Iliya thought the tall figure lurking in her room was another nightmare. They lingered at the foot of her bed for a long time before dim light illuminated short blonde hair.

Siofra.

Her friend sat beside her and took her hand, staying quiet.

Iliya's lips wouldn't open and her body refused to move. She only managed a soft groan.

"You need to sleep," Siofra whispered.

Iliya knew the second she fell asleep she would forget everything: Ezre's conversation with her cousin and the scene in the archives. Of course, her condition would just slip through the cracks as it always did.

Siofra shifted her weight, adjusting her dagger against her thigh. Her friend was still cloaked in her uniform, as if she'd flown here after her duties to the Royal International Messenger's Guild.

The privilege had been sapping most of her friend's time for the past three years. All the training and travel provided her with excuses for missing important occasions. Yet here she was.

If Ezre or her mother told her, then Siofra knew more than she let on.

Iliya frowned as a wave of nausea hit her stomach. She was resisting too hard.

"Don't worry," she said. "I'll be here when you wake up."

Perhaps Siofra would be, she didn't know.

But Iliya was sure her memory would be long gone.

~ 🔮 ~

After nodding off, Iliya woke up to some documentary about the Kingdom of Azuris. The southern island was home to many spirits and souls and was often referred to as a final resting place.

"You'll rot your brain out with that," she said, stretching under her friend's deadweight.

Sio rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you're one to talk, with all those dreary mysteries playing in the background. It's no wonder you don't go out."

"You know why I don't go out," Iliya said, a dark tone edging into her voice.

Siofra was blessed two-fold. She was a full Therian descendant, and she didn't experience the constant ridicule from a family she couldn't escape.

The Fae wanted nothing to do with Iliya, and they wouldn't let her forget it. Least of all her father, whom she'd only seen twice from afar.

Seinen was as proud as they came and almost as ruthless, abandoning them for Solraidas at the thought of her existence.

While the Faes' respect for the Royal International Guard often kept them at bay when Iliya stood beside Siofra, her friend had only heard the stories.

But not from Iliya. Though Rhydian could open his big mouth from time to time; her mother and cousins were disgusted with the events they'd bore witness to.

Siofra's eyes softened, and she lifted her gaze to meet Iliya's. "I'm sorry, Illie."

Iliya frowned, the ache in her chest suffocating. "No, I'm sorry... I'm just uneasy."

She was very uneasy. About everything. The royals swarming the streets and the halls of her home. It felt as if the very air was constricting around her.

Siofra smiled, looking toward the window as the sun began its slow descent.

In just two days they would release the lanterns into the New Light.

Iliya tried not to think about missing it again, or those who might be attending.

"Is your mystery shadow-man coming to Chiori?" Siofra asked, giggling a bit.

Iliya choked on her breath, shaking her head and laughing lightly. Ever since Siofra had caught her talking to a mysterious silhouette, she'd never forgotten that Iliya did indeed have another friend and that he was in fact male.

They hadn't spoken in two years, since he left to live in Azuris with his father.

Since she'd let him get too close.

Iliya played with the ends of Siofra's curly hair before squeezing out from under her and standing. "I'm not sure if he's coming," she replied softly. "We don't speak much anymore."

It was a lie.

She knew he'd be in the crowds somewhere, either forced by his family or curious about the festival. He came for the Solstice every year.

But Iliya was mostly lying to herself.

"What do you mean, is he betrothed or something?" Siofra asked, eyes wide. "Is he from a different country?"

"Yes," Iliya smiled knowingly, toying with her. She allowed the dramatic heartbreak to flood her voice. "He is from a distant land where being seen with the likes of me might destroy everything he has ever strived for."

She wasn't wrong about the distance.

"Oh, forbidden love," Sio sighed sarcastically.

"Cram it," Iliya laughed, shaking her head. "I'll probably never see him again."

"If he's arriving from a different country, I could fly to the docks," Sio mused to herself. "I'll keep my eye out for some mundane shadow figure looming among the civilians."

Snorting, Iliya tipped her head back to see Sio draping herself across the entire couch now. Her shoulder length hair bunched up and splayed out over the surface of the cushions. The sight was far from majestic.

"And just what would you say to him?"

Siofra jumped up from the couch in a bolt of energy, spreading her arms out wide she called out, "Help! I beg you, please rescue Iliya from her tower of isolation!"

"You're so dramatic," Iliya said, shaking her head again.

A chime echoed and Siofra pulled out a small screen. She groaned and began vigorously typing back.

Another chime went off and she frowned.

"I'm sorry, Illie, I have to run an errand. Will you be okay for a couple hours?"

Iliya smiled. "Of course, you know where I'll be."

Siofra waved as she leapt onto the balcony railing and flashed into a beautiful golden hawk.

The breeze that fluttered through the room told her Sio had shifted. Iliya knew her friend was being ordered around by pretentious Therian, Fae, and Human royals, and wouldn't return until the morning.

