Sarah checked to her left and right to make sure nobody was following them. To her relief the streets were still empty even though the sun shimmered behind the horizon already. She turned around and motioned Senia to come closer.

“I’ll check this inn,” she said to Senia. “If this one has no rooms either, I’ll bring you out of the city.”

“Why?” Senia asked and furrowed her eyebrows.

“Because I trust you to handle yourself in a forest, but not in a city full of humans,” Sarah explained, which resulted in Senia giving her an angry look.

“Let me rephrase that: I don’t trust humans to not harass you. Also, we can’t risk that anyone recognizes you.”

Senia grumbled, but she raised no further objections.

Sarah sighed and stepped out of the alleyway she and Senia had used to approach the inn. She checked her cape one last time if everything was in place. One last gaze down the street and she went over to the building with a sign in form of a sail hanging over its door. ‘The Flying Sailor’ was etched into the wood.

When Sarah entered the taproom, only two people sat at a table in the corner. They stopped talking for a short moment to check out the newcomer, but as Sarah headed towards the bar where a young girl just walked out from a backroom, the two guests lost interest.

“What can I bring you?” the girl asked with a friendly voice after Sarah stopped at the bar. She gave the young bar maid an examining gaze. She was around Linea’s age but was at least a head smaller. However, humans seemed to be not as tall as Elves in general. The girl had raven black hair and wore a simple linen dress with a black apron protecting it. Sarah also noticed a small earring in form of an anchor dangling from the girl’s right ear.

“Do you have a room for me?”

The girl raised her eyebrows and Sarah saw how she tried to get a better peek under Sarah’s hood. A futile attempt as she used her shadow bending skill to deny anyone to look at her face.

“We have a few rooms,” the girl finally said. “From two silver coins to ten. Depends on the level of comfort you’re looking for.”

“I’ll take the cheapest one for now,” Sarah said. “I was up all night and only need a bed for now.”

“All right, follow me then.”

The girl stepped from behind the counter and grabbed a key out of a box. She then walked towards the stairs on the opposite side of the room.

“Your room will be the second to the left on the second floor,” she explained and climbed the stairs in front of Sarah. “My name is Tirell by the way.”

The girl gave Sarah an expecting look, but Sarah disappointed as she simply nodded.

“Anyhow,” Tirell continued with a sigh. “The price includes breakfast. Do you want to eat down in the taproom or should I bring it straight to your room?”

“I’ll take the room service, if you’d be so kind.”

“Sure thing,” Tirell said and stopped in front of the room. She opened the lock, and they stepped inside. Tirell closed the door behind them.

“All right, I’ll be honest,” Tirell said. “I don’t know what your deal is, but as I see it you’re being chased or at least someone is looking for you. If you’re a criminal, I’d like to know.”

Sarah’s eyes flicked to the young girl.

‘She is clever,’ Linea noted.

“What made you notice?” Sarah asked ignoring Linea’s comment.

“Please,” Tirell said and rolled her eyes. “Who comes to an inn this early in the morning searching for a room? You’re no sailor and the gates are closed at night. Therefore, you must be from the city, but why should a woman looking for a room, if she lives here?”

“What if I’m a criminal?” Sarah asked getting a step closer, which made the girl flinch for a moment.

“I don’t think you are, though,” she said standing still. “I think you’re running away from your husband.”

‘This is not good…’ Sarah said to Linea.

‘Well, we can’t change it now,’ Linea countered. ‘Perhaps we can bring her to help us?’

‘Might as well try.’

“Listen… Tirell, was it?” The girl nodded. “I’m not here because of myself. I saved someones life, and that someone is waiting outside. Can you let her stay here for a few days? I’ll try to find something more permanent, but that might take a while.”

Tirell smiled brightly.

“Sure thing, Miss,” she said. “As long as you can pay, she can stay here. I’ll make sure no one bothers her.”

“So, it depends on the money, eh?” Sarah noticed and gave a small sigh.

