The woman behind Zericho and Dust was instantly recognizable. Her dark brown hair had been curled and pinned up, and her cobalt eyes were more patient and calculating, but the resemblance to her younger brother was still unmistakeable. She just seemed...less grumpy, which made Zericho grateful that she had been named heir to House Calla rather than her stuck-up sibling.

"Apologies, My Lord," Dust said with a low bow. "We didn't mean to disturb you."

Calla Cafonie waved her hand as Zericho followed Dust's lead. "It's quite alright, I simply overheard that you may have gotten lost and became curious. It's so rare that anything interesting happens around here." She let out a soft laugh before tapping her bottom lip with a finger. "Tell me, have I seen you before?"

Zericho swallowed as she stood straight again, trying to think of an excuse.

"Probably not, My Lord," Dust answered. "We're students from Geneira Circle's university. We heard that House Calla's library has much information on...the subjects we are studying."

"Your guard captain gave us directions to the library, but we still lost our way," Zericho added, thanking the Stars that Dust's idea sounded at least plausible.

Cafonie's eyes lit up, and she clasped her hands. "Oh, in that case, I might be able to help you! Follow me." Without waiting, she swept past them, her opulent blue skirt flaring out with the movement.

Zericho glanced at Dust, who shrugged as if to say, 'Nothing we can do now.' Taking a breath, she started after the Calla heir, footsteps still habitually silent as if that could somehow get her out of this mess.

Cafonie led them east, toward the back of the manor. Occasionally, she would pause to point out pieces of artwork on the walls, asking what the two 'students' thought, and if the art in Geneira Circle was similar. To Zericho's surprise, Dust seemed to have actual answers regarding Geneira's art—she supposed it wasn't out of the question that he'd actually been there before—so she did her best to chime in with genuine opinions. To be honest, some of the pieces were interesting, even if she still generally viewed art as a waste of resources.

Finally, they turned down a side hallway and came face-to-face with a tall set of polished wooden doors. "Welcome to House Calla's library," Cafonie told them, and a servant who had been standing to the side of the doors hurriedly pushed them open.

The room beyond was probably the biggest indoor space Zericho had seen. A hall stretched in front of them, bookshelves forming aisles on either side. To the right, a spiral staircase led up to a balcony that ran around the edges of the room.

"My mother made most of this," Cafonie said as she led them inside. "She spent years collecting books and scrolls, and organizing them all. She wanted us to love it as much as she did, but after enough years of being made to study in here...it began to look bland." She shrugged. "But it is still a pride of our House."

Zericho wasn't sure how to respond, so she stayed silent.

"Oh! Let me show you something truly interesting," the heir said in a conspiratorial tone, sweeping toward one of the aisles and going about halfway down. "What do you think of this?" she asked, waving toward a little metal statue on a marble pedestal. It was shaped in the form of a dog, but was disrupted by the large square crystal plate on its back, and the thin yellow wires running from it to various points on the statue.

Zericho frowned at it. "It's...fine? I mean, the dog looks good, but what's all the crystal for?"

Cafonie's smile widened as she whispered, "It moves in the sunlight. Like an Aster, but without a soul."

"Huh."

The library doors opened with a whoosh, and two sets of footsteps entered.

Zericho glanced at Dust, heart rate picking up. The more people who saw them here, the more explaining they'd have to do. Dust seemed to have drawn the same conclusion, jerking his head further back into their aisle. "Thank you for your help," he said quietly to the Calla heir. "I'm can sure we can find what we need from here."

"No, I'd be happy to show you around more!" Cafonie exclaimed.

The footsteps halted almost instantly. For a second, Zericho wondered if it could be her brothers...but no, they were supposed to be with Imika and Mianin in the other half of the building, and Lief would have warned her if something had changed.

"Come, let's go see who that is. Maybe they're looking for something as well," she continued, beckoning for the criminals to follow her out into the central area.

They heard one pair of feet start to backpedal, retreating quickly toward the doors, but before they could open, Cafonie stepped around the corner, a reluctant Zericho and Dust trailing behind her.

The lord's eyes lit up. "Oh! It's my darling baby brother!"

Zericho's eyes met a pair of cobalt blue ones, and her stomach dropped. Annavhe's face took on a look of raw terror, freezing in place to the point where she couldn't tell whether he was breathing. Looking to the side, she saw Kaneia, who was glancing between the two lords with a worried expression.

"My Lord Annavhe, how nice to meet you," Dust said, bowing in the frozen lord's direction. "We are students from Geneira Circle, here to study in your library." He said it pointedly, as if trying to reassure the lord that his sister hadn't caught onto their plans.

