Chapter 77: Do You Want a Hug

Most of their discussion returning back to Lycée revolved around Gideon’s annoying interest in their game. Sonia and JP weren’t interested and would wander around if they were hanging out with them. Piers had watched plenty of times, and despite having the occasional judging look at one of their game play decisions, he never made a comment or questioned their actions.

Gideon had slowly inched himself closer to their table until he was seated between Axton and Henrik and giving ‘suggestions’. Tori asked him, as politely as she could, not to talk so that the others could concentrate.

But he kept talking. After thirty minutes of it, Piers had finally clamped his hand on Gideon’s shoulder and told him it was late and that they were leaving earlier, so he had to go to sleep. Gideon had looked around the table, at the students who were his age, and seemed to want to protest, but one look at his brother and he conceded.

They were able to play normally for another thirty minutes after that, but everyone was complaining about Gideon, so Tori called it a night. It seemed that a night’s sleep still didn’t quell the rage he induced.

“My first game actually playing and he ruined it,” Henrik leaned against the side of the carriage with his arms crossed and glaring at the window. “Why did he come to your tent? He doesn’t like you.”

“I don’t know,” Tori said, rubbing her head. She’d worked so hard on the story and Gideon kept interjecting, like a child who wanted to appear intelligent by poking holes into and questioning everything. “I think he followed Piers in.”

“I still don’t understand if he was just interested and wanted to play or if he was purposely sabotaging our game.” Even Constantine was confused and tired of Gideon’s crap.

“What does he know about being a sorceress?” Ilyana scowled next to her. “What does he mean I can’t just do magic? I can do magic - I have special blood!”

Tori inhaled deeply and patted Ilyana’s arm to calm her. “This was a onetime thing. He’s not going to be around the next time we play.”

“We won’t play again until you and Ewan get back from Sur after winter break,” Henrik said. The mood of the carriage dropped once more.

Beside him, Ewan perked up. “Wait, I’ll be with the Biancci twins when we take the carriage ride down. Tori, can we play on the way down?”

“Sure, but you have to ask Marco and Mateo. You know how they are,” Tori said. Ewan smiled and nodded. “They also have a separate game.”

“That’s fine!”

“Ilyana, are you doing reviews this week for final exams?” Henrik asked as he slumped back against the carriage bench.

Across from him, Ilyana nodded. “Lecture hall for four evenings, each covering a major subject per night. Then a night to rest, followed by our private study sessions at the cafe.”

“May I join you again?” Constantine asked. Ilyana nodded.

“Of course. They’ll be in the late afternoon, early evening of next weekend and I’ll be studying there after school next week, so you can all come and go when you feel like it. If you have any questions, get them ready.”

“Thanks, Ilyana.”

“Thank you, Miss Agafonova.”

Tori leaned back against the carriage and closed her eyes to try to take a nap before they got back.

She wasn’t sure if she was surprised or not, but the next two weeks were uneventful. It could have been that final exam weeks were keeping everyone’s head down, so she didn’t receive as much trouble from the usual group. Gideon didn’t approach or speak to her at all, though she did notice him looking back at her a few times.

If he thought she was going to invite him to play dungeon crawl with them because he was Piers’ brother, he was more delusional than she thought.

Ilyana’s reviews went smoothly following their process from the midterm exams. Students had to sign up ahead of time and each session was focused on a different subject. The format was very popular and it was requested that she do it again. Ewan took a break from his after-school training sessions to go to Ilyana’s reviews. Not to review, but to make sure nothing got out of hand.

Tori came the first two nights just to make sure there was no trouble. However, she still left Ewan with a small canvas bag of ice calcite and a charm, and told him that if another riot happened, to throw the calcite into the crowd and slap the charm on the ground to activate them.

It was a system combining both crystals and charms that she’d been earnestly working on after preparing ice calcite cooling bags. Not every first-year group initially had someone who could ‘charge’ a crystal. Tori had to call Instructor Ignatius, who was at the delta that weekend, to give a quick introduction. Fortunately, most students could ground and gather the smallest bit of energy needed to activate the crystals.

