The ride to Winter's Keep has been taxing, but she's finally drawing near it—near a home she thought she would never see again, but in her dreams. She hardly has any good memories of the cold manor itself, but seeing Mathias and even Darien is enough to cause a small glimmer of joy in her heart. 

Her escort along the way has been their convert offit dubbed the Eyes of Winter. They're the opposite of the Fangs of the North, who are used only for war. Mostly, they guard the High Nobles of the House and patrol the Keep. They're only seen when they want to be, and when it comes to protecting their charges, no weapon dissuades them from giving up their lives if need be.

On a personal level, she only knows one, and that's Marsh, the stupid stinker in all white who sits right across from her in the van. His hazel eyes hadn't lifted their gaze from her since she got in the vehicle. 

Marsh carries an air of vitality and somehow indifference wherever he goes. As all her kind, he is alluring in beauty, too. Usually, his expression is either mildly interested or plain bored. Solemnly, he sprouts a grin for any amusement.

They were somewhat friends before she left, and she wouldn't mind becoming that again, but from the way he's fixated on her, she's guessing his allegiance now solely lies with Darien or Mathias. They probably ordered him to survey her health and demeanor. 

Overall, she's not good, and they'll have a thing or two to say about that, especially Darien. It's strange, but she's actually looking forward to his nagging.

Mora loved her brother and long-time friend dearly, but their love for her was just a little too much. They were always protecting her from the slightest little hurt. She used to complain about it before, but she somewhat understands them now. And yet, she still can't confide in them. 

The secrets she carries would not only break their hearts but also tie their hands. They wouldn't let her do as she wanted, that's for sure. Mathias and Darien would rally to hide her behind a wall all her life. 

Once she returns to the City of Estrie, she first wants to visit the nearby human town below the mountain. Morana wants to find the one person who will let her be who she is without fear.

She wants to find her spirit sister, Keiko Tenko. 

As the phrasing suggests, Morana's spirit and Keiko's share a rare connection. Perhaps sisters or lovers in a past life or two, they have found each other again, and it splits Mora's heart in two that she can't get away and see her right this minute.

"A human witch?" Aurelia questions.

"Mmhmm, one of the best. However, her self-doubt and cautious nature weigh her down greatly. Still, she is one of the few with magic who can enter our city without a pass. She could do so completely undetected since the tender age of twelve."

"But you detected her?"

Morana fondly smiles at the memory of their first meeting. It had been an exhausting night at the manor. Her House was hosting the House of White for dinner, and their awful nobility boasted shamelessly throughout the party of how superior they were to them.

It's a common truth that higher-ranked Houses will always belittle the lower Houses in any way they can, often using kind and elegant words. It makes them utter fools, but such is the way. 

Morana snuck out on her own, and luck was on her side that night, for she even eluded Darien swiftly enough. Something possessed her to push her luck, so she descended the mountain with high heels and a dramatic fancy dress draped over her shoulders. The dress would get caught by a branch, or her ankle would twist over a trickster of a rock now and again, but she kept going, her mind set on just getting as far from those assholes as she could. And then she took a step too far. Mora slipped on wet, loose ground and rolled an awful way down the mountain.

She momentarily fazed out from the fall, but as her senses returned, she felt a pull and hum straight ahead. Nothing was happening yet, but she knew that the barrier was on alert.

The boundary between her world and the human world is one thin veil. Back then, she couldn't understand her sensitivity to auras, but Morana now knows that all she felt was the difference between the two auras around her. One was Keiko's, and the other was the invisible rune wall concealing their city. 

Morana got up and looked down to her left, and one happy Japanese girl came through the boundary. Maybe twelve at the time, but the girl felt older and familiar to Mora. Images and pain swirled in her mind, and her affinity slightly frosted the things around her.

It's impossible. What were these memories from? Morana didn't understand their bond yet. 

No creature, let alone a human, could enter the veil without a pass. Yet the little one came through like there was nothing there to hold her back. Getting up the best she could, Mora crawled behind a tree and kept her eyes on the human visitor.

