Cali strolled along the corridor, lost in thoughts. She didn't want to go to the breakfast room, and her legs carried her along the halls and stairs that she knew from childhood. The house was huge, and you could wander for hours in it. Along the way, Cali met only a couple of servants. Some of the rooms were empty and dark, and the footsteps echoed in the desert passages.
Without thinking about the direction, Cali went into a long gallery. The windows were almost wholly curtained with heavy maroon drapes. Dozens of paintings hung along the walls, and various scale models stood on the tables.
Once upon a time, it was something like a father's fame gallery.
The count exhibited here layouts and plans of inventions, his and his students. But now the long room looked abandoned.
Cali's eyes immediately fell on a figure at the far end of the hall. Konrad stood, thoughtfully considering some drawing on the wall. The girl first wanted to leave, afraid to bother a friend.
But now re-open feelings forced her to stay. It was still tough to understand the emotions that were sometimes arising in her.
Were they bad or good? What name to give them? Was it sadness or pity, maybe joy or fear.
"It may be easier to sort it out together." - She thought as she headed towards her old friend.
Konrad turned his head, hearing the footsteps behind. Realizing that it was Cali, he only nodded slightly, showing that he had noticed her, and continued to examine the old image.
"What is it?" - in silence, Cali suddenly wanted to speak in a whisper.
"This is a plan of a new type of construction. We developed it six years ago." - Konrad pointed the finger of his left hand on some part of the drawing, - "You see here. That morning, the thought occurred to me that a water wheel could be used both in mills and in a forge. I told the count my idea, and we spent all morning in the workshop discussing various plans. Apparently, the project was completed later. Without me..." - He settled a hand on the detailed model on the table next. A small wheel on the side succumbed to his gentle touch and spun forcing several gears to rotate lifting the hammer inside the miniature house. But as soon as rib gear jumped off the hammer handle, it with a bang hit the opposite end on a small anvil.
Cali looked closely at Konrad. He continued to study the structure of the layout silently, but his unemotional face could not deceive his former commander. She felt the familiar feeling that had agitated her all morning.
"Sorry," - she squeezed out the only thing that spun in her mind, dropping her head and wrapping her arms around her waist.
"Cali, you know that I don't blame you for anything. We started this journey together, not wanting what happened next. But now ... It's so strange, I still remember how I wanted to come back, how I wanted to turn back time. There, in Glako in the first months. And here we are ..."
"But time didn't turn back, Konrad. We returned not back then and not the same." - Finished Cali, again looking up at her friend.
He has already left the layout and now just looked at it.
Silence swirled around them, and they just stood still, without asking, without explaining. Just understanding what the other felt.
Finally, Cali sighed, breaking a moment.
"I don't know, Konrad, how wrong our presence here is. But as long as we don't bother anyone, I want to try to stay. Previously, many told me how to live, how to walk, talk, sit, even breathe. Then we were chained like wild dogs. Then they inserted the gorgon into the chest, which ultimately controlled our bodies. I carried out orders like a puppet my whole life. And now ... Maybe because no one says what to do? Perhaps that's why I feel lost?"
Konrad inclined his head to the side, thinking about Cali's words. Then a faint smile touched the corners of his lips.
"You're right, as always, leader. Probably it is just difficult for us to cope with the emotions that we now feel. It makes no sense to look back. Nothing to return. We can only move forward. Even if it is full of rock ahead."
Cali nodded confidently in response and grabbing her friend's arm pulled him toward the dining room.
***
On the way, Cali and Konrad stumbled upon Mark and Niels. Those, too, hesitantly mingled in the corridor.
Clothes on both looked ridiculous. Apparently, the servants couldn't find a shirt in size for either of them. Niels constantly rolled up falling sleeves and straightened a shirt drooping as if on a hanger, apparently it belonged to an adult. Mark tried not to breathe at all, as his shirt stretched on the wide chest and the seams seemed to be holding for dear life.
Taking this couple with them, Cali and Konrad headed down to the dining room. On the way, it turned out that the orc and the boy had been wandering around the house for a long time, scaring the servants with their appearance.
