Taris turned back anxiously, staring at the front door. The insistent knocking repeated several more times, making her break out in a cold sweat.
- Stay here.
The words sounded too dry and hard for her sister's perpetually cheerful voice. Taris rose from her seat, accidentally touching the cup with her palm, causing the teaspoon to rattle too loudly on the porcelain. It seemed to be at that very moment that the girl regretted being able to trade for a few of Hetzer's inventions from a passing merchant in their town a few months ago. Kellian had always wanted to look a little more like aristocrats than the people of Krios, and her sister had never learned in so many years to deny her anything.
Taris shielded the girl from the door with the palm of her hand and slowly made her way to the small window right next to it, hoping she could catch a glimpse of the figure of the one who had ventured in uninvited. Creeping closer to the wall, pressing her whole body against it, the girl cautiously lifted herself up and peered out, taking a quick look at what was happening on the other side of the house. She could see neither the face nor the silhouette of the intruder: the drizzling rain that had been drizzling since morning had only made it harder to see. The gray sky loomed over them like a sledgehammer, about to flatten them to the ground. Taris swallowed, still squatting as she approached the door.
- Who is it?
It was not customary in Krios to show up uninvited at a neighbor's house. Heavy battles and frequent attacks by outsiders from other lands had taught the locals a few things: be quiet, be cautious, and be ready to die at a moment's notice. Decades passed one after another, the dangers became less and less, but the old habits, woven by the threads of fear that scattered into dust, did not disappear from their souls.
- So you're back after all, my dear!
Taris opened her eyes in surprise, immediately grabbing the knob and turning it several times. The mechanism inside the lock clicked audibly, allowing the door to open immediately. On the other side, wrapped in a long coat that reached almost to her heels, stood a woman, smiling affectionately at Taris with only the corners of her lips. Her silver hair fell to just below her shoulders, her ears were adorned with tiny lantern earrings with fireflies inside, and her face was almost invisibly braided with whitish ornate patterns. On the top of her head, just above her ears, were tiny wings that fluttered amusingly in the breeze.
- My dear, I am glad to welcome you back to our little den.
The woman looked more like a fluffy moth than a human, which she was. The Moon of the Empire was the name the aristocracy had decided to give to people who used magic to merge with living beings or objects. People who felt this echo of energy deep in their souls could not only communicate with all living beings, but also had the ability to choose what or whom their magic would merge with. True, only once in a lifetime. Some remained human, only awakening the power within them, and some turned the threads of energy to another. In the same instant, if a mage took the second path, his appearance immediately took on the features he had chosen, and the magic took on a form more understandable to its owner. The magic of the Empire's Moons was shaped much better if they did decide to give their lives to something specific, rather than remaining wanderers in search and trying to become stronger and stronger.
Crystal was the name of the woman who had been standing outside the door all this time, wrapped in fluffy wings. Long before her sisters had appeared, she had taken on her essence and at a young age had chosen to merge into a moth, gaining not only huge, majestic wings but also bright golden eyes. The ability to reincarnate did not come to her immediately, but rather afterward, as did the ability to control the threads of darkness.
- Crystal! - Taris hugged the woman warmly and pulled her against her chest, feeling her heart thudding. - How did you know I was here? I had only recently arrived, and it seemed to me that I was moving silently.
- I remembered your scent. As soon as you set foot on the lands of Krios, I knew exactly when you were coming.
Kellian shifted her gaze from the woman to her sister, only to exhale a few moments later as she continued to stir the sugar at the bottom of her cup with a teaspoon. The vise that had been clutching her heart with thorny vines immediately loosened, and the girl was finally able to relax her shoulders, which were tense with fear.
- It's good to see you again, Auntie.
- How many times have I told you not to call me Auntie? - Crystal fluffed up her fur collar and, with Taris's permission, stepped over the threshold. - I'll get over you yet, little one.
- And you're all bickering.
Taris chuckled and helped the woman shake off the light drizzle, spreading her wings slightly. During her sister's absence, Crystal had been one of the few who had visited Kellian, bringing her all sorts of goodies and spending warm evenings nearby. At some point, these girls had become a kind of family to her, and she'd taken it upon herself to take care of them without telling anyone.
- I went to see that cheeky girl two days ago. And, mark my mustache, she didn't offer me tea!
Krystal turned her head away indignantly as Kellian showed her tongue. Sometimes Taris thought she had two children in her charge. The girl placed the sweet in the woman's palm and headed back to the table. It was times like this that she truly felt at home. Being a stately and taciturn woman, free to keep strangers at a distance, she was kind and friendly enough with them, taking them into her heart as if they were her own offspring. Taris could have sworn that not once in their entire stay here had she ever seen Crystal laugh openly with anyone as well.
- By the way, dear," the woman sat down carefully in the chair across from Kellian, adjusting her wings and resting her palms on her knees, spreading her robes slightly. - Nearby, in a tavern, I saw one of the Empire's Star Representatives. A shabby girl, but too important and proud to make conversation with any of us," Crystal shook her head, looking at the plain and simple-looking cups. - I didn't see any weapons near her.
- Then how did you know it was them?
- No one comes into our place so beat up anymore.
Crystal chuckled. Taris pressed her lips together and gave a quick glance to Kellian, whose eyes shone much brighter than the sun.
- A star of the Empire?
- That's right, child.
She sighed frantically: this was exactly what she'd been afraid of. Every time she heard anything about the Stars of the Empire, Kellian felt like she was losing her mind, wanting to see them for herself and get everything she could out of their heads.
- She hasn't left yet? - The girl jumped up, slamming her hands on the table.
- I don't think so, mouse.
Before Taris realized the meaning of Crystal's words, Kellian was already blown away. Pulling her darned coat over her shoulders, she slipped her shoes on, disappearing over the threshold. Taris exhaled tiredly, eyes fixed on the ceiling, and headed for the hastily pulled chair, sitting down on it.
- I take it you don't have good news for me, since you've decided to shoo Kellian out the door so soon.
The woman shook her head uncertainly and touched her fingertips to the porcelain cup, gently running her fingers along the very edge.
- It's possible, dear. Anything is possible.
The door slammed shut against the street wind with a thud. There was an oppressive silence in the room.