Chapter 166: Those eyes |
[Aster]
The door creaked open, and Aster found himself peeking into a narrow hallway, just one eye and a single silver curl of hair visible past the doorframe. It was all dark now, unlike before their bath, all quiet now, except for his shallow breaths and the frantic thudding of his heart. "See anything?" Nivalis hushed behind him, her hand resting on the small of his back, her touch trembling. Aster shook his head.
Pushing the door open a bit more, he stepped outside, his mother and sister right behind him. Their dresses were on, their hair was tidy, and their faces were still glowing pink, their bodies still tingling all over from both the soap and fear. Mana burned hot and painful inside him as the three of them moved down the creaky hallway, one silent, careful step at a time. He was ready to unleash it all if need be, should anything jump out from the shadows.
But nothing did. All Aster saw was the same dark hallway as before, the same worn floorboards, the same doorways leading to unknown rooms. He listened, straining to catch any sound from the kitchen, from the closed doors, and even from the window, anything. But there was nothing.
So much of nothing that even Nivalis couldn't pick up anything with her Blessing; she tried. "Stop," she murmured after just a few steps, the blue of her eyes disappearing beneath her long eyelashes, a lone candle trembling in her hand.
It was strange how, just moments ago, the place had felt warm and cozy, unlike any cave or burrow, but now, suddenly, all they wanted was to be far away, back in the forest with nothing but snow and trees to keep them company.
'We're probably just... overthinking this,' Aster tried to convince himself, but that did little to calm the frantic beating of his heart. The way Adeline had left them in that room, the way she paused... it was just too odd to brush off.
As they waited for their mother to give them the all-clear, Aster caught Silvia's golden gaze. She wore the same tight expression as him—the one that came with holding too much mana inside, teeth pressed into her bottom lip. Her shoulders were bunched up, small fists clenched at her sides. She was scared; it was obvious, yet still held her head high. He nodded once. She nodded back. That was all.
Nivalis snapped her fingers twice, softly so, to give her Blessing something to work with. But as soft as the sound was, the hallway's dead silence made the two little pops seem impossibly loud. A beat of silence later, her eyes fluttered open. "Doors are too thick. It's hard to tell," she whispered, a hard swallow working its way down her throat, "but... I think I saw legs. In the kitchen."
She paused, swaying slightly on her feet as the dizziness hit her, as it always did. It took her a moment to blink it away, then a hushed, "Be ready," came out of her, as she motioned them forward.
The rest of the hallway was a blur of creaks and held breaths. When they reached the end of the hallway and stopped by the door leading to the kitchen, Nivalis put her trembling finger to her lips and leaned against the wooden surface to listen, once again closing her eyes.
Aster stood by her left, Silvia by her right, with both of them watching her intently. But before Nivalis could tell them what she heard, or if she heard anything at all, the door opened. Without any warning. So abruptly that Aster almost yelped.
Tomas stood there, blinking slowly down at them, with the very same friendly smile on his face as half an hour ago. "You girls are finally done?" he said, looking from one squeaky-clean face to another. "Good. I'll take the candle," he added, gently taking it from Nivalis's trembling hand. His gaze shifted to Aster, and his smile widened, "Well now, don't you look pretty without all that dirt on your face, little flower. Almost as pretty as your sister," he said, his pale eyes crinkling at the corners.
Aster forced a smile in return, a tiny, tight-lipped thing. It wasn't in response to the comment—those words barely registered in his mind—but to hide behind it that intense, stabbing pain in his chest as he wrestled his mana back down, forced it to behave after that scare.
Tomas had almost gotten himself burned to a crisp right then and there, opening the door like that, without even realizing. But Aster held it there, a breath trapped in his lungs, the wool of the dress twisting in his scarred fingers at his thighs, eyes locked on the old man's face. 'Just... smile. Keep smiling.'
Nivalis let out the breath she didn't know she was holding, her shoulders slumping in relief. "Yes. We're... done. Thank you," she said, her gaze shifting to the candle's flame for a heartbeat, then back to the man. "H-here you go." After another shaky breath, she gave the candle away and forced a smile onto her face, much like the one Aster wore, only hers hid the dizziness.
Tomas took the candle and held it between them, casting a warm, flickering light on their faces. He didn't seem to notice anything amiss, their forced smiles, their trembling hands, the sheer panic in their shining eyes. He just looked at them, a kind old man who was glad to have some company for dinner. "Addie's almost done with the porridge. Go sit at the table," he then said, gesturing with the candle towards the large room where they had rested by the fire earlier. "I'll go take care of the mess you probably left behind."