So Iliya did the only thing she could think of. She walked to her bookshelf and grabbed the next read on her list. Dimming the lights in the room with a flick of her wrist, she settled into the couch again.

Exactly where she wanted to be.

She would witness the joy and celebration from the safety of her room, happy for the laughter it would bring her.

Iliya just hoped, this year, it would bring her some peace.

~ 🔮 ~

Sorein adjusted the black hood over his head and kept his spine slouched as he and Jeremy entered Torchkye, making their way to the large dome in the heart of the city.

Within those walls were the two fastest ways to travel: wyving and the Bulletwire.

Jeremy looked like he was going to be sick as he eyed the Wyver with phobia paling his soft brown skin. He was convinced that the small silver pods looked like coffins.

Although it was an efficient way of condensing a person's mana and redistributing it to a desired location, punching through the fabric of reality was not Jeremy's preferred method of travel. Nor was it Sorein's.

"You're the one who wanted to come here," Sorein reminded him. "I wanted to go through the wildlands."

Jeremy scoffed. "Yes, and end up turning a three hour trip into a day long hike."

"Even if you didn't want to wyve, the Bulletwire would make you sick."

"At least I'll be sitting down while I puke out my intestines," he growled.

Sorein let it drop. He could end up covered in vomit if he wasn't careful.

He shoved his hands deep into his jacket and followed Jeremy to the Bulletwire, using the pocket lint to distract himself from the people. He'd never been fond of crowds.

Because of the Bullet's speed, it was possible for the three hour trip to take ten minutes. That is, if the brain could handle it.

Humans weren't physically capable of tolerating the trains without imploding, which cut out a third of the travelers to Chiori Faire.

With denser bones and shielding magic, Therians and Fae were more than capable of enduring the ten minutes of torture.

Jeremy stared at a group of girls, but it wasn't lust in his eyes as he edged away from them.

"What?" Sorein smirked. "I know you aren't interested, but they aren't going to bite."

"I was in training with one of them and she's got fangs."

"How prejudice of you. I don't know if you've checked recently, Jere, but you have fangs."

Jeremy's eyes narrowed, a glare hidden under his hood. "Dynali fangs, Sorein."

Sorein frowned at the necessary distinction, disappointed more that it was, in fact, necessary.

The Dynali were half Therian, half Human; the descendants of Peruk, the Dark God.

Vampyres, Were's, the creatures born without Aida's light, it was said.

Though he understood where the distrust came from, he didn't condone the stigmas.

He hadn't met many Dynali, since they didn't seek peace on Azuris, but he'd known some. Their label of The Soulless had foundation, but not truth.

"I hear they experience ecstasy like no other," Sorein said, raising a brow.

Jeremy's growl was a warning not to go there.

Sorein didn't tolerate such criticism of race. He'd sooner gouge someone's tongue out with a fork. The jokes were only for his friend's benefit.

The pilot yelled their boarding number, and Sorein stepped onto the titanium, pill-shaped compartment and found his seat.

He felt, more than saw, a boy pointing a finger in his direction. His cheers about Azuris and the royals were muffled by his mother.

Jeremy slouched in a corner like a shadow, and Sorein grinned. "Better start your prayers while Aida can still hear you."

"Very funny," Jeremy snapped back. "We'll see who's laughing when your family arrives."

Sorein grunted.

It wasn't his family he wanted to avoid.

They entered the Heartline city and had been there for all of ten minutes when Sorein found himself obsessively searching the crowd. Paranoia was beginning to set in and it annoyed him to no end.

She won't be here, he reminded himself.

He wasn't disrespecting her order so long as she never saw him.

The faces of cheerful people surrounded him, all heading to the Temple for the opening ceremony. Many were Immortals intending to sit vigil.

It was the place Sorein wished to find himself by day's end.

And the only reason he had decided to come.

The color had returned to Jeremy's face and the light to his eyes. Even with the stoic side of him returning, Sorein knew he would still want to puke for a while yet.

"Do these kids ever stop?" Jeremy scowled at the children running around holding fireworks in their palms.

Sorein watched as a young male tossed the colorful flames into a girl's hair, singing the ends. The shriek that followed must have rang for a mile.

"Let them have their joy." Sorein cast his gaze up to the Estate overlooking the coast and the network of rivers surrounding it.

"Where to, now?" Jeremy asked, attempting to rub the fast travel out of his face. "I don't even know where we're staying while we're here."

Sorein hadn't wanted to think about it, even now that he was here.

"We could pay Destry a visit. She might allow us to stay in the Estate," Jeremy said.

Sorein's stomach plummeted, ice shooting through his veins. "No."

"No?"

"No. We'll go to the Glacial District. The apartment still belongs to Andrin."

To his relief, Jeremy relaxed his rigid posture at the suggestion. At least Sorein didn't have to spell it out for him.