after a couple of seconds. 

Oh!

I held in a laugh and beelined for the tree. The bark cut into my skin as I grabbed at the branches and pulled myself up, but I ignored it. Raoul and Nutcracker stopped under the tree when they noticed me. 

"You realize you're surrounded now, right?" Nutcracker shouted. 

"You realize I know magic, right?"

Raoul's eyes widened. He and Nutcracker stared at each other for a split second, then took off.

It was way too late for that.

"Paque a katorsum!" I lifted my hand with the first word and brought in down as I said the second. The snow followed my movements, all of it lifting up as my hand went up, then falling down onto the boys.

They screamed like little girls. 

Raoul was gone after that. He scrambled off the ground and ran toward the castle, screeching something about snow down his shirt. Nutcracker, on the other hand, fell flat on his back after he was bombarded with the white powder.

I half-fell, half-climbed down the tree. My cheeks hurt from smiling so hard. "You okay?" I called.

He held up and arm. 

"I guess that means 'yes?'"

"Yep."

He sat up. "You've gotten better."

"I know." I held out my hand. He took it. "I'm still not the best at it though. I'm amazed I didn't catch anything on fire with that spell."

Nutcracker let out a nervous laugh. "I'm glad you didn't."

"Um..." I was still stuck on the name game I had earlier with Rosinka. It made me wonder--did Nutcracker have an actual name, or was he just called "Nutcracker" from birth?

"No, I have and actual name. Why do you ask?"

Heat flared to my cheeks. I didn't realize I spoke aloud. "I was just wondering. Calling you 'Nutcracker' has just felt really silly."

He nodded. "I see." He crossed his arms over his chest and turned his back to me. 

And of course, I asked him the question he didn't want to answer. Why? Why did I have to speak out loud? Why on earth did I feel the need to open my fat mouth?

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He knows that, Clair. "I'm sorry I asked. I didn't mean to pry into your personal life." I waved my hands in the air. "Not that I don't care about your life! It's just--"

"William."

I stopped mid lame excuse. "What?"

"My name is William," he sighed. "I just took the name 'Nutcracker' to hide from it."

Oh. 

I wanted to know why he wanted to hide from his name, but the way he spoke screamed at me to shut up and ask later.

"Well." I held out my right hand. He stared at it like it was a fairy wand. 

Which--who knows!--may have existed. 

I grinned. "It's nice to meet you, William. Now, on my planet, we shake hands, but I can accommodate your wishes and just stare if you'd like."

He punched my arm. "Very funny."

My response was something like magic-ing a snowball to his face.

He laughed and tossed one back. Before long, we were throwing snow at each other, no magic included. 

It felt good to be a kid again.

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Fun chapter. See? I can do one of these every now and then.