The morning gray filled the spacious room, driving the wisps of night away into the farthest corners and under the tables. After a few hours, the whole place was going to be lit by the sun and sparkle in pearl-white and silver like a mountain glacier but right now, the sparse light made the chamber look shrouded in spring mists. The fine muslin canopy over the bed only enhanced this mysterious feeling – fluttering slightly by the smallest gust of wind coming through the crack of the door.

On the bed, Shana’s tiny figure tossed and turned, her forehead – beaded with cold sweat. She winced and a couple of crystal tears rolled down her cheeks. The little Star-gazer was fast asleep, her dreams plagued by the recollection of the horrid future she had witnessed barely a month ago.

She saw her father again, his dark skin – laced and bleeding, his wrists – tied to a poll. The shouts of the crowd were thundering like the waves of a black stormy sea. She saw that vile witch parting the crowd, standing above her father with a dagger in hand. “I’ll carry the will of Norden,” she was saying while swinging her blade to spill blood. After that, there was darkness.

As she tossed under her blankets, Shana was unaware of the faint glow coming from one of the two red twin-drops hanging around her neck. Silver mist rose from the pendant and floated over the child’s face, little wisps caressing her cheeks.

“Don’t give up, Shana,” an almost inaudible whisper melted into the morning air. “Fight! See the truth! See the whole future!”

At the same time, the flower-ring on the child’s finger started exuding black light that condensed into a claw. With a sharp swing, it tore at the silver mist. Sparks hissed and flew in the air as the two forces collided but the darkness prevailed, dispersing the mist into nothingness. Then, the darkness split, coiling over Shana’s chest and brow like tiny poisonous snakes.

The child curled up between the blankets and trembled, but her eyes remained tightly shut. The nightmare continued plaguing her, the tortures her father suffered only becoming more and more gruesome. Sometimes, there were other convicts together with him. Shana saw the bloodied bodies of the knights she knew and loved, dangling from gallows, amongst them Duncan, Gerash, and even Jess. Other times, Duncan was the one flogging her father under the watchful eye of the witch, while rows of white-haired Binshi led by an old woman spectated coldly from the side. She once saw Gerash and the twins burning at the stake, the yellow flames bathing her father’s bloody face, his desperate scream mixing with theirs.

In every nightmare, her loved ones suffered and died, and always, that woman was there – cold, proud, and unharmed. Sometimes the witch wore a cape covering her features, sometimes her hair changed color from brown to night-black, to pure white, but Shana knew it was her. The false Duchess. The Swallow, who had to be devoured for the peace of Norden. There was no other way. Whenever Shana tried to picture a good future, to reign in the dreams towards a happy end, her head felt like splitting and her chest was painfully tight. Darkness engulfed the fragments of the days to come, leaving only one image – the witch-duchess. As long as she was there, Norden and her family were in danger.

A cold hand landed on Shana’s burning forehead, making the child flinch and let out a jagged sigh. Blinking a couple of times, she finally struggled free from the nightmare. Her eyes cleared a bit, enough to see the face of the man leaning over her, before the tears started overflowing again.

Jumping up, Shana threw herself into the man’s embrace.

“Calm down, Starlet! What’s wrong?” Noah cradled the child, his big hand carefully stroking the cloud of messy white hair. “Did you have a bad dream? It’s over, my love, you are awake now. No one can harm you while I’m here.”

“A… bad… person hurt y-you, papa!” The child’s hiccups sounded muffled as she pressed her face in his shirt, leaving little wet stains on the dark cloth. “And u-uncle Gerash… And grandpa Duncan!”

“It was just a dream, Starlet. We are all fine.”

With a soft smile, Noah gently plucked the girl from his chest and used his fingers to comb her hair away from her face. A pair of warm gray eyes peered into hers, his sleeve taking the role of an improvised handkerchief to brush away her tears.

“You see, I’m as fit as a mountain rabbit. And you will meet Gerash and the rest very soon. But now, you must prepare for the big day.”

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“B-big day?” Shana sniffled, her emotions starting to calm down.

“Not fully awake, it seems.” Noah tapped the child’s nose and his expression brightened. “My Starlet has forgotten her own birthday when I especially came so early to greet her with the first light.”

