They had a secret, and though Sun knew the importance of keeping it, she still felt like she wasn't doing a very good job of it. Every time she looked at him, she had to fight down a smile; when he saw her doing it, he would either quirk one of his perfectly arched eyebrows or he would give the faintest smirk as if he knew what she was thinking about. Usually she was thinking about kissing him.
She never would have pegged herself for one of those girls, the kind that got giddy when she saw her... suitor? The object of her fancy? She inwardly cringed at both those terms. Brother? That was even worse but surprisingly easy to not think about when they were together. There might have even been a twisted part of her that liked that he was her brother, but she'd tried not to examine it; better not to know.
When breakfast came out, Sun was surprised at the spread. There was more than there usually was and some stuff she had never seen before.
"Is something happening this morning?" She asked Kalys.
He shook his head. "It is merely my birthday; they usually serve what I'm particularly partial to."
"It's your birthday!? Why didn't you say anything?"
"It's just a day, Sun," he replied, unconcerned.
Though she had never had one, considering she didn't know when her birthday even was and they hadn't bothered to keep track of the days in the slums, she knew birthdays were supposed to be important. She'd seen how people celebrated them at the academy. But she understood the concept of celebrating surviving another year, given how hard that could be at times.
"Happy birthday," she offered. "I haven't got you anything."
"Nor do I expect you to," he replied, his tone casual. "You have your first patrol today."
She nodded.
"Be careful. Don't let anyone get the drop on you."
She nodded again. "I'll be more vigilant."
It was a little relieving he wasn't turning it into an excuse to have someone follow her around or to try and have her not go on patrol at all.
One of the maids entered the room, which was unusual since the food was already out, and they didn't come to clean up until they had left.
"My Lady," the maid greeted and curtsied. "A letter marked urgent has arrived for you."
Sun's brows furrowed, and her stomach plummeted. Had something happened to Nick? He'd only left two days ago. They would only be in Solaryse by now. She quickly tore it open, heart in her throat. She immediately recognised Emily's writing. Had something gone wrong with their project? Last Sun knew, Emily was still staying with her aunt.
She read the letter, her tension deflating.
"What is it?" Kalys asked, noting the troubled expression that had crossed his sister's face.
"Emily's getting married," she muttered.
"That is usually considered joyous news," he pointed out.
"Maybe..." She trailed off, reading the rest of the letter. "Seems a little sudden. She hadn't even been courting anyone."
"Then it was likely arranged by her father."
Did Emily even want to marry this man? Was it just too tempting an offer for her family to pass up? They were one of the Great Four; what could possibly be so enticing? Emily wasn't bemoaning the match, but the tone of the letter didn't sound excited or happy. She didn't even mention who the groom was. Probably not the Prince then; there's no way Emily would have been able to keep that to herself.
"She says we'll be receiving invitations to it when it's closer to the time," she told him.
Sun wanted to reply to her; she had so many questions, but there wasn't much time left before she had to go to Perdition. Tucking the letter inside her coat, she resolved to write her response as soon as she got home tonight.
"Damn, it'll be in Solaryse, won't it?" She asked dejectedly.
"That depends on who her husband is," Kalys said. "You don't need to go there if you don't want to."
Sun shook her head. "Emily's my friend."
That was that. She could put aside whatever issues she had with the city to be there for her friend.
"I should get to work," she said, getting to her feet.
With a quick glance about the room to make sure no one was nearby, she bent down and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, resting her head on his shoulder. She had intended it to be a quick hug, but when she went to pull away, Kalys placed a firm hand on her arms, keeping her in place. He planted a light kiss on her cheek before letting her go.
"Have a good day, Sun, and be safe," he said softly.
"You too," she replied, his words letting loose the butterflies in her stomach.
It should be a crime the effect he had on her.
And then she left, unable to hide the wide grin on her face as she practically skipped to the door. Without all the anxiety of him finding out and self-loathing for how she felt about him, it was so easy to enjoy this. She hadn't thought he would be as affectionate as he was either; that had come as a surprise. He wasn't showering her with it or anything, but she had kind of thought things would hardly change at all or that he would never initiate any kind of physical display of his affection.
It was a pleasant surprise.
-
Karsten was waiting for Sun; as soon as she walked through the door, he greeted her with a nod.
"You ready?" He asked.