However, for those who couldn’t, she wanted to have something. Normally, charms needed to be activated by those who made them, but they could be programmed to start working under specific conditions, such as with her drink-chilling charm. She had already activated them to be used. All Albert and the others had to do was trigger the activation by placing the cup on a specific area.

Her current side project at Anahata Island was ice calcite chilling plates that would do what the charms did, however, with varying beverage temperatures and volumes. She’d have to work on it when she returned, as the main focus at the moment was on a crystal powered plowing device. She and Instructor Ignatius had been working on it for months and he was going to continue working on it that winter.

Despite the classified nature of the project, another crystal fanatic heard about it.

“Yes, Your Excellency,” Tori said as she stood to the side of the training grounds. After hours of reviewing her notes, she wanted to stretch out and had come the second to last day of finals to stretch her body and loosen up before her final exam of the semester. She’d just arrived when her comcry lit up. “We’re testing it on a much smaller scale at the moment, but as of right now, we are trying to connect distance with the amount of energy needed.”

The Bishop of Karap let out a frustrated groan. “I want to go and see this. You say you have a working model?”

“Yes, it’s very small. We spaced off a small plot of land on Anahata Island to do the tests,” Tori said. “The results are very promising, but adjustment to distance, depth, and soil type are where we’re having concerns. We hope to eventually test in other locations to get more data to work with.”

The Bishop let out another heavy breath. “Lady Guevera, have you spoken to the church about putting Viclya and the Cosora Delta under my jurisdiction?”

Tori closed her eyes and ran a hand down her face. “Not yet, Your Excellency. I think this should be discussed amongst yourselves. I am more than happy to have the delta considered a coastal jurisdiction.” However, you are still based in Karap....

“I will discuss with Archbishop Luther in Horizon and His Holiness about it.” The Bishop sounded determined. “Also, Lady Tori, Benedict has told me that Viclya plans to open itself to select guests at the end of the Spring Festival. Coincidentally, I will happen to be in the area....”

Tori rolled her eyes. She could only guess why. “I will prepare a tent for you and your guards in the encampment. Unfortunately, Anahata Island is a bit of a mess with all our testing right now and there isn’t much room for additional tents.”

“I can stay with Benedict.”

“Your Excellency....” Tori sighed.

“Just consider it, Lady Tori. Ah, I need to go. I have kitchen duty today.” He let out a chuckle before ending the call. Tori slipped her comcry into her bag and put it under the tree before walking towards a practice dummy to work on footing and strikes.

Ewan was finishing doing his jogs around the training grounds and moved on to stretching, as Axton and Sebastian had instructed him.

“Connor!” A voice cut through the training grounds, and the sparse group of people who were also there to unwind as a break from studying turned towards a corner of the grounds. Fabian removed his helmet after sparring against a first year who had won a few youth tournaments. The kid looked not only tired, but defeated. “When do you think you’ll be able to spar with me? No one here is challenging enough!”

Ewan looked at him and then looked at Tori. Tori met his eyes and gave him a light shake of her head. “I’m sorry, Sir von Dorn, but I am not at your level yet. Perhaps after winter break.”

Fabian seemed to smirk. “Then, I hope you will be ready then, though I doubt a month or two will make a difference.”

How about fifteen fucking years with a sword, asshole.  Tori shot him a glare. Her hand twitched over the grip of her waster.

Ewan smiled and stretched his body forward. “Maybe not, but at the very least, I have good masters.” He looked away and turned his body to the side. “I heard you also have a new instructor.”

“My master has seen combat for nearly two decades,” Fabian said. “You’d be surprised what I learned.”

“Oh, don’t keep it a secret,” Tori said as she rolled her shoulders. “Who is your master?”

Fabian shot her a sneer. “That’s not any of your business, Lady Guevera.”

Tori shrugged. “Now you’ve made me curious.”

“Perhaps you’d like a rematch?” Fabian asked as he narrowed his eyes. “I have improved since our last match.”

