Disclaimer: I own nothing from A Great and Terrible Beauty, and am not making a profit from this.

Author's note: Writing from Kartik's POV! Scary, to say the least. This is the scene after the girls meet in the caves for the second time and go out to the lake, written from Kartik's perspective. Concrit is greatly welcomed!


There they are. Standing in the moonlight. Naked – or nearly, at any rate. They are still clothed by a thin chemise each, though the cold lake water drenches it.

I hide behind a crowd of bushes, watching as the girls frolic. Gemma Doyle is among them, so I suppose it is my duty to watch. The lake must be frigid at this time of year, I muse. Gooseflesh is raised over all of their bodies. One girl catches my eye – I have never seen skin so pale. It almost seems to glow in the moonlight. Her violet eyes, as big as a doe's, look around nervously. Dark hair frames her beautiful face better than it ever could in a tight, controlled bun. She is the most beautiful English girl I have ever seen. Gemma is standing near to her – the other girl, I must say, passes her in the realm of beauty, though I suspect Gemma has much more power than that other girl. Her red hair is damp at the ends, frizzing out wildly. She looks happy now, though cold. What could she be doing out of school at the dead of night? They can't be going to the realms, can they?

I shift a bit, move my legs around, but then it happens.

Crack.

I have stepped on a twig and snapped it, and the sound echoes in the forest louder than I could have imagined. The girl launch into frenzy, the violet-eyed one racing for clothes just as I step out of my hiding place, carrying my substitute cricket bat. I only wanted to show myself as a non-threatening force; I didn't mean to put her in a compromising position. But up close, she is even more beautiful than from afar. She desperately tries to cover herself, but it is not working. She only has a bit of lace and her hands to work with.

"Avert your eyes!" her voice is close to hysterical; a scarlet blush stains her ivory cheeks. Too stunned to think, to ask questions, I obey her order. I can see the other girls, though. A rather plain girl, still fully clothed, covers her mouth with her pudgy hands. There is a blonde one in the lake. She does not seem to care that I can see her arms no, as plainly as I can see her rage. Miss Doyle is a different story. She hugs her arms close to her body, shivering. Her large green eyes are fixated on me, staring without abandon. She looks, somehow… hurt. Jealous, even. But I can spare only another second to look before the blonde one speaks.

"If this were ancient times, we would hunt you down and put out your eyes for what you've seen," she threatens me.

I glance one last time at the girls before I run off into the woods. Though the forest is my scenery, all I can see is her beautiful face.


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