"Every so often," Winnie replied. "I know the local village has ice-sculpting contests throughout the winter that the master enjoys attending..." The local village was close, but it wasn't the one that Helena had been taken from. Orion had always made sure not to take from the village he looked after. "Of course, the master never attends as the master, I think he dresses like a common man to enjoy the contests in peace. He never enters the contests, though... I suppose he would have an unfair advantage."

"Hmm," Helena said, chewing on her lip thoughtfully. It occured to her- if the Demon Lord was gone, maybe she could escape. She tucked that information away for later, waiting as the doors were opened. She couldn't help but gape at the room- it was beyond large, and lavish beyond her wildest dreams. "I'm almost afraid to touch anything," Helena admitted aloud, eyeing a vase nervously. She was kind of clumsy- she'd gotten in trouble for it more then once back home.

"Tidy up the desk, dear," Winnie said as she started moving things on the tables and shelves so she could dust. "There's nothing you can hurt there. Just stack the books and papers neatly, the master will sort through them as he sees fit." There were a couple of little figurines on the desk, as well, that seemed to be made of fine crystal, but Winnie knew better. Orion must have been trying to hone his detail work on smaller sculptures. The figurines were made of crystal-clear ice. They seemed to be starting to melt, though, so Winnie wasn't worried about Helena breaking them.

Helena set about the task immediately, but although her hands were busy, her mind was not. "How long have you been here," she asked, stacking a bunch of papers neatly. she laid them down, then paused at a book sitting on the table. It was a small, leather-bound book with something written in gold ink on the spine- it was written in a language she wasn't familiar with. Immensely curious, she set it down, continuing to tidy the desk. "My father would have loved a place like this," she said wistfully, unable to keep herself from thinking of her parents. She paused in her work, frowning and catching her bottom lip with her teeth. What was she doing? She wasn't supposed to be here, doing work for someone who had just kidnapped her. "I-I'm sorry," she managed, before running out of the room. She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't care- she wanted out, now.

Winnie watched as Helena ran from the room. Had she been a younger woman, she would have gone after her, but she wasn't. She desperately hoped the girl would come to her senses before she did something she would regret.

The halls were quiet as Orion made his way through the castle. He had no real destination in mind; he was just enjoying the solitude. Every so often, it felt good to get away from all of the humans in his castle. His attention was captured when he heard light, rapid footsteps behind him. Turning, he saw his new servant dashing down the hall, looking very nearly panicked. Well, that was interesting.

Helena wiped angrily at her eyes, pursing her lips against the tears that were stinging behind her eyes. She couldn't see for a moment there- once she had blinked away the tears, she realized that she wasn't alone in the hall. She froze, her eyes wide as she stared at the Lord before her.

"My... lord," she managed, forcing herself to say the words. She clenched her fists at her side as she lowered her head- not in fear, but because she didn't know if she could look at him without doing something stupid. Winnie's words rang fresh in her mind- don't make him angry. She swallowed, hard, hoping that he would just go away.

Orion noticed that Helena seemed upset. He supposed she had sufficient reason to be; she had been moved into what would essentially be her new home without any warning. Even through the tears, though, Orion could see she still had that spark of defiance that had intrigued him so.

"Was Winnifred not a satisfactory mentor?" he finally asked. He wasn't going to ask if everything was alright. It would have been a stupid question. Mentally, he reviewed what little he knew about female moods. Ordinarily, he would just call for another servant to take the one in front of him away, but for some reason, he wanted to make Helena feel a bit more comfortable. "Walk with me."

Helena's head jerked up as he told her to walk with him; she grit her teeth, then nodded, looking away from him. "Yes, my lord." She never knew she could dislike two words so much; it was like forcing herself to swallow glass, saying them. "Winnie was a perfect mentor," she added, refusing to look at him. She didn't want the kind woman to get in trouble for her. She approached him cautiously, glancing up at him through her bangs.

Orion didn't comment on Winnie again. Helena was obviously chafing at having to call him 'lord,' so he didn't feel any need to rub it in her face. He was curious, though, as to why she kept saying it if she hated it so much. He walked at an easy pace, taking a route he obviously knew well. Finally, he came to a pair of doors that seemed to lead to an outer courtyard.

"Try not to touch the living things," he said to Helena. Pushing open the doors, he walked out into the gardens.

"What's wrong with the living things," she asked suspiciously, cautiously following after him. She watched him for a second after they enetered the courtyard, before looking around them. These must have been the gardens Winnie had been talking about- they were gorgeous. But she couldn't exactly enjoy them at the moment; she was too busy trying to keep a safe distance between herself and the Demon lord (come to think of it, she didn't even know his name. Did demons have names?)

"Was there something you wanted," she finally asked, coming to a stop and watching him warily. She looked around again, spotting different types of flowers- all of them made of sparkling ice.

Orion barely glanced at the flowers made of ice. If one of them broke or chipped somehow, they were easy enough to fix or remake. Instead, he went straight over to an area that was full of living plants. It was slightly warmer in that area, and there were all sorts of cold-weather plants growing there. Orion made sure not to touch them himself, since he was fairly sure his touch would be fatal to them even though they were made for the cold, but he did look at them for a few moments.

"You seemed upset," he said after a moment, turning to look at her. "From what I understand, human women like flowers when they are upset." It was obvious his knowledge of how humans, and women in particular, was very limited.

She slowly followed him to the area where the living plants were, her expression doubtful. She stared at him, confused for a moment by his words. "Oh," was all she could say, keeping her eyes on his. She tilted her chin up slightly, her frown deepening. He was trying to soothe her? It would take a lot more then flowers to make her feel any better.

