Leila stares at the snow-covered city. There is not a single thing without snow on top of it. Cars, tree branches, roads, sidewalks, rooftops. Everything is white.

But it has not kept people indoors. Many are already outside, making the most of it after being trapped by the storm for days.

The sky no longer carries its thick dark clouds. The lightning and thunder have finally stopped their relentless back and forth.

The sky is clearer now, but still not blue. Still murky gray.

Depressing, but not as suffocating as before.

Maurice enters the room and comes to stand behind her, taking in the same view.

"It’s amazing, isn’t it?" He says, quiet with wonder. "After five days of nonstop rain and wind and thunder, it just goes quiet. And white."

Leila sighs. "But it’s still not normal, Reese. I know it’s the end of autumn, but snow? It isn’t even winter yet. Can you imagine what winter will be like?"

"Winter in Solarys has always been colder than in Arvion. Which is why I’ve always preferred Arvion." Maurice says.

Leila turns slowly and wraps her arms around him.

"What are we going to do, Reese? What are we going to say to Julian and Thea?" Her voice breaks.

Maurice holds her. "We tell them the truth. We have never shied away from it, Lei. We are not going to start now."

Leila goes quiet.

After a moment, "I know. Of course I know. But... I don’t know how to say it without it breaking them."

Maurice smiles sadly. "I think that ship has sailed. They have been crying since it happened."

He pulls her closer. "All we can do is be there for them."

"He is my son too. My firstborn." Leila sobs.

"Oh, Arthur." She cries into his arms.

Maurice cannot do anything but hold her.

Tears fall silently down his cheeks.

------------------------------

Sonia looks at the view beyond the balcony window, now that Elder Loujt has pulled back the curtain. She blinks, unsure how to answer.

Elder Loujt is taken aback. He had asked simply to gauge whether Sonia knew anything at all. He had not expected that she actually did.

Sonia nods slowly, reluctantly. "I do." But she stops there, her eyes flickering briefly to the other three men in the room.

Elder Loujt understands immediately. He straightens and says, "The three of you, please step out. One guard outside the door, the rest of you cover the lobby. Anything unusual, report to me." He holds up his phone to make clear how.

The three obey without hesitation.

The door clicks shut.

Elder Loujt takes his seat, leans forward, and says quietly, "Your Highness?"

Sonia takes a deep breath.

And tells him everything.

------------------------------

Linus is already wearing his coat and shoes when the front door opens. He sighs with relief when he sees Miranda come in.

"You’re here, good. I was going to come and get you." He does not take off his coat or shoes, but leans in to kiss her cheek.

Miranda does not respond the way she normally would. She looks exhausted, and above all, sad.

Linus’s expression changes the moment he sees it.

"Mom!" Claudia comes running from down the hall, fully dressed and ready to go.

"How is he?" There is no trace of her usual mischief. Only concern.

Miranda looks at her and breaks down. "Oh, Claudia." She cries.

Linus moves like lightning, pulling her into his arms. "Shh. It’s okay. It’s okay. Shh."

He cannot stand the sight of his wife crying.

Claudia starts crying the moment she sees her mother cry. She folds into Linus’s embrace too, and both of his women are now crying in his arms at once.

After a while, they both settle.

Miranda takes a step back and wipes her face. She looks at Claudia.

"I’m sorry. I’m too emotional." She sniffles.

Linus is already busy pressing tissues into both their hands.

"You’re scaring me, Mom. Has something happened? To Liam, or Thea, or any of them?" Claudia accepts the tissue and sniffles.

"Let’s all sit down." Linus says, already guiding them toward the sofa.

"I’m sorry, sweetheart." Miranda pats Claudia’s cheek gently as Linus steers them over.

"So?" Claudia presses, once they are seated.

"Liam is fine. Physically he’s fine. A few minor injuries, a broken arm. You already know all of this." Miranda says.

Claudia makes a face.

Miranda chuckles softly. "Yes, I know that’s not what you’re asking." She sighs.

"He is still mourning. All of them are." She finishes quietly.

