*Eldovian Era 1719, 1st day of the 11th month*

Six weeks since the last time they'd officially met, and yet, Layton had yet to miss a morning of watching over her from the building opposite as she baked her goods for the day.

On the one day she did not open in a week, she could sense him watching over her bedroom window instead. Perhaps Allyra should have felt terrified given what he was, but knowing he was there gave her a sense of calm. A feeling like she was protected.

It was probably why, when a ghost from her past had come to haunt her that morning, she had not felt all that bothered by it.

"Allyra Cavahall," her ex-fiancé, Damien Navou, stepped inside her café, a woman Allyra recognised immediately holding his arm. Isla Beckett, a woman Allyra had once called friend, "I didn't believe it when I heard it in the circles, but now that I see it before me, my how the mighty have fallen".

Allyra smiled apologetically to the woman she was handing a cake to then stood tall and approached them, "Welcome to my café, Master Navou, Miss Beckett, can I offer you a table?"

The two of them, who before had been smiling widely like a game was about to be played, seemed to blanch for a moment in surprise at Allyra's professional response before they fixed their expressions, Isla talking this time, "It's Lady Navou, now".

The woman purposely displayed her wedding ring, but contrary to expectations once more, Allyra smiled, "My, I see, congratulations are in order then. I apologise for not being aware sooner, perhaps I can offer a complimentary cake in celebration?"

"Just a cake?" asked Damien, "Surely a marriage of our scale would amount to a full meal".

"Oh? You think so? From the age and style of the ring I would say the marriage is not a recent thing, not to mention your wife's clear pregnancy, I suppose I can offer some tea to her as well to celebrate that, something good for the baby," Allyra smiled.

Isla looked surprised. Allyra's gaze said it all. Yes, she had not been in society's circles for some time, but that did not mean she was not well aware of the styles and trends of the upper class. She had to cater to them often thanks to her business.

Damien cleared his throat, "Yes, we are quite proud, perhaps when the child is born your own can be a play mate".

Allyra raised a confused brow, "My own?"

Damien's grinned turned ever-so-slightly malicious, "Surely you jest Allyra, how could you forget the bastard you surely conceived on the eve of our wedding? I certainly cannot".

The entire café turned pin-drop silent. Allyra was enraged. How dare he bring up such a thing in her shop. In her livelihood! He was clearly out to ruin her. They both were, Allyra thought as she saw Isla hide her own victorious grin.

Very well then, if they would ruin her, she had no problem ruining them. Besides, she had enough money now that she could go elsewhere to set up shop if need be.

"I think there is some misconception here," Allyra stated, "I do not deny that I slept with a man who was not you when we were not yet married, however, the reason and the outcome are far more simple than what you are implying. The reason, I had no desire to remain a pretty bird in a cage for you to take out and pet when you desired. So, when my father refused my will, I took matters into my own hands. And the outcome? I was ousted from my family, stripped of my inheritances, and, perhaps the greatest relief of them all, I did not have to bind myself to you. Those were the only consequences that came from the loss of my maidenhood. If anything, I would say that singular night was more pleasurable than anything you ever gave me, or ever will".

Allyra had the thought the café had been silent before.

Just when the atmosphere in the room began to grown awkward, Allyra, and everyone else, heard the unmistakable sound of a woman chuckling. All eyes were drawn to the dark-haired beauty who sat at a table among friends. Allyra knew who she was right away, as did many others.

"Lady…Startree?" asked Isla. The woman was a fashion icon, and held the closest ties out of anyone to the Moonshadow Business. There were few who did not know her name.

Falla Startree gathered herself, then stood, strolling across the room with her party close behind. She paused beside Allyra, "Miss Cavahall, thank you for the divine food and soothing tea as always. As for the entertainment…that was quite unique, though your co-actors were a little dry. I shall be back the same time next week".

Allyra nodded, gratefully with a smile, Damien and Isla all but forgotten as the woman left with her party.

Allyra turned back to them though, "Shall you dine with us today?"

Damien huffed and turned away, "I could ruin you before she comes back".