She looked down at the flowers closest to her; holly berries winked red at her, peeking out between stiff green leaves. She stared the berries down, looking for something to distract her. If she was honest, she had no idea what to say. Part of her was surprised by the sentiment- and part of her was still upset. "I don't know what to say," she confessed, lifting her eyes to look at him. The angry, sullen look was not easily displaced from her deep blue eyes as she watched him from the corner of her eye.

"Then say nothing," Orion suggested. He wasn't going to get offended by a lack of thanks. Turning, he started to examine one of the nearby ice rose bushes. Delicately, he touched a fingertip to one of the little buds and started to subtly feed it more ice. The bud grew until it suddenly bloomed into a perfect blossom. The petals were frosted at the edges, and crystal clear in the center, giving the flower a bit of contrast. The rose caught the light, making little rainbows dance in the immediate area. Orion noticed that a few of the little rainbows were being thrown onto Helena's skin, and oddly, he liked it.

Helena watched, transfixed, as the rose bloomed. "Oh," she murmured softly, unaware that she had spoken at all. She took a step forward, then hesitated, tearing her eyes away from the rose to look at him. She noticed the rainbows dancing around them, refracting off their skin and clothes and the stone around them. "That's beautiful," she said quietly, returning her eyes to the rose. She would have loved to get closer, but unsureness kept her rooted to her spot.

"You may take a closer look, if you like," Orion said. He wasn't worried about her damaging the rose. Even if it did break somehow, he could always remake it. Something about her made him want to please her, somehow. For the moment, this was the best he could do. "Just be gentle if you touch it, it may be fragile yet." The other roses in the garden had already had a chance to freeze over solidly, but the new one hadn't had the time yet.

Helena hesitated, then came closer, glancing up at him as she came to a stop next to him. She didn't dare touch it- it looked so delicate and fragile. It was simply beautiful. She held her hand out and watched the rainbows reflect off the rose, unable to hide the delight that sparked in her eyes. She'd never seen anything like it- glass wasn't a common thing in the village she had lived in. The thought of her home made her jerk away from the rose, inhaling sharply as she took a step back.

Orion noticed her odd reaction. He had never seen anyone react like that to his sculptures before.

"Is something the matter?" he asked carefully. He glanced at the flower. Perhaps there was a flaw somewhere that he had missed. She hadn't touched it, so it wasn't from the cold... He was confused for a few moments. What could have possibly warranted such a reaction?

She looked up at him when he asked her what was wrong, her expression unreadable. "I miss my home," she finally said, her voice full of heartbreak. "Why did you bring me here?" Her throat closed up, but she couldn't look away from him. She knew why she had been brought to the castle, of course- to be a servant. But she didn't understand why he had brought her to the garden to comfort her- why did it matter to him? Hadn't he just kidnapped her?

To be honest, Orion wasn't sure himself. The gardens hadn't been his original destination, and he certainly hadn't been planning to show a new servant around.

"You are different," he finally replied. He kept his gaze on the icy roses. He coaxed a couple more buds into bloom. After a moment, he looked up at her. "If it is any consolation, only the final decision is mine. I am not the one who makes the initial choice of potential acquisitions."

She let her eyes meet his, her chin tilting up slightly. "What makes me so different," she finally asked, her expression unreadable. "Why, of all the people in the world, did you have to pick me?" She turned her back to him, going over to examine a rose. She cupped her hands around it, careful not to touch. She could see her watery, broken reflection in the petals and could find nothing unique about her. "My mother always told me that demons only took people away to steal their souls," she said softly, more to the rose then to anyone, even forgetting that he was there for a moment as she searched for an answer in the depths of the icy petals. "That they were terrible monsters. But Winnifred told me your kind and good. What am I supposed to believe anymore?" Maybe that was the hardest part of this whole thing, trying to cope with something that totally defied the beliefs that had been planted in her from a young age. He confused her, more then he scared her.

"I told you," Orion said softly. "The initial selection is not mine. Only the final approval." He watched her gently handle a rose. She didn't touch it, but he could see the heat from her hands fogging the glossy surface of the petals. "Some demons might steal human souls," he said after a moment. "However, I have no use for such things." It was his attempt at a little light-hearted humor, but he wasn't sure how well it went over. "Perhaps you should decide what to believe for yourself."

Helena hesitated, startled. Decide what she wanted to believe? She'd spent her whole life being told what to believe. She stared at him, her expression slightly doubtful. She couldn't think about it right now- she could feel something in the air, and something told her not to scare it away by overanalyzing things.

"Why do you make them," she asked, diverting the subject to the roses. She hadn't realized it, but slowly she had begun to relax. She kneeled down to examine them, keeping her hands carefully tucked away. She was still scared to touch the roses- knowing her clumsy hands, she'd just break them.

Orion was startled slightly by the question.

"Roses are... delicate things," he said finally. "The conditions here are not ideal for growing them, and I must confess I am in no way skilled in the art of growing things." Of course, he wasn't going to admit that he had a soft spot for roses. That was a secret he intended to take with him to his grave.

"I see," Helena said, standing up and wiping her hands on her skirt. She shivered slightly- even with her thick clothes, it was chilly. A rose would have no chance of living here.

She turned around to face him, catching her bottom lip with her teeth. "I should probably get back to work," she said, exhaling. "I'm sorry for taking your time." She actually meant what she'd said- true, she still missed her family, and she still wanted to go home, but her view of the demon lord had changed. She turned around to leave, then hesitated, unsure of if she really wanted to leave the garden just yet.

"I meant it when I said you may have the first day to get settled," Orion pointed out. He was about to call for another servant to show Helena the way back when a sudden idea struck him. "If you would like, I can show you back to my study. I am sure Winnifred is worried about you, and will likely be looking for you soon enough." He didn't make it a command, leaving the choice up to her. He wanted to see what she would do.