Sun smiled to herself as she read Kalys's letter. It had arrived with the raven before she'd woken; she'd found the bird sitting on the railing of her verandah after waking up. She liked the letter writing; it was easier than talking. Maybe he felt the same, because he definitely wrote more than he spoke. He answered her questions, asked his own of her, made innocuous observations about the city he'd been sent to, and some of his men. One in particular who was getting on his nerves, trying too hard only to end up making a mess of whatever task he'd been set upon.
And Kalys could be funny when he wanted to be, quite a scathing wit.
She felt like she was actually getting closer to him and couldn't help but wonder if it would still be like this – if they would still talk like this once he was home.
She hoped so.
Of course, none of this was helping with her infatuation. If anything, it only made it worse. She got butterflies in her stomach whenever she received one of these letters and felt like a foolish little girl for it. Nothing had ever given her butterflies like this before. She'd had plenty of anxiety and nausea, but not this anticipation and excitement.
And all over a letter. From her brother.
She was such a fucking idiot.
But like every letter so far, she gently folded it up, placed it on top of the others and wrapped them tightly and securely in one of her old shirts before folding that up and hiding it at the bottom of her drawer.
There was nothing untoward in them, nothing that hinted at anything more than a brother and sister keeping in touch, but she still felt like she needed to keep them from prying eyes. Maybe because he revealed a slightly different side to him, and she wanted to keep it all to herself.
And as usually followed this train of thought, the admonishments and self-loathing came along. She let them wash over her and agreed with them, but she was at a point where – fuck it – she couldn't make the feelings go away.
It was just such a terrible blow that the first person she ever felt like this for was her brother. She already knew it wasn't a crush; it ran deeper than that.
With the letter safely tucked away, she took out a piece of paper to write her reply. Mostly a few choice lessons he could orchestrate for his tries-too-hard subordinate, each more ridiculous and outlandish than the last.
She also let him know Zen was out of the Sixth now and had started with his division. He probably didn't care much, but she still liked to keep him abreast of what was going on with her friends. They were part of her life, so they would be part of his, even if only barely.
She also mentioned her dismal attempt at painting with her grandfather but that she was interested in trying again. She asked if he had ever painted before.
Would asking about the dead and injured he'd sent back be offensive? Maybe. Might even be a sore spot. Instead, she let him know they had arrived and were being seen to.
As per the norm, when she signed off, she asked that he come home safe or some variation of it and signed her name.
With that done, she sealed it, headed out to the aviary to get a different raven so the previous one could rest, and then she sent it off. While there she did what she needed to do to take care of them – clean water, more food, etc. Some weren't there, but the aviary was always open, so they could come and go as they pleased. Then she headed inside to get ready for the day.
Once in her uniform, she joined her grandfather for breakfast. She hadn't mentioned the letters to him, afraid he might want to see them too.
While they were having breakfast, one of the maids entered the room, informing them there were guests in the foyer.
"The boys?" Sun asked, getting up from her seat.
"No, my lady. Lord and Lady Intrieri."
Sun shot a questioning look to her grandfather, who was clearly not informed of this visit either. Jinn followed her out to the foyer to greet their guests. Emily was standing there with her brother when she saw Sun; she squealed and came running over, pulling her into a hug.
"Good morning," she greeted in a sing-song voice. When she pulled apart, she noticed Jinn standing there and flawlessly curtsied. "Lord Illusen."
He gave the siblings a nod in greeting. "What can we do for you both?"
"We're travelling to our aunts in Reyoar; we thought we'd visit while we passed through."
"I just sent you a letter last night," Sun told her.
"Well, now you can tell me in person," she smiled. "I thought we could spend the day together and catch up."
"I'm so sorry; I have to work today. But we could have dinner. I could invite Nick and Zen, and you could meet them!" She said excitedly.
"That would be fantastic; I'd love to meet them."
"Do you guys have a place to stay? There are guest rooms here."
"No need to trouble yourself; we have other arrangements," Nathaniel told them.
Emily took hold of Sun's hands. "Could we stay here, though? We could have a sleepover!"
"Emily!" Nathaniel scolded.
"We would gladly welcome you both," Jinn said, stepping in.
"Are you sure? We don't want to intrude," Nathaniel said. "And we do have other accommodation. It's rather ill-mannered of us to just turn up like this as it is."
"It's no imposition at all," Jinn assured.
"A sleepover?" Sun asked.
"You've never had one?" Emily asked, almost aghast.
"Maybe, if it's called something else?"
"It's when girls get together and sleep at each other's houses. They stay up late, dabble in a bit of hearth magic, tell secrets, make mischief."
"What kind of mischief?" She asked, perking up at that.
"Benign", Jinn told her.
"Absolutely," Emily assured.
"And I don't know hearth magic either."
