The snowy path to Hymneth never felt all that cold when Anna and I walked it together.

It helped that I had not just been beaten into something resembling pudding, and that I was not trudging through the snow half naked, but it was mostly Anna.

After I had told her about the drink I had earned from Precept Zetta, I had not told her exactly how I had won it, Anna had agreed to go to the little frozen town with me if I went and visited Ms. Lao with her after. I had not enjoyed overhearing that Anna's mother thought she loved me too much the last time I saw her, but the raven haired girl that I lived with could have asked me to learn to fly in return and I would have done it.

Then there was the Arthur business, Anna and I both wanted to know if the giant that we had heard tale about was the smiling man we thought it was.

I needed to know if Tana's Arthur was our Arthur.

I shuddered at the thought of Tana having an Arthur, she didn't deserve anything quite that nice.

Properly bundled up and with a silent Alexei following close behind us, we left Lun and Anna had started telling me about her time in the library.

"The days are never long enough and that place gets creepier and creepier the further down you go. It's just too much," She said, her dark eyes flickering to my every other step or so. We held hands as we walked. The gloves we both wore kept our skin from touching, but the slight pressure of her fingers was better than nothing. "What happened to her? What does being a twinsoul mean? Like, I know what it means, but what does it really mean? Do The Mothers all live together in one big house, or do they secretly hate each other? Where did The Well come from, and how did a little girl manage to steal it? I know there are answers down there, but every time I find something, it adds ten more books I have to read through just to understand it. I need an assistant."

"You could borrow Sam. If I tell him to help you, he can't say no." I shrugged and offered. The big blue cat wouldn't like to, but that's the price he would pay for knowing how to read.

A low pitched hiss came grinding out of the evergreens on our right and Sam's deep voice echoed loud enough to shake snow down from the branches above. "Yes, My Lady. Command me to help the mortal. She will have nothing to overwhelm her any longer."

It was Anna's turn to shudder.

"Nope. I don't like the sound of that one bit. He is the only thing that could actually make the library creepier." She said as she kept an eye on the spaces between the trees.

I turned around and glanced at the white haired man walking behind us. "What about Master Alexei? All he does is stand around. He could help you."

If I had not looked back at him, the only sign that he was there at all would have been the quiet clinking of his swords in their sheaths, and that was only because he let them make a sound so his silence would not scare me.

Anna shook her head. "I was wrong, there are two things that could make the library creepier. Don't worry about it, I'll find the answer to something and then I won't have so much to think about. Too bad I can't just hold my hand up and call the name of the book I want."

"I can barely do that. It only works with one name, but you can stop, you know?" I don't mind if you just lay around and think about me all day." I said in a half whisper. I meant it as a joke, but I really wouldn't have. It was what I did with her most of the time.

"It only works with one name for now, and I don't want to stop, dummy. That's not what I'm saying. The Mothers, Zenithcidel, all these stories about foxes and giants, I would have never known any of it existed without you. The least I can do is help you make sense of it all. After all, no one else seems to be willing to," She said with a smile before bumping her shoulder into mine. "Besides, all I have to do is wait for you to become The Blue Lady, and then you can command some poor soul to bring me all the books I want."

A blustery gust of winter wind swept through the trees as the short bridge to Hymneth came into view, and I braced myself against the cold that snuck through the seams of my clothes.

"I told you that I will never be The Lady in Blue. Even if I was, it wouldn't be here. How are both of you not freezing?" I asked as I looked back at my guard again.

He wore nothing but a long sleeve shirt and pants. They were dark blue and patterned with white waves that cut across his body, but I didn't see how he could be anything close to warm.

Anna was not much better. She had dressed me in more layers than I could count, but all she wore to ward off the cold was my grey uniform jacket, her gloves, and my cuffed boots.

"It's really not that cold. We are gonna be inside in a minute anyways. It's not my fault you are built out of broomsticks and paper." Anna said with a wicked smirk on her face.

I shoved my shoulder back into her harder than she me. "Hey, that's mean. You are skinnier than I am."

"Only because I don't eat fried potatoes everyday, and it's not mean. I didn't say that I disliked broomsticks or-" Anna started, but her words trailed off as Alexei slipped past us.

"Wait." The white haired man said as he held his palm back to us to add weight to his command.

The snowy trail looked the same as it always did, the bridge still stood over the small ravine underneath, and there were the same guards that had been stationed there since the attack on the gatekeeper. The difference came from how many guards there were. I counted five hollow blue circles on the chests of the men that stood on the bridge and spread out to its sides, and each one of them was watching our approach.

I stopped and waited like Alexei had told me to, but Anna never missed a step.

"Hold on, he told us to wait." I said, but made no effort to free myself from her grasp.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Only because he doesn't want us to hear what is said. Come on."

Alexei glared back at us with his one white eye, but before he could say another word, one of the guards began to speak.

"Master Alexei. These two are with you?" The man asked, his face pressed into an expression that was all hard lines and furrowed brows.

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I would have likely looked that miserable if I had to stand out in the cold like they did, so I did not hold it against him.

"And the cat," Alexei answered with a quick glance to where Sam had appeared from within the evergreens. "Are all of you certain that this bridge needs to be so heavily guarded?"

"The other ways into town are worse, we thought we could keep the numbers low here since you are up at the school," The guard answered as he looked around the trail we had just come down and lowered his voice. "There have been even more sightings. Just last night, a courier girl was chased through the forest on her way back up the mountain."

Alexei gave no sign that he was concerned. "Slip bears. Had to be. They are known to attack travelers this time of year."

