The dining hall had never been quite as loud as it was the day after Alexei and Radomir's fight.

I did not know what had happened after Precept Jasna had sent for Nami because it did not take very long for me to grow uncomfortable with how many moons were staring at me.

Being seen running out of the place that they all thought something very interesting was happening seemed to only make them more interested in me.

Even once Anna and I made it back to our quarters, the floor had continued to shake into the night. Much to Anna's displeasure, I had spent several hours interrupting our talks by checking the hall for any sign of my white haired guard.

When the shaking finally stopped, and I was forced to accept that I had no control over when Alexei returned, I abandoned my post so I could tell Anna everything that I had to tell.

Katarina's story, the massive crystal, the shrines of the three men, all the strange tools that had been laying on what I understood to be workbenches, The Mothers arriving, forcing myself through the glamor that I had mistaken for the wall, once I was no longer distracted, all of it came out of me like a flood.

Anna had me stop, slow down, double back, and repeated myself several times as she scrawled my tellings into one of her uncountable notebooks.

I had taken my time once I reached Othersam's rampage, not wanting to miss a single thing that The Mothers had said.

Anna had needed to teach me what the word enigma meant, had checked her long list of names for any mention of Alres and Ranus, waited for me to tell a terrible version of the story Precept Zetta had told about Rory, scratched her head when the word corruption sounded familiar to her, and finally was left with a question so large she opened a bottle of wine just to ask it.

Who was the they that Azza and Nami had spoken of?

Who was lying to them?

Who was keeping them from telling me whatever truth that they felt like I needed to know?

After I got it all out, even my own irrelevant question about why Alexei wasn't allowed in the library, Anna went to work.

She never was more beautiful to me than when there was some problem in her head, she was trying to work out. Watching her pace, think out loud, take long drinks of her wine, and burn through countless pieces of paper was a sight that I would never grow tired of seeing.

Sometime after she had started using all the gifts that I had brought her from Silkcradle to hold her papers in place on the floor, I laid down on the bed to watch her more and fell asleep.

There were no dreams, only a fading memory of Anna working away and then the sight of her sitting in the center of a book and paper built maze.

She hadn't slept, and when I finally convinced my body to roll out of bed, we both realized just how late I was.

Leaving my stockings at our door, I had sprinted towards Precept Cherith's hall with my sandals in hand. Two guards of the kind that I was used to seeing in Hymneth had given me strange looks from where they stood outside the library, but Caerulus's lullaby had filled my mind before I truly realized that they were there.

Lun's halls had been far fuller than I was used to them being. First crescents, half moons, Precept Seram and Shanti, all of them had turned to look at me as I climbed the singing stairs.

Reaching Precept Cherith's glamored door so quickly that I almost felt like there was a white haired man chasing after me, I had continued down the hall and locked myself in my little room to catch my breath.

If I had been asked why I was late, I likely would have lied. Precept Zetta had given me detention once before, but I truly had not been in trouble.

And, she liked me enough to make me a princess.

No matter how comforting her presence was, I had not done nearly enough to impress my Restoration teacher to think it would not be punished.

So, if she had asked me for an explanation, I would have told her that I had come up early to tend to the creature that had been left in my care.

It would not have been true of course, and I had not even put my hands in the black box to do it when I got there.

Just like I had done the night before, all I had done was waste time checking the hall for any sign of my absent guard.

One of those times, the last time that morning, I had stuck my head into the hall and found the other new moons staring back at me.

Thankfully, it had not been all of them.

Mallory and Plia had come to ask me to go to lunch with them.

I would have refused, but my stomach let out an audible grown at their question and I remembered that I had not eaten dinner the night before.

All Mallory could talk about on our way down to the dining hall was what had happened in the library the day before. What she thought about it, what everyone she had talked to thought about it, what everyone she had heard talking about had said, other than telling her no when she insisted that I was responsible for the schools shaking, there had been no room for me to say anything.

