Vanylla trembled where she stood, clutching at her dress as if it were her shield. "You asked for me?" she said to no one in particular as she stepped into the temple, doused with heavenly warm sun. She could make out the stone statues of various gods and goddesses in the alcoves to her left and her right. Their stone-eyes peered at her as her old headmistress used to in the village of Elsevier. Hard and scrutinising.

Towards the front of the large, long room, the ceiling ballooned out into a dome with beautiful glazed glass depicting some ancient victories. It let in all that light she could see. Below it, her family stood, doused in sunlight as if gods come to life themselves. She wondered why they all stood upon the dais, beneath the pool of sun, yet seats sat empty before them in the shadows.

Perhaps they feel as cold as I. She shivered, wanting to wrap her arm around herself to keep in some of her fading warmth. She hadn't been able to get warm for quite some days. Perhaps it had something to do with the frost that was coming, as Granny had said, or perhaps it was all the bone-chilling screams she heard as they ferried her around the battlefield, blindfolded.

'No child should see this.' Papa had torn off a part of his dark cloak and wrapped it around her eyes. 'Do not remove this, no matter what you hear, my love.' With trembling hands, he'd pulled her in and bent down to kiss her head. For a while he stood like that, perhaps breathing her innocence in to fortify his courage or mourning its loss before he had helped her step into the special chariot meant to keep her safe.

"You're here!" Attin tried to rush off the dais in her direction despite his injury but something behind her froze him on the spot before he even took a step forward, just like he used to in the game of statues they used to play back home.

"What is this about? I thought the battle was over?" Granny's voice boomed behind her, causing Vanylla to jump with fright. She'd been doing that more often than not these days. "Why do you summon the children to this–this court?" If she wasn't mistaken, she heard contempt in Granny's voice.

"Mother? What are you all doing here?" Papa faltered a little.

All? Vanylla turned around to see Granny wasn't alone. Behind her, Nessa stood, faintly smiling at her as if she knew things. She looked much healthier than she had in Elselvier, Vanylla noted. 'With more meat on her bones,' as Mama would have said. Mawsie stood on the other side, pawing at Granny's skirt, utterly clueless.

Vanylla fought the urge to wrap her little brother in the cloak of Kazan, said to protect mortals from all toils in life, real or otherwise. If only the cloak was real, and if only she knew where to get it. At least, out of all of them, Mawsie hadn't suffered other than seeking Mama every night and she wanted to keep it that way.

"Well?" Granny swatted Mawsie's hand off her skirt while glowering at Papa.

Vanylla watched the two as she used to watch Amer and Attin kick around a ball made of old hemp bags that had torn over the years.

"I have a plan to rescue Mama and we need Vin's help!" Attin blurted before an elder answered Granny. Vanylla thought he was either brave or stupid, yet his answer had her intrigued. Need me?

"Oh, you need her, do you? How so?" Granny's head cocked a little, and Vanylla thought, 'Uh oh, you're in trouble now, brother.'

"It uh..." If Attin had been a turtle, Vanylla imagined he would have retrieved into his shell, but he was no turtle, so he only retrieved his step.

"He speaks the truth, Granny," Nessa stated, stepping out into the light. "It is the only way Papa and Uncle Rea reach Mama in time to help her. And Papa needs to be there. She needs him..."

All eyes turned to Nessa, and Vanylla too stared, but Nessa, seemingly taller than she had been before her dip in the healing waters, stood proud and still like the mighty columns that held that temple. Vanylla wished she could be that sure of herself one day.

"What do you mean?" Papa asked, no doubt the question on everyone's mind.

"I saw it, Mama dressed as the bride. I didn't know what it meant then, but now, after the truce on the battlefield, it makes sense," Nessa said calmly. It was a wonder to Vanylla how she could say such a thing that calmly.

Vanylla didn't miss the way Nessa looked at her before she turned back to face Papa and Granny.

"In fact, Papa, you will not only need Attin and Vanylla's help to get to Chymer in time to stop Mama from making a mistake, but you'll also need me to guide you to her safely." Nessa's eyes clouded as she spoke, a thing that still gave Vanylla the creeps whenever she saw it. "Chymer is heavily guarded still. Uncle doesn't trust he is entirely safe until the ceremony..."

"What ceremony, Granny?" Mawsie asked, ever the curious child he was.

"A heavily guarded keep is no place for all your innocent children to go sneaking, Ovek," Granny protested, eyeing Attin. "Nessa's only just recovered her health, and Attin, he's still injured... weaves are difficult for the healthy—"

"I am healed since the lake, Granny, but I had nothing valuable to offer until now. We must hurry, Papa. She doesn't have much time and with everything going on there — people being distracted — some of their defensive weaves are down." Nessa walked up to Vanylla, grabbed her hand, and pulled her towards the dais, towards her family. "This is the only moment Attin can enter, and take us with him."

Vanylla clutched her sister's hand for dear life for many reasons, one being it was warm, and the second, she did not want to go somewhere alone again. The chill of the battlefield slowly ebbed away from the hand Nessa held, and she was sure if her sister took her in her arms, she might finally find some warmth today.

"Vin and I will help, however we can." Nessa brought them to a still at the front of the dais.