Tori rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s wonderful for you, Sir von Dorn, but I am not interested in sparring with you. If you don’t think there are suitable swordsmen here to spar with, then perhaps you find some with the imperial cadets. Or you can ask Master McDouglass.”

Fabian merely scoffed and called for another challenger. Tori was half tempted to take him on, but forced herself to turn her attention elsewhere. She cut at the practice dummy until she calmed down.

Dimitri hadn’t approach her for some time and JP said that he was struggling to keep up his rank. Tori hadn’t seen him, nor Alessa, outside of class. Since they were banned from Ilyana’s review sessions, they had to make do on their own. It was essentially them against an entire class that had review sessions. Their chances at improvement were slim.

After the last day of the final, Axton invited them for one more dinner at the Three Queens, as he would leave for winter training. Fabian was not going with him this time, making Tori’s curiosity about his sword master even stronger. She couldn’t help but voice it when she had dinner that night.

“I’m just saying,” Tori said as she stood outside the dining room on the roof, making smoke clouds with her breath in the cold air. “What kind of instructor is so good that he’d give up a chance for training with the von Schwert march army?”

She looked towards Piers, who shook his head. “Gideon doesn’t know. Only that the man they hired has twenty years combat experience.”

Tori furrowed her brows. She leaned against the low wall overlooking the busy street below and looked blankly through the glass doors, to where her friends were hanging around, eating, and discussing their exams with tired expressions.

“Shouldn’t your family have done a background check?” Tori asked.

“Gideon is only giving Fabian money to pay for his lessons. The instructor is not in direct employment of the imperial family,” Piers said.

“Shady...,” Tori muttered under her breath. Sebastian’s assessment of the difficulty of finding a fitting sword master lingered in her head.

“Tori, do you have a moment?” Axton stuck his head out of the dining hall before stepping out. “I have something to give you.”

Tori stood up straight. “Same here.” She extended her hand towards him. “Give me the obsidian necklace I gave you last spring.”

He froze in front of her. His hand seemed to automatically reach up where the copper wrapped obsidian rested against his chest. “Why?”

She raised a brow. “It’s broken.”

Axton seemed reluctant and tilted his head to the side as he narrowed his eyes. “How did you know it’s broken?”

She gave him a confused look, silently asking why she wouldn’t. “I can’t feel my energy from it anymore when I search for it. It’s something I’ve been practicing under Master Ramos. Even if most of the energy was used up, which is unlikely for the obsidian’s purpose, I could still sense my energy in it. I haven’t been able to feel it for a while.”

Axton quietly reached under his shirt and pulled the leather cord out. He held the crystal he’d been so hesitant to wear last year in his hand.

“It is broken,” Piers said, looking over at it. “What happened?”

Axton looked away. “I don’t know.”

“Well, it’s useless if it’s cracked. The carving won’t work anymore,” she told him.

He held it in his hand. “It’s still a nice necklace,” he said. He gave her a bright smile. “It’s okay if it’s broken.”

“No, it’s not. It’s not doing its job,” Tori said. She held out her hand once more. “Give it to me.” Axton let out a heavy breath and slowly lifted the cord over his head. He looked at the broken obsidian wrapped in wire, as if engraving its image in his mind. Tori sighed and snatched it away. His face fell.

“Even if it doesn’t work-”

His voice was cut off when she reached up and looped a new leather cord over his head. A flat pendant, about the size of her thumb, hung from it, enveloped in a sturdy leather case.

“New and improved version,” Tori said with a sly smile. “I gave one to Andy and he says it’s been amazing when he’s on night duty.”

Axton’s rough hand rose and lifted the black obsidian with a neatly trimmed leather case around it. The small window in the front revealed the Old Sulfae scratched into it. Tori was pleased that her handwriting on obsidian had improved. She spent so long trying to find tools she could use.

“What does it do?” Axton asked, his voice quiet. The crystal felt cool to the touch.

“Same as the last one, but I also added ‘awareness of surroundings. That’s new,” Tori told him. “This crystal is also able to hold more energy. I’ve been filling and draining it to increase its capacity. It’s been charged at the delta, so it’s ready for use.”

