Richter trusted Ania implicitly and though she was a free soul, he never took her as one to simply run off with flights of fancy. He knew of her owl dream, the white creature having frightened her since they were children. But he didn't know what to tell her then, he could only console her that it was a bad dream and that was all. Bad dreams went away with the morning.
Richter was quiet and looked down at her feet, still wet in their socks and he reached up and peeled them from her feet, setting them down beside the open flame. He resumed his seat and crossed his legs, leaning elbows on his knees and looking at the flames. "You ever wonder how fire burns?" he said, in a half-fascinated tone.
"I mean, it starts out as a small flame, before it enraptures kindling and turns it slowly to ash. Fire burns, it can cause pain, and grow beyond control. But like you and me, it dies. It turns cold, to ash. Something so mighty, is also so fragile, like mother's crystal. I broke her favored chalice once, I never told Richard," Richter went on, musingly.
"I don't think he would've cared either way."
He cut his eyes to his sister and moved up on his knees, leaning against the side of the sofa before planting his behind on the rug. "I know you're scared," he said, expression soft. "If it's any consolation, I'm frightened to my wit's end. All of this...is almost too much to bear. If it weren't for you, I'd likely be hyperventilating right now. But...but, in the end, I...I want to venture into the unknown. I want to know...we have a right to know, Ania. There were dangers even before this day. Every night I would look out all our windows, lock all our doors, and stay up sleepless for hours just to make sure we were safe."
Richter shook his head and buried his face in his arms, resting it on the cushion. "We were rejected as children from the only family we knew," he found himself saying. "What if this is our chance to find our real family?"
