"Odella, wake up!"

Light flooded the room. Ash flinched away, instinctively pulling the blankets higher over her head to block the nuisance.

Someone chuckled. "I don't recall you being such a late sleeper. The journey must have taken quite a toll on you."

The words had to claw their way through the sludge-like fog of sleep hanging over Ash's mind, but once they did, they hit her like a slap of cold water. Her eyes snapped open. Gravest Terrors, she'd failed to wake up first.

Groaning as if still groggy, Ash submerged her entire head under the blankets. Meanwhile, she reached for her magic that had gone dormant while she slept.

Last night had presented her and Roan with another problem that she hadn't expected. While he, as the highly respected Scion, took his own room, Odella had opted to share one with another of her group. Linden had taken up the room with his sister while she was away, but now that 'Odella' had returned, he went back to his room with Sanford.

This left Ash to sleep in the same room as one of the partial strangers. Alone. All while keeping up her ruse of being her twin. The first step in doing that was being the first to wake up so she could put her glamour back into place.

Which she had clearly failed to do. Thankfully, she and Odella already looked very similar. It would be hard to tell them apart from a passing glance while Ash slept, but she still cursed her own lack of caution.

"Odella?" Willow's footsteps creaked across the floor.

Feeling the magic fall into place, Ash relaxed. "Sorry," she said, sitting up. She didn't have to fake the yawn and leisurely stretch that followed. "I think you were right. The trip was long and hard. How was I not to sleep in after sleeping on the ground for so long?"

The other girl smiled. "True. I can't say I miss it." She placed her hand on her hip and raised her brows, a bit of mischief finding its way into her curled lips. "Now get out of bed, slumber bug. The townspeople have missed you. I'm sure all of them will want your help with something just so they can chat your ear off."

Ash tried to look like she didn't want to throw herself back into bed. She must have failed miserably because Willow laughed.

"I'll be in the dining hall waiting with the others. If you want a meal before the long day, I suggest you hurry," she said.

It was only as she headed toward the door that Ash realized Willow was fully dressed. Ash had been the first to sleep the night before, too exhausted to even fret over her situation. She'd not seen Willow change into appropriate sleeping wear then, just like she'd not seen her get ready for this new day.

Ash kicked herself, annoyed that she would wonder how Willow would do basic day-to-day things. The other woman had slain Terrors! Roan even spoke of some of the feats he had seen Willow accomplish. Shaking herself and her intrusive thoughts, she slid out of bed and focused on things that mattered: preparing for her first day in the Terror-worshipping town.

She swung open the wardrobe beside her bed. Her lips pressed together. The clothing inside would fit her, but they also screamed Odella. After so many sudden aches in her chest, Ash was growing good at ignoring them. Doing so now, she shifted through the clothes and drew out a white chemise and dark blue dress with strings hanging down the middle.

With the hues of their eyes being a key distinction between them, Odella always liked to make her darker shade pop out.

After taking a moment to wipe her face with some floral water and twisting her hair into a braid that she knew Odella liked—Ash despised it for the headache it left her with at the end of the day—she exited the room and headed for the dining area.

She found the four others at the same table as yesterday. That seemed to be their table. Even with the mostly empty room, they'd chosen it. Sanford and Roan already had emptied plates before them. Willow nibbled on fruit while Linden ate from what appeared to be a second helping of bread and... Was he dipping it in left over stew?

Ash took her own spot, where a plate of fruit, bread, and cheese sat. A steaming brown liquid sat in a cup beside her. She discreetly sniffed it before taking a sip. Bitterness exploded across her tongue, and it took all her effort not to let her face twist into a grimace. She'd never tasted anything like it. It must have been some Caelerian drink.

"I will stick with Odella today," Roan said, placing his own cup down. He met her eyes across the table and smiled reassuringly. "I am sure she will be bombarded with people today, so it will be best if she isn't on her own."

Linden elbowed the Scion. "Don't think too little of yourself. People have asked about your absence as well. They'll want to drag you into all their tasks, too."

"Even more reason to stick together then," Ash said. "We will support each other while the townspeople try to surround us." The thought of being surrounded by the Volant residents made her skin itch, but thankfully only Roan seemed to notice. It would take her time to adjust to where she was.

At the same time, she hoped she wasn't there long enough to do so.

They finished their breakfast with quiet chatter about where each of them would be heading for the day. Sanford always went down to the docks. The siblings varied between helping in the fields and a couple specific shops in town. Roan and Odella, meanwhile, always stuck to whatever odd jobs they could find. It allowed the group to spread their influence as far throughout the city as they could, with the brunt of the fondness directed toward Odella.

