As soon as the girl dropped one leg off the bed, they already materialized in the doorway, ready to rush into battle. Сali decided not to resist this time and allowed them to do whatever those two wanted.

Sensing weakness, aunt decided to go in full blast. Сali at some point even had to enter into a state similar to meditation, which they were taught at the Stone Palace at the very beginning so that new recruiters could get used to the Gorgon and find a balance between mind and body.

Apparently, women were so carried away with their trinkets, masks, oils, underwear, and dresses that they didn"t even pay attention to it. Сalisto, on the other hand, was finally able to figure everything out.

The visit of Lord Trevelyan and Lord Rutland yesterday brought more confusion to the current situation. After their departure, Cali was so exhausted and morally depleted that she had no other choice but to go to sleep and try to keep all thoughts away from her mind until she could recover herself a little.

Today, she decided to start by trying to identify the most evident problem and a.n.a.lyze what is happening. The time she spent as a Stone Beast helped her a lot. In Gunulbin, they were taught many things, and even if the majority of training were extremely cruel and inhuman, some of them gave a considerable amount of knowledge in various fields.

Although Beasts were primarily soldiers, mercenaries, murderers, they were also taught strategies, military affairs, politics, languages, economics and even the psychology of human and nonhumans, their habits and traditions. Stone Beasts, in spite of everything, were not merely killers, they were hired only in the case when no one else could do the work. The order was mostly about killing an invincible monster, venture into dangerous land to find something or to protect some important figure. Such missions as the capture of Khail-hold were very rare because in this case, the attackers can no longer claim the victory to themselves, and you could never hire more than one Stone squad at a time, this is not enough to capture the castle.

Cali had never thought about the reasons for such a strange order. Her memories were tightly locked behind the door of consciousness, and the Stone Warriors never tend to be particularly curious. Now, this mystery seriously influenced her own situation and made her wonder. Maybe soon she would have to find out more about what had happened, but now it was not the only problem that worried Calisto.

In the morning as soon as she woke up a strange feeling of anxiety swept over her whole body. A strange vibration made the gooseb.u.mps crawl all over her skin, and breathing becomes more frequent. The man"s face never left her mind. She seemed to fall asleep with his image somewhere in the corner of consciousness and woke up involuntarily recalling his features. No matter how she tried to drive away the thoughts about him, his face, his eyes, broad shoulders and such warm hands once again burst into consciousness with bright pictures.

Cali could not understand why the head of the Black Castle caught her attention. Over the past six years, she met many men, strong, powerful, beautiful, arrogant, but no one caused such reaction in her. That evening, she literally had to force herself to look away from him. And when he took her hands in his own at the end of their meeting and gently said something. Cali felt like there was parasite inside her that suddenly turned over all her insides at one moment and most likely turned off her brain at the same time. Since she couldn"t produce a single complete thought at this moment.

And most importantly, because of such strange outbursts of feelings, it was challenging for her to a.n.a.lyze yesterday"s meeting. Reason tried to rearrange the facts on the shelves of her mind. How, who and at what point did behave? How did the Lords respond to their story? What could be a further reaction? But the newly acquired feelings made every cell in the body tremble as if waiting for something. She had to spend a lot of effort to pull herself together and try not to pay attention to the person who caused such a fountain of emotions in her.

Furthermore, in the morning there was one more proof of price for such a turmoil.

The crumbles of stone were clearly visible on the sheet, and the gorgon in Cali"s chest acquired new cracks and c.h.i.n.ks.

This discovery made her worried even more. For some reason, Calisto felt that this strange occurrence didn"t mean that they are still on the verge of life and death. But what then? What would become of them when Gorgon shatters completely?

Calisto no longer felt the power of the stone over her mind. Last evening, most of the emotions did not give her any discomfort that could be attributed to the action of the Gorgon. Except for the moment when she tried to talk about the circ.u.mstances of their disappearance. But the sudden pain became unexpected salvation, eliminating the need to continue the story.

It was difficult to understand why the memories of those days. .h.i.t her with such force at this very moment. For some reason, it was not so hard to tell this story to her family. Perhaps her emotions didn"t fully return at that moment yet, and the unexpected support and understanding from her relatives allowed Cali not to dive so deep into the experiences of past torments. However last night, she had to remember everything in detail again to understand what to tell and how much of the story should be left hidden. And Konrad, as always, tried to take the brunt on himself, the same way as back then ...