Right to it then. She nodded. Carrying the fine weapons her brother had gifted her felt a little strange, and she hoped they wouldn't actually have to fight anything. She didn't want to dirty them.
"Before we head out, we have to sign this," he told her, grabbing a clipboard from the wall.
He scribbled something down and handed it to her; it was just the date, his name, and the time he headed out. The patrol route for this area was rotated daily between those that were still here, so it had a variety of signatures before hers.
Sun signed her own name and added the date and time, handing it back to him, and he hung it back on the hook.
"Do you know your way around Kolver?" He asked.
"For the most part, and I've explored some of the outside of the city, but I haven't gone far."
"We usually take the horses," he said, leading her out to the stables.
Damn. Horses.
"Why is that?" She asked. "Wouldn't it be quicker to just..."
She made a quick running motion with her fingers.
"It would be quicker; that's the problem. We're meant to be keeping our eyes out for anything off. Difficult to do that if we're running by at inhuman speed."
She conceded that point. It was pretty obvious, actually; she felt like a bit of a numpty for not realising herself. What a poor impression that must have left.
She paid close attention to how Karsten saddled his horse. Crap, she didn't know she would need to do that. He noticed her watching him.
"You don't know how to do this?"
She shook her head.
"Sorry, I'll show you. The bloody academy should teach this stuff."
"Where did you learn?"
"I grew up on a ranch; I learned when I was a child," he replied, joining her by her horse and showing her how to do it while explaining everything he did and why it mattered.
Once he was done, he undid it all and took the saddle off, having her do it again. He had to correct her a few times, but she got the gist of it. Practice would take care of the rest.
With that, they set out.
Karsten wasn't much for conversation, but he did offer explanations when they were needed. They went quite far out, meeting up with orchard and farm owners, checking in with them. They seemed to double as some sort of welfare checkers as well when it came to some of the older people living out in the middle of nowhere. Karsten introduced her to everyone; some of them recognised her name or her earring, and they bowed. She would embarrassingly tell them that that wasn't necessary.
At one point they helped an elderly lady carry her laundry and get a child out of a tree that had climbed too high. They all seemed to know Karsten as well, even calling him by his first name, Bral. And he was ready with a smile and an offer of help for anything they might need.
All in all, the day went quite well. She could see why it was an all-day endeavour with how wide out they went and all the farmsteads and country estates they checked in with.
When they got back to Perdition, the workday was already done, but they had to tend to the horses and fill out their own forms about what they encountered while out. Mostly it was nothing, so at least there wasn't a lot to say. They didn't have to mention time spent helping with menial tasks.
By the time she got home that night, it was a bit later than usual. She quickly went to her room and changed before joining Kalys in the dining room.
"How did it go today?" He asked.
"Fine. No problems. The horse was uncomfortable, though," she winced as she sat down.
"You'll adjust," he assured her.
When they finished dinner, before retiring to the solar to read, she let him know she just needed to reply to Emily first. He gave a nod and told her he would wait for her there.
Sun quickly hurried back to her room, scribbling out her reply as fast as she could, bombarding her with questions – was she happy with the match? Should Sun be congratulating her on it or commiserating? Who was it? How far away was the wedding? How was a match arranged so soon when Emily hadn't even mentioned courting anyone?
By the time Sun had finished with her letter, it really was just a list of questions. Still, she slid it into the envelope and left it for the maids to send off.
Then she joined Kalys in the solar for their reading time. She climbed into the seat beside him, leaning against his arm as he opened the book.
Kalys rested it in his lap and wrapped his other arm around her, her sweet scent drifting up to him. He already had their tea, so no maids would be interrupting them, and Mika knew not to bother keeping an eye on Sun when she was with him.
Mika was by far the biggest risk to their secret right now. He knew it couldn't stay a secret forever; they would have to announce it eventually. He did wonder if Sun realised that herself.
For now, he was content to go at her pace.
He was aware of all the rules and etiquette he was breaking and how he could be seen to be manipulating her considering his position as her legal guardian, but a more traditional courtship would mean revealing it to a lot of people, and the gossip would run rampant.
If he could, when she was ready, he would just marry her in secret. Following their wedding, he would withdraw them from society for a while until the gossip had burned itself out and society had moved on to something else.
Well, there was no reason he couldn't do it that way. People would likely think he had impregnated her if he took that route; their reputations would take a harsher blow. But he could weather it.
Could Sun?