His face softened. “When did you make it?”

“When I had spare time. Finding tools to do a decent engraving was harder than I thought. Yours looks much better than Andy’s.”

Axton swept her up into another hug and nuzzled the top of her head. Tori grimaced at his show of affection that dangled her off the ground, but her heart was settled. With this, she felt they’d made up. Piers smiled, appearing pleased.

“I have something for you, too.” Axton released her and reached into the inner pocket of his coat. He took out a small, round gray crystal that was half the size of her pinky. He took her hand and placed it in her palm. “This crystal will glow when held up to a statuette of my mother in the lobbies of my inns. If you stay in any of them, show the token. It’ll give you the best room, free of charge.”

Tori drew her head back. “Really?” He nodded, lifted his hand, and patted her head. “What if they ask who I am or why I have this?”

“There are very few of those,” Axton said with a chuckle. “Godmother has one, Piers, me, and now you. I’ve already spoken to the inns. They're expecting you.”

“Thank you, Axton.” She stretched out her arms to hug him and he welcomed her in a warm embrace.

He left the next morning, which was the day most local students began to return home for winter break. Ilyana had packed her things to stay at Sonia and JP’s for the month and hired her usual bodyguards, as she would once more be doing part time work at the guild with Henrik. Constantine’s carriage had already arrived to take him back to Temple Mountain for the winter.

Tori and Ewan would be picked up soon, as well, to go to Auntie Lucia’s to leave the next day for Presidio with the Biancci family.

All the group had to do now was wait for the results of their finals to be released.

They’d waited out in the courtyard outside the administration building for the rankings to be posted.

“There’s Mr. Legaspi!” Ewan nearly shot to his feet when he saw the headmaster’s secretary and a half dozen other staff members walk out with rolled up papers under their arms.

“Calm down,” Henrik said. “Let them post it up first.”

They weren’t the only group of students waiting and as soon as the rankings were posted and the staff stepped away, a small herd of students rushed forward, with Ewan leading the way.

Tori and Ilyana didn’t make it halfway across the courtyard when Ewan yelled that Ilyana was first again and that Tori was third.

“I’m satisfied with that,” Tori said with a nod. She looked at Ilyana, who was scanning the rankings.

“Well, well, well...,” Ilyana said as she narrowed her eyes. “He managed to claw his way back to rank five.”

Tori looked towards the board and saw Dimitri’s name in fifth position. Alessa was eleventh. “He’s working hard.”

“Hmm...then I will work harder....” Ilyana said with quiet determination. She looked towards the others, who seemed to be mulling over their ranks.

“It’s not that bad,” Sonia said with a sigh. “Before, we had an advantage with being the only ones who reviewed with Ilyana. It’s not that you got worse, but everyone else caught up.”

“Good-bye, top twenty,” Henrik said with a little salute.

Ilyana patted his shoulder. “There is always next semester.”

“It’s more than his parents would’ve given him a monetary prize if he ended the semester in the top twenty,” JP said with a grin.

“I’m twenty-one....” Henrik’s voice was hollow. “Twenty-one....” He turned and shot a glare at Albert, who quickly looked away. “Trade with me!”

“I’m only ranked nineteen!” Albert protested and jumped back.

“Okay,” Tori said, stepping between them. “We saw what we came for and they’re not bad scores. Mr. Zisos’ carriage is still waiting at the front gates. Let’s not hold him back.”

Constantine chuckled and patted Henrik and Albert. “I’ve dropped to ten, myself.”

The two other boys shot him a glare. Top ten was top ten.

They walked towards the gate and as they approached, Tori caught sight of two men and cringed.

“Tori!” Sebastian waved at her with a warm smile. “Ewan! I’m here to pick you up!”

“Master!” Ewan looked excited and quickened his pace.

“Sebby!” Tori waved back and then smiled and waved at the other man. “Hi, Piers!”

He lifted a hand to greet her, but stood to the side, occasionally looking at Sebastian. The group walked out of the gates and Tori went to embrace her brother.

