As the heavy door slammed with Svilen’s exit, Beloslava released a heavy sigh of relief she was holding back due to the boldness, even new to herself, she was showing until now.  Her posestrima was able to catch her just moments before her knees met with the floor.

“Are you alright?”Kalina cried with a worry field voice.”Water! Let’s fetch you some water!” Light as a feather she rushed to the table, to pour water from the golden chalice, sitting next to the untouched food that Svilen had ordered to be brought.

“Beloslava, are you truthfully sure it is a talasum?” Blagovest was kneeling next to her, after staying passive for most of the conversation before. “Could it be something else?”

Despite taking small sips, the water still spiled from the shaking of her hands, staining her lap. Was she sure? No, but it was the closest thing she could put her mind onto for now. When she was a child, her mother would frequently tell her stories of the different ill-fated or tempered creatures she and Delyana would deal with, as part of their duties, the duties she’d one day perform as well. It seemed this day had come, sooner than anyone expected.

“My sister calls it a tale, told around the fireplace, but if it never existed, there wouldn't be a law against it, with death as punishment.” The seriousness in Kalina’s face made her look older than her fifteen years. “Bozhana.” It was Bozhana that had mentioned it one evening when the Tzarichino, the Suntolian capital was still from the cold and the snow had covered it in pure white. Every interesting thing the middle of the Petrosinovi sisters would read she’d share, and for her own standards, that was everything she would reed. But for some reason, out of the many she had was told, it was this particular information that had left the biggest information. If only they were in Tzaricino, she could ask Bozha about it, or even better she’d go on and read it herself, after finding out where it was off course.

“If we take your words, then there is no doubt about it!” The sound of his knees craking as Blagovest stood up was almost as loud as his voice. “But I hope you aren’t thinking of going after it yourselves! I have promised to keep an eye on you in your studies and quite frankly my old bones aren’t capable of keeping up with youngsters anymore.”

“No, we’ll not make you worry in any way, we promise!”

“If you say so!” The old man winked back at them as he, too left the room, leaving nothing but silence behind.

Taking a piece of bread, that Kalina had offered her, Beloslava braced herself for the allnighter they had to pull.

"Do you feel betrayed?" The words that slipped out of Albena's lips caught her husband off guards as he was yet to close the door of their chamber.

"Betrayed...I am yet to figure that out. Disappointed, fooled, curious about the many things you are to share with me, that's what I choose to share of my feelings." 

"Sharing, eh? Where to begin? Will there be time for that tonight?" The knyaginya's fingers were moving closely around one of the nearby candle's flames, with her eyes staring somewhere, still searching for a direction. Svilen grabbed her hand rather roughly, quickly letting go of it withing understanding of his actions, though keeping his dark eyes crossed with the turquoise of Albena's. "Rest, my love. Let us speak over it tomorrow!" Her palm felt cold-pressed on his burning cheeks.

"No! We''ll talk over it now! For as long as it takes!"

Albena's chuckle died out, being swallowed with the sound of a chair being pulled.

"Good thing I choose to marry you or I would have stayed single for my entire life."

"Good thing, I accepted that proposal, besides there is no way, the rest of the Grand Council would have left you to rule on your own."

"But I didn't mean, I would have been unmarried, it is just that there wouldn't be someone who'd I feel the same thing as I do for you next to me. Someone who I feel is truly capable to understand me and helping me reach my goal!"

"Quite flattering! But spare yourself the time trying tangle me in sweet words, I am already trapped!" He smiled backed, while his eyes spoke more than his lips "Are we really chasing the same goal? Because the revelation of tonight has me doubting you, which is the last thing both of us want."

"Do you think our child too will have blood on its hand, just like the two of us? Even if it is not me who draw the sword out and cut through the flesh, it was still my order, so I am to be faulted by the ones who disagree. Will our mistakes be passed down, like some twisted kind of inheritance? Even though we made them when we were too young to know the consequences? Tell me, am I at fault for looking and seeing the face of someone I despise, instead of a child who has barely any involvement besides the same blood running through her?" A long pause filled the room with silence, followed."And I see my sister lively and happy, wanting to live in a world that is so cruel for someone as good as her. So what choice do I have but to protect her, even if I have to do unforgiving things, things she'd hate me for even...but she is too forgiving for that!... Oh, I can't even take a grip of what I am saying, can I?"

What could he do now, Svilen asked himself? He knew his wife well, but that never stopped him from doubting his ability to console her.

"And when I see that girl, I can't help myself but imagine that witch watching me in her stead! Oh, God, they do look so alike! Did they send her to make sure we keep our end of the deal?" The young woman buried her head in her hands, as now she was that - a confused girl that had just stepped into womanhood. She did not weep, nor how, just silently kept her body in this position, with her husband's hands on her shoulders. After a few moments, she continued, as if she hadn't lost her composure at all in the first place "Why is that in stories witches have come to be the ones we fear, but we keep the grace of mages?" 

Being home for the first time since the death of his dear cousin was far scarier for Blagovest than the encounter on the bridge. Many things had driving him away from here over the years - loneliness, wish for adventure...guilt. Of what use can he be here? One more promise to break? To watch one more life light out? When will his turn come, he wondered as he walked past the empty and quiet halls. That was not how they were in his memories - laughter, light, hope were to be always found here, but over the pilling years he had started to question if they ever existed in the first place. 

"I can keep you two safe! By avoiding the mistakes of the past and keep myself out of your way! Yes, you must find the answers for yourself, and I hope what I leave you is of use!". His walking cane was ratling on the flour, and if you listened carefully enough it would have paper it sounded like a song. One of anticipation for a new and better beginning.