But Aiko did that open-close thing with her hands, agreeing happily, and after a quick brush of my teeth, we were off.

We took the stairs down through the tower instead of going through the adjoining tunnel. As we walked, Aiko chattered enthusiastically about the castle, about the marvel of creating it, carving it out of standing trees when Sionnachans usually used crystal slabs or bricks to construct buildings.

“That was Lord Cynewylf’s idea,” she said. “He was said to have loved the natural state of Sionnach and wanted the castle to fit in with the landscape. He used much of his own power to carve out the insides, shaping it into the design he and Sashkah desired.”

I tried to imagine growing up in a place like this, as Wylfrael had. Although I couldn’t imagine someone as intense as he was ever really being a child. There was a luxurious beauty in every chamber Aiko showed me, sitting rooms and storage rooms alike gleaming with jewelled light coming through the crystal walls.

It took us all morning just to get through the tower I’d been staying in, which I learned was called the Dawn Tower. I also learned that Aiko had an exceptionally good memory for the history of this place. “You’re a great tour guide,” I told her as we finally made it to the ground floor of the Dawn Tower.

“Thank you,” she said warmly, obviously pleased by the compliment. “As the castle’s Mistress of Affairs, it is my duty to know everything about the property.”

I could see plainly that Aiko was proud of her role here, and it eased some of the weirdness I felt about everything. It would have been a whole lot harder to work together with Wylfrael if his staff seemed unhappy, or he mistreated them. Nope, seems like he’s only an asshole to me.

We took a different tunnel – the one on the ground, this time – to the centre tower. The tunnel down here had the same intricate, beautifully arranged crystal, but barely any light came through due to the drifts of snow outside. My breathing came a little quicker as the sudden image of collapse, of rushing, roaring, burying snow chilled me to my core.

I thought the tunnel on the ground would be less unnerving than the one way up in the air, but apparently not.

I wondered, briefly, what it would be like to walk through this tunnel in the spring or summer, then remembered that, if all went to plan, I wouldn’t be here to find out. Aiko seemed oblivious to the way I eyed the walls warily, continuing to fill the air with facts about this place as we walked. I learned that there were three high-up, suspended tunnels connecting the three towers to each other in a triangle shape, but there were only two tunnels on the ground, more of a V-shaped line connecting the three towers. That made sense, as when we’d gone out the back door of the centre Day Tower, there hadn’t been a tunnel ahead, blocking access to the barn and forest beyond.

After passing through the tunnel into the Day Tower, we had a brief lunch in the kitchen, meeting up with Shoshen, who was just coming in from his chores outside. We had the same awkward moment of him trying to address me as “My lady,” and me basically begging him not to. He accepted the informality of the relationship much more quickly than Aiko had, and I snickered at the frown she shot him as he so instantly agreed to call me Torrance.

He’s definitely the younger brother.

“Didn’t even have to shovel a path to the sontanna’s enclosure and the barn this morning!” Shoshen said, grabbing a chunk of bread and leaning against the counter, sounding half-confused and half-grateful. “I suppose that was Lord Wylfrael’s doing. Can’t think of anyone else who could have made such a wide, smooth path in snow that deep. It’s incredible.”

There was a note of awe in his words, and for the first time, I fully understood the gravity of the situation from the Sionnachan point of view. They’d been taking care of this castle, generation after generation, waiting for Wylfrael to return. He must have become like a legend to them, a mystical figure of ancient history with extraordinary power. And now, they were seeing first-hand that his powers were real. That their grandparents’ bedtime stories about him were actually true.

I chewed my bread, suddenly finding it hard to swallow. I decided not to tell them that the reason he’d cleared all that snow was so I could walk through it, and so that we could have a midnight sontanna ride that turned into a fucking marriage proposal.

After lunch, Aiko and I continued our tour through the Day Tower. This tower, Aiko told me, was the largest – both the tallest and the widest at the base. Many of its rooms were devoted to practical uses. Rooms for drying herbs and meat, the room where laundry was done, a room with what looked like weaving and sewing materials. It also had the servants’ quarters, which I hurriedly told Aiko she didn’t need to show me, not wanting to invade her privacy.

“Most of those rooms are unused, now,” she said. “The castle used to have a much larger staff.”

We continued upwards. My legs were beginning to get shaky, but I wanted to see more. Now that I was allowed to move freely through this place, I was more curious than afraid. The incredible nature of what I was doing struck me, several times, as we climbed the stairs. I was walking through a real-life, honest-to-goodness alien dwelling. Seeing an otherworldly culture – in fact, the blending of two cultures, stone sky and Sionnachan – up close and personal. It was fascinating, and despite the violence of how I’d ended up here, I found myself touched, tenderly grateful, to Aiko for sharing all of this with me.

Our tour ended rather abruptly, not because I got too tired to keep going (although my legs were rubbery by then) but because I found a room I didn’t want to leave.

“This is the library,” Aiko told me as we entered. “Oh, Father! Good! You’re here.”

I could barely take in the expansive sprawl of the room before I saw the man Aiko had spoken to. I would have known he was related to Aiko and Shoshen even if she hadn’t told me – he had the same orange colouring, though his was a little duller. His tall form leaned on a cane when he rose from where he’d been sitting.

He advanced towards us, and we met him halfway through the large room.

“Hello, hello!” He greeted us warmly. “This must be our new lady of the house!” He said it with so much obvious pleasure that I almost felt guilty when I asked him to just call me Torrance.

“Torrance, then,” he said easily. I was surprised, and grateful, that he’d agreed so quickly. I’d worried that he would be stuck in his ways, older and stricter about rules than his children. But he was much more easygoing than I’d expected. Like he was just so happy about the way things were turning out, he didn’t care what he had to call me.

“What do you think of the estate so far?” he asked, a keenness entering his eyes, as if very interested in my answer.

I hesitated, unsure how to phrase what I was feeling, how to describe the gorgeous place they called home that was both a palace and a prison.

“It’s... Well, it’s beautiful,” I said, settling on something that was objectively true. “And huge! I’m impressed only three of you have taken such good care of everything.”

Aiko’s tail fluttered in something that seemed like shy pleasure, and Ashken grinned.

“Of course, Torrance, of course! We always expected Lord Wylfrael to return. We have been diligent, and happily so, in our duty to the castle in his absence. And, of course, now that you are here, you may direct us in whichever changes you wish to make. So that you may feel at home here.”

His kindness made my throat feel like a rock was lodged in it.

So that you may feel at home here.

There was no more home for me now. I’d been taken from Earth, from the doorstep of the house that held my whole heart. My parents were gone, and even if I got out of here, I wouldn’t be safe on Earth again. Not with what I knew, what I’d seen.