When we had finally reached the dining hall, it had been so full of chattering voices that there had been no room for any of us to say anything.

Mallory had bounded away to a group of first crescents as soon as we stepped through the doors.

Plia and I had done what we always did.

I got my fried potatoes and helped her carry one of her three plates back to where we always sat.

Mallory came bounding back through the crowd not very long after and pointed her finger at me.

"Last chance, Lank," She said, nearly shouting. "What did you do in the library yesterday?"

"I told you I don't know anything." I repeated for what felt like the hundredth time since we had left Precept Cherith's hall.

Some part of me, either the part where all my fear hid or Otherautumn, I wasn't sure which, knew that telling the other new moons what I did know would do nothing for Alexei and I's friendship.

It wasn't lying because what did I really know? Radomir could be a terribly common name. I had lived most of my life in a single room, what did I know? When Alexei had called it a family matter, he could have simply meant that because Lun Arcanicil was his mother's school and everything that happened inside it was a family matter. Of course, I had my own thoughts about what had happened, but thinking and knowing were two different things.

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So, I decided to say nothing until I spoke to my absent guard once again.

"You expect me to believe that your dad, who follows you around like he is your shadow, is coincidentally not here the day after there is some big battle in the library?" Mallory questioned as she sat down next to me and slid into my side.

"He is not my dad, Mallory." I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Well, you should maybe start wishing that he is because I know where he went and I know what he did in the library yesterday." She said with one of her big smiles.

Plia glanced up from her food, and we both waited to hear what she had to say.

For the first time since she had stopped thinking I was crazy and became my friend, Mallory seemed like she had nothing to say at all.

"I don't know," She sighed as her smile turned into a poor imitation of a weary frown. "Both of you probably don't even care."

Plia stopped eating and gave me a confused look.

I did not share in that feeling because I knew exactly what Mallory was doing.

"We do. I promise," I said with an encouraging nod. "Right, Plia?"

The little underwitch looked from Mallory to me and then back again before rolling her eyes and grunting in agreement.

Mallory leaned her head down on my shoulder and sniffled. "Really? You both care about me?"

I knew what she was doing because I did it to Anna more often than I would have liked to admit.

She wanted attention.

Who was I to deny her? I was supposed to think of her as my sister after all.

"Of course we do." I insisted and gave her a one armed embrace.

Plia gave me a glance that was somewhere between annoyance and boredom as she tore into a piece of bread that glistened gold from the butter that had melted into it.

Mallory sniffled again. "Plia?"

"Yes, Mallory." Plia groaned.

Mallory jumped up so fast that she nearly took my arm off with her. The soles of black lace boots balanced on the seat next to me, she clasped her hands together and smiled once again.

"Listen well, little moons, because there are dark secrets hidden in these walls. Who cares what The Mother in Blue, the precepts, or the town guards tell us? We all know what we have seen. The Blue Death, The Misfit King, Azeralphane has been haunting Hymneth and Lun. If there is someone called The Walking Storm and it starts to rain somewhere that rain is supposed to be impossible, there is really only one explanation." Mallory began with as much emotion and emphasis in her voice that my mother would have when she told one of her stories.

If he exists. I thought to myself, agreeing with everything she said and finding that I could not push away my white haired guard's insistence that the demon was a myth.

"Spit it out, Mallory," Plia mumbled through her mouthful of food. "I spent all morning telling you how much I loved you, how much attention do you need?"

An evil grin spread across Mallory's face as she snatched the little underwitch's hand towards her. "All of it."

"No, no, no." Plia begged as she shook her head violently from side to side.

Mallory did as she had been told and spit it out.

Tears wet Plia's eyes as she forced herself to choke down her food. Once she managed to swallow, she gasped for air and tried to jerk her spit dampened hand away.

"Why are you like this?" She yelled out in obvious anger.

