Book of Fates ✔

Decisions are made

Anya stood in the hallway, watching Nikk depart after Daphne. How could she be so blind before, actually? His features resembled those of his sister so much! A straight nose, thin lips, which corners were touched by the shadow of a tender smile every time he strove to disguise his amusement, and a sharp chin as if of the one of the royals...

Their eyes were different though. Daphne's cerulean blue eyes were slightly slanted and always expressive, even when she wanted to look cold-blooded and hard-hearted. And Nikk's almond-shaped eyes were fathomless, but nevertheless... homey? Yeah, you can definitely call them homey.

Rolling these thought around in her head, Anya returned to her room. The pomegranate velvet skies yet twinkled with the stars on the walls, but at the very floor, the clouds were brightened with the tangerine glints of dawn.

Anya lazily dropped on the bed and brought her phone and her new crystal out of the pocket. As Nikk promised, his gift was more than useful—a few minutes side by side, and the gadget was fully recharged.

Harboring no aspiration for sleep, Anya decided to push her luck and try to reach her dad one more time.

Kelas tunnels were still empty when she sneaked out of her room and up to the garret. The wind was wailing through the narrow breach in the wall just like before. At this early hour, it was so chilling Anya regretted she had nothing warmer than Rill's delicate dress covering her body.

"A couple minutes," quivering at the frost biting her skin, Anya assured herself and shook the adri in her hand to switch it on. The luminous light popped into existence within the stone. "A couple minutes, and my warm blankets are waiting for me."

She was quickly done with Sophia's text massage, and dialed her father's number. Weird crackling accompanied the connecting sound, and long rings followed. In what kind of forgotten place would dad go on his excavations? Anya wondered.

Alexander seemed to be in no hurry to pick up.

Waiting, Anya roamed around the garret, sensing the coldness stiffen her legs and nerves tense her arms.

She mulled over the last night and her conversation with Nikk. What had she told him about her mother? I don't remember much of her. It was true, but... what was Anya trying to put in those words? That she didn't miss her mam. Was that true? No. Anya always struggled not to think of her, not to surrender to the feeling of howling hole in her heart, to the loneliness because of the part of her family mysteriously ripped from her.

In time, her mother turned into a distant cherished memory in Anya's mind, into a ghost of childish calmness, a daydream buried somewhere in the past.

"Never give in to your worries," Eva had once told her daughter, brushing the girl's hair gently. "And whatever happens in your life, never think twice to fight for who you love, since they are the only thing in the whole world that makes it worth living."

It hadn't been long before mam had vanished. Where was she now?.. Was she alive? Did she remember her little daughter?

And where the hell was dad?

The same fizzling on the other end of the line was the answer.

The dark was thickening before Anya's eyes. Her foot slipped out from under her on the ice; she lost her balance and collapsed, her thigh clumsily hitting the stone floor. The phone fell from her hand, instantly swallowed by the echoing blackness.

"Ugh..." Anya moaned under her breath, rubbing her bruised side.

She climbed back to her feet, her eyes scanning the surroundings. Not a sign of the blinking screen.