"Shouldn't there be a guard with you?" Kaneia demanded. "We allow students in the estate, but prefer that they are accompanied."

"It's quite alright," Cafonie butted it. "I am happy to show them around!"

"You are too kind, My Lord," Kaneia said with a nod. "But I can escort them from here, and make sure they find everything they need. I know the library isn't your favorite place."

Cafonie thought for a moment, but nodded. "Very well. Thank you, Kaneia." Flashing a smile at her still-frozen brother, she swept from the room.

Zericho bit her lip, meeting Kaneia's brown eyes. "Cafonie doesn't think we are anything more than students," she tried to reassure her.

Kaneia shook her head. "Later," she hissed. "Right now, I need both of you to stay silent and stay where you are."

Zericho paused, then nodded, feeling her life of freedom slip away with every passing moment. Her eyes flicked in Dust's direction, meeting a stony glare.

Oh, right, like this is my fault. She rolled her eyes and shot a glare back before refocusing on the guard and lord.

"Lord Annavhe," Kaneia prompted almost hesitantly.

After a full second, his eyes rotated in her direction, face taking on a completely blank expression. "Yes?"

She sighed. "I would suggest that you retire to your chambers for a while. I will escort these two back to theirs until we can decide what to do."

Annavhe blinked, turning toward Zericho and Dust with a hazy stare. "I think I want them gone," he murmured. "My idea was stupid anyway."

Kaneia visibly clenched her teeth. "As much as I am tempted to agree, I don't know that our plan has actually been compromised. It...may be beneficial to keep them here until we are able to discuss."

Zericho had to stop her jaw from dropping at that.

The lord took a slow breath, blinking as his gaze returned to his guard captain. "Very well," he said in the same emotionless tone. He turned around and walked from the room, holding his hands out a good few seconds before they actually found the doors and pulled them open.

Kaneia turned to the two criminals, brown eyes seething. "We will go directly back to your rooms, where you will wait until I can speak with Lord Annavhe. And since I apparently cannot trust my own guards to watch you, my Aster will instead."

Zericho blinked at that; she hadn't even known the guard captain had one. Asters were rare; they could only be given to those who already had innate power, and then the Queen herself had to shape a part of that power into a new sentient soul. Then, the most skilled of craftsmen would often spend months crafting a body that the Aster would willingly inhabit so it could move in the physical world. Most lords – at least those born with power – had one, and she knew Imika had gotten one to assist him as executioner, but pretty much no one else was given the privilege.

Dust had one, and how that had happened, she had no idea.

When neither criminal responded, Kaneia grabbed each of them by the arm, harshly pulling them out of the room. As they traced back through the hallways, Zericho finally heard Lief's voice in her head: "Kaneia isn't in our part of the building. We're heading back to the room, if you guys can meet us there."

Zericho sighed, feeling guilt rise in her throat. As the older sibling, it was her responsibility to make sure her brothers were safe, and now here they were at the mercy of a selfish lord who currently wanted nothing more to do with them.

When they turned into the hallway leading to their chambers, they saw the other group just ahead of them, about to enter the room. Mianin noticed the sound and turned around, face falling when they saw Kaneia.

"I'll take this from here," Kaniea said curtly.

The sound caused the other three to turn as well. Lief and Imika's faces took on looks of anxiety, but Darshek, being Darshek, shouted, "Get your hands off my sister!" and charged full-tilt at the guard captain.

"Dar-" Zericho started, but Kaneia had already let go of her and Dust, stepping forward and catching the 15-year-old with his arms pinned to his sides. He squirmed, but the guard didn't budge, rolling her eyes and clamping a hand over his mouth.

"Darshek, she's not taking us to the dungeon," Zericho hissed, resisting the urge to smack either her forehead or her brother.

The boy stilled, green eyes sheepishly meeting Zericho's. "Oh," he mumbled into Kaneia's hand. "I just thought she caught us, so we might as well try and get out..."

"We haven't decided whether we should give you another chance," Kaneia told him flatly, letting go and roughly shoving him away. "I need to speak to Annavhe and Mianin-" Her eyes snapped to the fidgeting guard. "-to understand how this happened and whether it is forgivable."

Darshek nodded, looking down and sliding his hands into the pockets of his new pants. Zericho smiled slightly; bullheaded or not, her brother was good at what he did.

"For what it's worth," Dust spoke up from the side, "we haven't actually jeopardized the mission in any way. As soon as Lord Cafonie found us, we were exceptionally careful to only behave as students. And..." He glanced in Darshek's direction. "It may be worth noting that we passed your trial."