If it had been any other day, every moon in the dining hall would have already been staring at us, but with what had happened the afternoon before, I don't even think anyone heard Plia's shout.

Cleaning the little underwitch's hand with the corner of her cloak, Mallory wiped it dry and gave it a gentle pat. "I'm sorry it came to that, but you have to learn that you can't interrupt your leader. Especially when what I have to say could be the difference between life and death."

Without giving either of us a chance to speak, she took a deep breath and carried on. "We all know he is here, but the real question is why?"

"To kidnap underwitches and steal their colors?" Plia asked as she tucked both her hands under her arms.

"Maybe, but maybe it is something else. We've all heard about The Mother in Blue's six treasures, right? Her living stone, the eternal song, her deathly steed, and the three immaterials. Well-"

Not wanting to get spit on, I did exactly as Plia had done and interrupted Mallory. "Wait, what was all that?"

"I thought it was a deathly shroud, and an ethereal song?" Plia asked, looking at me for reassurance that I could not give her.

I had heard of the treasures, but Sam had said that they were not real.

"So innocent, so inexperienced," Mallory sighed as she shook her head. "Listen, I know I'm great. I know that both of you would spend every waking moment at my side if it was possible, but you have to learn to talk to other people, no matter how disappointing they are compared to me. All the half moons I have talked to said that what happened yesterday was about the treasures. Azeralphane came to steal them, and Master Alexei fought him off."

I nodded along as she spoke, beginning to believe that all of Lun's moons knew nothing about anything.

Before either of us could say anything about Mallory's story, someone tapped me on my shoulder and turned my attention around.

"You are Underwitch Ire right?" A short haired moon asked from where she stood behind me.

I could not see what portion of the moon filled the back of her cloak, and none of her face looked familiar to me.

I nodded and swallowed before I found the strength to answer. "Yes."

It had not been very long ago that the thought of talking to Pyreme, Reese, or any of the other new moons had been terrifying to me.

The nervousness of speaking with someone new reminded me of that.

"Did you really beat Maletta in a-" She continued, her eyes narrowing as she stared down at me.

Before she could finish her question, someone tapped her on the shoulder and interrupted her. "She did. Now, go away, Tegan. I have come to speak with her."

Tegan turned around and found Ferrin Faux looking in the entirely wrong direction.

"Sorry, Ferrin," Tegan apologized before looking back down at me. "It was nice to meet you. Come to The Boiler at the end of the week, I want to buy you a drink."

The underwitch left after that.

Ferrin didn't.

Still barefoot, still wearing her long white shirt, and still blinded by the strip of fabric tied over her eyes, the sight of her only made me more nervous.

"Since you are the leader of these new moons, I will say this to you," Ferrin said to Mallory, somehow knowing exactly where she should look despite being unable to see. "Underwitch Ire is leaving with, tell Precept Cherith that I have taken her."

Mallory swallowed and looked down at the floor, her cheeks as red as my aura used to be. "Yes, My Lady."

"Right, you were the flirty one." Ferrin said through a smirk as she turned away from our table.

For a long moment, I could not make myself move.

Mallory solved that problem by pushing me out of my seat and then towards where the second crescent was walking.

"Get out of here. I never get picked for anything. Not with her, Precept Cherith, nobody." Mallory growled as she pushed me further away.

Plia sighed and went back to her food. "You make me feel so wanted."

I left them then, following Ferrin's path through the still excited crowd. When the great doors of the dining hall closed behind us, I worked up the courage to say something to her.

"If I'm in trouble, can you just tell me now?" I asked, taking up beside her as she walked towards the singing stairs.

"You are not in trouble." She answered, looping her arm through mine like she needed help walking.

"Then why are you taking me? And where are we going?" I asked.

She smiled and tight lipped smile and looked in my general direction. "Don't tell me that you are you actually that innocent? When you followed me without complaint, I thought you knew. You are going to skip class with me."

I shook my head in disagreement. "I don't know anything."

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