They were not accustomed to sleeping for a long time, but they also did not know what to do with all this time. The servants cautiously avoided them and did not even try to speak, and the friends did not dare to go outside. They both felt ill at ease.
But when Cali secretly shared with friends that she, the person who spent all her childhood in this house, feels uncomfortable too, the couple relaxed a bit. Although in the dining room they were greeted by another surprise.
***
Paris was very surprised when he came to the dining room and found only his father there. He was sure that Cali would already be here, and the servants should have fetched the rest of her comrades too.
The count raised a questioning glance at him, seeing his son in the doorway. Sitting opposite, Paris decided to use this time alone with his father to explain to him his thoughts and tell about what happened above. Lestor was always very understanding and quickly figured out the cause of what happened.
"You did everything right, my boy," - his father praised without hiding notes of pride. - "No one said it would be easy. I think we will need to take the time and talk to them honestly, solve everything at once."
Paris nodded, encouraged by his father's support, and turned toward the door when he heard it open.
The dining room one by one entered all four of the former Stone Beasts. Paris felt pride when he noticed that Cali really behaved like their leader.
Greeting and passing into the hall, she threw a few phrases or nod to her companions casually, but they helped to settle everyone at the right places without issue quite quickly. Even Mark found a comfortable wide armchair for himself, which, as instructed by the girl, he moved to the table. The servants hurriedly set the table and left them.
Breakfast started awkwardly. Mark and Niels were unaccustomed to this way of eating.
At first, they closely followed the others, but when those two tried to repeat the graceful movements with cutlery, they failed very quickly.
Mark decided to stick a fork in a piece of potato but apparently did not expect it to be so soft. They were used to eating dried meat or even the roots of various edible plants. Since the Stone Beasts almost did not feel the taste, and for the most part are indifferent to everything including food, they almost never cooked. Collected and ate absolutely everything that the stomach could digest.
Therefore, the orc did not expect that the fork would pierce not only a soft piece of food but also a plate with a tabletop. A sharp jingle attracted everyone's attention.
"It's okay, Mark," - the count began, trying to smooth the situation, but Cali interrupted him.
"Mark, do you remember how we studied fencing?" - The orc frowned, apparently, the memories were not funny. But Cali has not finished yet - "Then many were sure that you would fail the last test. It is difficult for the most skilled swordsman to write the name of the teacher on an enemy's skin with the tip of a sword and mostly impossible for an orc with a hulking body and rough hands."
" But he did it, right?" - Paris asked curiously, peering at the orc.
Cali curved her lips in a little smile.
"No, but Mark was able to chop our fencing teacher into pieces when he tried to punish him for his failure."
Paris and Lestor stared with blank expressions.
"I don't really understand what you are hinting at, sister?" - frowned Paris, he didn't like the end of the story at all.
"Mark didn't have the due grace to do this trick, but he was able to defeat a very skilled swordsman using his own fighting style. I mean that the guys should not try to imitate you and try to eat like aristocrats, because they are not aristocrats. And I do not see anything wrong with that." - calmly explained Cali, looking at Mark and Niels.
" You are here as my friends and a family. You can eat as you like and do what you want. You can go and come at any time, and do things your way. Within reason of course. Am I right, father?" - Lestor hid his pleased smile. With this statement, Cali not only showed her friends that they should feel here at home but also noted that her father, in the end, had the last say as the head of the family.
The count immediately enthusiastically confirmed the words of his daughter. At first, he was a little tense when he noticed the problems of those two.
The boy did not even know how to hold the forks in his hand and hesitantly scramble with it in a plate, gripping it with his fist. But when the orc did not calculate the forces and pierced the plate along with the table with a fork, Lestor was ready to ask the servants to bring something that they could eat with their hands.
Fortunately, his daughter managed to smooth the situation, albeit rather strangely, but effectively.
After several unsuccessful attempts, both of them apparently found a convenient method of handling the dishes that were the best for them.
Niels stopped trying to control both the knife and the fork at the same time and focused only on the fork. Finally, pieces of food stopped falling off his plate, and a significant amount of food was brought to his mouth.
