Tassia was walking barefoot across a field of daisies and plucked a few, weaving them into her hair. She went near the river and soaked her toes into the water, while she lay down, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin.

A book appeared near her and she moved towards it before her brother appeared. She forgot about the book and reached out towards him to pull Aleskand towards her. "Hey, darling. What happened?"

"I had a bad dream." Aleskand wrapped his arms around her.

"A nightmare? It's the middle of the day."

"Wake up. Please wake up." Aleskand's voice trembled with unshed tears. "Please wake up. I'm scared."

"Alek?" Tassia reached out towards her brother but the world spun, pulling her into the center of a black hole.

Tassia woke up, gasping for breath. Aleskand was standing next to her, holding an oil lamp.

"I had a bad dream."

Tassia looked at the clock to find that it was just before two. She had about three hours of sleep which was still more than she had on any other day since they had moved to the House of Wind last week. She had hoped after a few days her brothers would get used to the new surroundings and would let her sleep through the night but now, she was doubting that would ever happen.

The childhood she had given them was not a good one. They went to bed hungry often and feared for their lives. Tassia still blamed herself for it. And most of her brothers' nightmares took place in the mountains or forests they had lived in. Thankfully, at least during the day, they seemed to like living in Velaris. So much so that Tassia often could barely believe that they were here and feared that she would wake up and they would all be sleeping in the cave and Velaris was nothing more than a fever dream. A majority of her nightmares were centered around that.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Aleskand nodded and crawled into her lap, "We were with mom and she was dying again. A big monster with bright red skin and black eyes appeared and stabbed her through the heart. And you were laughing and helping him."

Tassia's breath hitched. "You know I loved mom, right? I would have never hurt her."

Aleskand nodded. "That's why I woke up. Because I realized you would never do that."

"Do you want to sleep here?"

"Yes. Can you please stay awake again? I don't want to have nightmares."

"Of course, darling."

Tassia did not stay awake throughout the night as she had promised. She tried her best but considering she had barely slept the entire week, she just couldn't stay up. Luckily she woke up just before Aleskand did so she could pretend that she had been awake the entire time.

Right after breakfast, Rhys called Tassia into his study as Mor winnowed her brothers to school.

"I have a job for you." Tassia perked up immediately and eyed the letter that was open on Rhys' table. "Keir's brother, Gihnzo, has an object I need. It's a chalice that has sentimental value to me and my family. We lost it years ago when I was still a boy and I have just received confirmation that Gihnzo has it in his vault. I need it well before Starfall so you'll need to get it before next week ends. You can choose to leave whenever you like. You cannot under any circumstances, let anyone outside the Inner Circle know what you are looking for or that you are working for me."

"What about my brothers?"

"Unless you'd like to make other arrangements, we can take care of them."

Tassia nodded, her blood thrumming with the idea of putting her skills to use after a week of being rather futile.

"Lower your shields so I can show you exactly what the chalice looks like." Tassia did, and Rhys showed her a gold chalice with intricate designs and tiny gems intertwined with the pattern near the top. She raised her shields back as Rhys continued. "Mor will winnow you near the house when you wish and after you get the chalice and are a safe distance away from the house, lower your shields and let me know where you are. I will send someone to get you. Do not lower your shields until you are far away. Keir is known to keep daemati near him."

Tassia had asked Mor to winnow her near Gihnzo's house later the same day after she had trained with Cassian. Mor had given her some supplies including food and a tent that Tassia didn't dare set up in case it drew too much attention. She spent the evening examining the house and the people inside.

She had already been inside Ghinzo's vault once but he had, without a doubt, increased security. This wasn't too bad considering that Tassia was rather inexperienced when she left clues of her thievings behind but now she had a fair chance to be able to slip in and out undetected.

She knew the basic layout of the house and at first glance, Tassia knew that it hadn't changed much since she had last been here. The rotations of the guards were always the same and though, Gihnzo had added more, they were still inattentive and it required very little of Tassia's skill to slip into the house. She crept along the sides of the house and when she reached the vault door, she grimaced. The lock was much more complex than what she was used to and would take her the better part of an hour to break.

A loud noise signaled that it was perhaps time to go, but Tassia's instincts told her to stay. Gihnzo was known for his parties and considering the preparation his servants were doing, it was rather obvious he would be hosting one now. Sure enough, the main door opened and she heard Gihnzo welcome guests.

Tassia thanked the gods that Gihnzo and his security would hopefully be too distracted by the guests to notice the noises the lock would make as she attempted to break it.

She didn't have any of the necessary equipment to open the lock but luckily, the ones she needed were easily fashionable by the pins that had tied up her hair. She pulled the pins out and used her fingers and teeth to bend them in the exact shapes she needed.

Tassia got to work when more guests arrived, and the party was in full blast, 3 hours later, pausing every time the lock gave out a faint groan of resistance. It would be easier to actually break the lock but since Rhys didn't want anyone to find out she had been there, she had to first break the lock and then fix it.