With a smile on his wrinkled features, he stepped past them into the small, dark hallway they had just left, leaving the three of them standing in the kitchen. Adeline was at the table, her back to them, busy with something in a bowl, all humming and stirring. She didn't turn as they shuffled by in their knitted socks. They didn't bother her, either.
The main room felt just as cozy as when they'd left it. The fire crackled in the hearth, licking at an iron pot dangling from a hook, sending dancing shadows across the wooden walls. Furs covered the logs, tools hung from hooks, and bundles of herbs dangled from the ceiling. The scent of woodsmoke tickled their noses, mixed with the delicious smell of whatever Adeline was cooking in there.
Like three timid little mice, they moved across the room towards the single table, the same one with mismatched chairs, and sat down one next to another, sighs of relief slipping past their lips at the same time. "That was scary..." Silvia murmured beside him, reaching for her brother's hand beneath the table.
Aster took it and nodded without looking at her, too busy watching the doorway into the kitchen, just in case it was some kind of trick and the old man would burst through it any second. Noticing just how tense he was, Nivalis reached under the table as well and took his other hand into hers. "Relax, sweetie. Everything's fine," she said softly, giving it a gentle squeeze.
It took him a moment to register her words, and when he did, he looked up at her. "We're just... jumpy," Nivalis hushed down at him, "It's okay. It probably got out when I removed my dress." She then looked at her daughter and added, "We're okay."
A long, quiet sigh escaped Aster as he leaned back in the chair, finally letting the tension drain out of his shoulders. He squeezed his mother's hand back, then did the same with his sister's. "Yeah... you're right," he whispered, the pain in his chest easing a little.
It was then that Nivalis noticed a little bump on her boy's skirt, right between his thighs. A frown appeared on her face as she pulled her hand out of his and tried to smooth out the fabric of the dress with her palm, only for the bump to thud back. She looked at Aster, then at the thing hiding beneath his dress, then back at Aster. "Ugh... how long has this been like that?" she murmured, a tired sigh escaped her.
He opened his mouth to answer, but before any word could come out, the clatter from the kitchen cut through the quiet of the room. Tomas brought out a whole bunch of wooden bowls, cups, and spoons, all barely balanced in his arms. "Alright, girls. Set the table, will you?" he said to his guests as he placed everything at the center of the table, then went right back to the kitchen.
The moment the old man was gone, Aster answered his mother's question, "The whole ride." Silvia nodded.
"When we were washing up, why didn't you...?" Nivalis started, then stopped herself, another sigh escaping her; they were too scared back then to take care of it. Looking down at the bump, then at his face, then back at the bump, she whispered, "Just... tuck it away, alright? Like you used to," and patted his silver hair apologetically.
Aster grimaced, but did as told, shyly pushing his little bump down into the softness of his thighs, making it disappear from sight. As he did that, Nivalis began setting the bowls and cups all around, her hands still trembling a little from the scare. "One for you. One for me. One for..." she murmured to herself.
After the table was set, they just sat in silence, just listening to the occasional clang from the kitchen and the crackling of the fire. Outside, the wind picked up, howling against the wooden shutters. Aster found himself staring at them, at the way the firelight reflected on the glass, making the darkness outside seem even deeper.
That is, until he started fidgeting in the chair, unable to get comfortable. It was just so weird to sit on something other than a rock or a log. Or just the ground. He couldn't help himself, wiggling in his seat and squirming to find a spot that didn't feel wrong. His erection tucked away into his thighs didn't make things any easier, either. "Stop that," Nivalis eventually scolded him in a whisper, noticing his fidgeting. Aster sighed and stopped, forcing himself to sit still.
Before long, a soft rattling began to come from the iron pot hanging over the fire. Its lid started to dance and clatter as steam slipped past its edges, carrying with it the most wonderful smell Aster had sniffed in a long, long while—perhaps even better than that rabbit they had right after escaping the tunnels, despite having no meaty notes to it.
The rich, savory aroma filled the room in just a few seconds, heavy with vegetables and herbs, onions and garlic, and something else he couldn't quite place. Whatever it was, it made his stomach grumble, the sound loud enough to make him wince.