Mark, having looked at a successful friend's technique, took a spoon instead of a fork and also a piece of bread to help it.
Lestor and Paris pretended not to notice all the exercises of this couple and at the same time tried to eat as slowly as possible, to give them the opportunity to practice.
As a result, the breakfast was completed without further incident, although the servants had to change the covering before serving tea completely.
Finally, when the servants again retired and left them, Paris decided to start the main topic.
"Cali, I would like to talk to you and your friends a little, if you don't mind."
The girl exchanged glances with her comrades and shrugged showing that she had nothing against it.
"First of all. I want you to know something. While you were unconscious, the Head of the Black Castle paid us a visit." - Began Paris, deciding that this conversation should not be postponed. Cali and Konrad visibly tensed, knowing full well what this might mean.
"I had to tell him that the main reason for my return to the capital immediately after the attack was you."
"Can you have problems because of this?" - asked the girl, a bad premonition settled inside.
"To be honest, I do not know. For one thing, I have done nothing wrong. I have not escaped from the battlefield, and I have the official permission of Count Wolcroft. The only thing is that when I entered the capital, I did not allow to inspect the carts where you were, so as not to waste time explaining."
"And what did you say to the guard?" - Asked Laster, beginning to get nervous, he was too absorbed than by the fact that his daughter was found and did not notice anything around.
"That it is a military secret." - Paris answered calmly, he had long ago turned over all sorts of options in his head and was ready for any outcome.
"Are you completely crazy?" - yelled Lestor, not restraining himself.
"What was I supposed to do? I could not show them ten Stone Beasts, wounded and unconscious. And to cover them, so that it became clear that they were ordinary people was almost impossible. Plus, almost everyone saw them in the fortress. And many either heard or had guessed who they are. Hoping that no one ends up talking is useless. So now we can assume that the Head of the Black Castle knows who you are and what initial role was playing during the attack."
"What to do?" - Lestor asked anxiously. As soon as his daughter woke up, a new problem started to loom over them. - "What will happen to Cali if people find out that she was a Stone Beast?"
"I think nothing good." - Paris confirmed his guess.
"People rarely use our services here, from the Riolian Empire orders almost never come. I bet, many here think that we are some kind of fantastic beings. Gunulbin is too far, and our services are too expensive. It is much cheaper and easier to hire a detachment of mercenaries than to deliver even one Stone Beast here." - Cali started to think out loud. - "However, if somebody finds out that the four of us are not ordinary people, at best, they will just begin to fear and avoid us, at worst we will be sent to prison or transferred back to Gunulbin, or they will try to use us."
The reasoning of the sister had a definite meaning. Paris exhaled trying to figure out something.
"What if we hide that you are real Stone Beasts?" - an idea popped in his mind.
"You said that we were all seen there in the Fortress."
"True, but everyone also saw that the other hundred Stone Warriors were mummers."
Cali definitely liked this idea.
"We can say that all this time we were in the Arian Ligarkhat. And seeing the opportunity to return, we infiltrated into the ranks of the mummers, and then went over to the side of the Fortress." - proposed Konrad.
"Not a bad idea." - confirmed Paris. - "But what were you doing there then?"
"It is better to say a half-truth. We assume that we were sold as slaves, and all this time we worked in the house of one of the merchants. As servants for example." - added Cali.
Lestor did not like this proposal.
"But Cali, then many will look down on you. You know these aristocrats."
"This is better than saying that I was a concubine or an assassin." - shrugged Calisto. - "Besides, it is unlikely that something can hurt my reputation now. We still don't know how our previous sins will judge." - Finally, she got close to the topic, which everyone diligently tried to bypass.
Silence hung in the hall for a couple of minutes.
Paris and the count looked at each other. Apparently, none of them wanted to start this conversation.