"Okay," Keiko exhaled. "I just need to trade this little spell. Just one little spell, how hard will it be, right?" The child said this while taking a step back instead of moving forward. 

Although she didn't run away, the child was scared. She was scared to breathe, see, and swallow—Keiko's own sensitivity to auras overwhelmed her by the minute. The blue glow of the City of Estrie ahead grew brighter and more menacing to her as she grew more anxious. 

Morana didn't know then, but Keiko was trying to sell an enchanted coin she conjured up the day before. It would bless whoever used it tenfold once they spent it. There was no doubt that it could rank in a lot of money. 

A witch can not conjure such things for herself, but she could sell or trade the spell for equal merit. The City of Estrie is fabled to have the best trades, and in being so, the intake of visitors is very high. To keep everything fair and safe, the House Lords are hired by the Governor of the City to patrol and keep watch over the boundary and tourism. No one is allowed in without a pass that bears an official seal, and when you trespass, the boundary becomes agitated. The current casters to the city's West are alerted and swiftly alert the Watchers.

Cogs in one great watchful eye, but a twelve-year-old child waltzes in like she owns the place and no one cares. Intrigued by the sprout, Mora followed her back to the city, but she withdrew when she saw the little one head towards the cobblestone street outside the city square—the street to the Black Market.

Darien had forbidden her from even looking at it. The last time he caught her staring at it, he assigned her to laundry duty for a year. Needless to say, the maidens of the House had a good chuckle about it.

The silver-eyed man had also instilled in her a great fear of the place. He had said all she would find was villainess and savagery of the highest order. She knew then, as she knows now, that the things that were dark to him were truly frightening, and she took his words to heart. 

"Your eyes do not need to behold such sight,"  he told her. 

So then, should she catch and turn in the child? Or perhaps warn her at most? She mulled.

The little one went further and further, crouching forward from fear, her soft pink palms grasping onto her messenger bag tightly with anxiety. Morana then knew the child also knew of the danger, so why did she keep going?

Despite the pit in her stomach, Morana indeed followed the child. Along the way, many things disoriented her and saddened her like nothing else ever did. In the shops around her were pieces of once-living things. Humans, vampires, and even lycan were among the bones and flesh being sold. Most came with a curse or a promise of dark power.

Black magic is most foul. The casters must be wealthy and famous, no doubt. Of all the places in the city to trade, why must you pick here, girl?!

The little one stopped before a shop named The Well of Black. Something about it made Mora vomit on the spot. An intense feeling of dread radiated from the place. It seeped deep into her bones, hindering any further steps. She immediately started to backtrack to the square, but at the sound of the doorbell, she turned back to see a patron coming out.

Keiko stood like a statue, and a lycan in rugged black clothing sniffed her out. His eyes flooded black as his canines enlarged monstrously out of his lips. Taken from the little girl's reaction, this was also her first encounter with a wolf. 

"You are not from here, are you?" The man's voice was like his horrid aura, powerful but wretched.

He lifted his hand towards the now weeping child. Regret and desperation were evident on her face as she looked from the wolf to the store's door.

Does she still want to deliver her spelled to that awful place? What is possessing you, kid?

Morana swallowed back her fear and sprang forward. "She's with me."

The Lycan's eyes squinted to make her out. "I know you." 

"I'm from the Coven of Red, a daughter of Winter. This one is my guest. Withdraw your ill-intentioned hand."

With a hair-raising laugh, the lycan stepped back and said, "Ill-intentioned?"

Morana stood bravely between the child and the beast. She stilled herself the best she could, even though it was difficult. There would be no winning against him if he decided she insulted him, but a true child of war would insult their enemy. At least, that was her understanding at the bright age of thirty-three.

To this day, she isn't sure if she persuaded the wolf into thinking she was tough or if he had let them go on a whim. Thankfully, either way, he indeed withdrew.

"Whatever, keep the happy meal," he said with a smirk and walked onward toward the edge of the forest to the north.

