"You are distracted, Katarina. You should return when you can give more of your mind to our negotiations perhaps." Ousmane Sage croaked from within the total darkness of his robes.

My troubled thoughts and worrying had made it difficult to keep my attention on the task at hand, the enshrouded man was right about that.

"No. Forgive me," I apologized as I resettled myself into the arm chair. "While I am certain that you have heard of what troubles my sisters and I, I will cast it from my mind for the remainder of my time here."

Ousmane leaned forward across the desk that separated us and I willed myself to not flinch at his movement.

There was very little in chaos that could truly threaten me, but I had never seen his face. His voice sounded like the raking of coals and he was as tall as I had ever seen a person be. The room where our negotiations were held was as lightless as it always was. I was alone, and weary from having used a great deal of my aura not very long before I had arrived.

My meetings with the High Gatekeeper had never gone wrong, but that did not mean they were incapable of it.

"The Blue Death," Ousmane growled out the very thing that was the source of my distraction. "The Walking Storm. Azeralphane. Some have said that the demon brings doubt to the power of The Mothers simply by existing in defiance of them. Some have said that many maidens from the temple below have been taken and enthralled by him. Some have said that though you and your sisters have tried to be rid of him, that he has surpassed the boundless strength of your circle."

"Zenithcidel is sound. There is nothing within chaos that can enter it if we do not wish it to. You should know as well as I, Ousmane, that the words of others are always colored by their desires." I answered as the cold of my soul kept my face frozen and placid. Any expression I made, intentional or not, would give valuable information away for free.

There was no worse thing that could be done in a negotiation.

"Others. Others? Yes. Others have told me much stranger stories. They have told me suspicions and rumours that would shift and split all that we know and hold dear if proven true." Ousmane continued, towering over me as he leaned closer in the dark room.

There were few situations where I was not the smallest soul in a room, but something about the man reminded me of the times before Zizi hung within Lun.

I did not shrink away. "I would be terribly insulted if I traveled all the way here to listen to you gossip about gossip. You have my full attention. I believe we had reached a disagreement over the waste."

Ousmane lingered where he leaned for another moment before relaxing back into his chair. The metallic sound of the shackles I had fit him with rang like chimes as he sat and echoed off the unseen ceiling.

"You must visit more often, Katarina," He croaked through what I thought was meant to be a laugh. "It is rare that I am in the presence of someone who truly does not fear me. Even the sorcerers, though they salivate at the thought of having what I provide you and your sisters, even they count the seconds before I can be an uncomfortable memory.

In truth, I felt the same. Only, I was much better at hiding it.

I did not think the man sitting across from me, if he was a man at all, to be bad. He was not evil. Without his gates and gatekeepers, my sisters and I would have been much worse off. But, there was something so undeniably wrong about the air of any room he was in that it felt like the first moments of a nightmare.

I felt like dreaming long enough to know that something was wrong, but not long enough to know where the danger was coming from.

"These sorcerers, I hope you find their cowardice as distasteful as I would?" I asked. It was no secret that The Fathers had long been trying to gain access to the gates. The ability to be anywhere in chaos in a matter of moments was an integral piece of why Zenithcidel was as sound as it was.

Ousmane Sage had used the sorcerer's offers as leverage against me many times before, but the reason that I had been chosen to deal with him was the same reason that he would never betray The Mothers.

"Have no fear. Unless you prove to be a turncoat, my word remains true to The Mothers. Never mind the waste. Tend to my keepers while you are here and we will worry about the rest when The Blue Death has been defeated," He rasped in his burnt sounding voice before reaching his hand out to me. "Shall we be done with this?"

Long nails and pitch black fingers stretched out of his billowing sleeve. They were more akin to claws than the fingernails of mine that I had painted sparkling blue just for the meeting.

Two doors, one on my right and one on my left, slowly swung open and people began to flow through them. They did not share the dark billowing robes of my host. They were dressed in the finest clothes, and each carried an instrument in their hands.

"I thank you for your understanding, Ousmane." I said as I let his clawed hand fold around mine. He was being too generous. I would have made room for what had been broken if he would have held firm in his demand.

For all his intimidation and posturing, the reason that I had maintained the use of the gates without fail was because Ousmane Sage loved to dance.

And, there was no greater dancer than I.

The souls that had filed in through the doors were musicians. As they began to play, Ousmane led me to the center of the dark room to the sound of his clinking chains just like he had so many times before.

Even being twice my height and truly unsettling as he was, I had danced with worse partners.

He led me into a spin, humming along to the melody with his grisled voice. The darkness around me became complete as I was impressed with how light on his feet he was despite his size.

Just as we reached the final plucked notes of the song, I was spun again and I felt myself fall. . .

I came back to myself in the same place I had lain down amongst the countless shelves and books that The Well held.

What is your name? I asked myself, more out of habit than any real need.

"Autumn Aubrey." I answered.

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Who is Autumn Aubrey?

"A girl who is going on a date soon." I said, making myself smile as I sat up and carefully placed Katarina's book on the floor beside me.

Who was Autumn Aubrey? Came the third and final question that I would have to answer again when I actually returned from The Well.

"Someone that knew how to dance." I sighed and stood.

There was nothing I would not give to be half as graceful as the former Mother in Blue was.

If I did not have to go to class, eat, or sleep, I would spend the next two days buried in Katarina's memories so I could sweep Anna off her feet when our date came.

I would not enjoy learning to dance through her with Ousmane, but I was certain that there had to be less terrifying partners somewhere in her book.

