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“You’re late,” Nyfain muttered, grabbing my bag and gesturing for me to go straight to the dining hall. “Dinner has already started.”
I straightened my shoulders and dipped my head as I walked into the room, finding it unsettlingly easy to slip back into the role of second daughter. My usual seat opposite Sirena was free, and in many ways, it felt as though nothing had changed in seven years.
But it had.Ihad. Because acting powerless nowwasjust an act, where it had once been my reality.
“Where have you been? My instructions were very clear, Levana.”
My father’s disapproval made it very easy to forget I wasn’t an entirely powerless child anymore.
“From what you said, the queen wasveryunwilling to let her go,” Sirena said sweetly, looking adoringly at Father. “Perhaps Levana had difficulty extricating herself from our needy monarch.”
“She was very needy,” Father grumbled, slamming his wine goblet down a little harder than necessary. “Though I suppose they’re keeping the stores filled.”
Sirena agreed, smoothly changing the subject to some gossip about the neighbors, and I realized belatedly that she’d taken my father’s ire off me without so much as blinking. Was that intentional?
“Levana, I take it Nyfain told you about the baby?” Sirena asked, her hand resting on her stomach, obscured by shadows.
“He did. Are you… well?” I asked, flailing for the right term.
“Very, thank you.” Her voice softened slightly, though she was straight back to her usual syrupy self when Father slammed his goblet down again. “The baby seems to be thriving.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
“You’ll spend your days with Yestin from tomorrow,” Father interrupted. It had never crossed my mind before that my uncle never joined us at dinner each night. Was that to be my future too? Was he not invited, or did he stay away by choice?
This was the right decision, I reminded myself weakly.This had always been the plan. I could make a life for myself here. I could make myself be happy.
“So this is… it?” I asked Yestin hesitantly, looking around his small cottage on the outskirts of the estate. “You just… stay here all day?”
“I walk around a couple of times, make sure nothing looks amiss.” Yestin stretched out on the couch, eyes shut. “Boil some water for tea, would you? It’s nice to have some company.”
“Why don’t you ever join us for dinner?” I asked, heading to the small and alarmingly messy kitchen. “Mind if I clean up a little?”
“Go ahead. And my brother doesn’t want me at dinner. You won’t be there much longer either. Maybe until the baby arrives, but after that, you’re getting a downgrade.”
That idea didn’t fill me with as much despair as it would have before I left. I could think of worse fates than not sitting through those awkward dinners.
I could also think of plenty of places I’d rather be. Not for the first time, my mind drifted to the palace. To Calix’s small apartment on the bottom level near the kitchens. What was he doing right now?
Was he thinking about me as much as I was thinking about him?
I hoped he wasn’t. Calix deserved to be happy.
After a long day of scrubbing the cottage while Yestin napped, I headed back to the main house, making my way up to my childhood bedroom. While I had conflicted feelings about being back here, the deafening sounds of the insects and the stickiness of the humidity were like a comforting hug. They were familiar and filled me with memories—some good—even if I had definitely gotten acclimated to the palace’s milder temperatures.
I sensed my sister’s presence before I opened my door, quickly closing it behind me so no one else saw her sitting on my bed.
“Hello,” I said cautiously, leaning back against the door. “Everything okay?”
“What are you doing here, Levana?” Sirena asked flatly, staring at me like she couldn’t belesspleased to see me.
“I’m home,” I replied, confused by her question. If anything, she should be asking what had taken me so long.
Sirena sighed, sitting on the edge of my bed and rubbing her belly. It was eerie how little the room had changed in my absence. It almost looked like Father had instructed the staff to keep my room perfectly preserved in the state I’d left it.
Even the last book I’d read before I went to join the Guard—an epic adventure tale that I’d loved when I was young—was haphazardly shoved back on the shelf where I’d put it on my way out, not taking the time to line it up evenly with the rest. Had they been dusting around it for seven years? It was a slightly unsettling thought.
“One day, this estate will be mine. Unless you wish to challenge me for it,” Sirena said flatly, blunt as she always had been when it was just the two of us.