Adeline rushed into the room just then, carrying the same bowl from earlier, opened its lid, and poured its contents into the pot, stirred it a few times, and then closed it again. She didn't spare them a single glance as she did all that, just turned around and went back to the kitchen without a word, sending the curtains swaying.
They waited a bit more in a bit of an awkward silence. Aster kept rubbing the back of his neck, the skin still tingling from the soap, Silvia busied herself swaying her legs back and forth under the table, her knitted socks brushing against the floor occasionally, while Nivalis just looked around the room, at the furs, at the tools, at the bundles of herbs, and at all the little things that made this house a home.
It wasn't long after that when Tomas emerged from the kitchen again, with a corked jug in one hand and a big loaf of bread in the other, and an even larger smile on his face. "Oh, the smell! It's almost ready," he announced with a happy hum, then placed the loaf and the jug on the table.
Not stopping even for a second, he went to the nearby corner and pulled a bunch of mugs and a small knife from the shadows, adding them to the table as well. "Made it myself. Believe me, you haven't tasted better Crumbs than this," he explained as he uncorked the jug and poured the dark, amber liquid into a mug for himself, then grabbed theirs to do the same.
"Crumbs?" Nivalis asked, putting her hands over the mugs before he could pour any in, giving him a questioning look.
Tomas stopped and stared at her for a heartbeat, then chuckled, "Right. Forgot you're not from around here. It doesn't have... a kick to it, if that's what you're worried about. Well, maybe just a tiny bit, but not enough to get even a child drunk," he explained, pushing his filled mug towards her and just grabbed himself a new one. "It's a... well, it's a fermented drink made from leftover bread—hence the name. Crumbs," he said, gesturing for her to try it. "Just give it a taste and decide whether to give it to your girls or not," he then added.
After some hesitation, Nivalis picked up the mug and brought it to her lips, taking the tiniest of sips. Her eyebrows shot up slightly, a pleasant surprise on her face, then she took another, longer one. "It's... very unusual, but good. Very good," she murmured, lowering the mug back onto the table. "Just half for them, please. Thank you," she then added, and Tomas obliged.
Those big, wooden mugs looked funny in their small hands, but that didn't stop Aster and Silvia from taking curious sips, their eyes meeting halfway through it. Somewhere between sweet and sour, fizzy in the nose, and just plain weird in a good way, it left both of them smacking their pink lips with delight. Liquid bread made no sense, yet somehow... it did. "Good, isn't it?" Tomas chuckled at their expressions, receiving two shy nods in return.
With another happy hum, Tomas picked up the knife and started sawing at the loaf. The dark crust resisted at first, then cracked open with a satisfying crunch, revealing the dense, heavy crumb inside dotted with seeds. He worked his way through it, dropping thick, rustic slices onto each plate that looked like they could feed a grown man on their own.
By the time he finished with the bread, the rattling from the pot had turned into a steady, bubbling rumble. Adeline emerged from the kitchen just then, quick to silence it. She took the heavy iron pot from the fire with a thick cloth, carried it to the table, and with a practiced grace, ladled a generous amount of thick porridge into each of their wooden bowls.
Thick, golden-brown porridge, dotted with bits of vegetables and herbs Aster had little idea about, it all practically swam in melted butter, with rings of onions and garlic floating in it. His own reflection stared back at him from the bowl's surface, a little bit of drool on his lower lip.
Flopping down into the chair, Tomas couldn't help but let out a breathy, "Ah, now that's what I'm talking about," eyeing the steaming bowl before him. He reached out and dragged the empty chair beside him, the wooden legs scraping loudly across the floorboards of the cozy room. When it was positioned just so, he nodded once, an invitation for Adeline to sit down. With a quiet nod, she did, her brown gaze briefly touching on the silver-haired family before shifting back to the table.
Feeling hungry as a wolf, Aster was about to start stuffing his face, but he stopped when Tomas took Adeline's hand in his, their fingers intertwining naturally, as if they'd done this a thousand times before. Then, with a gentle smile that crinkled the corners of his pale-blue eyes, the old man extended his other hand towards Silvia, who sat closest to him at the table. "Our little tradition before eating. Care to join me, little lady?" he whispered, waiting for her small, hesitant hand to find his.
Silvia gave her mother a quick, sideways glance, getting an encouraging little nod in return. With a quiet, almost shy, "Oh, okay," she placed her small, pale hand atop his calloused, sunburnt one, Nivalis and Aster joining in without any more prompting, the chain of hands connecting everyone at the table.