The townspeople adored their priest, and he interacted closely with them, so it had been the group's belief that their approval would help sneak Ash's twin into the man's good graces, and through him, they could get to the Terror.

So far, the first part of that had proven true.

The men rose from the table first. Roan had made to hang back, but Linden called him over to the bar where he was awaiting the barmaid for something. Apparently, he needed to ask some questions before they split for the day. Ash watched them for only a moment before turning to tidy up the table so it wouldn't be as horrible when the barmaid came to it.

"I never did figure out why things were so tense between you two before," Willow said, drawing Ash's attention. The other woman had been looking at Roan as well but smiled down at her now. "But I'm glad to see that you guys have smoothed things over during your trip back. I was really worried at first you ran away because of whatever was going on."

Ash stilled. Tense? Between Odella and Roan? It took every ounce of her willpower not to search out the Scion's gaze right then. She swallowed and forced her body to start moving once more. "Yes, all is well again. Sorry to have worried you."

If Willow noticed Ash's odd behavior, she didn't say anything. Perhaps she attributed it to whatever their 'tension' had been over. She walked around the table and squeezed Ash's shoulder. "Like I've said, I'm so happy to have you back." With a quick smile, she walked over to the men.

Ash massaged her suddenly tense shoulder and watched the others, temporarily rooted to the spot by Willow's words. Despite her attempts, her eyes finally locked onto Roan. He caught her stare and raised his eyebrows at her, but they quickly furrowed with concern.

Concern. Something she had seen all too often in his expression. Because he cared. He had traversed Eloina, tracked down Odella's home, protected Ash and her family from the Modika, exhausted himself to give her magic. He cared deeply for her twin and wanted to help her. Whatever tension there may have been between him and Odella didn't matter. They were companions staying together for an endless number of days. Spats were bound to happen.

Shaking off her concerns, she joined the group. Roan followed her progress the entire time, a silent question in his gaze.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "Only lost in thoughts. I have many things on my mind."

She wasn't sure he looked convinced, but he couldn't question her too thoroughly with the other three around.

With all of them finished, they left the Breezy Brew and headed for the center of the town. It was from there that they would separate.

The thought had lingered in the back of Ash's thoughts in the tavern, but walking through town, it forced its way to the forefront. Volant was shockingly normal. She didn't know what she had expected. Blood-stained shrines? Townspeople with warped bodies and constant sneers? Broken down buildings and waste flooding the streets? Constant dreary weather?

Definitely not this put-together town with quaint cobblestone buildings, smiling adults chatting together, children dashing through the streets with loud laughter, and brilliant blue sky providing the final touch of light on an overall lively atmosphere.

She was in Caeleria. The godless country. Why did it not feel any different from another town in Eloina?

Her musings couldn't last long. People were used to their group's routine and hadn't paid them much mind. Eventually, though, someone noticed the two returning faces, and their false peace shattered.

"Is that Odella?"

"Odella has returned!"

"Odella! Odella!"

A small form slammed into Ash's waist. Her arms instinctively grabbed at the object while she stumbled back, the air rushing out of her lungs. She looked down to find a little girl beaming up at her. Both front teeth were missing from the top row.

"I knew you'd come back! Tonnie said I was crazy, but I knew!"

Ash smoothed back some of the loose strands from the girl's ginger hair, unable to stop the grin her enthusiasm brought. "I'm so sorry I caused you to worry, but you were right!"

Roan placed a gentle hand on the girl's arm. "Let's be gentle, Neela. Odella just finished a very long journey. Don't suffocate her so early."

Neela. Ash took in the girl's face and stored away that name.

The young girl released her grip on Ash with a pout. "Sorry. But Dell!" She turned pleading eyes up to Ash. "Please tell me you'll be to my house soon! Mam's been struggling a lot lately, and I'm sure she'd really appreciate your help!"

Ash didn't know how their odd jobs worked, but she couldn't deny the doe-like eyes Neela gave her. "We will try our best," she assured.

That must have been the right thing to say because Roan gave her a quick smile before nudging Neela. "Now go on and play. You know we have work to do."

With another quick squeeze around Ash's waste, Neela ran off to join another smaller girl who Ash assumed was Tonnie.

That wasn't the only interruption. Multiple townsfolk reached out to them as they walked past, wanting to greet 'Odella' and express their happiness to see her back. Ash smiled and acted appropriately, storing away every bit of information Roan slipped in. The other three stuck around with them, passing knowing glances amongst each other.

"They may keep all of us around, but you're their obvious favorite," Willow teased after they departed from a woman who thrust pears into each of their hands.