“It sure does,” Tirell agreed. “Dad is a nice guy, but this is his business and whoever doesn’t pay will get kicked out.”

“Well, I guess that is to be expected. I should be able to provide two silvers a day somehow.”

“All right, you want to bring her in?”

“Of course, but I will smuggle her in. I trust you a little, but I don’t want the two guys downstairs to see her.”

“Oh?” Tirell said and rubbed her chin. “Well, if you can get her in here with no one noticing, it would be helpful. I’ll bring her something to eat. Do you want something as well?”

“No need,” Sarah said and stepped to the window. She opened it and looked around. Below her was an alley which seemed rather dirty. To her left on the other side of the main street, she saw Senia cowering behind a crate in the opposing alley. She waved and motioned Senia to come into this alley. While Senia did as ordered, Sarah turned around to Tirell.

“Would it be possible for you to run an errand for us?” she asked. “I need to head home -” the word left a sour taste in her mouth “- but I need to get a few things for her.”

“What does she need?”

“The usual necessities for a woman, I guess. Also, a cape just like mine and some simple clothes.”

“Hm, that’s sure gonna be a bit pricey,” Tirell admitted. “If I get it from some merchants that owe me something, I’ll probably get it for around twenty to thirty silver coins.”

Sarah grabbed the coins out of her pocket and counted twenty-three coins.

“I hope that’s enough,” Sarah said. “I can bring more later, but that’s all I have on me today.”

“That’s fine,” Tirell said with a smile. “The clothes might be really simple, but I can take her shopping later, when you have more money.”

“I would prefer, if she wouldn’t leave this room for now,” Sarah said with a stern voice.

“That sure makes sense!” Tirell said with a chuckle. “Stupid me.”

“Thanks for your help,” Sarah said and looked at the door.

“Ah, yes. I’ll get her stuff over the course of the day and bring them up here.”

Sarah nodded and watched as Tirell left the room. She peeked outside to see Senia looking up to her. Sarah grabbed Linea’s sister with her telekinesis and pulled her upwards.

“We have room, I take it?”

“For now,” Sarah said and closed the window. “The daughter of the owner kind of found out that you’ll be hiding here. Keep your eyes and ears open in case she tries anything fishy. You should be strong enough to run away at least.”

“Why did you tell her?” Senia asked while she looked around the room.

“She deduced as much herself. Seems to be a clever girl,” Sarah said. “I gave her money so she could purchase some stuff for you. A cape for example. If you ever need to go outside, always keep your head covered.”

“I will do so…” Senia said and sat down on the bed. “But now explain to me, who you are. After hearing your voice in Linea’s head, I noticed the differences in your behavior. You’re… colder than her.”

‘Ouch, that’s harsh,’ Linea chuckled.

‘Shut up…’

Linea took back control over her body.

“It’s a difficult topic, but you’re right. From time to time we switch control over my body. It’s me in most cases, but Sarah has some incredible skills, which you witnessed tonight. And even before that.”

“Sarah?” Senia asked. “That doesn’t sound like an Elven name.”

“It isn’t,” Linea admitted. “She was a human on a different world.”

“A different world…” Senia murmured and Linea could read from her face that she probably was evaluating her sanity.

“If you wouldn’t mind, we could talk in mind speak again, so you could talk to both of us,” Linea proposed.

“I’d rather not,” Senia said and looked away from her sister, examining the bed thoroughly. “I don’t think I can focus enough right now… Let’s just talk. So, why is she with you?”

“That’s a bit complicated and we don’t have enough time to explain it in detail,” Linea said while she paced in front of her sister. “The gist of it is as follows: Someone split our soul before I was born and Sarah is another part of me. She was born on another world, killed and brought to me by an angel. That happened on the day I got my blessing.”

“That was the thing, you didn’t want to tell mother!” Senia realized.