"See, Papa. Nessa sees that this is the moment, so we should make haste." Attin stepped forth. "I shall start moving our men to Chymer as quick as I can—"

"But you are only children!" Granny and Papa both protested at the same time.

"We can help, Papa." Nessa smiled bravely up at Papa, and Vanylla tried to do the same. If Nessa thought they could do it, if Nessa could see their success, then who was she to doubt her older sister?

"We can help," Vanylla added, though her resolve was a little shakier.

"We are the only ones who can help." Nessa looked to Attin . "Not an army. You cannot transport them all, Attin, just us."

"But I can."

"Not without dying!" Nessa's voice was hard. "And an army is noticeable. Those you see here are the only I saw in Chymer keep."

"Even me?" Mawsie asked from behind. "I want to see Mama too."

"No. Not you." Papa nearly shouted at Mawsie. "Mama, please, get him out of here. This is no place for a six-year-old boy."

"I'm almost seven!"

"Mawsie!" Ursa reprimanded. "Do as Papa says. Go."

"Nessie?" Mawsie asked, pleading, but Nessa could melt now.

"No, Mawsie. I don't see you join us."

Mawsie reluctantly followed Granny towards the door.

"Papa?" Nessa turned to their father. "Now."

"Nessa." Papa sounded unsure. Beside him, Ursa too fidgeted.

Still holding Vanylla's hand in one, Nessa reached with the other to touch Papa. "You don't have time."

A rush of images assaulted Vanylla's vision then. One minute, she was staring up at Papa, and the next, she could see Mama, standing in front of some mirror, in some castle she'd never been to, beautiful. A beautiful bride.

How is this possible?

A moment later, breathless, both Papa and Vanylla folded over, almost wanting to throw up from the visions. "Mama is getting married?" Vanylla couldn't help but ask, trying to find her feet.

"We have to move!" Nessa stepped up onto the dais, resolute. "Now."

***

Nessa gasped as darkness momentarily wrapped around them like a viper. She could not see, hear, or even breathe. A moment ago she'd held Attin's hand in one and Papa's in the other, in their tight circle as Attin wove a portal with Vanylla's help. The next moment, she, Papa, Uncle Rea, Vanylla, and Attin tumbled onto the cobalt stone pathway just outside the tall stone city wall of Chymer. The keep was somewhere inside, beyond their vision, beyond their reach.

"Why are we outside the wall?" Attin glanced at Papa. "We were to be inside, Pa!"

Papa's face twisted in torment. "It'd be dangerous inside for you..."

"Papa!" Nessa struggled to control her temper. "You cannot protect us, not like this. Right now, we're not the only ones in danger. Our entire world is."

Papa tried to form words on his lips, but no sound came out.

"If you do nothing today, or you delay this..." Nessa grabbed Papa's face and stared into his eyes. "We all die. See that wall there"—she pointed up at the stone wall with parapets where the tips of canons were visible — "we hang from there three days hence. Why do you think this world no longer has young weavers? All your children, including I, a half-human, are weavers... the last of us. We will hang as the rest of them did. All the Rodins and the Ryes."

Papa stood frozen on the spot, staring up at the wall.

Nessa turned to her brother then. "Go, Attin. Go bring Ursa and Amer, here."

"We'll be back. Don't go anywhere." Attin nodded, and he and Vanylla blinked out as if they'd never really stood there.

"Papa!" Nessa pulled at his collar. "He executed every child underage in all the land, any who showed a hint of weaving. Do you want that for us, too?"

He shook his head. "Rodin and Rye died here?"

"No. They died in their sleep. Their throats slit while they slept in their rooms." Uncle Rea's voice was so small Nessa could scarcely hear it. "I couldn't protect my children in my home." He looked away and swiped a tear. "I buried them in the night... I hadn't the heart to tell Orsana the truth, and I lied... saying perhaps he couldn't kill them, for they were his kin... that perhaps he holds them captive."

"She still holds some tiny hope that you are right and that they may be alive in the deep dungeons of Chymer." Nessa grabbed her uncle's hand and gave it a squeeze. "It is time, Uncle. You must tell her the truth and forgive her."

"Forgive her?" Uncle Rea looked quizzical, but he could ask no questions of her before Attin, Vanylla, Ursa, and Amer plodded forth from thin air as the day lost light quickly. "We need to move." Nessa grabbed her uncle then, ignoring her father. "How well do you know the keep?"

"I know it fairly well. I used to attend court here in the thaw."

"Then you shall guide us in." She pulled his hand, prompting all to hold on tight to each other. "Think of the one place inside, closest to the grand hall, yet tucked away out of sight. Mama is in her room, somewhere above the hall..." Her visions swam in front of her eyes. She hoped they could all see it too, not just the two people whose hand she held in hers. She didn't yet know how her powers worked or their limits. "He stands in the hall, ready to..."

"I see it!" Attin blurted.

Somewhere, as if from the distance, she could also hear the faint sweetness of another voice she hadn't expected. NO! What is he doing here? But before Nessa could tell Attin to wait or 'no, not yet, wait for Uncle Rea's vision, not mine,' she could feel the air pressing squeezing her lungs in the dark.

... to be continued in part 3...