Once he was out of sight, she turned to Keiko with sagging arms of exhaustion and let it rip, "You stupid human child! What in the world do you think you are? A good enough witch to challenge a lycan! There are other places in better areas for trade. Why would you pick here?"

The child bawled, and Morana felt terrible for yelling at her, so she decided she would cry, too. And there they were, two oddballs crying for all the mercenaries and assassins to see. Once they both got to only sniffles, they looked at each other and laughed.

Keiko finally inhaled a much-needed breath and introduced herself, "My name is Keiko, and I need a big number. I need it for Okaasa."

Morana got down to the little one's level as the child continued. 

"Mom is not weird like me and Dad. She can't hear magic, and Dad says no spell can work against nature. We must let it happen, but I don't care what nature wants. What is the point of me being like this if I can't save my mom? Please, all I need is money. Please help me."

Mora only shook her head as she grabbed the little one and hauled her onto her back. The little one fought a little, but Mora kept her in her place.

"Stop your squirming, idiot. I'll give you whatever you need, but you have promised never to come here again."

Before the little one let out a word, she was whisked away by Mora. The young vampire knew better than to go at top speed, but even so, when they got to the boundary line, the sprout saw two of everything from the jolt. Morana lightly laughed at Keiko's disorientation and thought the little one was too cute. In fact, everything about the small human intrigued her, and it was strange, for the thirst didn't even rear its ugly head.

"Here," Mora told the little one, pointing at all her jewelry, "these are real diamonds and gold. Smelt the gold and sell it along with the diamonds. It should be almost ten thousand dollars in total."

Keiko readily gave the coin to Morana, and for an instant, the child's genuine smile emerged brightly on her face. Mora was slightly disoriented by its innocence, although the smile was short-lived.

"Will this save her?" she asked the vampire.

For a long moment, Morana stayed silent. She knew what she had to do, but looking at the child's quivering lip made her falter. Even so, it had to be said.

"It most likely won't."

To this admission, the little one's arms dropped to her side as her bright eyes dimmed with brokenness.

"But so what?!" Morana shouted. 

"So what if there's a chance it won't be enough? Don't give up until the very end, and when the end comes, you'll have nothing to regret," she continued with reassurance in her voice. 

The little one was taken aback. Keiko wanted to yell at the vampire. How could she tell her to try if there was no guarantee? How could she ask her to keep going if maybe it got her nowhere?

But the next question out of the vampire's mouth made her understand exactly what she meant. 

"Isn't your mother worth walking through hell for?"

It was a struggle, and it may very well not come to fruition, but it wasn't hard to answer the vampire. With an optimistic sigh, the little one replied, "She is worth it, ten times over." 

Mora ruffled the little girl's fine brown hair and straightened out her cute blue dress the best she could. All the while, she felt an odd sense of protection over the human.

What is it that makes her so damn compelling to me? She thought.

Before the little one was completely over the boundary, she turned around and gave Mora a mischievous smirk.

"I don't promise, Ms. Vampire." She skipped ahead before the dazed Morana could retort and shouted, "I will come by and see you again! Bye-bye!"

As Keiko disappeared, Mora could hear and sense movement a few meters behind. Soon, the guard would capture her, and Darien would unleash one hell of a lecture, as always.

The rest of the night had been unpleasant for various reasons, but it was best not to fall further into her memories of that evening. She doesn't want to remind herself of the hell she is walking into right now. 

Still, Morana's small excursion turned out to be a fateful encounter, and thinking about it now only makes her yearn for Keiko more. She has so much to tell her, so much to teach her. Perhaps she could be the one to know their secret.

"I want to meet her soon, too. Someone you find so trustworthy will certainly be interesting to know."  Manifesting into a more physical form, Aurelia comes out and sits across Mora, right next to Marsh.

It's been proven that no one can see the Queen so far, even when she materializes physically. That could change at a moment's notice, but Mora is comfortable for now having her take form outside her body as she wishes. It pains Mora to see her as a wraith, but she is happy she doesn't see her six feet under.

"It will take some time to get to Keiko. I must survive the family reunion before anything else."