The crickets outside guarded against the silence. An unlit lamp sat on a small table, but the only hint that the room was meant for sleeping was the bed in the corner.

In the bed, a child was curled up, gripping the blanket covering him.

Just next to the bed, a woman sat rigidly. Her eyes were a solid emerald green. No pupils, no whites. In the darkness, her eyes almost seemed to glow. The soft glow of her eyes did nothing to soften her blank expression. Her straight blond hair fell well past her shoulders, and the light color of her hair did not stop her skin from looking like it too was the color of moonlight.

Unblinking, she watched the child tighten his grip on the blanket. He whimpered.

"I'm sorry," she said. There was no meaning in her tone. It sounded like a line she'd memorized.

It didn't matter. The boy was not yet old enough to understand why she was apologizing. He was not yet old enough to recognize his god of Time.

The Shape Shifter of Time gently pulled the boy out of the bed. Staring at the child, she cradled him awkwardly. He shifted, grabbing her hair that dangled over him.

Slowly she began rocking him. A hummed lullaby escaped her lips. The child's expression relaxed, and his fist grabbing Time's blond hair unclenched.

Time's expression did not change. She merely continued the wordless song.

Behind her, the child's mother stood in the doorway.

"How dare you." The child's mother crossed her arms. There was no fire in her eyes. It was ice.

"He was having a nightmare." Time ended her song. She did not take her eyes away from the sleeping boy in her arms.

"And I could have comforted David. I could have comforted my own son."

"You could not have. He was not simply having a terrible dream. He was imagining the things that will come to pass. He does not even know the word magic, but he can enter my mind, read my thoughts." Time narrowed her eyes. "That's how powerful he is."

"It sounds like you're the problem."

Time's eyes shot away from the child to look at his mother. "Need I remind you that the only reason you've gotten to see your child's face is because I forced him out of the form of a dragonfly?" Time's expression matched the ice in the mother's eyes. "Dragons that can change their age die early. They age themselves to death, not knowing how to reverse the process. So, need I remind you that your son is alive because of me?"

The child's mother uncrossed her arms. Her cold expression did not change. "Why are you insisting on still being here?"

Time leaned forward, placing the boy back in his bed. The second the Shape Shifter's hands let him go, he curled up into a tight ball. Neither Time nor the child's mother spoke. The crickets outside could do nothing about the silence in the house.

After fixing the blanket, Time ended the silence. "The boy has so much magic running through his veins that if I were to let him be and no one was to teach him how to use it, he would lose his mind. That is what uncontrolled magic does."

David's mother responded so calmly, so quickly, it seemed as if she had already had this conversation. Perhaps she had. "Take the magic from him."

Time's eyes shot to look at the woman again. "Do not give me orders. I did not help you because your husband is my Keeper. Nor I did help David out of kindness. Do not mistake my motives."

"I apologize, I forgot." The child's mother narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms again. "For a second I thought you were acting like a god. You just hope he'll be your next Keeper, don't you? Based on what you said, he's certainly powerful enough for that."

Time looked back to the boy. What little annoyance had been on her face was gone now. Again, there was no emotion in her eyes.

"No, if he becomes my Keeper, I will have to give him a gift." The god stood up. "If I am put in a position where I have to do that, it will signal to me that my death is not only inevitable but soon. So that is where our hopes align." Time turned to face the boy's mother. "The two of us do not wish to see David Delmer as the next Keeper of Time."