Chapter 1

That was a long day. As always, I worked overtime to get some extra cash, and now I am driving when it’s already dark, which I hate to do when I am this tired. However, I guess beggars can’t be choosers, and I need to make ends meet. It doesn’t help that it’s raining heavily. And by heavily, I mean a wall of rain through which you cannot see anything. I am close to the bridge right next to my house. Thank god! Soon we will meet! Me and my pillow that is! I can get at least a few hours of sleep before my next shift. I take a sip of the coffee that I bought on the way to the car, continuing to look at the road when I notice some kind of animal jump in front of me. “Arctic fox? In the UK?” The thought slips my mind right before my hand turns the steering wheel way too fast for my realisation. “s**t!” I scream as the hot coffee splashes on my knees, and I lose control for just one second… Everything is happening so fast! Too fast! The car breaks the fence, and I feel like I am flying... And then the dive. I realize that the car is under water when it’s too late! Cr.ap! My only chance now is to get out and try to swim back to the surface. I am a good swimmer, I should be able to… It’s incredibly hard to open the car door, and when I do, ice-cold water starts gushing inside. God help me! It’s too cold! But I can’t lose time! I push the seat by my legs, trying to get out and immediately find myself at the bottom of the river. I see lights up there. This is where I need to go. I kick, and I kick my legs, moving as fast as I physically can. I can do this! I can! Please! But the cold is all-consuming… It’s freezing… So much that it is painful! Like needles put into my skin. Just a bit more! Come on! I desperately need to take a breath, but the lights are still too far away for me to reach them. Damn it! My whole body is seized with the cold, I feel like my every cell fills with it. A piercing pain goes through my right leg and I open my mouth just for a second because of it. Big mistake! So cold… Icy… Strength leaves me as I go down. God, please, I don’t want to die! I want to live! Give me another chance! I still didn’t do anything! I close my eyes… And immediately feel a hand grabbing me by my waist. What the– But it’s too late. Water is everywhere, and I am out. Everything around me is in a blur, and the sounds are muffled. But when I open my eyes, someone turns me to my side, and I feel the water gushing out of my mouth and nose. Lots of it. I take a deep greedy breath and then another. Again and again, clutching to life! I am not ready to die! It is so painful, but I am definitely breathing, and relief surges through my exhausted body. “Well, that was stupid! Why the gods did you try to kill yourself?” A male voice sounds behind my back, and I turn to see who it is. I only see a dark male figure towering over me. “I– What?” I am still breathing hard, not quite sure if I grasped his words correctly. “I didn’t try to kill myself! My car drove off the bridge!” “Your what?” Now his voice sounds surprised, but he regains control quickly. “Whatever. There are no bridges across this lake, blondie.” “Lake?” I quirk my brows up, “It’s a river!” He is silent for a moment, and then I hear a heavy sigh, “Did someone hit you on the head? That would explain a lot!” “I– I did hit my head on the car window,” I say quietly, trying to remember what happened. Because when I look around, I have to admit that the person in front of me has a point. I am sitting on the bank of a small lake. I don’t see any lights of my town anywhere nearby. And I, for sure, do not see any bridges. Just what exactly happened? And how did I get here? Most importantly, where the hell am I? “Take this, blondie,” the man throws something at me, “You must be freezing!” Some kind of blanket lands on me. The fabric is unfamiliar to me, though. Not synthetics, but at the same time, it doesn't feel like any of the natural fabrics I know of. Not that it's important. “Why do you keep calling me blondie?” I bring myself to ask the stranger, wrapping the fabric around me. “Because of your hair colour, of course,” he replies after a momentary hesitation. “Why else? Seriously, you need to visit a healer as soon as possible. What is your name? Where do you live?” “My name is–” I open my mouth and stop in frustration, thinking about why in the world would he call someone with chocolate hair colour a blondie? However, there is a more pressing matter at hand. That’s when I realise I don’t remember my