Maria was tossing and turning in her sleep, violently enough to fall out of bed with a thud. With a groan she got back up and held her bandaged cheek while looking around the room.

She was alone, of course, that is what she had requested. Her face was itching violently, she could not take her fingers off the bandages, until she had torn them off her face.

It was still the middle of the night, the moon was hidden behind the clouds, shrouding her in darkness dense enough for her to dare open her wounded eye. Tears began to run down her face. She could see. Maria ran out of her room and down the stairs in search of Sin.

The young master did not find her in her room, which looked as untouched as the day they had moved in. Save for a few guards, nobody was awake, and they had not seen her either.

Finally she barged into Tetra's room, the only one under whose door light had shown. The Sage was sitting at her desk with a massive book, and nearly fell out of her chair at the intrusion.

"Wise master, I am honoured, of course!" She quickly rose to her feet and curtsied, the brim of her hat hiding her embarrassment. "It is quite late however, should you not rest? And, your face, it-"

The burn marks had made way for long and wide scars, reaching across the left side of her face, but Tetra's look of discomfort did not lessen Maria's mood. "Yes but, I can see again, Tetra, I actually can and I need to find Sin so I can tell her, do you know where she is?"

Tetra let out a gasp and hurried to her master's side. "I am overjoyed, wise master, Sin, she is downstairs I believe, tending to Yggdrasil."

Maria's eyes widened and she took a step back. "Yggdrasil, she is here, already?"

Tetra guided her master down through the basement, taking one sharp turn after the other. "My great sister spent most of her time when not tending to her duties down here in preparation. She of course told me not to speak of it openly, though I hope she will forgive me in this instance."

They had to take another staircase even further down into the depths of the earth, through another long, pale hallway, until they reached a final, large door. Beyond it lay a massive round chamber, the ceiling so far up that it vanished into the darkness.

At the centre of it grew a small tree, hardly larger than Maria, with the upper body of a young girl sprouting from it. In front of her stood Sin, her back turned to her master.

The ground was already covered in roots and vines, though most were so thin and delicate that Maria kept her eyes on the ground at all times to not step on one by accident.

As they got closer Sin turned to face them, her surprise only brief before she bowed. "It is a welcome surprise to see you, my master. I see your bandages need changing, I shall tend to that as soon as I am finished here."

The vines were starting to rattle all around them, though young Yggdrasil's eyes remained closed. "You didn't tell me that you had given her a place already, I wanted to be a part of that." Maria bit her lower lip as she eyed the beast.

Sin bowed deeply. "My dear sister requires a lot of time, and you were, tragically preoccupied, my master. I felt it best to tend to her here, as a surprise, if you would. Please forgive my treasonous actions."

As Maria took another step closer, the vines whipped into a frenzy. Countless eyes opened all along them, centred upon her, and Yggdrasil slowly turned her head to face her. "My master has finally come to see me." The same burn marks covered the girls body, her eyes destroyed. "How can this pitiful, broken doll serve?"

"I was, looking for Sin, but I am glad to see you again." Maria tried to smile as Yggdrasil tilted her head. "The older me did not leave me with much memory of you, though you looked much weaker back then, and less like me."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The young beast turned her head as her other eyes rested now on Sin. "She also resented you, great sister. And I see for good reason. How could you let our master get mangled this way?"

Sin took a deep breath and hid her clenched fists behind her back. "We had quite a long and perilous journey, sister. Though a little sapling should know better than to speak in such a tone, would you not agree?" Her smile was wide enough to bare her fangs. Yggdrasils vines thrashed against the ground.

"I tire of your recklessness, great sister! How long has it been since my memories stopped, it cannot be long, our master is hardly a year older, and yet we are here, back at home. We must move more carefully, or else our enemy will tear us apart yet again."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, her eyes pinning back on Maria. "I am spreading my roots as fast and far as I can, my master. I urge you, be mindful of the cost of moving too quickly."

"I am keenly aware of that cost, Yggdrasil." Maria spoke in a quiet tone, her eyes narrowing. "We are in a secure location, we have powerful allies, and in a few days things will swing greatly in our favour, don't worry."

The room fell silent, Yggdrasil's many eyes closed as she lowered her head. "I must bow before your decision, my master. And I pray that it is the right one. I believe that I was not the one you came for, however. I shan't further hinder you."

Maria looked to Sin, who let out a sigh. "We shall leave you to sulk over not sharing in the glory then, sister." She turned to leave and Tetra followed, though Maria staid back and walked right up to Yggdrasil, and laid a hand on her malformed claw.

"Everything is going to be alright." Her whispers fell on deaf ears, the beast did not move. After what felt like endless moments, the young master followed her beasts out of the room, leaving Yggdrasil in her chamber, in the dark.

Back in the rooms above ground Tetra excused herself to go back to her room and continue her studies. Sin followed her master to her bedroom. "I can see again." Her words caused Sin to pause as she was grabbing bandages and disinfectant. "I cannot put my joy into words, my master."

She cleaned the scars one more time, and wrapped the bandages back around the half of her master's face. Her hands were trembling and she could not help herself but wrap her arms around Maria.

"It will not happen again, my master. Please, rest assured of that." Maria leaned into her, closing her eye. "I fell out of bed, Sin. Please stay, tonight, just in case."

Her beast took a seat next to the bed as Maria slid back under her covers, tiredness overwhelming her body as she swiftly drifted back off into sleep. It did not take long for the visions to find her once more.

The sight of her burned home, the numbing pain, Samdel's towering presence, and the creatures in the dark beyond the stars, their restless eyes pinned on her.

She tossed and turned in bed as Sin watched on with clenched teeth throughout the night. Dark gave way to light, the clouds parted and the morning sun shone through her windows onto the bed, though it was not enough to perish the demons haunting her.

There was a knock at the door, and Sin answered it. Beyond stood Armoire, hands in the pockets of her hoodie. "The master is asleep, sister. She will not be disturbed." Sin's voice was a hiss that left no impression on her sister.

It did not phase Armoire, who shrugged. "I know, I'm here to talk to you, great sister. We still haven't gotten the layout of the manor for the ball yet, and you're better at knocking heads together without casualties."

Sin shook her head and looked back at her master, then she pulled Armoire into the room. "Very well, I will handle it. But in the meantime you will take my place and watch over our dear master."

She stepped through the door, but Armoire tugged at her sleeve. "Shouldn't we, I, wake her? She looks in pain."

Worry was echoing through her words, Sin's shoulders slumped. "No. Our master gets not enough sleep as is with her preparations, we need to ensure that her body can still rest, even if under these conditions. I left a draft of her speech by the night table, you can keep yourself useful by having a look through it."

Sin closed the door behind her, leaving Armoire alone with her master. She sat down with pen and paper, reading through the notes and shaking her head.

"That'll just bore the whole lot to sleep, no queen addresses her subjects like that." She muttered under her breath, and turned the paper, a grin appearing on her lips as she started to write. "We need to remind those pompous cowards of what they are meant to be."