Judy felt smug as she skated in circles around the frozen lake with other mammals that lived in the snowy region where the noble house of Otterton resided and ruled over. John and Michael watched in awe as Judy skated. Nick watched on the sidelines, making sure she didn't cheat on their bet or waiting for the chance for her to lose so that he could gloat without end.

But so far, Judy had made it through one whole hour and was almost done with the second hour.

He thought, Wow. She might actually win this. Good thing we didn't make stakes. No telling what embarrassing thing she would have made me do…

Suddenly, a snow hare and his pal, a beaver, sat down as they were taking a break from the ice-skating.

The snow hare told his friend, "That pretty bunny sure is a great skater. Maybe once I get back on the ice, she'll let me skate with her."

Nick didn't know why, but he felt threatened by this hare just waltzing up to Judy and skating with her. What did it matter to him? She could skate with whoever she liked, never mind that she knew him longer than this strange hare. Of course… if something were to happen to her like if the hare would cause an accident and she could get hurt… He decided he wouldn't take that chance and skated onto the ice.

Judy twirled around when suddenly, she felt paws grabbing her wrists and she looked back to see Nick. Much to her surprise, he twirled with her.

She slit her eyes, "If this is your attempt to make me lose the bet, you are sadly mistaken."

"I'm not trying to sabotage you. I'm trying to save you from those clumsy skaters that want to skate with you."

"What skaters?"

"That snow hare over there." he gestured to the mammal.

"Hey, I've seen him move on the ice. He's not clumsy."

"You would rather ice-skate with a stranger than someone you already know?"

"But I hardly know you. All I know is your history with the Mouse King and that you used to be a baron, but that's it. I don't know anything else."

"Well, what about you? I just know where you came from and what your connection to Big is, but you haven't shared anything about yourself."

"You didn't seem that interested to get know me, anyway. You don't like how you have to be saddled with a bunny when I never asked for this, either. I don't think a prophecy should decide my fate, but I'm only doing this for my godfather." She moved out of his grasp and gave him a somber expression before getting off the ice, knowing the hour was up.

Nick stood there feeling stunned.

Judy was getting ready for bed when a knock came at her door. She opened it a crack and was shocked to find Nick standing there.

The fox gave off a guilty look and asked, "May I come in?"

She pondered for a bit before she did let him in. Once he was inside, he asked her to shut the door. She gave him a look of uncertainty. But he reassured her that he only came to talk. So she shut it, but she stayed by the door just in case.

"I would like to make an apology." he said.

Her eyes widened.

He made a slight chuckle, "Yeah, this is a first for me. I've never had to apologize before, but I thought about what you said today and you're right, you didn't ask for this, either. Big may have been more abrasive with me, but he forced you to put up with me, all because of a prophecy that may or may not work. Tell me, Carrots, do you really believe in it?"

She bit her lip, "I don't know. It really all depends on how well we can get along. But if you don't want to be friends, I would understand and it just shows that even prophecies are not set in stone."

"Well, I don't see why we couldn't try. We'll just to see what happens."

She slowly smiled, "Would you like me to go first?"

He motioned, "Go ahead." He sat down on a chair in the corner.

Judy felt a bit more confident and sat on the bed as she started off, "Well, you know I live with my family. I have over 275 brothers and sisters."

"275?!" he gaped.

She sighed, "Yes, 275. Anyway, unlike the rest of my siblings, I have hopes and dreams of traveling to different places, to see the world. But my parents want me to settle down like some of my older siblings have. Some of them already have children, too."

"Talk about pressure…" he muttered. "Then again, I would know all about that…"

"How so?"

"My parents… they had me tutored when I was young. I was their only child, so I was expected to follow the duties that were required for a future baron. When I was older, I got to be part of the royal court. That's when I met Lord and Lady Otterton and… Mortimer… For a mouse, he was very charismatic. I get why Big made him the royal advisor. Too bad he didn't see that Mortimer was a little too charming… I did like that mouse, especially when my parents died. He comforted me in my worst moments and I thought that he would be a better ruler."

"What made you change your mind?"

"Over time, Mortimer got used to his power and he didn't want to listen to me anymore. He didn't care about me anymore."

She shook her head, "That's so sad…"

"Not really. I didn't realize until later he was just using me to get to the throne. He used my grief as a way to earn support."

"That's terrible!"

"That's how it is, Carrots."

"Well, it shouldn't be! That mouse had a lot of nerve breaking into my home, but what he did to you was far worse!"