"Thank you for your warning, but I don't believe you have such power. You are, after all, second in line to your father's businesses. Nothing but the spare, really".

The door slammed shut behind them, and an elderly woman beside Allyra spoke from behind her fan, "I would not have married him either, his gait is so inelegant I doubt he could tell his left foot from his right".

Warm chuckles alighted in the café before business resumed.

Perhaps it was because most of them were regular customers. Or perhaps because Allyra had proven herself time and again to be capable without a husband. But no one made another comment about her exposed scandal, and in the week following, no threat to her business ever arose.

***

"Is it true that you were kicked out because of me?"

The question scared her out of her wits. Her basket tumbled to the ground outside of her café, and Allyra placed a hand over her heart as it calmed, her eyes coming to rest on where Layton stood beside the door.

"What?"

Layton frowned, "The night we spent together, is it true that your family ousted you because of it?"

Allyra frowned. She was pretty sure he never watched her during the day. Still as she retrieved her basket and the items that had spilled out, she found herself replying.

"Yes".

Layton was silent for a long moment before Allyra stood once more, meeting his gaze.

"I'm so-"

Allyra shook her head, "I don't want your apology. You have nothing to be sorry for".

Layton tilted his head in question.

"If anything," Allyra stated as she went to step around him, "I should be thanking you. Without my encounter with you, I would have been stuck in a loveless marriage, forever catering to the whims of an arrogant and entitled asshole".

"Instead, you slept with a regular asshole," Layton huffed.

Allyra just smiled as she paused looking back over her shoulder at him, "I wouldn't call you regular, you seem too different for that…but then, I wouldn't call you an asshole either".

Layton raised an eyebrow, "It's what I am".

Allyra shrugged, "And I am a fallen noble woman who lost her standing, and her virginity to a stranger. But that isn't all that I am. Just like there is something more to me, there is something more to you too. You just tend to hide that part of yourself".

Layton frowned, seemingly offended by the statement. Before he could speak though, Allyra continued, "Thank you, for showing me these past six weeks, that you're not just an asshole".

Layton's eyes widened a little, but he showed no further reaction as she turned away to walk to her apartment.

"Allyra?"

Allyra turned back to Layton, who took a few steps towards her, then he cupped her face as he met her gaze, his eyes turning red.

Allyra became utterly entranced by his ruby-like eyes for just a few seconds, then, just as suddenly as he'd grabbed her, he released her, stepping back as his eyes became icy blue once more.

"What…?"

"It seems wrong at this point to continue to hide it from you," said Layton.

Then he was gone. For a moment, Allyra had no idea what he was talking about, but then, all at once, the memories of their night together pushed to the surface. They were no longer foggy or clouded or mismatched. They flowed in one long, lustful event.

Allyra's hand rose to cover her mouth in shock.

Gods above, the night really had been…

***

The wind tore through Rassa's clothes. Anyone else would have frozen stiff or been blow away by now, but he was not so easily moved. Still, as Iah struggled in the cave behind him with Sel, she could not help but think he may have gone insane.

They'd been traversing the cold and increasingly dark terrain for well over a month, and had found little of consequence. It had it's own strange sense of beauty, all that white, and the life that they found to feed on was more abundant than it appeared, and hardy to survive such extreme weather.

Still, even if there were no humans here and nobody to threaten them, it didn't seem to meet whatever requirements Rassa had been looking for.

"Rassa!" Iah called over the howling wind.

A snow storm was well and truly blowing in. Rassa turned back and stepped into the cave, the wind dying down almost immediately even if it was still howling.

"Looks like it'll last a few hours at least," Rassa stated, looking into the darkness of the cave.

Iah sighed, taking the maps she had started drawing out of the shadows she'd stored them in and placing them on the ground between them.

"We've scoured over most of the southern part here," said Iah, "At least what's south of those twin peaks in the north".

After all, they weren't entirely sure how far north they could go at this stage.

Rassa looked at the map for a moment before pointing towards the West, "We'll go here next".

"Are you sure that's wise, Sel said that it appeared to be ice fields in that direction, we're not sure how thick it is and it's even more inhospitable than this place," said Iah.

