By late evening, the sisters returned to the Estate.
They had spent the rest of the day together.
For the first time since Airam's return, there had been no lessons, no danger, and no urgent voices calling them away from one another. They had wandered through the Estate, talked in quiet corners, argued over books in the library, and carried several volumes out to the clearing beyond the gardens.
There, beneath the great tree covered in colorful leaves, they had read together.
Their mother rested beneath that tree.
The clearing had always felt different from the rest of the Estate. More peaceful. It was the one place where the sisters could speak of Anna-Maria without feeling that the past was pressing too heavily against them.
They stayed longer than intended.
By the time the light began fading from the sky, they hurried back toward the main building, arriving just in time for dinner.
"I wonder who she is," Esther said as they walked.
Her voice was full of curiosity.
