"Where's Orion?" Astrid asked Rigel after they descended the stairs together, finally forgetting about her dream and focusing on reality.

Orion was nowhere in sight in the large room where a small fire burned on the grate, and the table was laid for breakfast.

Astrid despised the rift that this journey had torn open between her and Orion, the rift she could feel growing wider the farther they got from the castle. He was the closest person she had, they had grown up together, knew everything about each other... And even though they had been brought up not believing in love, she cared about him a lot. She wanted him to be happy. She hated it when they disagreed.

His mysterious absence now worried her. She could see his luggage by the front door where Rigel carried her bags, but where was he...?

"I saw Father and Mother before; they are outside, getting everything ready. But I did not see Lord Orion. Father said that he heard him leave a good while ago. Well, wherever he went to, he'll be back soon. He told me last night that he wanted us to leave early."

Astrid nodded, nibbling at a piece of bread half-heartedly, sipping at a mug filled with a steaming dark liquid which Rigel said was coffee, freshly brewed by Regulus-- she couldn't make up her mind if she liked its full, bittersweet taste while she appreciated the way it cleared her mind quickly from the leftovers of her dream-- until Regulus and Andromeda walked in, looking windswept and cheerful, followed closely by a very exhilarated Orion.

Forgetting all of her questions about where he had been, if everything was fine between them after their last night's disagreement, Astrid leapt to her feet and, giving in to his boyish excitement, let him wrap her in a bone-shattering embrace and kiss her deeply in front of everyone.

"We are flying, Astrid. Have you seen that thing outside? Regulus, it's amazing!" he called, still crushing Astrid to him excitedly.

"Come have some breakfast, and you can tell me?" Astrid proposed, surprised by his behaviour, taking him by the hand and leading him towards the table where Andromeda and Regulus already sat next to their son. Only an unexpected display of technology could ever excite Orion this way...

"Yes, my lord, flying is the best way to reach Land's End. The roads are unsafe, most of those that were destroyed by earthquakes have never been properly repaired, and the land is treacherous, marshland and moors surround Vega. Beyond, the coast is jagged and rough, with dangerously high tides which only the locals, and there's precious few of those, can predict," Regulus explained, sipping at his coffee calmly. "Rigel is a skilled auronaut. He'll bring you to Land's End in a couple of days in that balloon..."

"A... balloon?" Astrid muttered, her mind producing a picture of a huge, colourful object floating in the sky, which she secretly believed, without telling her tutors, of course, had never existed. To her, those things were just as real as any mythological creature...

Like angels and demons, or love, right? A silent voice in her mind pointed out, making her feel naive.

Ignoring the voice, she forced herself to listen to Rigel, who, with Regulus' help, was trying to explain to Orion the basics of piloting a hot air balloon.

Andromeda chuckled softly, rolling her eyes in an exaggerated way when Astrid looked at her, making her giggle and try to picture how having a husband and a son crazy about forbidden technology must feel.

Orion finished his breakfast quickly, his mind on the balloon waiting for them, and while he preceded Rigel and Rugulus outside, all of them carrying luggage and chattering excitedly, Astrid accepted a sack of provisions from Andromeda.

"I've never been anywhere beyond Vega, Astrid," the woman said, "I have no idea what you'll find at Land's End. This food should be enough to get you there... Do visit again on your way back."

Astrid understood the woman's words, but the tears glimmering in her eyes seemed to change their meaning. What she was really telling Astrid to do was to stay alive and bring her son back home.

"I will," Astrid pledged. She hesitated-- offering Rigel's parents money for their hospitality might offend them, and she wanted to think of them as her friends. But there was something she could give them. "You keep our horses. Please."

"But..."

"No, we don't need them anymore, we might have to buy new horses on our return journey somewhere closer to Land's End. They are yours."

She embraced Andromeda quickly, then exited the house before the tears she could feel tickling the corners of her eyes would find their way down her cheeks.

The sight waiting for her outside took her breath away. A huge balloon swayed in the wind in front of her, anchored safely to the ground of the meadow sprinkled with wildflowers, silhouetted by the rising sun.