"It's just little rituals – find the name of your soulmate, glean your future," Emily waved it off like it was nothing, just children's games.
But that sounded interesting to Sun. Learning the future anyway, she never bought into the soulmate idea.
"All right, I have to get to work, but I'll bring the boys back for dinner," Sun said. "It's so good to see you both."
"I'll see to our guests," her grandfather told her.
Sun left then, her step light. She was happy to see them and surprised they had shown up at all. Pleasantly surprised, of course.
At the gates to Perdition, Nick and Zen were there waiting for her.
"Aren't you a handsome pair in your uniforms?" She said, booping them on their noses.
"Aren't we just?" Zen agreed, popping the collar of his coat for effect.
It was the first time he was in his uniform; he did cut an impressive figure. Not quite as impressive as Kalys. They started walking; Zen would be the first to depart given how close the Second was to the gates.
"Hey, I need you guys to come over for dinner if you can."
"I'm in," Zen agreed quickly. "Love the food over there."
"The company's not too shabby either," Sun pointed out with mock indignation.
"If you say so," Zen shrugged, pulling hard on her cheek before laughing and running off to his Division. He did at least call out a goodbye as he ran.
Sun rubbed her cheek, half-heartedly glaring after him.
"I actually want you guys to meet someone," Sun told Nick.
"Who?"
"Do you remember the girl I told you about? Emily? The one helping me with our project. She and her brother showed up this morning. They're going to stay for a bit."
"They're nobles, and they don't mind meeting us?" He asked, a little sceptical.
"I think Nathaniel is probably indifferent, but Emily is interested. I told her a lot about you two when I was in Solaryse. She's... not stuffy and arrogant. And she's usually keen to drop formality and be normal. I quite like her."
Nick gave her a soft smile. "We'll be there then."
"Thanks."
"Hey, Sun," Nick started. His tone had changed; something was bothering him.
"Yes?" She asked, eyeing him, trying to glean the source of his sudden unease.
"Your evaluation mission, did you ever get any kind of update about it?"
She shook her head. "Why?"
"Have you had anyone ask you about it?"
"Just you. What's going on?"
"I'm not sure... Have you had any other commanders approach you?"
"Approach me about what?"
"Anything?"
She shook her head again. "The odd greeting when we pass by each other."
"But you had other commanders at your demonstration too, didn't you?"
She nodded. "What are you getting at?"
"I'm not getting at anything. Just... sorting things out in my head."
"Nick," she pressed.
"I don't know, Sun; I just... I've been hearing things."
"What things?"
"Someone has an interest in the Traverse and an interest in you because of it."
"Who?"
"I don't know. I haven't been able to get any clear answers. Just... be careful, yeah? If I learn more, I'll let you know."
Sun nodded, feeling a little uneasy herself now. What had Nick been hearing exactly, and from whom? Could it have anything to do with the attempted abduction?
They split up when they reached their divisions. When Sun got to work, she went straight to her desk to find a stack of papers to go through. There were a lot fewer people here today than usual. She wondered if that had anything to do with the deaths in their squad.
"Morning, Sun," Cage said, coming to stand in front of her desk.
"Good morning."
"Mercer said he saw you at the Sixth yesterday; he told you we had a couple of deaths in our division."
Sun nodded.
"Their bodies have already been returned to their families, but we'll be having a small service for them when we add their names to the wall."
"The wall?"
"Right, I didn't show you that. Come with me," he told her.
Sun followed him through the Division to a door she'd never even noticed not far from Mercer's and Cage's offices. It led to a small garden, well maintained, with a few different blooms scattered about. There was a stone path that led to a massive slab of obsidian or onyx, maybe; she couldn't tell the difference, rising up out of the ground. Engraved into the stone were names and dates; it didn't take a genius to figure out what they meant.
"It's been here since the Eighth was formed. The first name on it was the first ever captain of our division," he told her, reaching up to the name.
Beside it there was a little symbol representing his status. There were a fair few names with the same, and some with other symbols, she guessed they were lieutenants and tiered officers.
"It'll be after lunch; you'll be here, right?"
"Of course. If I'm welcome. I never met them..."
"Doesn't matter; you're one of us; so are they."
She nodded. She would definitely be there then. "So straight after lunch then."
"Yeah. I know you won't be feeling the loss as keenly as everyone else, but Mercer and I are available to talk if you need. The option's always there; we just like to reiterate it when this happens."
Sun nodded.
"All right, have a good day, Sun," he said, clapping her on the shoulder and leaving her alone in the little courtyard.
She looked at the memorial wall, her eyes skimming over the names. Did all the Divisions have a wall like this? This thing stretched back centuries. What would they do with it once they ran out of space? The Eighth didn't typically have a high casualty rate given their duties, so maybe it would take them a while.
She should get back to work.
