Finally, I rise from the rug and tiptoe to the solid wall where a door should be.
Pressing my hand to the rock, I consider what sort of staircase I should make to reach the bottom of the tower. Before I’ve formed a clear thought, the rock melts away from my hand, vanishing and forming an opening.
A corridor already exists, along with a room opposite this one.
Both are lit with golden orbs that float near the ceiling. The floor is inlaid with sparkling jewels that catch the moonlight from a window at the end of the corridor. And at the other end of the corridor is a staircase that glows sapphire blue.
Huh.
It only takes ten steps down before I reach the bottom of the stairs, which let out into a homely-looking cooking area.
A glance through the window on the left tells me I’m at the bottom of the tower, but… I’m certain I was much higher up in the tower only moments ago.
I’m a little surprised that I constructed so much, but then… I’m not.
I wanted a home, and that is what I made.
The scene within the kitchen is peaceful.
A fireplace glows on the other side of the room.
Beside it is a large rug on which Cailey sits cross-legged while Galeia is snuggled against her side.
Mother Solas sits at the far end of the large table near the fire, a bowl of food in front of her. She’s slowly chewing while Dusana sits on the long side of the table, one foot on her chair, her knee bent. The bowl in front of her is empty, other than a few smears of food. A pile of wildflowers rests on the table beside the empty bowl.
None of them startles or seems surprised when I appear.
I try to find my voice. “Uh…?”
“We saved some for you and the Vandawolf,” Mother Solas says, pushing two bowls toward me across the table. “It’s rabbit stew. Galeia caught the rabbit.”
The little girl tilts her head back to give me a grin around the bone she’s gnawing.
“She leftsomeof the rabbit for us.” Dusana rolls her eyes, briefly glancing up from the wreath of wildflowers she’s constructing. I’m not sure if it’s intended for Galeia, Cailey, or herself, but I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.
I pull up a chair and can’t deny how hungry I am.
Within minutes, I’ve consumed the stew, and I lean back in my chair.
Across the table, Dusana holds up her wreath, assessing it with a scowl before she reaches for more flowers and starts reinforcing the middle. “We know what the humans plan to do, and we know what the Vandawolf plans to do, but what is your plan, Asha Silverspun?”
I arch my eyebrows at her. “Do you really expect me to tellyou?”
Dusana puts down the flowers and huffs at me. “As the old lady pointed out earlier, I’m a dead fae. If you tell me something and later regret it, it won’t be hard to kill me.”
She has a point.
I’m aware that Mother Solas and Cailey are both looking at me while Galeia continues to suck happily on her bone.
“I have an impossible task,” I say.
“We know,” Cailey replies. Despite her appearance, her voice carries the weight of years. “You need to stop the darkness.”
“Ha!” Dusana snorts. “I thought you were going to say you need to free your brother. I was going to tell you nothing is impossible, believe in your dreams, but stopping the darkness?That’s impossible.”
“For any other supernatural,” Mother Solas says. “But is it really impossible for you, Asha Silverspun?”
When I respond with an uncertain grimace, she gestures to the tower around us.