"You need to disappear more often if it makes them give us free stuff." Linden took a large bite out of his fruit. Juices leaked down his chin, and his older sister rolled her eyes. "Are you going to eat yours, Wills?"

As an answer, she tossed the pear to him. Grinning, he caught it.

Ash shook her head and chuckled at them, but her insides still roiled with the same unease as before. These townsfolk were so kind, so giving, so loving toward her twin and her companions. Yet she'd heard so many stories about the ways these people worshipped Terrors, sacrificed to the beasts knowing it empowered them as they went on to devastate the lives of other people.

This didn't make sense.

But the town square provided a needed reminder.

Venders set up their carts around the cobblestone opening while those who had storefronts opened their doors and swept their porches. Two boys and a girl ran around a fountain in the center of the square.

As Ash entered the open area, her eyes latched to the fountain, her blood running cold. A serpent rose from a stone base, coils of its long body left behind. It lifted its head in what the crafter may have meant to be a regal tilt, but with its mouth agape to release a jet of water, Ash could only picture it threatening to sink its large fangs into her. Two large wings spread out from its back. Wings that legends said whipped up ship-wrecking storms and village-destroying waves.

The Tempest Serpent, placed in the center of the town. No matter how kind the citizens here seemed, this was the creature they worshipped.

She didn't realize she'd stopped walking until Roan grabbed her forearm. "Odella, are you alright?"

"Yes, I—" She looked past him. The other three had paused as well, their expressions a mixture of confusion and worry. She licked her lips before forcing what she hoped was a convincing smile. "I was just taking it all in again, you know?"

Although she doubted she had been believable, Roan chuckled and patted her shoulder. "It is easy to become fond of this town, isn't it? But let's not forget why we're here." He added the second part as a whisper and winked.

The warmth that spread through Ash's cheeks wasn't an act or part of her glamour. She nodded and followed along with the others when they started moving.

They stopped once again when they reached the fountain. Ash's skin crawled as part of her waited for the gods to strike her down for daring to come near the thing. Not a single cloud drifted past, though, and after a brief farewell, their group split without any issues.

Sanford left for the docks. Linden would be alone in the fields today, with Willow having promised to help a local baker with preparations for an approaching festival. After watching their companions leave, Roan offered Ash a reassuring squeeze of the shoulder before directing her toward their first stop.

Despite her worries, the day seemed to pass in a blur. She and Roan hopped from shop to shop, assisting from unpacking to manning it for small periods of time to resolving random issues that popped up. Each stop she also retold her lie, and each time it flowed more easily from her tongue. Thanks to all the work, she also had a ready excuse for every pause when Roan had to subtly fill in information that Odella would know and she didn't.

Over the course of her odd jobs, she discovered the approaching festival was a celebration of the Tempest Serpent. Of another year it protected their town from horrible weather and brought prosperous rains for their crops. The festival would be in less than a quarter-lune, and the preparations were truly ramping up with its approach.

"Do you know what it being the festival being so close means?"

"Hm?"

Ash raised her eyes to a woman at least ten sols older than her. It had been her daughter and son running around with the other boy at the fountain earlier. They sat on her porch weaving a swirling symbol into small pieces of cloth. The woman, Nydia, had said they were blessing cloths handed out during the festival, hoping each other a fortunate year to come.

"Oh," Ash said after a moment of thought, realizing what Nydia had said. She hummed. "I suppose it means that Roan and I arrived at the perfect time."

Nydia snickered, and her eyes glimmered with a mischievous light. "You would be right in saying that." She winked playfully.

Ash laughed, her confusion clear in the sound. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I get what you mean. We are being helpful, aren't we?"

Before Nydia could answer, a bell tolled from somewhere near the town's border. Ash followed the sound to find a tower with a swaying bell in the opposite direction of the Serpent's temple. When she turned back to the woman, she found Nydia beaming.

"It means that they've begun having the Holy Passing through the town every day now until the festival." She rose to her feet, her stitching discarded, and held a hand out to Ash, smile wide. "Come. Let's go see your darling priest."

*****

Roan isn't around for one second and someone wants to drag her off to see the priest.  Do your job better, Roan!  Also, Ash is officially seeing Volant, and it's nothing like she expected!  Except there is definitely Serpent love going on around here, with the statue and the festival coming up.  Hmmmmm 🤔 Anyway, time to go visit a darling priest, apparently :D 

Let me know your thoughts on the chapter down below, and if you enjoyed it, don't forget to vote and comment! I also have a discord open to anyone who wants to join, and we have a section there to discuss the book :D Let me know if you want to join!