“What are you doing here? We were going to ride down with Auntie Lucia,” Tori said.

“I’m here for him,” Sebastian said, looking towards Ewan, who looked taken aback. He lifted his hand and pointed at himself. Sebastian laughed. “You only have a few months until you apply for La Garda and you still need to learn knightly conduct and strategy. At the very least, have a basic foundation. On the way down and back, we’ll review knightly conduct and some strategy. However, when you’re in Sur, you’ll be learning strategy from our uncle.”

Tori perked up. “Uncle Rom is coming?”

Sebastian nodded and put his arm around her shoulders, giving her another hug. “He’s coming with Uncle Lorenzo. They should be there when we arrive. Uncle Rom is already expecting Ewan.”

Ewan looked from Tori to Sebastian and back. “Is your uncle a good strategist?”

“Romulo de Guevera de Bettencourt is the foremost strategist in the empire,” Piers said a few steps away. “He has also taught me. My uncle speaks highly of him, as well.”

“He’s my Uncle Lorenzo’s husband and my godfather,” Tori said. “There are books he’s written at the Fortress you can study, too.”

Ewan looked impressed and then swallowed hard. “I will try my best.”

Sebastian looked on proudly and released Tori to put an arm around Ewan. “You are already trying your best, Ewan. That’s all we can ask of you.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“Piers, what are you doing here?” With her brother releasing her, Tori wandered over to the handsome young man standing to the side.

“I wanted to see you off,” he said. He looked at the others. “And everyone. Did you already check your scores? Is Lady Agafonova ranked one?”

Ilyana puffed out her chest and nodded. “I am ranked one!”

“I’m steady at number three,” Tori said.

“The rest of us dropped, but it wasn’t substantial,” Sonia said. “Ewan got the highest score for the history portion in his class.”

Piers looked at Ewan and gave him a small nod. “Congratulations, Ewan.”

“Thank you, Your Highness! Ilyana’s reviews are the best.”

Ilyana seemed to look even prouder and Tori chuckled.

She noticed the carriage with several gray and white clad guards standing beside it. “Mr. Zisos, your carriage....”

“Hmm?” Constantine turned and nodded. “Ah, then this is where we say good-bye until next year.” He looked at the group with a warm smile. “I will make sure to keep you all in my prayers and will bring back some more cured meat when I return.”

“Group hug!” Ewan shouted and immediately their arms rose as they closed in on Constantine. His eyes were wide with surprise, but quickly turned to joy as he was brought into a several person huddle.

“Have a safe trip, Mr. Zisos,” Ilyana said as she patted his shoulder.

“Yes, it’s cold out and the mountains have snow and it can be slippery for horses. Take your time traveling,” Sonia told him.

“Safety first.” Albert agreed.

Constantine’s eyes crinkled up and he nodded. “Yes...thank you, my friends.”

“All right, one more group hug!”

After it was broken up, Constantine headed to his carriage. He stuck his hand out the window and waved energetically as they passed.

“Okay, individual hugs!” Tori said as she held her arms out and embraced her friends one by one. She held onto Ilyana the longest. “Remember not to go anywhere alone and to have the bodyguards follow you.”

“I know, I know,” Ilyana said as she was released. “Henrik and I may go to Viclya during the break and they will accompany us.”

“All right, good,” Tori said. She hugged Sonia next. “Nanny Rey is still investigating your stalker. So, she’ll be around, keeping an eye out, all right?”

“Thanks, Tori.” Sonia squeezed her tight before letting go.

“Take good care of Ewan for us,” Henrik said as JP nodded. Tori stepped forward and grasped one of them in each arm for a hug.

“And don’t let him get carried away playing dungeon crawl with us,” Albert said with a glance at Ewan, who grinned. Tori shook her head and gave him a light hug, as well.

“I will.” Tori turned to Piers, who hadn’t moved from his spot. “Piers.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t overwork yourself and be mindful of your position while Axton and I are away,” she told him. He nodded.

“I only have one other chamber meeting before the new year,” he said. “Then, I will assist Father with light desk work.”