The three of them go silent.

"I can’t imagine what the Montroses are going through. I don’t know what I would feel or do if the same thing happened to Liam." Claudia says. Her voice is barely audible.

"No." Miranda whispers. She pulls Claudia into her side and leans back against Linus.

Three Monforts sitting together in silence, holding each other up.

------------------------------

Silence settles over Sonia’s room after she finishes.

Elder Loujt observes her, blinking slowly.

Her Highness is very affected. Unusual. But understandable. This is the first time for her.

Then he speaks.

"So you believe you have found the summoner?" Elder Loujt confirms.

Sonia shakes her head. "Not believe. I know I found her. But she has no mana. How is that possible?"

Elder Loujt frowns. "I think you are contradicting yourself, Your Highness. How can someone have no mana and yet you are certain it is her?"

Sonia blinks. Once. Again. And then several times rapidly.

"Elder Loujt, you are right. Why am I so certain she has no mana and yet was the summoner? I detected a mana signature. Coming from her and from the storm. They were identical."

She gets to her feet. "Then why am I so sure she cannot do magic? Hmm."

She suddenly turns back to him. "And that is your first reaction after everything I just told you? You have nothing to say about Liam Monfort? Or Arthur?"

Elder Loujt takes a breath. "What would you have me say, Your Highness? What happened to Arthur was unfortunate. Very unfortunate. From what you have described, he was a remarkably talented and powerful Fire. But it has already happened. There is nothing I can do about it now."

"As for Liam Monfort." He takes another breath. "We are taught to keep our distance from the Monforts. To avoid engaging or confronting them when we have the choice. You did not know he would be there. You had no choice. You did the right thing."

"Even after I helped him purify the rainwater? Elder Loujt, I helped the enemy. I betrayed the Vaelin’s way!" Sonia looks distraught.

Elder Loujt smiles gently.

"No, you did not, Your Highness. As I said, you had no choice. It was not a betrayal. It was a wise decision. A betrayal would be deliberately helping him when other options were clearly available."

"You helped because that is who you are. You are kind. You do not want things to escalate and hurt innocent people caught in the middle. That is not betrayal, Your Highness. That is judgment." Elder Loujt says.

Sonia falls silent.

After a moment she says, "And why aren’t you reacting to the fact that these people can use magic? To that extent? Aren’t you curious about who taught them?"

Elder Loujt chuckles. "I am more than curious. I am also shocked. I never imagined there would be others who know magic the way we do. And from what you have described, they are doing it correctly. Unlike those Custodians." He says the last word with a slight disdain.

"But I held back because you looked far more concerned about the people themselves than about the magic."

"My next question, then, is this. How did a thunderstorm full of wind, rain, lightning, and thunder turn into snow? And this much of it?"

Sonia blinks and looks down. She mumbles something.

"I beg your pardon, Your Highness. I could not hear that."

Sonia looks up at him and sighs. "I said, it was Liam Monfort."

"Liam Monfort?" Elder Loujt’s eyebrows rise. "Is he really that powerful?"

Sonia sighs for what feels like the hundredth time and tells the tale.

------------------------------

"THEA!" Maeve screamed at the sight of Theo fainting. She rushed forward to stop his head from hitting the ground.

"Thea! Thea!" Julian looked panicked. He had just lost his brother. The thought of losing his sister too hit him like a physical blow.

Alicia moved in and held Julian back. "Wait! Let Maeve check her, Julian! Wait! Let her do her job!"

She could barely hold him. He struggled like a man being restrained against his will.

Maeve checked Theo quickly and let out a long exhale. "I think she has gone into shock. Her body is still dealing with the injuries from before. I believe she will be fine, but we need to get her to a hospital to be sure."

Everyone exhaled.

Liam stepped forward. His face was stoic and rigid.

"We need to get everyone out of here. We cannot keep holding this building. Julian will exhaust himself." He turned to Julian.

"You can let it go, Jules. Just make sure it does not come down on the neighbors." He said it in a flat, authoritative tone.

Very unlike Liam.