My mother sewed together with my sisters, using magic in the fabrics to make them part of them, so that the clothes would resonate with their bodies when they wore them, and they would shine according to the essence of each one.

I remained seated with a book on my lap, the red cloak folded neatly over the arm of the chair I was in. A respite from the heat, had been the excuse I had given my mother a moment before.

"I seem to have arrived at a perfect moment," my father said in greeting as he entered the house.

"Where have you been all morning?" Mom asked without taking her eyes off the red fabric she was sewing.

"I've been patrolling the forest, it seems that humans are getting bolder these days. They bring in those damned dogs and let them loose chasing animals indiscriminately. It's been hell keeping them off our land."

"Are there no magical protections around Vana?" I asked, closing the book to stick to the conversation.

"Yes, but our magical protections are weaker every day, with the queen away from the ash throne, the magic that protects us from humans is more unstable every day. The humans have not yet penetrated our borders, but their dogs are not bound by magic."

"And where is the queen?" Wammy asked, visibly nervous.

"She has some business to attend to in the north, her brother has requested her presence in his kingdom, something about the solstice, but no one must know that the queen is not in the forest kingdom, understand?" he questioned in a deep voice looking each of my sisters in the eye.

When they all nodded, he looked at me and I nodded, even though there was no one to whom I could pass this information, since I had no friends to talk to.

"I see that the preparations for Beltane have already begun," he commented, sitting down in the chair next to me.

"We have to start early since expectations are high this year," Grisinia commented.

"What makes this year special?" my father asked.

"Eclipse of the moon during the festival of course!" Wammy replied.

"I think Wammy's predestined must have seen it at the first Beltane he attended and since then the poor creature has been hiding," I remarked, causing my sisters to laugh and my father to scold me.

"You're saying that because you're jealous, you know that not even the miracle of the eclipse during the Beltane will make you get a predestination," Grisinia retorted in Wammy's defense.

"Of course, of course. I am the colorless stranger, the faerie without magic and without wings who was born with the sole purpose of dishonoring her family and ruining her chances," I answered, surprising her.

"Enough! You know I hate to see you fighting. You are our miracle, you should always remember that and take care of each other," Dad scolded them all. "I have to go now. There is a meeting of the generals with the elders, I can't be late."

"May the light go with you," I whispered.

My father smiled and flew out of the house. I asked my mother's permission and went to the small library on the estate to return the book. Some of the maids in the house slapped their foreheads twice on seeing me without the cloak. I returned the book to the library and left.

Before I entered the room again, I heard my mother scolding my sisters for their harsh words, she said that my sharp behavior was somehow my defense. I had no magic, no hope of having a safe life like them, so I acted that way.

I found myself still wondering how she could read all that so clearly, when I barely talked about my life with her. I put aside the idea of getting the cloak and went up the stairs to my room.

As I lay down staring at the vine-covered ceiling, the air in the room became unbearably hot, so I opened the curtains to allow the breeze to enter the room. At the entrance to the forest, I spotted the wolf cub I had seen earlier, but for some reason I decided to ignore the animal and lay down again.

My eyes closed almost immediately and I found myself trapped in one of my vivid dreams in which I was walking up a cold mountain, with the red cloak fluttering and a roof of stars above me. Stars like I have never seen in my entire life.

The air condensed before me and I wondered what it would be like to leave and try to find that place.

Before I could look around to locate that region somehow, if this was real, knocks at the door woke me up. I lifted my body onto my elbows.

"Come in," I whispered.

"You forgot," my mother whispered, bringing my cloak.

"I was tired," I warned, sitting up completely.

I wanted to ask you a favor," she spoke cautiously as she entered the room, left the robe on the table, and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Do you want me to stop picking on them?" I asked.

"I know that fighting between sisters is normal, but I ask that you slow down a bit with this, at least until the end of Beltane. Your sisters are very anxious, they've been to some rituals before and haven't found their predestination."

"And what could be different this time?" I asked.

"New creatures, younger ones. Who may be going for the first time... do this for me. Don't torment them by dashing their hopes until then," she asked."

"I will try," I promised.

Mom stood up and kissed my head to leave the room.

"I don't want to wear the red dress," I said before she left the room. "I won't find a predestination. A dress with its magic won't have any effect on my body anyway-I can wear anything else."

The disappointment on my mother's face was evident only for an instant, then she sighed and said patiently

"You will not remain alone forever, even if not by predestination, you can still find someone and get married, have your own family" she said.

"Who? Who would want me? People here won't even talk to me. I think I'd have better luck in the human world."

"Don't say that!" she said, her face in shock. "Humans kill seventh daughters, you can never know the human world, Blaidd. That can't happen. They would kill you if they knew you were a seventh daughter."

I acquiesced only to make her calm down and the female left the room still upset. Even where there is no magic, my existence is an abomination, I concluded mentally.