It seemed to be patched together from hundreds of scraps of the most colourful fabric, wonderful and perfectly unsafe. A small fire trembled and danced under the rainbow-coloured pouch, a large basket hung below, attached to it by ropes, its bottom hovering centimetres above ground even after the men half-filled it with luggage.

Astrid approached the balloon in timorous reverence, leaning into Orion as she felt her legs shake slightly. Were they serious? Could this thing carry all three of them?

Rigel's words reached her ears as if through a thick fog.

"If everything goes well, we should reach Land's End in three days. That's two nights-- we will choose the places to stop along the way. The wind is favourable, and it should remain so, and it hardly rains this far south this time of the year..."

The rest of what Rigel said was lost on Astrid-- a sudden stronger gust of wind enveloped her in a scent of incense which it seemed to carry from the copse behind their backs, making her turn around. She couldn't see anyone, just a couple of doves fluttering towards the sky painted in it the hues of sunrise in a whirlwind of wings as they struggled against the wind.

"...Astrid?" Orion 's voice pulled her out from her reverie. His eyes, cold and searching, following hers towards the copse, made her shiver.

Does he know? Can Orion feel him too...? Astrid mused, and something within her told her that it would be better if he didn't know. She cupped his face and made him look at her as she said, "Are you three done talking? I'm getting bored. Shall we go?"

Andromeda, eyes red from recently shed tears but dry, reached them then, pulling Rigel and Astrid in an embrace, shaking hands with Orion. Then it was Regulus' turn, and then Astrid, Orion and Rigel were standing in the spacious basket, watching Regulus and Andromeda pulling tens of wooden pegs anchoring the balloon from the soil, before Rigel started to feed straw and wool to the fire burning under the swollen patchwork envelope.

The balloon, billowing aloft until then trembled and started to rise, making Rigel's parents look smaller and smaller until they were two dark dots in the grass, their cottage a white smudge surrounded by moving streaks of dark green, as the trees of the copse fought against the increasing wind.

"Is your girl mad, by any chance?" Ramiel mused as he landed in the trees behind Azrael moments after the balloon took off.

Azrael took a deep breath, summoning patience. He had just been thinking the same. How could anyone use that thing to fly?

"She is not my girl. And we don't have much time to waste by chatting here. If they are lucky and the wind won't change, they'll be at Land's End faster than they would be on horseback."

"And why does that concern us? If they try to descend the pit, they'll meet the same end as the others before them. Problem solved."

"Ramiel," Azrael growled, despite knowing well that his friend was only teasing him. But just the mere thought that the girl might die in the pit was making him want to destroy something.

Ramiel chuckled. "Just as I thought. All right, what's the plan, then?"

"We will meet them at the promontory and hear her out. If she still insists on offering a new treaty then, we'll have to take her to speak to the archangels, as Arcturus' ambassador." He smiled suddenly; this wasn't what Arcturus wanted, he was sure. By sending the girl into the world, he created a greater trouble than he could handle.

Azrael allowed Ramiel to read his thoughts, making him laugh before he forced himself to be serious again.

"Before she reaches Land's End, we must deal with this," he said, pulling an envelope partly from the pocket of his cloak, for Ramiel to see. It was addressed to Regent Arcturus.

"What's that?"

"The girl's demon was busy this morning. He wrote two letters. This one informing Arcturus that he found out where we are hiding, and despite his niece's refusing to return home, asking him to send the army he had promised."

Ramiel inhaled sharply and called, not letting him finish, "But the archangels will not allow this. There will be a new war!"

Azrael nodded gravely. "Well, he'll never get this letter." He pushed the envelope back in his pocket. "But I let the other one go. It will reach the guards who accompanied them to Vesper very soon. They never went back to the castle, as the demon made the girl believe, but followed them here, and continued on their way south. They are a couple of days ahead..."

"Why didn't you take that letter too?!"

"Because we can deal with four half-demons, and the girl needs to know about his treachery. She must see it, she would never believe it otherwise."

Our queenie will be heartbroken when she finds out, Ramiel thought, preceding Azrael into the air, making him sigh.

He really didn't mean to care about her feelings this much.