"Couldn't be. I talked to her. She described the demon down to the last detail. Long white hair, pale blue skin, ghostly yellow eyes, it had to be him." One of the other guards insisted.

"The walking storm is here, Master Alexei. We all saw the rain." Said a third.

A fourth guard appeared from behind the others. He was much older, and the wrinkles on his face only made him look more concerned. "Aye, It's Azeralohane. He'll start taking girls soon, just like he did when I was in The Mother in Brown's domain."

Alexei tapped his finger against the side of his head and a single strand of his white hair fell loose from its tie. "Keep your mind in here. It will do none of you good if you start being taken by fairy tales and campfire stories. Whatever is happening here, I will put an end to it soon enough."

We passed over the bridge after that, each of the intimidating men giving us small smiles and nods as we walked by them.

Sam did not join us.

The big blue cat took one look at the bridge before leaping over the narrow ravine and disappeared down the snow covered buildings of the town.

Anna spoke once we were far enough away from the bridge that the guards had stopped watching us.

"How do you know them, creep? Are they like the manor guards in Erosette?" She called back to where Alexei had resumed silently stalking behind us.

"Insulting someone before you ask them a question is not a good way to receive an answer, Lady Anna." Alexei said simply.

Anna nodded to herself and sighed. "Right. It's just so hard not to think of you that way. How do you know them?"

Alexei gave her an answer, but it only answered part of her question. "They were all guards at Lun."

"Why aren't they now?" She said as she rolled her eyes.

I knew her well enough to know, but she was trying very hard to not be rude to my white haired guard.

"Because I have returned." He sighed as if him being enough to replace the dozens of guards that I had seen Hymneth was not either the most terrifying or most arrogant thing anyone had ever said.

Anna pulled my hand and slowed our pace so she could look at him while she talked.

"Where did you return from, and why?" She asked a third question, her dark eyes glinting with what looked like genuine interest.

I knew that look well, it was how she looked at me most of the time I talked.

"When he doesn't answer right away, that means he won't. You are better off asking him something else than waiting." I said, happy that I knew something that was actually helpful.

"Fine. Why does there need to be a next Blue Lady? Aren't The Ladies immortal like The Mothers." Anna said with frustration evident in her voice.

"That is a very good question. I was warned of your intellect, Lady Anna," Alexei said with a slow nod before he pointed past us. "I believe they are waving at you, Ire."

Anna and I both turned around to see two girls hurrying down the street towards us with their hands in the air. They were dressed as I was, bundled in layer after layer to ward off the chilly night air, beneath their hats and scarves however, I recognized them.

"Ire. Hey, Ire!" Vanda called and waved again.

Anna nudged her elbow into my ribs. "Don't be awkward, wave back. Those are your (sisters) now right?"

My warm layers were not enough to keep her jab from bringing a small pain back to my healing stomach.

"Hey, Vanda! Hey, Plia!" I called and waved back, wondering where Mallory was and hoping very much that Tana was with none of them.

All of us met in the middle of the street and there was a long moment where none of us talked.

It seemed that the other new moons needed an elbow to the ribs just as I had because standing there and not talking felt so awkward that I thought about running away.

Anna elbowed me again. "Well, introduce me."

"This is Anna. She is my. . ." I trailed off, not really knowing what I should call her. I knew what she would be one day, but if I told the others she was my coach, I doubted they would understand.

"Partner. I think I met both of you last week," Anna took over. "You have the kind face, so you must be Vanda. And you look like you need a good meal and good nights sleep, so that makes you Plia."

"It is very nice to meet you again, Anna." Vanda said with a smile and a small nod.

"This is nice and all, but can we hurry up? I'm starving and I don't want to make Precept Zetta wait any longer." Plia said as she pulled her knit hat even further down on her head.

"Why is Precept Zetta waiting on you?" I asked as we all began to walk again. I was likely the only person in the group that did not know how to get to where we were going, so I made sure that I was not in the lead.

Plia shook her head. "She isn't. She is waiting on you. Mallory is trying her best to get our teacher drunk, and she is waiting on you. She sent us out here to find you."

"Oh, right," I remembered that I had earned a drink from our possibly drunk teacher. "I can't go yet, I have to go to the medery first."

Plia's shoulders sagged. "Oh no. She is going to be so mad if we come back without you. She is going to make you hit me again."

Anna laughed. "I'll be honest, being a student at Lun sounds awful."

"It is!" Plia cried in agreement as we turned a corner and entered a street that was nowhere near as empty as the first had been.

"If you don't mind me asking, what is it that you do?" Vanda asked Anna.

Anna bumped her shoulder into me once again. "Besides taking care of Ire here, I work for The Mother in Blue. It's mostly reading books and blowing off dust, but I stay busy."

She gave me a wink that only I could see, and I could barely hide my smile at her playful deception. For the first time since we had begun our walk, Anna let go of my hand. She stepped away from me and started towards the medery without me.

"You go ahead, from what you've told me about Precept Zetta, you shouldn't keep her waiting. I'll go see Ma," She said with a smile. "If who we think is there, is there, I might even get her to come with me."

"Are you sure?" I asked, trying my best to not sound pitiful.

She kept walking as she answered me. "Of course, I'll be back soon. I promise."

All I could do was watch her turn around and leave me alone with the others.

Only, the others had left me as well.

Once Anna had vanished down an alleyway, I turned around myself and found that I was alone.

Not even Alexei had stayed with me.

Before I could slip into the panic that I felt rising up my throat, Plia appeared in the frame of an opening door and pulled me inside. "See, Precept Zetta! I told you we found her. Can I eat now?"

The door of The Boiler shut behind me, and I hoped with every part of me that Anna would keep her promise before the cold crept back in.

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