Cali took a deep breath, driving away the annoying memories. The rational part of consciousness that had led her for so long suggested that it"s not worthwhile to worry about what had already happened. The past should be left behind. Now it was necessary to pull herself together and move on, at the same time trying to clear the consequences of their actions.

Finally, emerging from her meditation, Cali noticed Aunt Valeria and Olivia"s suspiciously silence and anxious glances at each other. Apparently, the indifference and detachment of the girl got them scared.

"Aunt, what smells so good?" - Cali asked softly, trying to bring women out of a state of panic.

"Oh, my girl," - Valeria rushed to her with a relief written all over her face. - "This is lavender. Olivia bought a whole bunch on the market in the morning. So we made different lotions and water. Do you like it?"

"Very pleasant smell." - Cali whispered, holding one of the vials to her nose and smiling slightly. Stone Beasts had one peculiarity, besides other emotions, the gorgon also blunted almost all the senses, including the feeling of pain, taste, and even the sense of smell and touch. It was so strange now to feel the pleasant aroma that made her head spin a bit and forced the nose to tingle slightly. Her fingers could not stop stroking the cool surface of the gla.s.s, then the soft and pleasant fabric of the dress. Everything was so familiar and at the same time long forgotten. As if she learned those things anew.

Her own room, in which she spent the first 16 years of her life, now seemed to keep more secrets and mysteries than distant unknown lands.

Finally coming out of a stupor, Cali looked at the mirror with interest. The aunties put her hair in a complicated hairstyle, large curls framed her face, the other locks were twisted in the form of flower and fastened with a set of ornament hairpins at the back of the head. The skin lost its usual grayish shade and now looked quite normal, even a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. The features of the face seemed to have lost their angularity and sharpness, again giving out the long-forgotten prettiness. With amazement, Cali began to recognize herself, an old, almost forgotten image that once met her on the other side of the mirror. Only cold blue eyes did not fit this person at all.

Cali shook her head, as if trying to shake off unnecessary thoughts, and looked at the dress.

The decollete was not deep, and Olivia carefully covered her bare shoulders and chest with the thinnest cape of soft gray fabric and a standing collar. The dress itself was an elegant muslin dark turquoise color with the most delicate embroidery on narrow sleeves and a corsage. It was so strange to see oneself like that.

Cali has long been accustomed to seeing herself as a warrior, a captain of a squid, a mercenary. She could hardly remember when she had last looked in the mirror. Now seeing her reflection in this way, Calisto was unable to match how she perceived herself all those years and the girl that looked at her from that side of the mirror. As if she was wearing a magical image.

Cali hesitantly stretched her hand to her face and ran her fingertips along her cheek, over her chin, and down the neck. The reflection dutifully repeated all the movements behind it. Then she got up and walked a little further, still keeping her eyes on the mirror.

"Do you like it, honey?" - Valeria asked carefully. She stared at her niece"s face, trying to catch the slightest hint of a change in the girl"s mood. At first, the absolute absence of any facial expressions on the girl"s face very much frightened the d.u.c.h.ess.

Since Cali came to her senses, Valeria has been following her and her friends like a hawk, trying to figure out how to help. She had already lost her husband, and now when her niece returned, she was ready to fight to the end for her family.

"Darling!" - The woman called her niece. - "Do you think that maybe we could walk around the city today? The weather is wonderful. And such a beauty need to be shown to the world."

Cali, looking up from the mirror, turning a somewhat absent-minded gaze on her aunt. Valeria frequently caught this look in the eyes of her niece, confused, uncertain. How she wanted to erase this expression from the girl"s face quickly. No one should feel lost in his own home, with his family.

"Aunty, I think it would be better for me to spend today with my friends." - Cali replied, looking away. Her face at that moment became resolute again. Indeed, it did not take Valerie much time to notice how seriously her niece treats her companions. Everything that happened to Kali did not fit in her head, but the most striking thing was that this unique company treated the young girl as a leader and Cali felt quite naturally in this role.

"My girl," - Valeria carefully began, - "I do not insist, but I would really like to help not only you but also your friends. Perhaps if you could tell me a little more about them, we would be able to come up with something together so that they would feel more comfortable here."

