Hestia was the one who broke first.
"So," she said pleasantly, folding her hands in her lap, "are you going to tell us what has been troubling you, or shall Liora and I employ alternative methods?"
Nytherra looked up. "Alternative methods?"
Liora's eyes lit immediately. "I vote for dramatic guessing. We each make three wildly inaccurate accusations until you crack."
Hestia nodded. "I was considering bribery. Or mild threats. Nothing illegal."
Nytherra groaned and leaned back against the stone bench. "You are both insufferable."
"And yet," Liora said cheerfully, popping an orange segment into her mouth, "you still haven't answered."
The afternoon was warm and unhurried, the sort of day that made secrets feel heavier simply because everything else was so pleasant. The gardens hummed softly with distant voices and insects, the world utterly unconcerned with Nytherra's internal deliberations.
She sighed. "You will not like it."
Hestia smiled faintly. "That has never stopped you before."
Liora leaned closer. "Is it scandalous?"
"No."
"Is it romantic?"
Nytherra hesitated.
Liora gasped. "Oh, it's romantic."
"It is complicated," Nytherra said quickly.
Hestia raised a brow. "That was not a denial."
Nytherra pressed her lips together, then laughed despite herself. "You are impossible."
"And persistent," Liora added proudly.
Nytherra glanced away, toward the pond glinting through the trees. The memory rose uninvited, vivid and ridiculous and far too intimate to be shared lightly.
"I met someone," she said at last.
Liora froze. Hestia stilled.
Then—
"Oh," Liora said. "Oh."
Hestia tilted her head. "Recently?"
"Months ago."
"And you did not tell us because…?" Hestia prompted.
"Because the circumstances were," Nytherra searched for the word, "…undignified."
Liora's grin widened. "Now you have my full attention."
Nytherra closed her eyes. "I met him at the pond."
"The pond?" Liora repeated. "The one past the lower ridge?"
"Yes."
"The one you swim in," Liora said slowly.
"Yes."
"The one where—"
"Yes," Nytherra said flatly. "I was naked."
There was a heartbeat of stunned silence.
Then Liora shrieked with laughter.
"You met a stranger while naked?"
"I did not meet him," Nytherra protested. "He appeared."
Hestia blinked. "Appeared."
"Yes."
Liora wiped tears from her eyes. "This is already excellent."
Nytherra continued, resigned now. "He was a dragon."
Neither of them reacted much at all.
"Oh," Liora said. "That explains the appearing."
Hestia nodded. "And the pond."
Nytherra frowned. "That's it?"
Liora shrugged. "Dragons are common. Naked introductions are not."
"That was not intentional," Nytherra muttered.
Hestia studied her. "Was he a hybrid?"
"No."
Liora paused mid-orange. "No?"
Nytherra shook her head. "Pure."
There it was.
Both sisters reacted at once.
"Ohhh," Liora breathed.
Hestia's eyes sharpened—not alarmed, but suddenly calculating. "Pure."
"Yes."
Liora leaned back slowly. "That does elevate matters."
Nytherra flushed. "He was polite."
"I would hope so," Hestia said. "Especially under the circumstances."
Nytherra shot her a look. "You are enjoying this."
"Immensely," Liora said.
Hestia folded her arms. "What was his name?"
"Kaelith."
Liora hummed. "Very dragon."
Hestia nodded. "Old."
Nytherra smiled despite herself. "He stayed."
Liora softened. "Ah."
"And then he left," Nytherra added.
Hestia's humor faded slightly, though not into despair—only thoughtfulness. "Did he say why?"
"No."
Liora frowned. "That is rude."
Nytherra laughed quietly. "He promised nothing. That is what makes it difficult."
Hestia studied her for a long moment. "You are not upset in the way someone discarded would be."
Nytherra hesitated. Then sighed. "Because I do not believe he discarded me."
Liora leaned forward. "Then what's been eating you alive?"
Nytherra hesitated only a second longer.
"Well," she said, "there is also this."
She reached for her collar.
Liora squinted. "Is this another naked surprise?"
"No."
"Shame."
Nytherra tugged the fabric aside.
The scales caught the light immediately—iridescent, unmistakable, elegant in a way that made them impossible to confuse with anything decorative.
Liora screamed.
Not fear—pure shock.
Hestia stood so fast her chair tipped backward.
"No," Hestia said sharply. "Absolutely not."
Nytherra winced. "That seems excessive."
"Those are royal," Hestia said, already stepping closer. "You cannot casually produce royal scales."
Liora stared, pale now. "Nytherra. Those aren't romantic scales."
"I didn't think there were categories," Nytherra said weakly.
"Ordinary dragons leave burns," Liora said faintly. "Royal ones leave claims."
Hestia looked at Nytherra, expression unreadable. "Do you have any idea what you are carrying?"
Nytherra swallowed. "I had hoped you would explain it."
Liora groaned and dropped onto the bench. "Of all the ponds."
Hestia exhaled slowly, then—unexpectedly—laughed under her breath.
"Well," she said, "that explains the patience."
Nytherra blinked. "It does?"
"Yes," Hestia said. "Royal dragons do not rush."
Liora looked up at Nytherra, eyes wide with awe and disbelief. "You fell for a royal dragon while naked in a pond."
Nytherra covered her face. "When you say it like that—"
"It's worse," Liora finished fondly.
The garden remained peaceful. The sun warm. The world stubbornly ordinary.
Only Nytherra's life had quietly, spectacularly changed.
And somehow—laughing between two sisters who now knew everything—it felt a little less frightening.
---