“Der’Dornytter has returned with Ilsenila dera’Heren; Mina dera’Heren is currently in the dining hall; she has said she will join you shortly.” Ferran holds the door open for Dyder and ?l?, announcing their presence to ?nnywella, who is in the loft.

  “Thank you, Ferran.” ?nnywella steps to the balcony railing, watching as the steward dismisses himself, disappearing from view.

  “Hello Ilsenila, I’m surprised that Alavel would let you come back with Dyder and Mina.” ?nnywella begins to make her way to the ladder, leaving Awenela and Enlynn alone in the loft.

  “I didn’t give him much choice; I packed the night before so he would feel bad about saying no to me.” ?l? crosses the floor of the library and makes herself at home on the couch.

  ?nnywella chuckles from the top of the ladder. “Was he happy about the news? he seemed quite pleased in the letter he sent me.”

  “Certainly more pleased with it than my father was.” Dyder says wryly, dreading having to meet with his father later that day.

  “I take you have just got back and haven’t gotten a chance to speak with your father yet?” ?nnywella steps off the ladder and walks towards ?l?, giving the seated woman a hug, and sitting down next to her.

  “Yes, we just arrived. I’m going to go to my family’s estate later for dinner. I would rather not talk about my father’s reaction; I don’t want to think about it at the moment. He didn’t seem pleased in his letter.” Dyder takes a seat in the south chair. He rests his elbow on the arm and places his head in his palm.

  “I imagine it will be far worse than what I got.” ?nnywella says, lighting a cigarette.

  Dyder groans. “How bad an argument was it?”

  “Colaus said he could hear us from all the way down the hall—we were not particularly pleased with each other.” ?nnywella turns around on the couch, pushing open the window behind her. “How much did he tell you about it?”

  “He didn’t mention anything about the argument other than that he was displeased with you and that he has asked you to dock half my pay.”

  ?l? turns to ?nnywella. “Are you going to?”

  “What? dock his pay? of course not.” ?nnywella thinks about mentioning how that was the breaking point of the argument, but it’s neither of the couple's business. ”I have no intention of doing that. I’m sure he wants me to out of the ‘principle’ of it, but I have no doubt that you will be repaying me at some point.” ?nnywella pauses for a moment and turns to ?l?. “Where will you be staying? I don’t think there is enough room in Dyder’s chair for both of you—and I would prefer if you didn’t try in the first place; will you be staying with the Dornytters?”

  Dyder places his head in his hands, staring at ?nnywella through his fingers.

  “I’m just going to stay with Dyder. Though I was wondering—wait, what do you mean, chair? Dyder, have you been sleeping in a chair? no wonder your back hurts you.” ?l? turns to Dyder, who hastily moves his hands away from his face.

  “Yes, I have been, just in case something happens; I can be ready to go at a moment's notice.” He responds, giving ?nnywella a sidelong glance, hoping she picks up on that he does want ?l? to know of the chair.

  “What were you wondering about, Ilsenila?” ?nnywella, noticing Dyder’s reaction, changes the subject, though she cannot figure out why he does not want ?l? to know about the chair—he’s only delaying the inevitable, as there is no chair in her room.

  “I was curious about the houses on the castle grounds.” ?l? says. “I would like to move into one with Dyder.

  ?nnywella slowly nods. “Ah verily, there are twelve houses on the castle grounds. You can move into one.” She needs to be careful with how many of these houses she gives out; only two are occupied at the moment, but if she gets too generous, she will not have any proper space for important guests to stay.

  “Father said that we stayed in one many years ago, and your father charged us rent—will you be charging Dyder and I to stay there?”

  “No, no, of course not. It wouldn’t be right to charge you two but not Viola and Colaus.” Frankly, she would charge the other two before Dyder.

  “When can we move in?” ?l? asks; she doubts ?nnywella will change her mind, but she does not want to give her a chance to do so.

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  ?nnywella turns, blowing a cloud of smoke out the window, and then looks back to ?l?. “Do you not want to see the houses first? They aren’t all the same.” She stands, making her way over to the north wall, and removes a large black leather book titled ‘Floorplans and Layout of Herst Castle and its Surrounding Estate ~ Revision 15 [1].’ ?nnywella returns to the couch and places the book in her lap, the heavy tome making a deep impression on her woolen cream skirt. “The floor plans are in here—saves us from having to go out; it’s getting nippy outside; it will probably start to snow in a few days.”

  ?l?’s vision drifts away from the book, trying to remember what she packed in her bag—specifically her costume for H?rfende [2], she had made sure to set it out the night before. “It usually snows right after H?rfende in the Crown, does it not?”

  “Verily, it’s Faerthryne’s [3] ‘party trick.’ Have you never been to H?rfende at the college? it’s in two days' time.” A smile grows on ?nnywella’s lips as she talks; H?rfende is her favorite holiday, and she looks forward all year to dressing up, but they really must stay on the topic at hand.

  “I haven’t, at least not that I remember, maybe when I was younger. I’ve wanted to, but I’ve always been stuck going to the one in Sc?dstan. Do the witches [4] come every year?” ?l? asks.

