Sun had been nervous when she''d stepped off the train and found her brother standing there. She knew she was going to have to tell him what they had found out there, what had been going on. It seemed like something that could have consequences for their family. It had come as a relief when he''d decided to read the journal for himself. Things might even make more sense to him after reading it, given that his father had been... like her.


    It had been a pleasant surprise when he had offered to send for Nick as well. He wasn''t actively putting up obstacles in their friendship, which was actually a little endearing.


    She didn''t need the physician; a healer would have been nice, though. Unfortunately, there weren''t many outside of the Revenants. Casting was something they had developed, and very few, if any, could manage it outside of them. And she doubted she could go to Commander Sorola again for anything less than life-threatening.


    There were some healers in the Academy infirmary; she would pay them a visit once she went back, see if they could heal broken bones.


    The physician had checked her over; Commander Mercer had already made sure they''d received treatment when they''d first reached civilisation, so there wasn''t a lot for him to do. He left some pain relief should she need it and examined her arm, asked after any other injuries. She had nothing she wanted him to look at, just cuts and bruises that would take care of themselves in time.


    Not long after the physician left, Nick arrived. Sun was already waiting in the parlour for him. When she saw him enter, she practically leaped to her feet, wrapping her good arm around him and pulling him into a tight hug. His own held her tightly in return, careful of her arm.


    "Alright, Sunbeam, tell me everything," he told her, stepping back and taking her in.


    "Walk with me around the garden," she said first, looping her arm through his.


    There were plenty of maids and guards about, each something of a chaperone while she was with Nick. She didn''t want any of them overhearing their conversation. The rest of the manor wasn''t afforded the same privacy as her brother''s study, especially not when she was walking about with a boy.


    She couldn''t tell him everything; Commander Mercer had told them to keep certain details to themselves while Perdition tried to figure everything out. The whole situation out there was hardly resolved. And she couldn''t really talk about the stuff from the journal despite how much she wanted to. Maybe one day she would because she hated secrets, but it definitely wouldn''t be right under her brother''s nose.


    As they walked about the garden arm in arm, she explained what she could, where they''d gone, and what their objective had been. In hushed tones, she explained about the Traverse and the monsters in it. She probably told him more than she should have, but she kept quiet about the machines and the Ninth''s involvement at least.


    "It ended up being a Traverse issue, and they sent you out there?" He asked sceptically.


    She nodded. "I know, I thought the same. So did Commander Mercer."


    Information had been withheld from them; that much was certain. It was the general consensus Perdition had known more than they''d shared.


    "And they sent you out with two boys you''d had a fight with not long before? That didn''t seem smart either."


    "It actually wasn''t so bad," she told him. "After what... Kalys did, Seph has pretty much left me alone. And we were able to work together with minimal snark for the sake of the mission. I''m guessing that''s why we were grouped up in the first place."


    Nick nodded slowly; it did make sense. Did that mean Zen had been grouped up with Vaan? The other boy had been sent out too, but so had quite a large number of their classmates. Nick had assumed they weren''t all going to the same place.


    "So tell me about Zen; do you know where he''s gone?" She asked.


    "No," he sighed. "Same as you, they didn''t tell him before he left. Guess we won''t find out until he gets back."


    "Damn. How long has he been gone?"


    "He left a few days after you," Nick replied.


    "Hopefully he comes back safe."


    "And intact," he added, looking pointedly at her arm.


    She shot him a flat look for that. He hadn''t had to deal with what she''d had to deal with. Besides, he was also stronger, faster, and smarter than her. Of course he''d come out fine. They couldn''t all be prodigies.


    They continued to walk; the snow was all gone by now, spring clawing its way back. So being outside wasn''t too unpleasant for Nick. Nick caught her up with how things had been in her absence; he wasn''t one for gossip, so he didn''t have too much to say about that. Zen was the one to go to for that. So Nick told her about his training and interesting books he''d read. Without them there to distract him, he had a lot more time for reading.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    When the sun started to set, they headed inside, coming face to face with Mika.


    "Mika!" Sun greeted her, genuinely happy to see her. "How are you?"


    "Great, it''s nice having two working arms," she ribbed.


    "Hah hah haaaah," she replied, oozing sarcasm.


    "Your brother would like to know if your friend is joining you for dinner."


    Sun looked to Nick, silently asking if he wanted to. He nodded but didn''t look happy about it. Likely at the prospect of spending any time in the pressure cooker that was her brother''s presence. But he''d bear it to spend more time with her.


    "Dinner will be in an hour," Mika told them, giving a little curtsy before leaving them to it.


    They returned to the parlour to spend the time while they waited for dinner. Sun did return to her room to get some books she had set aside for him before she''d left, though. Then they just sat while he read to her and she listened, feet in his lap and head on the sofa''s armrest.