name. Wait! It can’t be! Why don’t I remember it? “I– I–” I look at the guy, and now I think it is someone in their twenties, judging by the posture and his voice. “I don’t know.” He says something that sounds like swearing, but I have never heard it before. “Are you kidding me?” he rubs his forehead. “I–” Tears are forming in my eyes, “Just what is going on?” I feel like it’s getting hard to breathe again, panic overwhelms me, and I give in to the feeling, shutting my eyes. “Easy there!” I hear my saviour shouting and open my eyes, not quite believing what I see. I sit in a circle of ice! Whole blocks of real spiky ice, huge, sharp and dangerous surround me. They definitely weren’t there a second ago! One spike is dangerously close to the mystery man. “What the–” I gape at him. There are no words to express my confusion. “Why didn’t you tell me you are a mage?” the guy chuckles softly. “And one with the water element at that! That would have explained a lot! You were just swimming, then?” “A mage?” I look at him dumbfoundedly. Is he joking? I still don’t see his face, but I notice now that his clothes are really weird. Like he is a cosplayer or something. “Gods, your head should be checked by a healer for sure! Unsuccessful underwater experiment?” he asks, and I just don’t know what to answer. “Freya! Freya!” We hear voices in a distance, and both turn to see who that is. The man pulls on a hood quickly. Two girls and a guy who look like they ran away from a medieval festival are running towards us. “There you are! What’s with your hair, and what’s all this?” one of them, a thin brunette, shouts, looking at me. “Did you find the ring? Don't look at me like that! It was such an easy task!” “What ring?” I flap my lashes, not understanding a thing. “The ring you dived to find at the bottom of the lake!” she smirks, and I do not like her instantly. Something is off here. “Are you serious?! You did it to get a ring? At night?!” my saviour runs his hand over his face. “Oh, hello, Sir.” The girl’s voice changes instantly when she notices him, “Was that you who saved my cousin?” “Yes, it was me. But it should have been you, lady Beaufort,” the man snaps unexpectedly, and the girl's smile fades. “Do you know me?” she sounds surprised. “Doesn’t matter,” he mutters. “Could you get your cousin– Freya home safely? She looks like she needs the help of a healer!” “Freya Winter!” the girl snaps at me. “What kind of nonsense is this?! Get up and walk home right this instant! Enough with all that drama!” “Lady Beaufort,” the man who saved me grits his teeth, “Your cousin is unwell. She doesn’t even remember her own name! Is this how the Beaufort family treats their own?” “She is not our family,” a young man with dark curly hair, who came with the two girls, interjects “She is just a Winter! We took her in out of pity and–” “Good. That means you are responsible for her well-being! I suggest you do what is required of you now!” He throws something at the curly guy, and I hear the clunking of metal. “Here’s enough coins to treat her for a year! She is on you now, but if I hear that one strand of Freya Winter’s silver hair falls down, I’ll make sure to let everyone know of the deeds of the Beaufort family.” I listen to their conversation in a daze. Looking down at myself, I see that I am wearing a strange blue dress that reaches my feet. Nevertheless, what surprises me the most is my hair! It’s long, and it’s white! I think they call this shade platinum blonde. I pull on it a bit to make sure that it’s mine and not just a wig or extensions. Ouch. No. Not fake. I have a full head of long, platinum silky hair. Me. The brunette who never died a single strand on my head. What on Earth is going on here? And why is everyone calling me Freya? I don’t remember my name, but I am sure as hell that it’s not that! “Well, my job here is done,” my saviour says and throws one last glance at me. “Good luck, Freya! In that family, you are going to need it!” He waves his hand, and what happens next makes me gasp in shock! Even after the last few minutes, I didn't expect anything like it. Everything around us illuminates, and a huge fire funnel opens up right next to the guy. He takes a step inside, and in just a few seconds, everything disappears. There is no trace of my saviour or the fire. Just a barely noticeable smoke scent stays as proof that I didn't hallucinate all of that. “What the actual–” I try to finish the sentence, but the darkness consumes me first, and I fall to the cold ground.