Tori gave him a nod. She glanced at her brother. Sebastian was watching them carefully. She hesitated for a moment, but wanted to test something out. She looked at Piers and raised her arms.

“Do you want a hug?”

Piers didn’t get his hug. He wanted to and started to reach out, but hesitated and seemed uncomfortable with it. In the end, he looked disappointed and shook his head, and offered his hand instead. Tori smiled and took it, bringing her hand to the crook of his elbow, where she gave him a familiar squeeze. He smiled, but there was still a shadow of disappointment on his face.

Sebastian looked displeased, but didn’t do much outside of ushering her and Ewan into the carriage.

With Sebastian with them in a second carriage, there wasn’t really a need for Auntie Lucia to bring her family’s second carriage, as well. Seven people, which included two children, would fit easily into two carriages. However, Sebastian needed their carriage so he could introduce Ewan to knightly conduct and basic battle strategy terminology.

Having Marco and Mateo screaming in the carriage with them wouldn’t be conducive to Ewan’s education. Auntie Lucia wanted to spend some time with Uncle Maurizo without the twins, so Tori found herself in the third carriage like last year.

Ewan sometimes joined them to play as a break from his lessons. Sebastian said he could hear them yelling about their games from his carriage and put a sky-blue crystal with white lace patterns in their carriage to keep them from disturbing everyone else.

They timed their journey to allow for nightly stays at inns. Most of them belonged to Axton and when Tori saw a crystal statuette of a woman holding a torch in one hand and book in the other, in the lobby, she’d brandish a small, round gray moonstone token with a carving of the torch in front of an open book.

As soon as it glowed, the person at the front desk dealing with them had their face light up. “You must be Sir Nassaun’s sister! We have been expecting you!”

The first time Sebastian heard that, he frowned, but when he saw the large, luxurious room she was given, he begrudgingly allowed it. The suites had multiple rooms and took up nearly all of the top floor, allowing their family and Ewan to stay in just one suite if they wished. Usually it was Sebastian, Tori, Ewan, and the twins; four of them who made a point to play dungeon crawl at night. The most excited occupants were the twins, resulting in their massive disappointment when they got a regular room at an inn Axton didn’t own.

However, as many inns as Axton had, there was still a stretch of road where they wouldn’t be able to find an inn once sun set after a diversion.

“There was a landslide two days ago that closed down the main road,” Sebastian said as they finished their meal at the inn. He held up his hand and called forward one of their family’s knights, who brought him a map. “The Monteserra Pass is closed until the roads are leveled again. We’ll have to go around on Aquina Mirada road.”

Auntie Lucia grumbled. “Then we’re going to go straight to Presidio from here.” She leaned over the map and looked over it. “We won’t get to the Fortress until late tomorrow night.”

“Are there no inns?” Tori asked. They kept their pace even in order to curb weariness and rest the horses.

“No, Monteserra Pass would’ve given us an inn since it’s the major road most people use. Aquina Mirada is much older. It’s usually only used by hunters or shepherds passing through. We’d either have to camp then arrive at mid-morning or we continue past sunset and arrive home at night,” Sebastian said.

“Is it safe to continue at night?” Tori asked. Her brother nodded.

“It is,” Auntie Lucia said. “But we should always be cautious. Boys, you’ll ride with me and your father. Sebastian, you ride with Tori and Ewan.”

Everyone agreed and the next morning, they headed out for Presidio.

Tori had only gone through knightly conduct with Ewan and Sebastian when they had stopped to rest, but she was surprised at how much it entailed.

“Don’t let it all overwhelm you,” Sebastian told them. “He only needs to learn the basics right now for the test. He’ll learn more once he starts at La Garda.”

Still, Ewan put in as much effort into taking notes and reviewing as he did the physical part of being a knight. It didn’t surprise her come afternoon, he’d simply take a nap and Sebastian would encourage him. Of course, seeing Ewan take a nap made Tori want to take a nap.

Sebastian chuckled. “We have a way to go. Give in and go to sleep,” he told her when she began to sway. She wanted to be defiant and stay awake. but that didn’t last.

