Scene
The castle gardens glowed in the late light, hedges casting long shadows over marble paths. Annastara wandered alone, her human hands trailing along the rim of a fountain carved with star-blossoms. She glanced over her shoulder, making sure no courtiers lingered among the trees.
Then, softly, she whispered: “Teano.”
The water stirred. Ripples spiraled outward, and from the heart of the fountain a form rose, translucent and shimmering. Teano stepped gracefully onto the water’s surface, her body a living cascade that caught the sun like glass.
“You called,” Teano said, her voice a gentle rain.”
Annastara’s face lit with relief. “I had to. So much has happened — they no longer call me monster. The queen… she looks at me with kindness.”
Teano’s form rippled with delight. “Then you have found acceptance. Good. You see, cousin, the world need not fear what it does not understand.”
But a sharp voice broke the stillness.
“Acceptance?”
A raven fluttered down onto a branch above, its black eyes gleaming. With a shimmer, feathers rippled into flesh, bark, and moss — a man-shape half grown from the tree itself. Davia of the Morem leaned forward, his voice low and cutting.
“Acceptance is fleeting, stone-child. Today they smile. Tomorrow they remember their fear. Do not trust their kindness. It will turn.”
Teano’s liquid form stiffened, her voice cool as ice. “You lecture from shadows, Davia. Always warning, always doubting. If you cannot see the hope in her, then stay in your groves and change your shapes to suit the wind. Leave her be.”
Annastara’s eyes flicked toward the path — footsteps, soft but drawing near. Panic tightened her chest. “Hide! Both of you!”
At once Teano sank back into the fountain, dissolving into ripples, while Davia folded into bark and branches, vanishing among the leaves.
Annastara turned just as the queen stepped into view, her presence calm, a smile softening her features.
“There you are, child,” the queen said warmly. “Dinner is being served in the main hall. Come — the court waits.”
Annastara smoothed her hair, her human hands steady now, and cast one last glance at the fountain and the tree before following the queen, the secret of her cousins safe for another night.