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Ron and Ria were following Lady Lachersia and the little girl. Walking through the piled up snow was hard for their short and weak legs but they did their best to keep up.

They were both somewhat confused and their memories were blurry but they felt that Lady Lachersia was very scary. She was so scary that even a single glance from her made them want to cry.

They didn’t understand why they were so afraid. They knew that Lady Lachersia saved them when their home village burned down and they should’ve felt admiration, gratefulness, or any number of emotions but fear was not on that list. And yet they couldn’t help it.

They were too confused, too afraid and too young to question their feelings or understand what it meant that their home was destroyed, so they could only follow blindly and without and doubts.

It was a convenient thing for Lachersia so she made no effort to change their behavior.

They were deeply afraid by Lady Lachersia but the little girl that followed her, her name seemed to be Jennifer. Or was it Yenni-er? Her name was quite strange for the children of the Northern Lands. Anyway, while the twins were afraid of Lady Lachersia, they were deeply disturbed by Jennifer. Throughout the whole time they walked, Jennifer either stared at the trees and the snow and the skies with a strange smile and expression that didn’t change even once, or she would stare at them, with the same smile and expression.

There was something that made the children shiver despite the warm coats they wore in that stare. Something inhuman and inhumane.

They felt like Jennifer, who looked absolutely harmless to humans and animals, dissected them with that stare and pulled out the deepest and most personal parts of their souls. It was even worse when they took out their favorite toys, the sticks they have always played with, once in front of her. They felt like the stare of the strange and terrifying creature in front of them became even more intense. They offered Jennifer their toys but then Jennifer smiled a very happy and benevolent smile and the twins both cried.

The trip was going very well. Jennifer enjoyed it immensely. There was something about the forest that drew out her curiosity. The forest was beautiful and majestic, it felt like the forest contained within itself many secrets and tales, it was a land of wonders and mystery.

The children also seemed very well. They were as mystifying as the first time she saw them (a week ago) and seemed to live in their own world. It was always fun watching them go about their own business and react to everything. Once they played together with their sticks and Jennifer was interested in what they were doing and they invited her to play together, though it was obvious they didn’t want to be disturbed. In the end they even cried… But that was just a small episode.

Jennifer felt like she wasn’t suited for communicating with children. She just couldn’t understand them. It was great that they were twins if it was a single child, neither she nor Lachersia would know how to deal with them. At least the children weren’t lonely together…

Jennifer was a bit sad that she didn’t have a sibling, though maybe she did but had forgotten about them. After all, she had a strange and complex mood whenever she heard the term “younger sister”. Maybe she had a younger sister but their relationship wasn’t the best? No, it was a more subtle feeling, like she had a younger sister but the sister was… yes, it should be about right, the sister might’ve been a bothersome person. Or something like that. Jennifer’s classification of “bothersome people” was very broad and profound. There were likeable but bothersome people in the world too.

In the first place, whether she had a sister was doubtful and unimportant.

At last, she, Lachersia, Ron and Ria had arrived at the Capital of the Laras Duchy.

Jennifer and Lachersia had visited it once and neither was impressed. The Capital was a small town, with a sparse population and it had very little to offer. All of the buildings were made built with wood and were very simple and crude in design in the bigger part of the city, where the majority lived. The mages and the more wealthy in general lived in their own district, but the style of that part of the city was also unimaginably bland and tasteless. Lachersia really missed her extravagant tower.

All in all, the Capital of the Duchy was not a place worth seeing.

The high amounts of bars and people who frequented them didn’t help with that image either and the only thing that maybe made the place a little more interesting was that there were many ice sculptures everywhere. Well, whoever sculpted them weren’t that talented or proficient with the art of sculpting but at least it made the city stand out somewhat.

“Let’s go find the Duke and be done with all of it, right, Jennifer?”

Lachersia really missed her tower. In the first place, Grand mages were for the most part reclusive creatures that reacted badly to sunlight, wide open spaces, fresh air and maybe holy water.

“Okay”

Jennifer wanted to get out of this place sooner too. She looked at the twins and spoke in a soft and gentle voice as not to startle the strange creatures:

“Do you want to go with us too?”

Feeling that the “benevolence” in the voice of Jennifer rose by at least 60% the twins nodded their heads like their lives depended on it. Perhaps they really did.

Though soon they regretted agreeing so easily when they saw that the eyes of Lady Lachersia greyed a bit.

And Lachersia was dissatisfied with how Jennifer was more interested in the children than in her- Than in their plan. Indeed, it was important. The plan. Not the scenery, the children or other unrelated beings, not the wind nor the Sun and not the bland town, Jennifer should have been paying more attention to La- la idea de Jennifer y Lachersia.

Indeed.

At that time the carriage with the Duke and his confidants and the priest who has been drained by the constant need to take care of the comatose Mark had arrived at the Capital of the Duchy.

Elisa was walking through the town she randomly found still. It was not a remarkable town but her instincts told her that something worthwhile will be happening here soon. So she waited for that opportunity.

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