Just Out of Reach (Norminah)

"It could cost you your life."

Anonymous

Winter paced back and forth in her tower as she gazed out of the glass window. She had been waiting for almost 3 hours now and she hated waiting.

"Miss." A voice caused her to throw the glass of water she held in the direction the voice came from causing it to shatter against the far wall.

She quickly turned around to spot one of her maids standing in the doorway with her hand over her chest and a frightened look on her face.

"Oh, dear. I'm terribly sorry. You frightened me." Winter smiled as she offered the maid a small smile to sooth her worries.

"I didnt mean to frighten you, Miss. There's a girl in the garden. She has asked to speak with you." The maid fiddled with a strand of her hair as she bit into her lip nervously.

"Send them up, please."

"Yes, ma'am." The maid replied as she exited the room.

"I see that you don't have what I asked for." Winter replied shortly after she had turned to face the window again.

Without even turning around, she knew that the "girl from the garden" otherwise known as the red-eyed woman was standing in the doorway behind her almost immediately.

"You are correct." The red-eyed woman replied as she slowly entered the room; Winter keeping her back turned towards her.

"And why have you shown up empty handed, might I ask?" Winter slowly turned around with a raised eye brow.

The red-eyed woman chuckled as she grabbed a bottle of wine from the ice bar in the corner of the room and poured herself a glass.

"Well, there's two things I'd like to inform you of." She smirked as she raised the glass to her lips.

"And they are?" Winter trailed off.

"The first thing is....she hasn't shown up yet and the other thing is if and when she does show up, we won't just simply give her to you." The red-eyed woman smiled. "Not without something in.....return."

"Ah, I see." Winter took a small step in the red-eyed woman's direction as she stood with her hands behind her back. "And why is that?"

The red-eyed woman took another sip of wine before responding. "How can we trust you with something as valuable as she is?" The woman finished off the glass of wine and threw it against the wall as she stood to her feet, the tips of her fingers sizzling as she tried to control her anger. "You show up to my palace with some dreaded girl and demand me to give you something as if I'm supposed to bow down to you. I don't bow down to anyone. I make the goddamn rules! Do you know how stupid it is to walk into another ruler's kingdom when you could be killed at any second?" Her eyes have started to glow as fire slowly traveled up her arms and her skin began to turn bright red.

Winter simply smirked, the red-eyed woman's reaction not even fazing her at all. "You speak as if you actually have the balls to kill me. If I were in as much danger as you say, I wouldn't have been allowed to set foot on your turf. Just like you wouldn't be allowed to step into my place without your head being sawed off. You're only alive right now because I'm allowing you to be. If I wanted to, I could kill you without even blinking."

The red-eyed woman flicked her wrist and a ball of fire, aimed at Winter, missed and Winter froze it before it could hit her and flicked it back at the flaming woman, a gust of wind following the motion instantly knocking her off of her feet.

"Don't fucking test me." Winter warned. "I want that girl in my tower and I will have her....one way or another. I will do this with or without you and you know I will. Now, get your shit and get out." She stepped over the woman and exited the room.