They all went quiet and still, all eyes on Tomas, who closed his for a brief moment and bowed his head. "We thank thee for this meal, for thy kindness and for these small comforts in the harshness of winter," he murmured in a quiet, respectful tone. "Bless those who have less, guide those who have lost their way, and keep those we love safe. Whoever among the Twelve keeps watch this night, may our humble thanks find you."
And with that, he squeezed Adeline's hand, then Silvia's; the small chain of hands fell apart. "Alright, dig in, girls. If I won't see the bottoms of those bowls and mugs, I'll take offense," he said with a warm smile, picking up his spoon.
That made Aster and Silvia quietly chuckle, while Nivalis just smiled back. "We will, thank you," she said quietly, picking up her spoon as well, her gaze drifting to her children. "It's been a while since we sat at a proper table." Silvia nodded at her mother's words, her spoon already halfway to her mouth, a small dollop of golden-brown porridge clinging to it. Aster wasn't that far behind, awkwardly holding the spoon in his right hand while his left clutched the mug.
The moment the spoon touched his tongue, everything else faded away, ceased to exist for a brief moment. That first bite of warm, creamy goodness was pure bliss. His lips slurped against the molten butter pooled in the scoop, the grains crunching between his teeth, the garlic and onions tickling his nose, the herbs adding a strange, earthy flavor that made everything... more.
It was so good that his thighs struggled to hold the beast trapped in there, even more so when he took a bite of that dark, heavy bread, just a tiny nibble at first, then a bigger one. He glanced at his mother, who was enjoying her own spoonful, eyes closed, a genuine, serene smile on her face. Then he looked at Silvia, whose eyes had become a bit watery from how good it was.
"This is incredible..." Nivalis murmured after swallowing, quick to shove another scoop into her mouth, as if someone might take it away from her if she didn't. Aster couldn't agree more; his own spoon was already back in the bowl.
Adeline offered her a small smile and a nod, then went back to her own meal, while Tomas waved away her thanks with a piece of bread in his hand. "It's nothing, dear. These days, everyone should help each other," he said, taking a big bite out of it, then continued with a mouthful, "Make sure to eat all the butter; it should help with how bony you girls are. I thought the wind would just carry you away back there on the road." He laughed at his own words, a deep, rumbling sound that made everyone at the table join in.
The meal continued in a comfortable silence, interrupted only by the dull clinking of spoons against the wooden bowls, the soft crunch of bread, and a bunch of slurps and satisfied sighs. At some point, Silvia leaned closer and hushed into his ear, "Dip the bread in," which Aster immediately did, and oh... just when he thought it couldn't get any better. Sip, munch, slurp, dip... he ate like there was no tomorrow, occasionally exchanging happy glances with the other two. That's what life should be like. Not starving, not running. Just... this.
But no matter how fast any of them ate, Tomas finished well before them; Aster was still halfway through his bowl when the man leaned back in his chair with a loud, happy sigh. "Well, that was something else, as always," he said, pushing his chair back with a scrape of wood against floorboards.
"Thank you, dear," Tomas murmured to his wife, who was still working on her own meal and had barely made a dent in it. "I'll be outside for a bit," he added as he stood, stretching his back with a groan, "There's... an important matter with nature that needs attending to. Very important."
Adeline didn't even look up from her bowl, just waved him away with a free hand. "Make sure everything's locked up for the night while you're out there. And check for chickens near the horse, she will stomp them," she said, taking a small bite of her bread.
Nivalis, Aster, and Silvia all stopped eating and watched as the old man shuffled towards the door, pulled on his boots, grabbed a coat from the hook, and stepped outside, closing the heavy wooden door behind him with a quiet thud.
When that happened, the three of them went back to eating, not caring about a single thing in the world, and just enjoying their meals. Silvia and Aster even had a little fight with their feet under the table, all giggles and quiet yelps, while Nivalis watched them with a tired but happy smile. It was a nice evening, a nice moment, one that made all the terrible ones before it fade, even if just for a little while. A slice of normal life they so desperately needed.
That is, until Aster noticed the way Adeline looked at him. She had put down her spoon and was just staring, not eating, not drinking, just... staring. He didn't think much of it at first, figuring maybe she was already full and just waited for them to finish, or perhaps she had lost herself in thought and just happened to look their way. He ignored that and dipped his bread into the buttery porridge again and took a big bite. 'Oh, so good...'
