23th Sun's Dusk… 1412…

Azriel could see the sorrow etched into Serana's face. The way she wrung her hands told of her apprehension and sense of loss. Azriel shared a quick look with Aela and watched as she rubbed Serana's shoulder supportively.

"This court yard used to be so beautiful. How could he destroy it?" Serana barely breathed out the words in her frustration.

Azriel sighed looking around. The place was a dump in her opinion. "Pretty obvious he doesn't care about this place."

Serana watched her walking around the desecrated court yard. "This used to be a garden. My mother's garden…" Serana put her hand on the wrought iron fence to steady herself. "Do you know what something can look like, when tended to by a master for centuries?"

Aela motioned for them both to join Serana and Azriel nodded, taking Aela's hand.

"She would have hated to see it like this."

Aela and Azriel slipped their arms around Serana, hugging her tightly.

Serana leaned on them, taking in their combined scents. It was the only comforting thing she had in the place. Their silent support meant everything to her, seeing the devastating fact she faced in front of her. Her sorrow was a weight closing off the air she desperately needed. Her father had removed every trace of them from his life. Everything they had ever cared for together was gone. Serana rested her head on Aela's shoulder. Serana quietly stroked Azriel hair as Aela held her. Through them she found the comfort she needed, letting her eyes slip closed in the process.

"What is that?" Azriel asked quietly after a few minutes, pulling herself slightly away from Serana.

Serana sighed, removed herself from Aela's embrace. "It's a moondial."

Azriel's cocked an eyebrow in question. "What's a moondial?"

Aela exhaled softly as she walked around it. "There's an obvious answer for that…"

Azriel stuck out her tongue at Aela. "I don't think it works like that, hairball."

Aela laughed. "That tongue of yours has better purposes, Sister."

Serana ignored them both as she walked around it. "There something wrong. It's askew and there are crests missing." She nudged a couple with her toes and they didn't move. "I didn't even know the crests could be removed."

Azriel shrugged at Aela. "Call me thick, but… so what? And seriously, who the fuck puts a moondial in their courtyard?"

"The previous owners had a sundial here. I'll let you guess why that didn't appeal to my mother. She had an Elven artisan create… well this." Serana shook her head and looked up at them. "Maybe it's a clue. Maybe my mother is trying to tell us something… Let's look around for the missing crests."

The three fanned out and started searching. After fifteen minutes, all three met back at the moondial. Azriel and Aela gave their pieces to Serana, who placed them in their proper positions.

The moondial slowly spun in place, opening to reveal a staircase below it.

"Very clever mother, very clever." Serana looked to the other two. "I've never been in here, but I'm going to bet this leads to one of the ruined towers."

Both Azriel and Aela groaned.

"We need to have a discussion with your mother about her company."

Azriel smirked. "That's a nice way of saying you want to snap your foot off in her ass for all the damned skeletons and gargoyles."

Aela shoved her. "I was trying to be polite."

"So not you, Aela."

Serana chuckled as the two pushed each other playfully, but they did need to keep moving. Every moment they spent standing around meant a chance of being caught by her father. "As much as I find myself wishing you two would actually wrestle, we need to keep going."

The pair stopped their attempts to drop one another and looked at her.

"You know, I think when we get through this, we need to wrestle with her." Azriel said with a grin, watching Serana carefully.

"Agreed." Aela growled back. "So long as it involves ripping that leather off her body…"

Serana crossed her arms and stared back at them. Her elegant eyebrows raised at the prospect. "If you're lucky. Now can we please go?"

Aela laughed as they walked to the staircase. "Lucky? If we're lucky we'll traipse through here and find what we are looking for without being killed by stone creatures…"

"I really hate those death hounds…" Azriel chimed in.

Serana rolled her eyes and pushed the two down the steps. "I get it."

"Will you ever." Aela grabbed her hand, dragging her down the stairs behind them.

Serana stifled another laugh. "You call her insatiable…"

"I heard that!" Azriel called back to her.