"Darling," - began Lester, taking a breath. - "Better if we tell you everything in detail ourselves. The fact is that after your disappearance, your mother, together with the temporary Head of the Black Castle, announced that someone had seen both Konrad and you, Cali, had a severe quarrel after the ball. They did not specify the reason for your fight, but very quickly gossip began to appear that you plotted an attempt on the prince. Something went wrong, and Konrad killed you and dropped your body into the river. He escaped. They even staged a show on the bank, catching a disfigured body of a girl in a bloody dress a few days later. Finding who it was then was almost impossible. I was so distraught from grief. Didn't see anything around. Now I understand that I didn't even look at it properly, didn't try to get to the truth. Believed this snake at once. As if she had not deceived me all her life. "
Lester, lost in memories of despair and grief, turned to the window, hiding his eyes sparkled from tears. Trying to distract attention from his father's weakness, Pars continued the story.
"It was later announced that Konrad was also found, but he was killed when they tried to arrest him. For a while, everything calmed down. Mother played the role of a heartbroken parent, but very quickly her drama began to annoy everyone. Everyone's attention was pulled by the engagement of the prince. Then the father left the post of Head of the Green Castle. She was not invited to the court anymore. Mother then was in an absolute rage. And after a few months, she disappeared altogether, grabbing all her belongings and jewels. Since then, we haven't heard about her. They say someone saw her in Ligarkhat, but it can only be a tales."
Calisto wasn't really shaken by the news about her mother. She even felt somewhat relieved. It would be worse if they had to meet face to face.
The old wounds had never fully healed, but Cali now knew that she was not alone in this world. And now she was much stronger, over time she could leave behind the betrayal of this woman.
"What do you think will happen after everyone finds out that we are back?" - she finally asked the main question.
"To be honest, I can not even imagine" - Lestor shrugged, looking at his son who seemed to already think of some plan.
"First, I'll go to the Head of the Black Castle." - started Pris confidently. - "Now, this post is not taken by one of the mother's retainers. Lord Trevelyan is a rather peculiar person ... But I heard that he is quite fair. I think after that it will be possible to draw conclusions."
"I think I should go with you," - Cali volunteered.
"Maybe we should go altogether." - Added Konrad. The news that he may be considered a criminal and a murderer did not suit him particularly.
"No," - Paris snapped. - "It will be unreasonable. I begged a reprieve from Lord Trevelyan just because my sister was in poor condition. If you both now declare to him as if nothing had happened, it will only cause unnecessary questions".
Cali frowned, she did not want to drag her brother into it. And to hide behind his back was not at all part of her plans. But she didn't fail to recognize the justice of his judgments.
"Good, but you must promise that you will not take any blame. Do not claim anything. Refer constantly to my words. If you'll be asked about the Stone Warriors and our stay in the Arian Legarchat, say that you know all this from my words. Got it?" - Cali began to insist, trying to figure out how to make Paris stand aside.
Paris looked closely at his serious sister. He already understood what she was trying to achieve. Of course, the feeling that she didn't trust him at all did not make the guy happy.
In her childhood, for any nonsense, she ran to him at breakneck speed, so with time, he started to hate it. But now everything was different. And now, more than ever, Paris really wanted her to start relying on him again, trusting him.
"Cali, I will not save myself at your expense. Don't even try to convince me of anything. And remember, we are all in this together. No more you, Konrad and your stone friends. Now it is WE. Family, and we all decide together."
Hearing this, Cali started. She no longer knew how to perceive herself as part of this family. She loved her father, Valeria, and Paris. But she did not see herself and her friends near them. It was as if an invisible wall lay in the dining room, separating ordinary people from freaks on the other side of the table. And it seemed impossible to cross this wall, to become normal.
"Okay," - the girl finally agreed. - "But still be careful. Do not make me save you like a princess from the clutches of the Head of a Black Castle."
In a surprise, Paris's brows flew up to his forehead. All this was said with such an impenetrable face that the guy could not understand for a few seconds whether it seemed to him. It was only when the orc sitting next to him made a sharp croaking sound, and the other three strangely twisted their faces. Paris suddenly understood. His sister had just joked with him for the first time in a long while. And it seems her friends even smiled.
Horrifying sight!
But it made Paris laugh in response. Everything around has become a little brighter and all the difficulties a little easier. Who would know that the smile of a Stone Beast can be so sweet?!