He looked at her again after swallowing, only to find her still staring, this time with a different expression... disgust. Just a hint of it in the slight downturn of her mouth, the way her nostrils flared. It came and went, but Aster saw it. Again, he tried to ignore it and went back to his meal, even forcing a small smile at her to maybe break the awkwardness, but she didn't smile back. She just kept looking across the table.
It was easy to lose himself in the meal before him, the spoon scraping against the bottom of his wooden bowl, then going up into his hungry mouth again, and again. His tummy bulged a little already, yet he kept going.
The third glance, however, he saw it much clearer than before. That disgust was no longer just a hint; it was plain and simple, her brown eyes meeting his golden ones without any attempt to hide it. She noticed him noticing. Aster's spoon stopped halfway to his mouth, the porridge dripping from its edge back into his bowl.
In three quick thumps of his heart, all the boring lessons during winters, every little thing about table manners Nivalis had tried to drill into him over the years came rushing back to the front of his mind, from elbows off the table, down to the right way to hold a spoon. Things he should have remembered the moment they'd sat down to eat, instead of stuffing himself like an animal.
A flush of embarrassment crept up Aster's neck as he sat up straighter, the chair wobbling beneath him, fumbled with the spoon in his hand for a moment, then quickly swiped at a smear of porridge on his chin with the back of his knuckles. All in just a few seconds, spine curving all the way down to his butt.
His new posture made his boy parts bend weirdly between his thighs, so uncomfortable that he almost winced, but he ignored that and forced his lips into what he hoped looked like an apologetic smile towards the woman who was still staring down at him.
After taking a delicate sip of the Crumbs, Aster went back to eating, only this time he made sure to do it properly—small bites, no slurping, chin up, all of it. He did his best for the next few spoonfuls, trying to follow every little rule he could remember before risking another glance at Adeline.
But that disgust was still there, the wrinkles around her eyes and mouth even deeper than before. For a quiet moment, Aster sat there and frowned down at the wooden bowl, the mug, and the spoon before him, wondering what in the world he had done wrong. 'Elbows... spoon... chin... no slurping...' he thought to himself, yet no answer came.
Then his eyes fell upon his own hands. One lay resting near his bowl, pale and slender against the dark wood of the table. The other, clutching the spoon, trembled slightly from the weight of the porridge in it. Both were a mess of ugly, discolored scars, twisted skin pulling in odd directions where the fire had eaten it away, with only nails looking somewhat normal.
That was it, that had to be it—the reason why she had stopped eating and stared like that. The sight of his ugly, burned hands made her lose her appetite. 'I should've...' he thought, but never finished. With a hint of moisture gathering in his golden eyes, Aster shyly tucked his hands into the warm woolen sleeves of his dress until just the tips of his fingers peeked out, not to make her feel any more disgusted than she already was.
Hunching his shoulders to make himself smaller in the chair, he forced the spoon back into his mouth, using only the very tips of his fingers to hold it. That cheerful mood from moments ago was completely gone now, replaced by a quiet awkwardness that made it hard to swallow. He did swallow, though, again and again, each time noticing a bit more disgust appearing on that face across the table.
Aster tried to hide even the tips of his fingers after that, but the sleeves were too short and he couldn't. He just couldn't, no matter how much he tried. After a few more bites, Aster eventually gave up on finishing the meal and just hid his hands under the table so she could eat in peace.
"You already full, sweetie?" Nivalis noticed, her spoon pausing halfway to her lips. Aster gave a slight nod in return and forced a tiny smile for her. Her eyes lingered on him for a heartbeat longer, but eventually she went back to eating.
His gaze drifted to Adeline again, and that's when he saw it wasn't just him. She watched his mother and sister the same way, the same sick twist to her lips—as if the mere act of them putting food in their mouths was somehow disgusting, like she was watching pigs at a trough rather than people sharing a meal. Aster frowned at her, confused, unsure of what to think of it.
Adeline noticed that, and for just a heartbeat, her murky brown eyes found his golden ones across the table. In that single moment of locked gazes, he understood why, his jaw clenching at the answer. A quiet, shaky, "She knows," slipped from his lips.
Curious hums came from his left and right as Silvia and Nivalis raised their eyes from their meals and looked at him. Aster didn't answer and just kept glaring back at the woman, his breathing heavy as pain returned to his chest. It took them a moment to follow his gaze to the face across the table, and when they did, the table went dead quiet. Only the fire in the hearth cracked and popped.