-
After the service later that day, Commander Mercer let everyone leave early. While she didn't know the squad members who had died, she felt for those around her. Some of them must have been quite close. Commander Mercer had said a few words about them before opening the floor to anyone else who might have had anything to say. A few stories were shared; it was nice. And then the names were chiselled into the stone while they watched in sombre silence.
After that, Mercer sent them home.
Sun went straight there to catch up with Emily, finding she and Nathaniel had gone out to explore Kolver; it was their first time here, apparently.
There wasn't much to be done until dinner, so she spent some time working on the tasks her grandfather had set her in her brother's study. When he returned from the North, he might be tired, and she didn't want him to have to pick up her slack upon his arrival.
Sometimes the drastic change in her mindset when it came to him still astounded her. Given Zen had commented on it earlier, maybe the boys were a bit surprised by it as well.
When it neared dinnertime, she headed back to Perdition to pick up the boys. They asked if they were supposed to dress formally, and she paused. She hadn't bothered to change from her uniform and hadn't really intended to since it had slipped her mind completely.
"No, I don't think so," she finally replied. "It's just a small thing."
She hoped. Her grandfather wouldn't turn it into a spectacle, she didn't think.
"So uniform is fine, then?" Zen asked. "Because aside from those suits you bought us ages ago, these are the nicest clothes I own."
"I've bought you other clothes," she pointed out.
"You did... and I may have... stained them."
"Doing what?"
"Being himself," Nick snorted, earning a glare from the taller boy.
"It doesn't matter," Zen said, waving it away. "Uniform it is."
"I'll even wear mine in solidarity," Sun offered.
They didn't rush back to the manor, chatting about their days as they walked the distance. There was little chance of being late.
They went straight inside once they got there and were sent directly to the dining room by one of the maids. Maybe there was a chance of being late. Jinn, Nathaniel, and Emily were already there, wine in front of them. Emily gave them a beaming smile, and Sun made introductions before they all sat down.
Nick and Zen had only met her grandfather twice before, and they treated him with a deference she wouldn't have expected of them given the way they treated her brother. Emily and Nathaniel, though, once Zen sat down, he looked over at them, assessing.
"So are we supposed to call you Lord and Lady So-and-so?" He asked.
Before Sun could stop herself, she let her head drop down onto the table, a little too hard, by the clattering of dishes. Gods below, the boy was useless.
"Ignore him," she said, rubbing her forehead where she'd hit it.
Emily just laughed, that pretty little tinkling sound. "Emily and Nathaniel are fine."
Sun thought she might have caught a bit of a scandalised look flash through her brother's eyes at her words, but he didn't gainsay it.
After that Emily peppered the boys with questions – about their lives, their time in the Academy, their transition to Revenants, and how they adjusted to Sun being nobility now.
The boys were tight-lipped about their time in the slums; for the most part, they all were. While Sun trusted her grandfather and brother with some of it, there was no one else any of them would discuss it with. It was personal and theirs, and they hadn't always done the right thing to make sure they survived. There were some things they were determined to take to the grave. Which left an absolute zero chance they would share much with strangers. Even Sun, as friendly as she was with Emily, there were quite a few questions she wouldn't have answered either.
It was Nathaniel who had picked up on their discomfort about the subject and managed to get her to move on to other topics. He was definitely a bit more perceptive than his sister.
With her questions about the Revenants and what they do all day, both Sun and Nick had sighed out, 'Paperwork.'
Zen had laughed at them then, bragging about how he hadn't had to pick up a pen since he started or even look at a piece of paper. They spent all day training, sparring, or watching other members of their division do the same.
Jinn had chuckled then. "I vividly recall the disorganisation of the Second and their constant stream of requests for repairs and new weapons. Seems little has changed."
Sun laughed lightly then, getting a chance to ask her own questions about what it was like back then.
Dinner passed by quite quickly – good food and interesting conversation had a tendency to do that. Zen did get a little flirty with Emily though, and every time he did, Nathaniel looked like he'd sucked on a lemon, which amused Sun and Nick to no end. In fact, it was possible Zen had noticed and found the whole thing funny as well, which might have been why he really started to push the boundaries a little.
After dessert it was time for the boys to go, and they thanked them for being invited and bid them all goodbye before Nick took Zen's wrist and teleported out. Emily let out a startled squeak, eyes wide.
"That's Nick's ability. Sorry, I should have warned you."
"That was incredible," Emily breathed out. "What can Zen do?"
"He hasn't manifested a personal ability yet. He probably won't, given his age."
Emily looped her arm through Suns' and started walking them from the dining room.
"Now we must ready for our sleepover. We'll bathe, then we'll meet in your room in our nightclothes," Emily told her.
Sun nodded, still a little unsure about this. It seemed strange to be sleeping with someone she didn't know well in her private, personal space. But it did sound like it could be interesting.