“Yes,” Linea confirmed. “Sarah has special abilities that no one else has on this world as far as we know, and we didn’t want to give that away. To be honest, I’m not feeling overly confident telling you about it.”

“What? Why not? I’m your sister! You can trust me,” Senia complained and stared at Linea.

“Oh, yeah,” Linea replied with rolling her eyes. “You had a great way of showing how much you cared about me back then.”

Senia fell silent again. She opened her mouth, just to close it again. A single tear escaped the corner of her eye and ran down her cheek.

“I’m sorry about that… I should have been… You shouldn’t have…”

“It’s fine,” Linea sighed. “I understand that your were… jealous. But you treated me like garbage the last few months before all of this happened.”

Senia gulped and took a deep breath.

“I think a few weeks ago I would have yelled at you for that,” Senia said and a sad smile appeared on her face. “But after what happened… I can only ask for your forgiveness. I owe you so much that I may never be able to repay you.”

Linea’s expression softened, and she sat down beside her sister.

“There is nothing to repay,” Linea said. “I told you in before, you are my sister and I will always love you. I’ll do anything to protect my family.”

Silence fell upon the room once again and in the spur of the moment Linea rested her head on Senia’s shoulder. She didn’t expect that and fell down on her back. Linea didn’t mind that as she simply laid down with her and put her head on Senia’s outstretched arm.

“Remember back when we were younger?” Senia said after a while. “You often would come into my or Tarina’s room early in the morning and crawl under the blanket. You always found your own bed too cold.”

“Really?” Linea said a blushed a bit. “I don’t remember that…”

“Hm, maybe you were too young to remember.”

“Perhaps.”

They didn’t talk for a few moments until Senia asked an important question.

“What are we going to do now?”

“Well, the most important objective right now is getting rid of that thing,” Linea said and tapped against her collar. “Sarah already has a plan to achieve that, but I won’t tell you what exactly that would entail. Because I have no idea about the details either.”

“Well, whatever I can do to help… Just tell me,” Senia offered.

Linea nodded and cuddled against Senia’s shoulder.

‘I hate to interrupt your sisterly bonding,’ Sarah said, ‘but the sun is almost rising and we should be back before someone looks for us.’

‘You’re right,’ Linea said and sighed.

“What’s the matter?” Senia asked.

“We must get back before someone searches for us.”

“Oh…” Senia said and her eyes watered. “I pray he doesn’t do… he doesn’t…”

Linea knew what she tried to imply and gave her a smile.

“Don’t worry,” she said and caressed her cheek wiping away another tear. “My ‘master’ lacks… the proper equipment, so to speak.”

“He…” Senia stammered with wide eyes.

“Yeah…”

Senia chuckled for a moment while Linea got up from the bed and switched with Sarah again.

“Tirell, the barmaid, should be back any moment with something to eat,” she explained and gave Senia her own cape. “Take it and put it on. Don’t let her see your face. I don’t know if she has realized that we’re not human, but if she hasn’t, we don’t need to give it away.”

Senia nodded.

“When will you be back?” she asked Sarah, who made her way to the window.

“Tomorrow, if nothing happens,” Sarah said. “We need to get money from somewhere. You stay here for now. This might get boring, but your safety is paramount.”

“I understand,” Senia replied. “I’ll do as you ask, but please watch over my sister.”

“Of course,” Sarah said as she stepped out of the window onto an invisible telekinetic platform. “I always do.”

The first sun rays peaked over the horizon as Sarah dropped her Shadow Walk inside her master’s manor, where she noticed a handful of servants already bustling around. Since they had reached their ‘home’, Linea took over, and she walked through the garden towards the house. On the way, she heard someone panting and the muffled sound of metal hitting wood.

Curious she followed the sound and found the daughter of the house in front of a target dummies of some sorts. She made sidestep to avoid an imaginary attack from her silent enemy. Unused to such a trainings method, Linea chortled for a short moment.

Tiva turned around with visible anger on her face.