Part of me wished I could be her outside of The Well for the dancing that Anna had said we were going to do. I didn't know how to dance, I could barely walk without tripping. I would bring Katarina out, let her safely lead my beloved through the steps, and then I would come back for everything else.

My nervousness aside, I was so excited for the date that the last three days had gone by all too quickly and much too slowly at the same time.

My classes had seemed to drag on endlessly, no matter how much progress I had made. It had taken nearly all night to explain everything I had learned about Hexis to Anna, and then again to Sam when he decided to grace us with his presence. I had told neither of them about Auden, only that one of the new moons had bonded with a familiar.

I would tell them soon, after Anna and I went on our date. I was not ashamed that I wanted everything to remain light and happy until then.

Little had changed since I had returned. Anna had a new obsession with learning how familiar bonds worked. She had started giving me assignments when I entered The Well, but things felt surprisingly usual.

Sam was still Sam. Maybe he was a little worse than usual, particularly towards Anna, but things had not changed between us yet.

They would be.

I had seen far too much pain on Silkcradle to let my familiar and I's bond stay so young, but it would take time.

The warden had taught me that.

Ready to be done with my day, I decided to try Anna's assignment one more time before I figured out how to get out of my own head.

"I know you said that you will not trouble me again," I called out to the thing at the bottom of The Well. "But there is a dark haired girl outside of here that would be very happy if you helped me. I'm going to try again."

Wherever it was, it did not answer. I knew that it could hear me perfectly well, and that only made my disappointment worse when the only answer I received was the echo of my own voice.

"Hexis! Selahmeire! The Silken Queen!" I called out with my words laced with my power.

It worked when it was Katarina I was calling for.

If Hexis's memories were in The Well, it should have worked for her book as well.

It didn't.

Which, either meant that they were not in my mind or that the thing at the bottom of The Well was keeping them from me.

I didn't like either meaning.

"Why don't you want to trouble me? I have been troubled my whole life, I am very good at it," I called out again, walking aimlessly down shelves in big swinging steps. "I can't bring things here to trade, but I could make you laugh or teach you how to play points if you help me."

I looked back to make sure that Katarina's book was still laying where I left it before continuing my stroll.

"I don't want anything big. To know how to leave or how to bring the armchairs back, maybe. I won't set anything on fire again." I said as I pressed my hand against the strange black door that had been my entrance to The Well for some time.

It had not been very long ago that what lay on the other side of the door was all I knew of The Well. No stained glass or trimetal walkways, no half circle libraries that went on forever and ever, no fire places or arm chairs. There had only been the barriers that The Mothers had placed in my mind.

The thing had taken them down for me.

It had kept that secret from The Mothers for me.

It had helped me when all I knew to do was slip into The Well with a name in my mind.

It had stopped my mind being torn from memory to memory when all the books had fallen onto me.

When I had been being punished by Azza, and there was none, it had given me relief.

In our last meeting, it had shown me how to find Katarina on my own.

Through what it had done, it was so obvious that it wanted to help me. I just did not understand its resistance.

Maybe it was like Amabura, stuck in its ways and needing a push to move once again.

It could have been like the warden said Benny usually was, terribly cautious and slow to trust.

Or it might favor Deebee, shy and needing to be met on its own terms.

I did not know which it was, but I would with time. I was sure of it.

"You can stay quiet. Despite what my familiar believes, I can be patient," I called out with my hand still on the shut door. "But we are going to wind up being friends. You're in my head after all, you probably know me better than anyone."

At the end of my words, the door gave way to the slight pressure of my hand and swung open.

I smiled.

The thing was helping me again, and it was no trouble at all.

"This is like the book, isn't it? I have been trying to learn how to leave this place when I want to, and it has been as simple as walking back through the door this whole time," I laughed up at the near infinite floors above me. "Thank you, thing. We will talk again soon."

I stepped forward expecting to fall out of The Well and back into myself.

Instead, I just fell.

The door had opened, but there had been no floor for me to walk on in the room of strange black material.

Down I went, screaming for so long that I thought I would sound like Katarina's dance partner when I spoke next.

Somewhere in the endless darkness, my mind slipped away, and I opened my eyes to find that I was in the bathtub of my quarters once again.

Water was everywhere, the ceiling, the floor, the counter, Sam. Out of everything that I had splashed, my familiar was easily the most bothered by it. I had come back from The Well to something strange so many times that I knew what had happened without needing to ask.

"What is your name?" My familiar asked.

The big blue cat glared at me in a way that left no doubt he was considering the best way to pull me apart like he would a caught bird.

I answered all three of his furious questions, but made no move to leave the lukewarm bath. There was a small amount of safety as long as he thought I might splash him again.

Not very long after he left, slowly crept out of the bath and dried off, keeping close watch just to be sure that he could not sneak up on me. Wrapped in clean towels, I left the bathroom to tell Anna that I had failed.

"I tried twice, but I really don't think she is-." I started, but Anna talked over me.

"-Is more important. It only makes sense that she spends more nights in The Well than she does trying to bond with you. We don't even know what it is. I've spent three days in the library and have found nothing." She said to Sam, the two of them sitting across from one another like Katarina had been with whatever Ousmane had been.

"When you are able to find anything, perhaps I will hold your opinion at a higher value, mortal." Sam growled back at her.

"You get two nights during the week, and a half a day on her off days. That is the only thing that makes sense." Anna insisted, obvious frustration on her face.

They were arguing about who got to spend more time with me.

It was rather cute.

Before they could continue, I cleared my throat.

"Do I get a say in this?" I asked aloud.

The two of them did something together for what was possible the first time ever. In perfect unison, they gave me my answer.

"No."

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