Taking my leave, I wander back towards the Stocked Pantry, which is still brimming with noise and light this late into the evening. The establishment is part wood and part stone, which is probably somehow related to why it hasn't burned down yet, and like Alabaster's, it was made by the residents instead of shaped from the existing earth. Most houses in the Glade are, though not all of them- it's a strange in between, but Canira rarely mind and my own home is serviceable enough.

The inside of the Stocked Pantry is more elaborate still, full of light from candles and overhanging orbs that rest in the air like small stars, emitting no heat. Most of the warmth along with all of the noise comes from those still hanging around. The older denizens of the Glade sit on any conceivable surface, enjoying boxes that once held supplies, kaanin furs, and some just stand leaning against each other, whispering idly into each other's ears. The room itself is spacious but still cozy, decorated with the aforementioned furs and scattered boxes, with a makeshift bar towards the back. Past there lies shelves of warm pastries and a door to the owner's house, where she lives with her two adoptees.

I'm about to order some food myself when I'm affectionately headbutted by a small tuft of stormcloud and fur. Asha Violaera looks up at me with eager eyes, tail swinging. She's gray with darker spots mottling her side, with long and tufty fur, which just barely manages to disguise how thin she is. Her pale blue gaze catches mine and she lights up. "Rose!"

Behind her lumbers Ace, the remains of a frosted sweet clinging to the tips of his jowls. He's wearing a long cape that's made out of material no nicer than the bags on the floor, though his dark fur struggles to escape from it. He's of a violet hue, though parts of his coat are closer to a deep navy. Though he, like Asha, comes from the noble Stelparada breed of Canis, the common term being "marked with stars", he has no evidence of any spots.

"Looking at something?" he asks.

"You've got pastry all over your face." Asha says.

"I was thinking more about the cape, but yes, you do." I say, raising a paw. "You should get that."

He runs his tongue across his muzzle with a broad smile.

"The cape makes you look like a potato, too." Asha points out, gripping the edge with her teeth playfully.

"Do I make a handsome potato?" Ace nudges her with his nose and she lets go, tail still flailing everywhere.

Asha giggles. "Yes. You're the best potato ever."

"Great. Now that we've got that out of the way... I can't believe you went in for the Hymn of Souls, Rose." His tone is kind, even pitying.

"I didn't." I tell him.

He seems remarkably unsurprised. I get the feeling a lot of the reactions are going to be like this. Ace continues, "Were you just there to get him to confess? I think we all want an answer, but I don't know if you're going to get what you want from him."

I smile. "I ordered a potentially permanent delay on his execution, actually. You should've seen the look on Alabaster's face."

"You did?" Ace's ears perk.

"Mhm. I have reasonable doubt he may not be guilty. In fact, he claims he might be able to help me sort this all out. He might not be completely reliable, sure, but I could use the help." I try to ignore how suddenly my heart has picked up at the thought of said 'help'. I suppose I'm more excited about it than previously anticipated.

Ace shakes his head. "You're a little crazy, you know that?"

"I could be- or I might be onto something."

Asha, who has long since gone silent, is leaning into his pelt. "You've got a little something else there," I tell him, gesturing to her. "Funny, she was so active just a second ago."

"She does that." he says. "She's... definitely been a little more erratic lately. Asha, you should probably head home. Hirina and Anue are going to be worried about you."

"They know I'm with you." Asha argues, pawing at his cape.

"You need sleep." Ace is gentle but firm.

"I don't want to go to sleep without you. The winter queen is coming for me. She only goes away when you're there." protests Asha.

"Go to Anassa's, get some lavender, and sleep with Ginger tonight. You'll be fine."

Asha pouts, then gets up abruptly from Ace's side and rushes out of the Pantry, knocking over a chair with her tail on the way out.

I turn to Ace. "'The winter queen'?"

"I've told you about how bad her nightmares are before. The Winter Queen is the new name she's given whatever's hunting her down."

"I thought you said that she stopped having them." I say. It had been late last summer when Ace and Ivy had finally managed to make a poultice that miraculously warded away the worst of Asha's visions. It was the last legitimately useful thing my other sister did in the past several years.

"They're back." Ace looks at least ten years older than he actually is. "I don't know if there's some meaning or something behind them, but whatever they are, they have to be more than idle dreams. They're very... very elaborate. Not to mention terrifying. I mean, she wakes up close to the moon's height, so it could be a soul issue,

"Is Ace Violaera reciting dream theory?" I ask, amused. "No one knows how accurate any of that is, you know. It's a very new branch of magic."

"Yes, I've been... studying." Ace sighs wistfully. "And if it helps Asha, then it's real enough. She's worth every sleepless night since the day I found her."

I nod. We have a long standing tradition of taking in outsiders around the Glade, and the relationship between the two siblings is possibly one of the tightest bonds between any I've ever known, blood relatives or otherwise.

