Jacin had this annoying habit of chewing on his nails.

Every time Winter turned around, there he was, chew chew chew, chewing on his nails again, chew chew chew. What a strange word, the word chew, Winter thought.

When Winter mentioned this habit to Jacin, he did not react very well.

Ok, fine. He did not react even a little well.

"Winter, I am busy, annoyed, stressed, and the last thing I need is for you to stop chattering on about my nails!"

Winter wondered if he had really even comprehended what she had said.

Clearly something was on his mind.

Also clearly, something not good.

"Jacin?" Winter tried.

"Hmph?"

"Are-- are you okay? It's just--" she hurried on, before Jacin could interrupt her, "it's just that-- well-- you don't seem to be-- umm--" She stopped after catching the look on his face.

No, Winter berated herself. Be strong. Confront the situation, after thinking about it for as long as you need to. React not necessarily with violence, depending on the situation, but with reasoning. Reason what points you have, but only the ones that you think they will understand.

This advice was from Jacin himself. While more little devices were being made from the prototype in Iko's chip, Winter had been getting "sane lessons" from Jacin, as he called them. Remembering the rest of that lesson, she barely withheld a giggle.

Unless they have a gun on you. Then mostly just stay quiet. Unless they have a really big gun on you. Then mostly just run.

"What's so funny?" glowered Jacin.

Winter set her shoulders back. "Nothing. Jacin, you have been acting really weird lately. You are tense and tight and every time I even look at you, you completely snap. I'm sick of it."

Jacin interrupted her this time gefore she could go on. "Well, then, why are you still here?"

Winter stumbled back, shocked. This was her home, the palace. Jacin was her guard. And supposedly more than that. He had no right to say that.

Then she realized, No, he didn't mean the palace. He meant right now, where they were out for dinner together, at a super fancy restaurant in Artemisia. Although Winter had plenty of money, being princess, she had spent most of it just so they could go here. Of course, the cashier had insisted she get in free, but Winter had insisted back, and Winter had won.

"Fine," she said softly, almost under her breath, as she had almost no energy left after hearing that. "I'll just go then."

She spun, dashing out of the restaurant, knocking over a fancy saltshaker on another table with her elaborate gown that was made specially for this occasion, nearly tripping on her tall heels that she and Iko had spent hours picking out together, feeling her hair slip loose from the jewelled headband that had been passed down through Winter's mother's family for generations and generations, that she had never dared to wear until now. . . .

Winter cried. Winter cried and cried and cried again and cried some more. Far away, she could almost hear the palace walls bleeding. And then her tears froze on her cheeks, turned into tiny ice crystals, and her breath froze too, all the way down in her throat, and she couldn't breathe anymore, and the cold had spreadeded and spreadeded and she had falleded and falleded and frozended and frozended and she was goneded and she was goneded.

And she was gone.

Well, this was sort of a fun chapter to write! No, Winter is not dead. Not quite, anyway. Will she survive still? Yet to be seen. Please comment below! People have read this, but no one has commented yet, and that's really disappointing to me. . . . First person to comment gets cookies!!!! (::) (::) (::) (::) *that should draw them*