Chloe, Sierra, and Raenof ended up hiding in Finch’s basement for an entire day because Finch kept saying it wasn’t safe yet. Apparently the inquisitors were very thorough, which was understandable because she had punched one of them pretty hard.

  The basement itself wasn’t too bad. There were shelves full of jars and scrolls, and old wooden crates stacked in the corners.

  Chloe explored almost all of it within the first hour. She poked jars, lifted lids, peeked into crates, and tugged at suspicious-looking boxes until Raenof gently swatted her hand away for the tenth time. He kept telling her not to touch anything, which only made her want to touch stuff more.

  Sierra stayed close to one of the walls at first. She still seemed shaken from being bullied by inquisitors, so Chloe tried her best to cheer her up. She showed Sierra her stuffed bird toy, Puffy, and waved its tiny wings around like it was dancing.

  The wolf girl stared for a moment, then let out the tiniest laugh. Chloe immediately handed Puffy to her, hoping it would help her feel better. She really liked Puffy too, but seeing Sierra not-sad was more important than keeping a cute toy to herself.

  Maybe Chloe might have thought twice if Puffy was a stuffed toy horse. But giving away a toy bird was totally fine.

  Raenof eventually sat on a crate with a long sigh. He tried reading one of Finch’s books but kept getting distracted every time Chloe got near something that looked breakable. He looked up at her every few minutes with that tired face he made whenever she had cool ideas.

  Time passed slowly. Chloe poked things, explored corners, and talked a lot. Sierra listened quietly and relaxed bit by bit. Raenof did his best to keep Chloe from breaking anything and only failed twice. All three of them just waited for Finch’s signal before they could get out.

  Eventually, Finch told them it was finally safe to leave. They just needed disguises first.

  So all three of them ended up wearing different colored cloaks. Well… all three except Chloe. She refused to take off Cloaky, obviously, so Finch just threw some feather bits over him to make her look “more local.”

  Raenof wore a red cloak with a matching red bird mask. Sierra had a brown cloak and a brown bird mask, and she pulled the hood down low so her ears wouldn’t show. It helped a little, but honestly, even Chloe could tell the disguises weren’t very convincing.

  Raenof must have felt the same, because he eventually pulled out a set of rings for all of them.

  “These help to dim our presence. Not invisibility exactly, but it will make us harder to notice.”

  Chloe didn’t really get what that meant until Raenof slipped his own ring on. She blinked at him, then squinted.

  She could still see him, but something about him felt fuzzy, like he was only half-there. She kept losing track of where exactly he was standing. “Whoa, you look like you’re there but also not there. Kinda weird."

  Raenof sighed. “Yes. Something like that.”

  Chloe put her ring on next and felt the air around her shift a little. Sierra did the same, tugging her hood tighter.

  The disguises still looked silly, but with the rings on, Chloe figured they at least wouldn’t get noticed unless someone stared straight at them. And hopefully, nobody in Aetherion wanted to stare at three weird bird-cloaked travelers for too long.

  They slipped out into the quiet back street behind Finch’s home. Aetherion was still busy, just less frantic now that the inquisitors had finished sweeping the area.

  They blended into the crowd as much as three not-bird-people possibly could. Their rings helped, because most Avians glanced their way and then immediately… lost interest, like their eyes kept sliding off the trio. Chloe wasn’t sure if she liked that feeling. Being ignorable was a bit weird, even if it was necessary at the moment.

  “So, we need a not-jerk noble bird person, right?”

  “Correct,” Raenof said.

  “And nobles are fancy, yeah?”

  “Generally.”

  “Then we should look for fancy bird people.”

  “Yes, but we also need someone nice enough to help us. I’m not sure how likely that is.”

  “Well, I can just go convince them, easy.”

  "And how exactly do you plan to do that?”

  “I’ll just ask. Duh.”

  “Chloe, you can’t be serious.”

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  “I can be very convincing.”

  “That’s… not how this works.”

  “Nah, this is a great idea. Just watch me.”

  Chloe was already certain her plan was brilliant. She scanned the street for the fanciest looking avian she could find. Tons of Avians fit the criteria. Aetherion was overflowing with glittery cloaks, shiny armor, and feather jewelry that practically screamed look at me. Honestly, it made her job harder. Lots of them looked fancy, and it wasn't exactly easy telling which specific bird person was a noble or not.

  “So, uh… what now?” Sierra asked softly, her voice shaky beneath her mask.

  "We just gotta find someone fancy, duh." Chloe said.

  “Yes,” Raenof replied, though he sounded more unsure than usual. “But we have to choose carefully. Someone who looks like they'll be cooperative, but again, I'm not sure if we'll even be able to find someone like that.

  Chloe hummed as she looked everywhere. And then, she saw her.

  A tall Avian woman glided through the marketplace with an elegant sway that made people step aside. She wore a flowing white dress trimmed with iridescent feathers, her long silver hair and neatly folded wings shimmering with every step. She looked very, very fancy.

