Shiver hefted Richard on her back. Vale looked on in amazement at her strong strides, unimpeded by the weight of the gigantic soldiercrab as they made their way back to Marta and Pov’s home.

‘So tell me, princess. One gets curious, why did you run away?’

Vale choked and stumbled. She

‘You know, Shiver… I was a lady. Calling me princess is entirely inacc-‘

‘You know your highness, I’ve always wondered about runaway lords and ladies. I’m sure the slums have their own sort of appeal, or “romance" one might say…’

She shot Vale a look of appraisal.

‘No… You don’t look like the romantic type. Must be something else. What could be so compelling that you would run away from your luxurious life-‘

‘I would have you know! I am plenty romantic.’

‘There’s only one thing I can think of really, what everyone assumes. You don’t want to be a Fearshaper?’

Vale missed a step and stumbled. Her expression darkened at the mention of that word. Shiver’s grey eyes were alight as they met Vale’s own.

‘Frankly, if that was the reason, I wouldn’t blame you. Us common folk down here don’t know much about Fearshaping. But you hear whispers of noble families inducing a particular Fear in their children. Not to mention, the whole bringing your nightmares into reality thing doesn’t sound particularly… fulfilling.’

Vale let out a hollow laugh. She overtook Shiver and continued down the road. Before turning to stop. With the setting of the sun, the fishermen by the port had packed up their stands. The streets lay barren, and the lavaways lit up the streets in a soft orange glow. She traced Shiver’s gaze, which was directed at the upper circles of Brimstone. High above the slums. The domain of the nobility, the Brimstone family, wealthier merchants and traders.

Finally, she broke the silence between them.

‘You’re not that far off. The ability to manifest your Fear is a double-edged sword. Not everyone wants the risk, or the power itself.’

‘Hm.’

They continued onward to Marta and Pov’s crabs in hand.

As the distance lengthened between them, Vale whispered under her breath.

‘Especially when you have a Fear like mine.’

---

The walk back to Pov and Marta’s house was subdued.

Vale seemed to be coming to terms with her new life. She was hardly in a mood to volunteer anything more of herself to Shiver, understandably so.

After all, she had crushed her trust and thrown her in a crab pit.

Understandable.

Many orphans and urchins who had also gone through the trial of crabs had fared much worse. Vale was resilient for all that she whined and complained. It didn’t matter that it had taken her the better part of the day to round up a couple of crabs, she had stayed her course. Shiver might make something of her yet. For now though, the girl only stalked behind her silently.

As they drew closer to the house, Shiver halted at the threshold, stopping at the edge of the shadows. It was dangerously inviting, each and every time. The warmth that emanated from Pov and Marta’s home.

There was a reason she had refused all of their invitations to dinner. She knew that they cared for her. Knew that they wanted to free her from that Fear-damned cave of hers, to give her hope for a proper life. With them.

Shiver crossing the threshold, her knuckles white as she clenched them. Vale looked on quizzically.

‘Vale, Shiver! There you are! You disappeared and Pov didn’t say a wor-’

Marta’s eyes widened as she spotted the soldiercrab Shiver hefted on her back. The girl avoided her eyes, a gentle blush reaching her pale cheeks. Marta just pulled the pair of them into a warm hug. Vale’s eyes moistened with guilt.

‘You got my favourite!’

Silence pervaded between them, only for Marta to smother it with hearty laughter.

‘Well then! This specimen isn’t going to cook itself, is it? Let’s get to work!’

---

Vale’s eyes widened at the bounty of food laid out on the table before them.

‘All this food? Uh…’

Her glance lingered suspiciously on Marta just a moment too long, provoking loud laughter from Shiver and Marta alike.

‘Girl, I promise yer, it won’t all be going into my here belly.’

The towering woman broke into a soft smile.

‘Take some back to the orphanage, won’t you?’

‘She’s annoying like that. Too generous.’

Shiver tried and failed to avoid Marta’s immense hand as she ruffled the girl’s ash-white hair.

‘Pov! Would ya look at this here right unit! Never seen a soldiercrab like him. How did you think they managed it?’

Richard’s carapace had turned a mouth-watering shade of orange, the colour of a well-cooked crab. Steam and a delightful aroma emanated from his place at the center of the table.

As he entered the kitchen, Pov’s eyes went wide at the sight of a soldiercrab the size of himself.

‘Well done Vale! When Shiver went through her trial, all she had to show for it was old Penelope.’

‘Princess Penelope? She’s- but she’s still around!’

Marta let out a bellow of a laugh that gently shook the room. Shiver looked mildly offended at how entertained she was.