They'd split up for a week or so before to see how far the land went before returning. Iah had gone East, Sel to the West, and Rassa to the North.

"All the more reason to go that way first, what you described seemed like an endless mountain range. We'll explore what we expect to be the shorter direction first," Rassa reasoned.

Iah conceded to his reasoning. Even if she struggled to see Rassa's vision for this place, she still felt somewhat of a thrill to be exploring somewhere new. To be the first to step here after so long, maybe ever considering the lack of evidence they'd found here.

"We'll just have to wait out-"

A rumble from above that turned to thunder. Snow trickled in front of the entrance.

"Avalanche!" Rassa shouted over the roar above them and the shaking of the cave. Then, before they could react further, the thick snow thoroughly covered the entrance of the cave, casting them all into darkness.

As the shaking began to subside, Iah could not help her head dropping in disappointment. Great. Now they had to suffocate.

"We can get through that, right?" asked Iah.

"Probably," Rassa sighed.

"Probably?" asked Iah, rolling up the map.

Rassa shrugged as he turned to her, "Least we're in the cave and not buried beneath it".

Iah opened her mouth to respond, but closed in silent admittance that that was in fact better.

"Where is the light coming from?" asked Sel.

Iah frowned, "What li-"

But now that he'd asked, Iah realised that she wasn't relying completely on her sharp vision to see. There was a light. So dull that they hadn't noticed it before. She turned to find the source, looking into the depths of the cave where, in a tiny crack in the floor, light seemed to seep out from below. She wondered over to it, kneeling down to glance at it.

"Why would light be coming from inside a mountain?" asked Iah.

Iah's claws extended, swiping at the rock beneath so that she could find the source faster.

"Wait, Iah-"

Too late, the crack abruptly widened, and Iah felt the ground disappear beneath her before she plunged down.

Gasping, she barely had time to orient herself before Rassa's shadows caught her. And not a moment too soon either. There, before her nose, reaching so high up that it appeared like a mountain itself, was a giant, glowing Evanine Crystal.

Iah had never seen anything like it before, and it entranced her in an instant like she was under an Allure.

She heard flapping, and called out her own wings to aid in her descent to the ground far below, catching sight of several more glowing Evanine Crystals. Their light was not overwhelmingly bright. More like the light of a full-moon, or perhaps slightly brighter, but no where near that of a sun.

"This is it," said Rassa with a grin as Iah and Sel landed beside him among the huge Crystals, "Sun Stones".

"Sun…"

Iah looked at where Rassa was tracing his fingers, finding runes burnt into one of the Crystals.

A circle around a crescent moon, and another circle with several lines branching out from it on the outside, all connected by a rune that seemed to weave around and between them.

"Protection from the sun and eternal moonlight within," Iah interpreted.

Rassa grinned, "Not just the sun. It's original purpose was that, but this rune here". Rassa pointed to the circle with lines branching off, "This rune grew to mean more than just the sun. It grew to mean outside".

Iah's eyes widened as she looked around at the other enormous crystals, "You mean, these Charms…"

"If we surround our new home with these charms, we'll be able to create an internal environment that is unaffected by what happens outside of the barrier," said Rassa, "Just like the Covens of old that were hundreds if not thousands strong".

"How…how did you know these were here?" asked Iah, "Did they tell you?"

Rassa shook his head, placing his hand on the huge charm, "I took a gamble. If I wanted to find Evanine Crystals like this, let alone Charms, I'd have to go some place that had been untouched for thousands of years".

Rassa turned to Iah and Sel, "I wanted to find a mine so that we could be self-sustaining, and if my senses are telling me anything it's that we've most certainly found it".

Iah paused, then looked down at the ground beneath her. Beneath her feet, for hundreds if not thousands of metres, were veins upon veins of Evanine Crystals.

She looked back up at Rassa, who was grinning. Iah sighed, "I won't deny that this is our new home, but you better damn well hope I don't have to live in a snow storm for eternity".

Rassa chuckled, "Not eternity, no. Look, I'll even let you pick the spot".

Iah smiled at that.