He gave her a small smile, "Then how about we make sure he's defeated once and for all?"

She smiled back.

Little did they realize that Emmitt had been passing by when he overheard them talking in Judy's bedroom. He smiled as he went on to his own bedchambers and found his wife already in bed reading a book. He climbed in as he told her.

"Well, you did it. By convincing the children to invite Judy along to ice-skate, that got Nicholas thinking she couldn't do it and challenged her. Ironically, it broke the ice between them. I just heard them talking in Judy's guest room when I was coming over here."

She chuckled, "But I couldn't have done it without the help of the snow fairies for making more snow to keep them here. Now that we set the prophecy in motion, all we can do now is wait." She kissed her husband's cheek, set her book down, and blew out the candle so they could go to sleep.

For the next couple of days, Judy and Nick got better acquainted, but they still bantered with each other and challenged the other. They found themselves on the frozen lake again and were figuring out who the better skater was. John and Michael watched on so they could judge.

Nick skated to a halt in front of the young otters and asked, "So, kids, which one of us was better?" Then he whispered, "You get free sweets if you say me."

Luckily, Judy's ears had picked up on that. She skated toward him and punched his arm, "No bribing the judges!"

John said, "Yeah, you can't buy our vote. Though I think Nicholas was better."

Michael objected, "Well, I think Judy was the better skater!"

"Looks like we have a tie." said Judy with a smirk.

Nick said, "Now what can we do for a tie-breaker?"

John suggested, "How about a race?"

Michael excitedly said, "Yeah! First one back to the manor wins!"

Nick clapped his paws, "You got it. You ready, Carrots?"

"It is on, Slick."

"John, give us the countdown."

"Five, four, three, two, one… Go!"

They were off as they raced through the snow as fast as they could. But as they got closer to the manor, Nick slowed down when he saw what was occurring and ducked behind a snow bank. Judy was about to race on when he grabbed her arm and set her beside him.

"Why did you…?"

He shushed her and gestured to carefully look above the snow. She did and saw the terrible sight.

Emmitt was being taken by a group of large mammals wearing uniforms. Lady Otterton was crying and pleading them to not to take her husband.

Judy heard a rhino saying to her, "Orders from the Mouse King. We are to arrest Lord Otterton and bring him to the castle."

Lady Otterton kept on pleading, but the guards took Emmitt away.

Judy wanted to do something to stop it, but she didn't know how. She slid down the snow and was on the verge of crying.

"They… they took him…"

Nick shook his head, "It's getting worse…"

"We've got to do something!"

"We have to get to the base. They'll need to know about this."

"Shouldn't we at least say goodbye to Lady Otterton and the children?"

"No. We have to get moving if we want to make it through the Rainy Woods before nightfall. Besides, I would be endangering them more if they found me here…"

Judy felt guilty for leaving the otters, but she agreed with Nick and they set out for the Rainy Woods.

Mortimer was feeling smug when his guards brought in the chained otter that didn't support his rule since the beginning of it.

"At last! I have the great Lord Emmitt Otterton as my prisoner!"

"And why is it you needed me as a prisoner?" Emmitt demanded.

"Let's see: you refused to take part in my rule, supported your old friend the previous king behind my back, offered shelter to refugees that committed treason against me…I got a whole list of offenses here."

"And are my wife and children to be imprisoned as well?"

"Of course not, but I shall have them stripped of their noble status and be left penniless."

"No! I beg you, don't let that happen to them!"

"Then you should have thought of that before refusing me as your king! Take him to the dungeons!"

The guards obeyed, dragging a forlorn otter with them.

Mortimer then turned to Mchorn, "Get the princess."

Mchorn merely nodded as he went. When he came back, the shrew was in his hand and he set her down before the petty king. The rhino left when he was commanded to leave them.

The mouse turned to the lovely shrew, "Now, princess, it has been a few days since my last offer for marriage. Since then, you will find that I have more mammals working in my fields and mines."

"What?!"

"Oh, yes. I figured if you will not marry me on your own, then perhaps you will consider marrying me for the sake of your subjects. You don't want them to suffer just because their princess was too stubborn to marry the king…" He grinned wickedly.

Fru's expression turned dark, "You… evil… monster! How could you do that?!"

"I will give you one week to decide. If you marry me, they all go free. But if not… well, I don't think I need to tell you…"

Fru scowled at this horrible mouse, but inside, she was crying knowing she would have no choice if help didn't come soon.

Oh, Daddy… Where are you?