The Coin returned to the party a minute later, and he made his way to whisper something to Stasia. It must have been the signal to start, for she nodded to him and then sprang into action. There was no raised stage to use, but Stasia was always one to improvise. The double windows of the ballroom were enormous, and opened by the turning of little levers. She spun one side, then the other, opening the ten-foot-tall spires of glass to allow in the wintery air. Given the windows’ size, she had more than enough space to leap up and stand in their center. The gust of wind was more than enough to gather their attention, but she smashed her axes together for a nice ringing clash of metal anyway.

“Glad as I am to meet you, we all know you’re not here for me,” she shouted. “Come forth, walker of shadows!”

A now familiar panic spiked in Cyrus’s breast. Every visit, every party and gathering, awakened it anew. It had never lessened, but thankfully he had at least learned how to better ignore it and focus on the immediate need. Right now, that meant not leaving Stasia hanging and appearing as was expected.

You will walk through shadows as if they are doors, Thorda had instructed. It seemed Stasia was aware of that gift. She had positioned herself so a giant stretch of darkness was behind her. Cyrus clenched his fist and focused on the open window. High up where he was, there was nothing but darkness, though things were a little trickier in regards to his intended destination. Perhaps this itself was a test. All gods and goddesses knew Thorda loved his tests.

The longer he stared at the stretch of darkness behind Stasia, that unlit night in the open grass beyond the windows of the ballroom, the more something stirred inside his chest. The silver band burned like fire across his finger despite the protection of his glove. The window felt so close, so near, as if the distance between them were the width of a fingernail. He stepped forward, never realizing he meant to. His foot should have touched the rickety wood of the high platform. Instead came a rapid sense of vertigo, followed by an entire shift of his surroundings as he emerged from the shadows to land atop the windowsill amid a flutter of his cloak. He grabbed the sill to steady himself, the instantaneous relocation of his entire body from the high balcony to standing beside Stasia beyond disorientating. Based on the gasps of those inside, he could only imagine what his sudden appearance had looked like.