  “I think that lady is a noble,” Chloe whispered.

  Raenof followed her gaze. “Hmm, I agree, but you can't possibly be planning on just talking to her, right?"

  Chloe was planning on marching right up to the fancy lady and saying hello, but Raenof quickly grabbed her sleeve before she got more than two steps.

  “Chloe, please don’t, we can’t just walk up to the first noble we see.”

  For once, Chloe actually paused. “Fine. No walking up to the fancy person.”

  “Good. We should try something more believable,” Raenof said. “Maybe find an orphanage or a charity house. Nobles sometimes visit those places. They might take pity on us.”

  Chloe opened her mouth to ask what an orphanage even was, but movement at the edge of her vision made her stop. The white-feathered lady had turned toward them and was waving them over with a flick of her hand.

  Chloe blinked hard, trying to make sure she wasn’t imagining it. She leaned slightly to the side to see if maybe the noblewoman was waving at someone behind them instead. But no. The lady’s eyes stayed fixed on Chloe, Raenof, and Sierra.

  Now that Chloe really looked, the noblewoman was sitting at a very fancy outdoor restaurant. The tables were shiny, the lace cloths, and little flower vases sat everywhere. She looked so elegant that it felt strange she would even notice them, let alone wave them over.

  Chloe waved both arms excitedly. “Come on, come on, she’s totally calling us!”

  “Chloe, we don’t know her. She could be anyone.”

  “She’s fancy. Fancy people are usually nobles. And we need a noble. So this is perfect.”

  Sierra tugged on her sleeve gently. “Um… are you sure this is a good idea?”

  “Nope, but we’re doing it anyway.”

  Somehow, after plenty of talking, arguing, and Raenof mumbling things like “this is a terrible idea”, Chloe still managed to convince both him and Sierra to follow her. Or maybe they just didn’t trust her to walk up to a noble alone. Hard to tell.

  They approached the outdoor restaurant, and the noblewoman’s gentle smile never slipped for a moment. Up close, she looked even more graceful. Her wings rested neatly behind her, each feather perfect and smooth.“Welcome, please, won’t you three join me?”

  Chloe glanced at Raenof, who nodded stiffly as if trying very hard to be polite. Sierra gave a tiny bow, then hid behind Chloe a little.

  The lady gestured to the empty seats. “Sit. You look tired from your travels.”

  Chloe slid into a chair awkwardly, because she wasn’t used to sophisticated sitting. Raenof took the seat beside her, and Sierra quietly settled on Chloe’s other side.

  The woman clapped her hands, and attendants appeared almost instantly, carrying trays of drinks and snacks. There were pastries shaped like feathers, glowing fruit slices, and cups filled with this weird sparkling blue liquid.

  Chloe stared at the food with suspicion. It all looked very pretty, but pretty food never tasted like brains, which meant she wasn’t interested.

  Raenof lightly nudged her under the table. “Chloe. Eat something. It’s rude to refuse.”

  She made a face at him but reached out and grabbed a pastry. She didn’t bite it, but she held it like she might. Sierra timidly sipped her tea, ears twitching beneath her hood.

  The noblewoman watched them with a pleasant smile. “I don’t often see travelers from so far away, especially not ones wearing masks. You must have quite the story.”

  Chloe froze for half a second. Oh no. Story. We were supposed to practice that.

  She opened her mouth, fully prepared to say something terrible, but Raenof cut in smoothly. “We’re from the far east, and we're on a pilgrimage of sorts.”

  The lady tilted her head. “A pilgrimage? How lovely.”

  Chloe nodded way too hard. “Yep! Very pilgrimage-y.”

  Raenof stepped on her foot under the table. The woman chuckled softly. “Well, it must be fate that brought you to my table.”

  Chloe relaxed a little. Maybe this lady really was nice. She certainly seemed nicer than the angry spear-bird people from earlier. Chloe even started to think things might go well for once.

  Then the noblewoman’s smile changed. It didn’t fade, it twisted, stretching just a little too wide, like her face wasn’t meant to make that expression at all. The warmth vanished from her eyes in an instant. What remained narrowed into thin snake-like slits.

  Chloe felt something tighten deep in her chest. She didn’t breathe, but if she did, this would have been the moment she forgot how. She knew those eyes.

  They looked exactly like the ones that haunted the edges of her memory. The kind that belonged to someone she hoped she would never, ever see again.

  Beside her, Sierra’s fingers curled toward her mask, gripping the edge like she needed something solid to hold onto. Even with the mask hiding most of her face, Chloe could tell Sierra’s eyes had gone wide. Really wide. The wolf girl didn’t make a sound, but her whole body was shaking..

  The noblewoman leaned in, just slightly. “My, my… what curious little travelers you are.”

  Raenof seemed to sense the shift as clearly as Chloe did. His posture straightened just a little, and he met the noblewoman’s tilted gaze with one of his own. “May I ask, who exactly do we have the honor of speaking with?”

  "Please, just call me Ynett."