Leaning in, Noah planted a kiss on the girl’s forehead.

“Mir-Mama, thank you for gifting Shana to this world, for gifting her to me,” he whispered. “May the light always shine over your path, Starlet.”

Together with his words, the morning sun entered through the high windows, its rays bathing the room in a soft golden sheen. Shana bit her lips and the tears threatened to start trickling again.

This was an ancient Binshi custom. On the morning of a child’s birthday, the mother was the first one to enter the room with the rising sun to give a blessing and to thank the Mother Above for the gift of life. But Shana had no mother, so, for the past seven years, Noah was the one to perform the ritual. Every year, no matter whether he was sick or injured, he came to wish her a happy birthday.

Feeling a warm flutter in her stomach, Shana closed her arms around the man’s neck and gave him a shy kiss on the cheek.

“I love you, papa!”

“No, I love you, Starlet.”

“No, I love you!” The girl tightened her embrace. “I will protect you. I will never let anything bad happen to you!”

“I believe this is my job, little one.” Noah threw her a smile but there was some worry mixed in his gaze. “What horrors did you dream to act like this? Did you happen to remember your prophecy…?”

“No!” Shana stiffened and let go of him, all the while shaking her head vigorously. “You… You were… eaten by a bad bird in my dream.”

Noah lifted an eyebrow.

“I thought you said it was a person?”

“It… was a bird-person.” Shana blushed and lowered her head. “It was a dream after all.”

“You have some imagination!” Noah gently put a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Well, you are still a child.”

“I am nine!” She pouted but this only made Noah laugh.

“Yes, you are almost a bride,” he mocked her but Shana didn’t miss the tinge of sadness hidden beneath the joyful tone.

“Have… you decided to marry me off this year?” She asked timidly, all the happiness draining away from her still wet face.

“What? No! I was just joking, Starlet.” Noah lifted her chin. “Today, you have very strange thoughts buzzing in your head.”

“But the kush-turgans insist every year…”

“And this time, like every other year, I will nod and let it slip into oblivion. Or do you wish to marry someone?”

“No!” Shana almost lost her head while shaking it.

“Then it’s settled.” Noah stood up from the bed. “You should put some clothes on and go down for breakfast. Duncan and Neli must be waiting.”

“Won’t you come too, papa?”

“The kush-turgans will be arriving at noon. I still have some things to prepare…”

“Please, papa!” There was pleading in the big blue eyes that looked at him.

“Hmm, alright,” Noah pretended to hesitate, “but under one condition.”

“W-what?” Shana bit her lip. Was he going to make her dine with that witch again?

“Well,” her father coughed, “I happened to learn that our dear Jessup has prepared another song for your birthday this year.”

“No!” Shana furrowed her brow before she could stop herself and an incredulous smile bloomed on her face.

“Yes. I hope there will be no eye-rolling and no attempts to correct his rhymes, meter, or accords this year.”

“But papa, Jess is awful at poetry! And he pulls the strings of the lute like he is firing a bow.”

“He is. And that’s why, please, don’t prolong our agony.”

Noah's words were followed by the exchange of two conspirative glances and a low giggle.

“I’ll do as you say, papa!” Shana jumped out of the bed and pushed Noah to the door. “Give me ten minutes.”

“Good. I’ll call a maid–”

“I can wash my face and prepare alone.” The girl lifted her chin. “I am not a baby.”

“If you say so.” Bending down, Noah gave her a peck on the cheek and left the room with a spring in his step.

Shana leaned on the closed door and her heart raced with both joy and horror. She had missed he father dearly. He could be stern and unyielding but his embrace was the softest and his smiling eyes – the warmest. But the last three months, ever since he came back from the South, they were always bickering. He was constantly reprimanding her and looking at her with pain and disappointment in his gaze. All of it was that witch’s fault.

Biting her lips, Shana threw a glance at one particular plank under the bed. Her hex was going to activate today. When the kush-turgans and the barons saw that woman’s true face, they were going to punish her and lock her away in the deepest darkest dungeon so that she could no longer harm her loved ones. If she was “devoured” by the dark prison cell, the prophecy would be avoided, just as her dada had promised her.