  “Unless on the off chance they haven’t been reborn yet, they usually try to. We should really get back to the topic of the houses.” ?nnywella, saddened about having to change the topic, opens the comprehensive book, flipping to the section about the guest housing on the grounds. “Dyder, come here.” She pats the spot on the couch next to her.

  Dyder stands up from the chair with a grunt and sits down next to ?nnywella, who begins showing the young couple the different floor plans of the larger guest houses.

  Footnotes

  [1] A constantly updated book consisting of a map and floor plan of every room and building on the Herst Castle grounds.

  Revision 1 ~ Unknown: Lost when Herst Manor was burned down in early 4311EotTS.

  Revision 2 ~ Unknown: Lost when Herst Manor was burned down in early 4311EotTS.

  Revision 3 ~ Unknown: Lost when Herst Manor was burned down in early 4311EotTS.

  Revision 4 ~ 4313 EotTS: The first floor plan of Herst Castle following the destruction of Herst Manor. The new castle was constructed quickly, consisting only of a main hall, kitchen, small servants' quarters, and a large front tower.

  Revision 5 ~ 4337 EotTS: This revision adds the exterior walls, stables, barracks, and guardhouses; while these had been alongside Herst Castle, Lest?n Herst I (06/13/4280EotTS-09/28/4338EotG) decided that it would be best to include them in the records; all subsequent updates to the castle grounds have been included since.

  Revision 6 ~ 4367 EotTS: This revision adds the floor plans for the west wing of the castle; this includes the lower four floors of the west wing, when it was used for general housing of servants and staff, and what is now known as the Queen’s Library.

  Revision 7 ~ 4412 EotTS: This revision adds the floor plans for the east wing, which was built at the demand of female staff, who wanted segregated housing from the male staff after a series of incidents.

  Revision 8 ~ 4651 EotTS: This revision adds the floor plans for the additional five floors, which were added to both the east and west wings, as well as the changing of the bridges that connect the castle ground to the rest of the Crown Isles to wooden drawbridges.

  Revision 9 ~ 4772 EotTS: This revision adds the floor plans of five bedroom towers, four attached to the main castle directly, two on each wing, and a fifth in the center of the internal courtyard, connected by bridges to the east and west wings. As well as the renovation of the courtyards, which added a series of larger gardens and greenhouses.

  Revision 10 ~ 4916 EotTS: This revision adds the floor plans and raised courtyard behind the main hall, as well as the area under it, which is accessed through the fireplace.

  Revision 11 ~ 0165 EotG: This revision adds the floor plans for the Herst Castle Grand Library.

  Revision 12 ~ 0224 EotG: This revision adds the four large (the average of all four houses being ~560 m2) guest houses, spread across the estate.

  Revision 13 ~ 0436 EotG: This revision adds the map of a series of tunnels and secret passages that connect Herst Castle to other locations in the Crown Isle, as well as exits on the side of the mountain itself. Most of these tunnels have since collapsed or become waterlogged.

  Revision 14 ~ 0583 EotG: This revision adds the floor plans of six additional guest houses (ranging from 140 m2 to 260 m2) on the castle grounds.

  Revision 15 ~ 0616 EotG: This revision adds the floor plans of the large gallery/hall of memories attached to the Grand Library.

  [2] H?rfende (pronounced: H?R-fen-duh) is a holiday on the Fourth of Enora; it means the End of the Harvest or Harvest's End. People tend to dress up as characters from folklore, most commonly Morziwayn and Faerthryne, though some will also dress in outfits themed towards the end of the harvest (e.g., plants, animals, and sometimes spirits—which is advised against, as if the spirit is not pleased with the costume, this can lead to hauntings) as a way to earn the good graces of deities associated with winter.

  [3] Faerthryne (pronounced: FAIR-thrine), is also known as The Lady of the Midwinter Fires or—in modern slang—the Witch of Winter. She has no fixed appearance as ‘she,’ like her sisters, does not have a fixed form and is a series of flows from the primordial Myrerah; instead, they occupy the bodies of virgin women, usually priestesses, who were born on the solstice or equinox of the respective season. The abilities of Faerthryne are infallible and unchangeable—giving no regard for the thoughts of man, unlike other deities—the world is her domain from the third of Enora until the last snow on the fourteenth of M?lyna; this being the longest reign of all the Four Ladies of the Seasons.

  [4] "The witches" is a slang term used to refer to the Four Ladies of the Seasons. At first, they disliked the name but soon began to embrace it, specifically Morziwayn.

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  Blood magic, ancient secrets, and a conspiracy to plunge the country into a war between people and forest spirits - she never imagined her rite of passage would result in any of these.

  Fia was eagerly awaiting her Bonding ritual with a forest spirit, as everyone in her family had done for generations, but everything turned into a nightmare in a flash. Terrifying otherworldly creatures appeared out of nowhere and attacked their village. When all seemed lost, a stranger and his magic horse came to the villagers’ rescue, but the victory left him hanging between life and death.

  Trying at once to find a cure for the cursed hero and fend off his annoying magical horse, Fia found herself caught in the crossfire of a grand, bloody game of politics and magic.

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