"Sorry, Rudy. I didn't get any carrots."
The reindeer huffed disappointedly.
"Come on, we can sleep in here," the girl said, leading her animal friend into the stable.
They settled down in the straw, and the girl started singing to the reindeer, accompanying herself on a lute.
She had just finished when Gray entered the stable. "Nice singing."
The girl jumped. "Oh, it's just you," she said. "What do you want, besides to scare me half to death?"
"I want you to take me up Mount Hakobe."
"I don't take people places." The girl laid back against the reindeer and closed her eyes, but then grunted as a bag landed beside her, tipping over against her stomach.
"Let me rephrase that," said Gray. "Take me up Mount Hakobe. Please."
She frowned at him. "I don't take orders, either."
"I know how to stop the winter. You want to get back to selling ice, right?"
The girl looked in the bag, and found the pickaxe and rope. She sighed and pulled her hat down over her eyes. "We leave at dawn. Oh, and you forgot the carrots."
"No, I didn't."
The girl lifted her hat and found Gray watching her with a smug smile on his face and the bunch of carrots in his hand.
"We're leaving right now," he said.
The girl's sled slid along at top speed, pulled by her reindeer pal. Empty of ice, the sled went like the wind.
"Hang on, we like to go fast," said the girl, grinning as the sled swerved under them. She snapped the reins. "Right, Rudy?"
"I like fast." Gray leaned back and put his feet up on the front of the sled.
"Feet on the floor!" ordered the girl, smacking his ankles. "Were you raised in a barn or something?" She rubbed the spot with her sleeve, as if Gray might have left smudges.
"A castle," said Gray, rolling his eyes. He got the feeling she was rather protective of her sled. "I'm Gray, the Prince of Fiore."
The girl didn't give him even a nod of respect. "I'm Angel. So, you seem to know all about this freak storm. Start talking."
"My brother the king went ice-crazy yesterday," said Gray. "Well, it was sort of my fault. I got engaged and he freaked out 'cause I'd just met the girl. And he said I couldn't marry her, and-"
"You got engaged to someone you just met?" interrupted Angel.
"Yesterday," Gray confirmed. "Anyway, we both got mad and I accidentally pulled one of his gloves off-"
"Hang on," Angel interrupted again. "You mean to tell me you just met her and you're already engaged?!"
"Yes," said Gray. "Pay attention. Lyon always wears gloves, but I didn't think anything of it-"
"Didn't your parents ever warn you about strangers?"
Gray edged a tiny bit farther away from Angel. "Yes, they did. But Juvia's not a stranger."
"Is that so? What's her last name?"
"Of Bosco."
"What's her favorite food?"
"Messy things... I don't know what they're called, but they're delicious."
"Best friend's name?"
"That'd be me."
"Eye color?"
"Blue and beautiful."
"Shoe size?"
"That doesn't matter. She can buy her own shoes. Just not too many."
"Have you met her parents yet? What if she has some habit that drives you nuts?"
"I don't mind her talking in third person all the time."
"Then perhaps some other habit."
"Hey, she doesn't mind MY habits!"
"Your habits?" Angel looked over and found Gray's coat in his lap and his shirt draped over his shoulder. "Hey, don't strip in my sled!"
"Sorry." He put the clothes back on. "But anyway, she's a perfect princess."
"Every woman has mood swings. We can't help it. Better not marry anyone until you find out if you can still love them when they're crabby one minute and sobbing the next."
"You think you know love, huh?"
"No, but my friends do."
"You have friends?" snorted Gray.
"Yep, they know all about love."
"Love experts? I'm not convinced."
Angel stopped the sled. "Be quiet." She got a vacant look in her eyes, as if she was listening for something.
"No, really, I'd just love to meet these-"
Angel clapped a hand over Gray's mouth. "I mean it."
Gray shoved her hand away, looking irritated.
"Shhhh!" Angel hissed. She stood up, grabbing a lantern from the floor, and leaned over the back of the sled.
Finally realizing she wasn't shutting him up just to be mean, Gray turned and looked into the forest behind them. He saw points of light in the blackness, all of them in pairs. Eyes, reflecting the lantern.