‘She was tiny, there was no getting any meat out of her. Pince decided to keep her as a pet, a reminder of Shiver’s “big catch”.’

Shiver let out a snort. She walked over to the kitchen knife stand and licked her lips in anticipation, shooting a deliberate glance at Vale. The girl looked at her flatly, returning a look of mild disgust at the orphan’s antics. Shiver withdrew a cleaver and expertly started hacking away at Richard’s joints legs.

‘Why don’t you go have a proper bath, eh Shiver? You stink.’

‘I don’t need a ba-‘

‘Yes you do, young lady. Off with you.’

Marta easily pried the cleaver away from Shiver at the shared amusement of Vale and Pov. She stalked away to the bathroom. The short elf walked up to her with a warm smile.

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‘I hope she didn’t pick on you too much, Vale? She might look… frosty on the outside, but she’s got a good heart if you look closely enough.’

‘Perhaps I just haven’t gotten a close enough look.’

Pov and Marta shared a hearty chuckle.

‘You know, we’ve tried convincing her to stay with us from the time she was a wee kid, when we found her. She was never willing to join us. She never even stayed for a meal.’

Vale nodded. At first, she would have assumed that the girl’s pride would not have permitted it. Now, it was clearer to her that she had likely been reluctant to rely on Pov and Marta. Marta confirmed her assumptions.

‘I know what you’re thinking, it wasn’t only because of her pride. She certainly has a strong sense of it, but she didn’t want us to be worse off. She knows struggle. She’s also one of the only few older orphans that have stuck around, still inducting the young ones. Preparing them for the life ahead of them.’

Pov’s voice lowered to a hush.

‘They found her in a cave outside Brimstone. She was abandoned there, to the cold. It’s where she stays, to this day.’

Vale drew in a breath. Pov gave her wink.

‘It didn’t come from us. She’d have our hides if she found that we told you.’

‘Pov you’ve talked her ear off and the night hasn’t even started! Go have a warm bath, Vale. Leave the rest to me, eh?’

Vale excused herself and headed to the bathroom. Her respect for Shiver had grown a sliver after Pov and Marta’s testimonies.

Underneath her frosty interior was a girl with resilience the likes of which she hadn’t seen before.

The warmth of this place was undeniable. It wouldn’t be long before it began to feel like home, especially to a young orphan with no one looking out for them. Shiver had refused that temptation, out of concern for them. You had to respect the-

Vale met with a face full of warm water as she opened the door to the bath. Water spattered all around her, some of it escaping into the hallway. Droplets dripped idly from Vale’s hair as she stared at Shiver, who wore a distinct look of satisfaction on her face.

‘You were asking for it princess. You certainly don’t smell like royalty. Had to be done.’

I take everything back.

---

‘You thought I was a smith? Can you believe it Pov!’

Marta’s laughed as Vale withdrew into herself, smothering her red face in her hands.

‘I can’t see it, can you Shiver?’

‘Not at all, look at how delicate she is!’

Marta posed, putting a hand under a chin, shooting a wink at Vale.

‘I’m so sorry.’

Pov, who was seated next to her patted her on the back reassuringly with a laugh.

‘We’re only teasing Vale. When Marta first approached me, I thought the end of my days had arrived.’

‘I’m surprised you’ve lasted for so long, my love.’

Marta shamelessly shot a wink at her husband who reacted with a laugh. Shiver, whose cheeks bulged as she chewed up Richard together with the range of other vegetables, interjected.

‘Wha were hose arshefacts yesferday, Martaugh?’

‘Swallow your food before you talk Shiver, it’s unbecoming of a lady.’

‘Shays yu!’

Marta sighed, resigned to the lost cause that Shiver was. Then her expression darkened, as her thoughts returned to the previous night.

‘Those artefacts… They carry powerful curses. You noticed it yourself, didn’t you?’

Shiver nodded, gulping down her food.

‘When I got near them, I felt something like…’

‘Your Fear.’

Marta nodded, idly mixing her food, her eyes far away.

‘The answer is… we suspect them to be the Phobias of fallen Fearshapers.’

‘Phobias?’

Marta nodded solemnly.

‘The tool of a Fearshaper. A physical reflection of their Fear, that they wield. They’re potent. If you don’t handle them carefully, they’re deadly enough to kill. At best, an elf without a Fear would walk away with a new one.’

Marta exchanged an expression with Pov.

‘I first chanced upon one on the road back to Brimstone, an hourglass. This one was weaker than the others, but its effect…’

Vale gulped as she thought back to the dagger that had sat in Aveline’s vault.

Its nature was undoubtable.

‘I thought it an ordinary hourglass, until I put it on this here dining table of ours. And noticed that anything close to it didn’t age.’

