Chapter 138

Ilyin stared out the window, down at the area down below where Aden would soon be passing though Biflten’s tall gate that led outside the high walls. No monster yet had been able to climb them, she’d been told.

This place was truly a refuge. Ilyin had never truly felt the comfort of home before, but she did here. In the past, whenever she had heard guests or maids speak longingly of home, she had been jealous. The word had always seemed to mean something different for her than for them.

Certainly, Viscount Arlen’s mansion hadn’t been a home for her. But Biflten mansion had become just that – the place that waited for her, worried for her. The place she could rest, where she could set down her worries and fears.

The sense of comfort, of warmth, made her drowsy despite herself, and she raised her hand to stifle a yawn. Etra, sitting right across from her, noticed immediately and sprang up.

“Should I tell them to get the bed ready, ma’am?” she asked.

“So sorry to yawn in the midst of our conversation,” Ilyin said.

“Not at all, ma’am. It’s time for you to sleep,” Etra said with a smile.

“Then thank you,” Ilyin replied.

Despite Etra’s request, the bed was always ready. For their Mistress, still so unused to the cold air, it was always prepared with a hot water bag covered in soft cloth under the blanket. They needed only to remove it and straighten the blanket for Ilyin.

Etra excused herself while Ilyin made herself ready for bed.

Thank you always,” Ilyin whispered to Etra as she prepared to lay down.

“Rest well, ma’am,” Etra answered. She turned and noticed the mobile that was now barely hanging off the edge of the dresser.

“Ma’am, do you wish me to keep this somewhere?” she said, examining it. It seemed important to her Mistress. It didn’t seem a good idea to just leave it lying around.

Ilyin looked at the mobile, her mother’s item. She couldn’t hold back memories from the warm region when she saw it.

“Or do you want me to hang it up?” Etra continued, smiling.

Ilyin’s eyes widened at the suggestion. She hadn’t wanted it hung in the bedroom as it had been in the Viscount’s mansion. But this was Biflten, her true home. Hanging the mobile now would never change that.

“Can you do that?” Ilyin asked. It was unusual, a mobile hanging in an adult’s bedroom. But Etra nodded.

“Of course, ma’am. This is your Delrose,” she said.

And 7th floor is yours as well, she thought. Why should the Mistress of Delrose care what others would think?

“Then please do so,” Ilyin said.

“Yes, ma’am. And call me any time if you need me,” Etra replied, gathering up the mobile to go look for a cord of some kind that would go well with its colors. Ilyin saw a final twinkle of the mobile as it passed through the doorway before Etra closed the door behind her.

***

As Ilyin slept, Red Delrose’s completed their preparations. Aden moved stealthily into her room, kissing her goodbye while being careful not to wake her, then left just as quietly. If all went well, he would return swiftly.

And through all of that, Ilyin dreamed.

She opened her eyes to the sight of Yesters charging through the white field of snow. As always in the dreams, the Yesters took no notice of her.

The dream had put in her the very midst of the monsters. Ilyin flinched as the orange-scaled creatures ran past.  She couldn’t help gasping as each one passed close, as they even passed through her. She kept an irrational fear that, like the violet-eyed being, the Yesters might suddenly notice, might look at her.

The Yesters spread out, as though they were trying to avoid pursuit.

This was it, she thought. This was the foresight of Den’s attack on the Yesters’ base. She took a step forward, passing through Yesters like a ghost, then shifted herself in the dream to a new location at the front of the Yesters’ base.

Kyaaak!

Aden’s divine power shone brightly in front of the base. Even through the gray sky and thick white swirl of the terrible blizzard around them, the light of his power was undiminished. She had been told that the light shone even brighter as it got stronger in the coldest places. Here, where his power melted away the snow and revealed the soil, the light on the bare earth made it look like the warm region.

[Catch every single one of them!]

Idith’s voice. The Delrose knights were attacking Mollys. As expected, the Mollys couldn’t ride the northern wind as the Yesters did. They were falling behind and being cut down without even the chance to use their magic.