Within half an hour, Tassia was sweating, her muscles straining with the exertion needed for her to stay in the rather uncomfortable position while she worked.

After 52 minutes had passed, the lock snapped off and fell into Tassia's hands with a loud noise that had Tassia shaking. When no one came looking for the source, Tassia opened the door and walked into the vault that was smaller than Keir's. It was surprising since even though Keir was the Lord of the Court of Nightmares, the cellars she had been in only belonged to the smallest of his houses.

Tassia couldn't see the chalice anywhere and began opening the drawers and cupboard doors, hunting for it. A long while later, she almost slammed her foot into a chest in annoyance when she saw that the gold cup had been right in front of her the whole time.

She grabbed it and made sure to leave everything else as she found it in case Gihnzo decided to look through his vault in the next few hours.

She closed the vault door behind her, wincing as it creaked. She snuck out of the house and darted to where Mor had left her. She went a bit further away before lowering her shields.

Tassia felt Rhys enter her mind almost immediately.

What? Is everything alright?

Yeah, I got the chalice.

She could feel Rhys' surprise as clearly as if he was standing right in front of her. That was fast. Mor is busy so I'll see if I can get Azriel to come and get you. Show me exactly where you are. Tassia did and Rhys nodded. Give me a second.

Tassia began packing up the kit Mor had given her and by the time she was finished Azriel had winnowed right into her. She stumbled backward and his arms darted out and gripped her shoulders.

"What happened?" Azriel's face was carefully blank as he examined Tassia.

"I got the cup," Tassia twirled the chalice in her hands. "Didn't Rhys tell you?"

Azriel blinked, the only reaction he would let himself show, and shook his head. "That was fast. We expected you to take more than a week and you ended up taking-" he paused, looking at the sky and calculating the time, "four hours."

"I guess I'm just that good," Tassia smirked.

When Azriel just stared at her, she sighed and continued, "I've been in his house before. He increased the security and changed the locks on the vaults but the basic weaknesses were still there and relatively easy to exploit. He was distracted by a party today and I wasn't sure when the next one would be so I wanted to get it done as soon as possible."

"That's good. Glad to see that some of your past came in useful." Azriel stretched a hand out to her and she rolled her eyes, grabbing onto it before they winnowed away.

"Where did you go?" Aleskand and Charlus were lying down on her bed when she entered her room.

"Rhys gave me a mission."

"You can't leave without telling us." Aleskand sat up, his face set in a frown. "The last time you left, you were captured by the bad person."

Tassia sighed and sat down on the bed, Charlus was fast asleep. "I know, I'm sorry. Rhysand gave the mission when you were still at school and I wanted to come back before dinner."

Aleskand nodded, accepting her apology as she pulled him into her lap. "You don't have to worry about me. It's my job to worry about you."

Aleskand fought against her hug, "You smell like ash."

Tassia rolled her eyes and let Aleskand scamper back to where he was earlier, "How about I shower, and then I'll play a game with you?"

He nodded eagerly, a grin on his face. "Should I wake up Arly?"

Tassia shook her head, "Let him sleep, he looks exhausted."

She carried Charlus back to his room and settled him on the bed, wrapping him in blankets before going to her room and taking a boiling hot bath.

"How on Prythian did you manage to steal the chalice in less than four hours?" Mor ran in Rhys' study where Tassia was informing him, Cassian, and Amren about what happened. Azriel was in the corner.

"I'm built different." Tassia grinned before continuing, "Like I told Azriel, I've been in his house before. His security system was still the same except he had more guards. I would have gotten out faster but he had installed a new Opuid lock that took a while for me to break and then put back."

"Are you done grilling her?" Mor asked and took Tassia by the hand, pulling her away from the study and continuing before anyone else could answer. "Good, eat dinner and then sleep. You and I are spending the entire day tomorrow shopping."

"She has training in the morning," Cassian supplied. Mor stopped and turned to him, glaring.

"She can take a break for a day. Tassia, here, has a date next week, and her clothes," Mor paused and her eyes flickered up and down Tassia in distaste, "quite frankly are hideous."

"I take offense to that," Rhys said and Mor muttered a good in response.

"A date?" Azriel's voice was quiet.

"Yeah, it's with Charlus' teacher." Tassia hesitated and looked at Rhys, "Would it be considered a conflict of interest?"

"Considering Charlus is in a lower class and you're only going out for a date, it should be fine," Amren responded and Tassia nodded at her.

"I think even if you do end up dating, it should be fine," Rhys mused.

"Thanks." Tassia looked down at herself and frowned, "what's wrong with my outfit?"

Mor scoffed as Amren rolled her eyes, "A lot of things. It lacks style, shape, omph."

"Omph?"

Amren nodded, her face solemn, "Omph."