“What are you laughing about, slave!” she yelled and Linea’s amusement vanished in an instant. “Come here!”

Linea was tempted to just ignore the order, but apparently the collar had other ideas. It made abundantly clear that this was an order to be followed and so she trudged over to Tiva.

“Kneel, slave!” the girl had the audacity to demand from her. She followed the order and put one of her knee to the ground.

“Both knees, you useless girl!”

“That’s a posture I only show towards my goddess,” Linea explained irritated. “I’d ask you not to force me…”

“Shut up!” Tiva interrupted her with a kick against her shin. “Get down into the dirt you belong to. I want you to press your head against the dirt.”

Gritting her teeth, Linea executed the order even though her whole being rebelled against it.

“Good…” Tiva complimented Linea with a sweet voice, which made Linea shiver. “Don’t you ever make fun of me again.”

With that she put her foot on the back of Linea’s head and pressed it down hard.

“You know,” Tiva said. “I always had some respect for Moon Elves. You were always so valiant against us humans in the past. I thought you were so strong and powerful, but also generous to not attack us humans. My mother always had a penchant for your culture, but my uncle opened my eyes.”

The pressure on her head lessened slightly as Tiva adjusted her balance, but the dirt still pressed painfully against her forehead.

“He told me about it, after he found some ancient ruins beneath the city.” Tiva rambled on. “He didn’t tell me what exactly he found there, but he said it enlightened him. About everything. He explained to me, how we humans don’t have a protector deity, because we alone are strong enough that we don’t need one.”

She took her foot away from Linea’s head, but only to put it under her chin to raise it up slowly.

“And now look at you,” Tiva continued her monolog. “The mighty Moon Elven princess groveling before a human princess. You Elves are so pathetic.”

“I would rip you to shreds, if you’d let me,” Linea gritted between her teeth.

“What was that?” Tiva asked. “Did I hear defiant words from your mouth? I certainly hope not. Would you repeat that for me?”

“I said I would rip you apart, if I could,” Linea replied even louder.

“But you can’t!” Tiva laughed and kicked Linea against her shoulder, which caused her to fall down. “Because you’re weak…”

“Tavi!” another voice yelled in shock and anger and approached them fast.

“What is going on here?”

It took Linea a few moments to connect the voice to Levi, the Lady of the house.

“How dare you to treat the girl like that!” she scolded her daughter and walked over to help Linea up. She refused the help however by swatting away the helpful hand.

“She laughed at me!” Tiva justified her actions as if this had been an appropriate reaction.

“That doesn’t matter,” Levi argued, while she looked over Linea to make sure she wasn’t hurt. “I didn’t raise you to treat a human being like that.”

“But she isn’t even human,” Tiva said with triumph in her voice.

“Figure of speech!” Levi replied and rubbed her temple. “If you want to become an imperial knight, you need to learn how to treat those beneath you. She may be a slave in this household, but she is a sentient being, and she knows what pain is. Would like to be treated like that?”

“I’m a princess!” Tiva countered as if this would explain anything.

“Only technically,” Levi said with a sigh. “Also, being a princess doesn’t protect you from bad things happening to you. You can ask her about that.”

Tiva opened her mouth just to close it again.

“I have a feeling, you’re spending too much time with my brother lately. Perhaps I should restrict your visits in favor of more etiquette training,” Levi mused, while her daughter’s face went red.

“Don’t you dare! I’ve learned more from Uncle Tiberius than from my father!”

“That’s only because you have no patience to learn his craft,” Levi argued. “Besides, I know that you hope to become empress one day, but don’t you realize that as soon one of my brothers marries and sires a child, you won’t be an eligible heir?”

“May I go to bed?” Linea flatly asked in the middle of that discussion.

Both looked at Linea as if they only remembered her presence that moment.

“Sure,” Levi said waving her off. “I’ll wake you up in the evening.”

While mother and daughter argued with each other again, Linea sneaked away.