"Still, if we could not have the nightmares," Ace mentions, his eyes rimmed with shadow, "That would be nice. I haven't slept in weeks."

"My condolences." Just then, my stomach growls, clearly annoyed by my sidetracking. "I, er- I still fasted for the hymn, you know." I admit bashfully.

Ace's eyes flash with sudden realization and he perks up immediately. Raising his head and planting his front paws on the makeshift table before us, he yells, "Hey, Blitz! Mind getting Rose a sunshower loaf? She's had a rough day."

Several bystanders turn. I recognize Eris and Tammory, whose stares, though most likely well intentioned, are boring into my skull. Keeping my head down, I hiss, "Ace!"

"What, shy?" His eyes twinkle with fiendish mischief.

"I... really don't want to have to discuss the visit with Tammory. She's going to kill me if she finds out I delayed an execution. You know, food this, logistics that, potential threat to citizens, blah blah blah." I roll my eyes, seething. I have no doubt in my mind that Tammory will have an earful for me later no matter what I do and I am not looking forwards to it.

"Is he a threat?" asks Ace, concerned.
"He claims he was just stealing a loaf of bread. Not that I condone that, but it sounds more desperate than criminal. You know, feral stuff."

"Oh."

"Speaking of ferals, here I am. I'll put this on the tab." A crimson Canira approaches us with the sunshower loaf on a plate on his back. He shrugs it off and it lands right on the table with a clatter. I feel myself tremble in anticipation. The sweet scent wafting off the bread is nigh unbearable, and Blitz notices how antsy I am. "You feelin' alright, Rose?"

"Fine," I tell him, trying not to let my mouth water. "Ace is just fussing over me a little. You have a nice night, Blitz."

Blitz nods before retreating back into the backroom.

I place one paw on the loaf and rip nice bites out. The 'sunshower' loaf is so named because it's coated in a fine layer of honey, topped with sugar, making it look as if there are little drops of sunlight clustered in there. The bread itself is airy and sweet. The entire thing is comfort food at its finest and I couldn't care less.

"So. Back to the topic of sisters..." Ace says.

"Don't." I warn, glaring at him.

"How's Ivy?"

I barely stop to respond. "You'd know better than I would." I take another bite into the sugary bread. My eyes water with the intensity of the flavor. "This is incredible."

"I'm not so sure about that, Rose. You and her know each other better than you think you do. I just think now that Daisy is gone, it's more important than ever that you look after each other and-"

"This stuff, I'm telling you- Rye is a genius-" I say loudly, mouth full of food.

Ace sighs. "We're having two separate conversations, aren't we?"

I swallow. "Only if you insist on making it awkward."

Ace looks out towards the exit. "If you want to be this way, that's your business. Asha probably needs me. I'll see you tomorrow, Rose." He gets up to his paws, shakes the crumbs and dust off his pelt, and then saunters out into the night.

I bitterly take another bite of my bread. I'm alone now and the lights have dimmed significantly. Rye is probably asleep already, and Blitz and Morgan are just cleaning up, the mismatched duo wandering the silent room with the grace of shadows. Blitz is just as finely muscled and thick and Morgan is lithe and almost malnourished, so you'd never believe that both of them live under the same roof, do the same chores, and eat the same astounding amount of food.

Morgan's gold eyes catch mine from under her skull-like mask of a face. She's one of the more eccentric breeds of Canira, dark fur and bone ornaments making her look like death itself. Even she looks slightly pitying. She nudges Blitz, cold bone against his warm fur, and now he's watching me too.

My fur prickles. I feel like I'm surrounded by predators, the last piece of prey in a vacated area of the forest. "I'll be heading out now." I assure them, keeping my poise. I slip away into the darkness and then bolt home, which is terribly hard to find in the dark. We live beneath a particularly lopsided tree, which rests in the air as if halfway through falling. Beneath the complex root system that miraculously holds it up are well-dug rooms we've spent years hollowing and compacting, sparse in furnishing but well prepared for weather.

The dirt smell, though deeply entwined with those of my sisters, reminds me of the prison in the earth tonight. Something like a cry of pain escapes me and is swallowed by the walls. My room is colder than usual tonight, the leaves already rotting. The kaanin fur we got last year on the anniversary of the day we entered the Glade still sits in Daisy's small corner, pitiful as the animal it used to be, half curled over itself.

Three days and it would have been my turn. I can't bring myself to put it on- I want every last bit of Daisy's scent still in the house to stay there long as possible. I've already buried my face in everything else of hers until all there was left to smell was my own panic.

So tonight, I lie on the earth between our small shelf in the wall and the pile of scrolls that are nigh impossible to read in the dark anyways (but when was the last time we put on a candle?). I brush the slowly warming leaves up around me and turn four times for good luck.

"Good night, Daisy. Night, Ivy."

For my own sake, I believe it- this home grows colder when I remember that there's no one here.