    She was tired. Now that winter was practically gone, so were the sounds of the Traverse. She''d be able to sleep comfortably in her room again with peace and quiet. And it had been an exhausting mission. She was still carrying a lot of anxiety over what it all meant and what those monsters might be up to now. Was the veil healing? Once it did, would those monsters still be able to tear through it the way they had?


    It was Kalys who came to fetch them for dinner rather than sending a maid. His eyes fixed on where her feet were resting on Nick''s lap, but he said nothing other than dinner was ready. He did wait for them to get up and follow along behind him to the dining room.


    Dinner was a silent affair, Kalys not bothering with conversation—not that that was something he was prone to do—and she and Nick were too uncomfortable to talk between themselves.


    After the lovely dinner, Sun walked Nick to the door and bid him goodbye. He left her with a careful hug before porting away.


    Sun returned to her room to wash off the day and settle into bed. She was actually looking forward to bedtime, maybe even a little excited about it now that sleep would be restful. She had barely closed her door before there was a knock on it. When she opened it back up, Kalys was there.


    "You''re here for the journal?" She asked.


    "Yes."


    She turned around and went to her bed; she kept the box under there, tucked far back. She had to lie on the ground and try to reach it, a task made a bit more difficult with her broken arm. When she dragged it out, Kalys lifted it off the floor for her.


    "When you want to read it, let me know."


    She nodded. "Good night, Kalys."


    "Good night, Sun," he returned.


    -


    Sun settled back into her old routine—breakfast, the Academy, home, and dinner. The healers at the Academy weren''t able to repair the broken arm, but they could speed its healing along slightly, a little bit every day. That was welcome news.


    The Academy was different without Zen there, and it was clear both she and Nick missed him. She and Zen had been the same when Nick was gone; it felt like missing a limb.


    Cullen and Seph were around too, but they had all reverted back to their just-ignore-each-other dynamic they''d settled into before their evaluation. Although there was a nod in greeting if they passed each other in the hallways. She could admit to a begrudging respect for them after spending so much time with them and fighting alongside them. She assumed it might have been the same for them.


    Cullen''s hair had been the talk of the school, though. She didn''t know what he was telling people about it, but there were rumours circulating—some not so flattering.


    At one point she had been pulled aside by a group of girls who''d thought to ask her about it. Cullen was an attractive guy and did have something of a following amongst the girls and women there.


    They had asked her if it was true he''d been so scared his hair had turned white. Sun had rolled her eyes and told them that was the dumbest fucking thing she''d ever heard before walking away. She didn''t want to feed into the gossip and certainly didn''t want people thinking he was a coward when he wasn''t. But they couldn''t talk about the real reason it had changed.


    She had watched him in the days following their departure from the borderlands. Aside from the white hair, he didn''t look aged in any other way. She thought his eyes might have looked a little faded, but she''d never spent much time staring at them before, so she couldn''t be sure. It wasn''t her business anyway.


    As for her home life, Kalys must have been as fast a reader as Nick, though Sun probably shouldn''t have been surprised. It was said there was nothing Kalys couldn''t do. But a few days later at breakfast he spoke to her about the things he''d read in the journal and that he''d come upon her own bookmark keeping her place. What had taken her weeks he''d managed to get through in days. That stung. But it was nice to have someone to discuss it all with and explain things about the people doing the writing. Kalys seemed to know a lot about each writer and some of the names mentioned. He also shared with her his own observations on some of the entries. Some things he was learning for the first time, especially when it came to the different abilities people like her could possess, and she was able to clarify some of it. The pervading theme, though, was that this ability wasn''t exactly the same for everyone.


    Since he had already reached the same point she was, he suggested reading the rest together. She wasn''t against the idea, but she was a little embarrassed. He was clearly a much faster reader than her, and she didn''t want to hold him up. However, the way he''d phrased it hadn''t sounded like he was giving her a choice. After dinner, they would go to his study and read the journal together.


    All day during classes she dreaded how it was going to go. He had a powerful ability to make her feel nervous and self-conscious, even when it appeared he wasn''t trying to.


    She was likely the problem there. As much as she didn''t want to admit to the... attraction she had to him, it was there all the same, and it made it difficult to be around him. It was mostly born from the fear he might realise it. She could not think of anything more mortifying than that. Except maybe someone else finding out. It was one reason the incest insults stung so much—there was truth to them. On her end anyway.


    She knew it was twisted and deviant, but she didn''t know how to stop it. It had been easier in the beginning when he''d done so many things she hated. But finding comfortable ground with him had ignited the sparks she''d felt at her demonstration all that time ago before she''d found out who he was, and she didn''t know how to put them out.