‘Impossible.’

‘Whatever these artefacts are… House Brimstone has ordered their immediate surrender if they’re discovered. They’ve outright banned their retrieval. Those codgers at the librarium are spineless, they cowed to Brimstone. Something’s off about them eh? And I’m no coward.’

Vale was inclined to agree. Marta took a bite of her food, raising her eyes to meet Shiver’s,

‘Just like you, I heard whispers that Aveline Veringold had collected some in secret. Girl’s a lot like you, Shiv. When I heard they had caught you, I knew exactly what it would take. I’d rather my findings ended up in her hands than those usless chickenhearts at the librarium.’

Marta took another large bite of the crab and chewed with surprising grace.

‘It’s also a mystery why there are so many of them around Brimstone. Perhaps the result of a war long forgotten.’

A comfortable silence drew out before them as they partook in the meal. As Vale’s eyes passed over Shiver, she realized that the girl had grown noticeably tense.

‘Marta, Pov.’

Shiver’s voice shook as it cut through the gentle clatter of cutlery. Marta and Pov paused and directed their attention at the orphan.

‘Thank you for yesterday. We’re sorry… for you know.’

Marta’s smile prompted a blush to rise on Shiver’s cheeks. Vale stared in amazement. She never thought she’d see the day. She inclined her head to Pov.

‘Don’t you worry yourself. Pov here was raised on the streets himself. He’s told me about the struggle. Of all the people you could go for, the guild has generous coffers. House Brimstone keeps them full.’

Shiver continued to avoid the woman’s gaze. A hint of mischief entered into Marta’s eyes.

‘But you didn’t think a single dinner would make up for it, did you?’

Shiver froze, her eyes widening. A look of desperation filled her face.

‘We’ll- we’ll do whatever it takes-‘

‘Oh, hush Shiv, I’m teasing ya!’

Vale felt an odd sense of satisfaction seeing the usually unflappable, sassy orphan without a reply.

‘It would go a long way if you stayed with us a while.’

Marta delivered her offer like the strike from a blademaster, with a manufactured nonchalance. Vale could tell, for she saw the beginnings of tears in the gargantuan’s woman’s kind eyes. The offer made so casually, yet the weight behind it was unquestionable. Shiver’s expression grew conflicted. Marta continued gently, undeterred by the myriad of emotions displayed on the orphan’s face.

‘We have the means. We’ve saved. It would mean the world to us, eh Pov?’

Pov’s eyes held his response, unequivocal to all of them.

Shiver lowered her gaze, her voice a whisper.

‘I’m all grown now. Better one of the younger ones. They need it more than me.’

Silence echoed throughout the dining table.

‘Nonsense.’

Shiver’s head rose.

‘You’re a daughter to us. You’ve always been. The younger ones will have you looking out for them. We won’t change our minds. Eh Pov?’

‘Couldn’t have put it better myself.’

Vale glimpsed tears in Shiver’s eyes which the girl quickly swiped away. She saw the corners of her smile twitch involuntarily as she attempted to steel her features. Vale’s own thoughts turned to her own family, tears finally reaching her own.

I miss them.

Frantic knocking echoed from the hallway, shattering the peaceful silence of the moment. As well as the sounds of a young boy’s shouts.

‘I-I’ll get it.’

Shiver croaked out a response, and shot from her chair, as if relieved by the interruption.

‘Shiver.’

The girl halted in her tracks.

‘Do what you have to do. Then come home, alright?’

Vale hid a smile.

Checkmate, Shiver.

Tears did fall from her eyes then, as she ran into the hallway to open the door.

She was glad no one was there to see them.

Wiping them away, she cleared her throat and opened the door, to find one of the little orphans waiting anxiously outside.

‘Dusty, you couldn’t wait? You know that I’ll bring the food over once the mister and missus have had their dinner.’

Dusty shook his head, his eyes filled with…Fear?

‘No Miss Shiver! Dag came around asking after Blaze, saying he’d heard her running her mouth about some robbery. He wanted to speak to her, but Mother booted him out. Then this noble came in and kicked us out. He’s hurting Blaze!’

Shiver cursed, gritting her teeth.

‘I swear little firefly, what have I told you about keeping that mouth of yours shut.’

She called out towards the dining room. Her voice was still unsteady.

‘Marta, Pov! I need to settle some things, don’t wait up!’

The bigger they are the harder they fall.

Not an expression for an orphan they said.

Yet even orphans were graced with rare moments of serenity that made them feel like the peer of any Highlord or noble.

And how they despaired when those few moments of peace inevitably ran their course.

With her eyes finally devoid of tears, rage took their place.

‘Let’s go.’