Valerie"s confused speech has finally attracted more attention from Cali. Valeria even caught a shadow of a smile flashing across girl"s face, and her eyes became a little brighter.

"That would be great." - Her niece replied. She briskly turned around and went to the door. Valeria exchanged confused glances with Olivia. Seeing that her aunt had not followed, Cali stopped in the doorway and raised her eyebrows in question.

"I"m coming, I"m coming." - finally realizing that Cali is waiting for her, Valeria hurried up.

Judging by the sweeping and somewhat awkward gait, Calisto still could not get used to the dress and high-heeled shoes. Valeria caught up with her niece and tried to adjust to the girl"s wide steps, suppressing in herself the desire to pull her up or make an inappropriate remark.

For some time they walked in silence. Valeria watched from the corner of her eye as Calisto constantly tried to fix one part of her dress, then another. Finally unable to bear with it, Valeria cleared her throat, drawing attention to herself, and repeated her question.

"Honey, can you tell me a little about your friends. I will be glad to help them feel more comfortable here."

Cali left her dress in peace and fell into deep thought. After a while, when Valeria was almost desperate to get an answer to her question, the girl finally spoke.

"They are special," - she said without looking at her aunt. - "Not that the rest of my guys, each of them, was not special. But these two ... I have long wanted to thank you, aunty."

"For what?" - Valeria was surprised, even halting a little.

"Then, when the rest of my comrades decided to leave, I did not even think about Mark and Niels. As a leader, I should have foreseen this."

"Honey," - Valeria interrupted, putting a hand on her shoulder. - "So much has happened, so much has come upon you. You probably would have taken care of them and also offered to stay with us. I just made it a little faster." - She finished, adding a bit of childish, playful boasting to the voice. And the smile that barely touched the girl"s lips was her reward.

"In fact, I was a little surprised when I heard your comrades calling you the leader." - the woman continued, taking the topic aside.

"Why?" - Finally, the girl turned her eyes on the aunt.

"Oh, do not think that I hint that you somehow do not fit this role. It"s just that in your squad, I noticed both men and women older than you, some of them looked quite impressive."

"It"s not about age or strength. I had to become their leader since I got the gorgon first. I do not know why the teacher chose me at that moment. They never had a choice about who would be the leader. I found them and made them Stone Warriors."

"But they agreed to follow you. And they took you as their commander."

"They just had no other choice. When I found them, almost all of them were already standing on the edge. Except for Mark, of course."

"Why?" - Valeria asked with surprise.

Cali hesitated a bit but still answered.

"Mark came to Amford, one of the outposts on Stone Beasts lands, himself. No one agreed to take him for a while."

"Why? He looks very strong." - Valeria felt that this talk was going again in a wrong direction but still couldn"t surpa.s.s her curiosity.

"This is true, but the very fact that he came at his own will was alarming to many. It is believed that the Gorgon can only accept someone who is already very close to the brink." - Cali"s voice was so calm that it made Valeria shiver.

"In the sense of dying?" - Valeria whispered in horror.

" Not only." - Cali"s face again turned into an unreadable mask, and the voice lost the slightest shades. - "They say the gorgon takes those for whom every second of existence is like torture. Both physically and mentally." - Valeria covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to make a sound, so as not to interrupt her niece, but her heart was breaking at the thought that Cali herself could feel like that once. Meanwhile, the girl continued, ignoring the reaction of the aunt.

"But Mark seemed utterly calm and healthy. Many thought that the orc was just confused. His kind has never been particularly intelligent. Deep mental struggles are not in their nature."

"Then how did you understand that he will do?" - Valeria asked puzzled.

"I was ordered to get rid of him. And when I pierced his heart with a blade, I saw in his eyes what made me turn him."

"What did you see?" - The woman whispered uncertainly. She did not know if she wanted to know the answer to her question. Such a simple and abrupt explanation made everything grow cold inside Valeria. But something told her that she should listen to Cali. The girl, in turn, paused and turned to her aunt, peering into her face.

"Relief and regret." - Calisto spoke in a half-whisper, making Valeria"s heart shrink. The woman stopped, unable to follow her niece further, and Cali continued on her way as if nothing had happened.