For a second, the simple sight of it nearly broke me.
Stella didn’t shout for attention. She never did. She just walked forward until the sunlight caught the silver in her hair and people started noticing her.
“Darlings,” she said mildly, “if you keep shouting like this, you’ll all lose your voices before midnight. At the very least, drink something while you argue about the fate of the world.”
A few surprised laughs slipped through the crowd.
Lady Limora stepped up beside her with a tray balanced neatly in both hands. She offered a cup to one of the Stonewick residents whose hands were still shaking.
“Tea,” she said gently. “It won’t fix everything, but it might help you think more clearly.”
Some hands reached out immediately, grateful, embarrassed, shaken. Steam warmed cold fingers. Cups clinked faintly as people accepted them like lifelines.
Others recoiled.
One man scoffed loudly. “Oh, perfect. Now the vampires are officiating?”
“When did you ever care who served you tea?” Stella’s scarlet lips smiled.
“But I have officiated worse,” she replied mildly. “And this feels rather tame by comparison.”
But her eyes, ancient and knowing, flicked briefly to mine.
And in that glance, I saw the weight.
She had done this before.
She had stood in streets that turned suspicious. She had watched neighbors turn wary. She had offered comfort only to be eyed as if she were the contagion.
My heart felt suddenly too heavy for my ribs.
Was this how it had happened?
Not with a dramatic explosion of violence. Not with a villain twirling her cloak in the town square.
But like this…
With fear curdling into blame.
With kindness treated like interference.
With old magical folk quietly stepping forward to soothe, while being subtly reminded they were not entirely trusted.
Stella moved through the crowd with that same unshakable grace, offering cups, murmuring small reassurances.
“Breathe, love.”
A young shifter hesitated before accepting a cup from Lady Limora. An orc did the same. Their fingers brushed porcelain at the same time, and both pulled back awkwardly.
Stella noticed. Of course she did.
“See?” she said lightly. “Already sharing.”
But the jeers hadn’t gone unnoticed.
A few residents stood back, arms crossed, watching the vampires as if waiting for proof that they were the true threat.
And my chest ached because I recognized that posture.