She ended up slumped against Ewan, lightly snoring. The next thing Tori heard was a movement that drew her out of her sleep. She opened her eyes just a bit. It was dark out and the carriage was still moving. Dimmed light crystals on Sebastian’s side of the carriage kept the small space semi-lit as her brother leaned across and put a large blanket over the both of them.

“Are we there yet...?” She heard Ewan mutter.

Sebastian shook his head and replied quietly. “No, go to sleep. I’ll wake you two when we arrive.”

She felt Ewan nod and then fall back and continue sleeping, as if he hadn’t woken at all.

“Tori?” When she heard his voice again, she thought he’d woken up once more, but when she opened her eyes, the carriage was stopped and outside the windows were the lit-up walls of a building. “Tori, are you awake?

Still half asleep, she squinted and looked around. “Where are we?”

“We just got to the Fortress,” Ewan said, yawning. “I think your parents are here.”

“Mama and Papa?” Tori craned her neck to look out the open door. Ewan folded their blanket and put it to the side before climbing out of the carriage.

“Is she still asleep?” Sebastian asked.

“I’m awake,” Tori said. She reached the door and in her earnest to step out, her foot slipped. Ewan grabbed hold of her to keep her from falling. “Thanks, Ewan.”

“No problem.” He stood still and let her hold on to his shoulder until she was steady on her feet. She patted his shoulder when she was ready and he stepped back.

“Tori! Welcome home!” Her mother’s voice was a low whisper and Tori looked over with a smile. Her aunt and uncle were carrying out the sleeping twins from the carriage. Tori didn’t know how late it was, but if her cousins needed to be carried inside, it must’ve been closer to morning.

“Mama....” Tori extended her arms for a hug and was quickly enveloped. After her mother, her father came to greet her, and then Kasen, in his sleep clothes, carried her bag upstairs. Ewan’s room was right across from hers.

“Master, do I need to get up early tomorrow?” Ewan asked from the door.

“Tomorrow is a rest day,” Sebastian said. “Sleep in. If you’re hungry, come out and ask a guard to take you to the dining hall.”

“Thank you, Master. Goodnight, Tori.”

“‘Night, Ewan.” Tori gave him a wave of her hand before he closed the door. Kasen put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

“Get some sleep.”

“You, too.” Her second brother seemed to sleepily make his way back to his room down the hall and Tori smiled. He didn’t need to get up that early, but he still did just to welcome her home.

“The servants will bring up your things tomorrow,” Sebastian said as he prepared to head to his own room. He lifted his hand to his mouth as he let out a small yawn. “Goodnigh-”

“Sebby, wait.” Tori reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his shirt. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

Her brother cocked his head to the side and gave her a confused look, but nodded. “Is something wrong?”

Tori drew her lips inward and let her shoulders sink, but she didn’t answer. “Do you have a few minutes?”

His confusion seemed to turn into concern. He stood up straight and gave her a solemn nod. “Then, may I come in?”

Tori nodded and stepped to the side of her door to let him inside. Her bedroom had been readied for her well in advance. It was nice and warm, with the drapes around her canopy bed down, leaving only a small space for her to crawl through when she was ready to go to sleep.

The fire in her hearth had been taken care of and was still going strong. It likely wouldn’t die down until the sun rose. She closed the door behind her brother and motioned for him to take a seat in front of the fire. She sat down on the chair next to him.

“I’ve been wondering about something for a while now and I didn’t really notice anything strange until you picked me and Ewan up,” Tori told him. “When you met my friends last year, you didn’t have any problem with my male friends. Not Ewan, JP, Henrik, or Albert.”

Sebastian gave her a nod. “Why would I have problems with them? They’re all good kids and you all support each other.” He gave her a helpless smile. “I’m relieved to know that at school, you have a close-knit group of friends. It lessens my worry. If something happens to you, I know that someone will find us and let us know.”

“But they’re not the only ones.” Tori took a deep breath and decided to get to her question. “Sebby...why are you so wary of Piers when it comes to my relationship with him?”