"I tried," Adeline eventually said, her soft voice breaking the heavy silence that had settled over the room, her gaze briefly shifting down the half-eaten bowl of porridge before her. "Gods know I tried."
Then, in an instant, her face twisted into an ugly, bitter scowl that didn't fit her features at all, "But I can't. I just... can't. Can't have you, creatures, sit where they sat, eat their favorite food..." she said, her lips trembling slightly as she looked from one face to another, her brown eyes glistening despite the hatred. "...or let you sleep where they slept. I won't."
The entire time, Aster eyed the knife that Tomas had used to cut the bread earlier, right next to her plate. Mana inside him roared even more at her words, a hot, painful pressure in his chest that made it hard to breathe. Silvia trembled a little from hers, her spoon falling into her bowl with a wet plop.
After shaking her head, Adeline continued, "My boys... died fighting your kind, died. We haven't even gotten their bodies back." The words came out in a choked whisper, yet they heard it all. "And you... You have the nerve to come into our home and..." She stopped, swallowing the words back down.
A few ragged breaths later, a weak "Get out" came from her, her hands trembling as they gripped the edge of the table, her knuckles turning white. "Get out of my house. Now." Her eyes darted towards the door, then back to them, wild and unfocused. "Before he comes back. You're lucky I haven't told him. He'd kill you right on the spot if he knew."
For a handful of heartbeats, Nivalis just stared at the woman across the table, with nothing but pain and anger reflected in the blue of her eyes. She clearly wanted to say something, the muscles in her jaw told that much, but she swallowed back whatever words wanted to burst out. Instead, with a quiet scrape of her chair against floorboards, she hushed her children with a tense, "Come on," not once leaving her eyes from Adeline's.
She didn't have to say it twice. Aster and Silvia scrambled up from their chairs as well, Aster's heart thudding against his ribs so hard he could hear it in his ears. The remnants of their meal—half-empty bowls, mugs with dark liquid still bubbling at the bottom—sat abandoned as they rushed towards the door. Their old, worn boots were there, still lined up neatly, and with clumsy, fumbling hands, they pulled them on, knitted socks bunching up uncomfortably inside.
The door was heavy, the wood cold against their palms as they pushed it open. A rush of freezing air hit them, making everyone but Aster gasp, the howl of the wind waiting for them on the other side. Silvia was the first one out, her silver hair whipping across her face as she stumbled into the night. Nivalis followed right after with their old bag on her left shoulder, faded-brown dress fluttering around her legs.
Just before stepping out after his mother and sister, Aster slipped a hand into his dress pocket and pulled out a small brown jar, a salve she'd given for his burns, no bigger than his thumb. That little act of kindness, earlier in the night. He placed it on the small wooden stool by the door. She can have it back.
Then he took one final look at the woman behind him, who just stared back, her face a mess of hatred and grief. He wanted to say quite a few cruel things to her then, for all the words she had spoken, for all the looks she had given them, for giving them hope only to snatch it away so cruelly. It wasn't fair. But much like his mother, he swallowed those words back down.
Just like her, he realized that even though it ended the way it did, they still ate a warm meal and got to rest by a fire, all because of her and her husband. Tomas could have left them there on the road, yet he didn't.
Aster's shoulders slumped, the fight draining out of him as fast as it had come, leaving only a hollow ache where the anger had been. Looking at her tear-streaked face, he felt bad for even having those cruel thoughts. Felt bad for her, for the two boys who died somewhere far away, and for the old man who still smiled despite that. He understood why she looked at them the way she did. It wasn't right, but he understood it.
After swallowing down the lump in his throat, Aster hushed, "Their eyes..." his voice barely audible over the howl of the wind. His golden gaze moved from the woman's face to the doorway behind her, where, past the kitchen, in that dark hallway, the small painting of the two boys still hung on the wall. "There's no reflection in them," he paused, swallowing hard. "Just add a little white dot in the pupils. That's all. It would help."
He regretted the words the very next moment, when her face twisted with even more anger, pure, raw rage directed at him. "Get out. GET OUT!" she screamed at him through tears, her right hand reaching for that knife on the table, but it trembled so violently she knocked it clattering to the floor instead. Grabbing the next thing available, Adeline hurled half the loaf of bread at him with all her strength, hitting his small shoulder as he turned to leave.
The dark, heavy bread fell to the ground with a soft thud as Aster stumbled out into the snow, and in the same moment, Nivalis grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away without a single word.
