The banquet hall was more lively than it had been in years.

They not only celebrated Coam's return home but also the disciples of their clan who had spent the last five years on the southern border and beyond. But Itoroh's on-and-off war against Tilica had reached its climax a year ago and now the two nations had settled into an uneasy peace. For now, at least.

But it did offer the disciples an opportunity to return home and they were allowed to eat and drink and indulge in all the pleasures they'd abstained from on the border.

Nerluce silently wished to join them but he was seated at the front of the banquet hall, to Lord Father's left. Thankfully, Lord Father wasn't paying much attention to Nerluce. Instead, he was focused on Coam. She sat on Lord Father's right, in the seat of highest honor. Lady Okiachi was on Coam's right and Lady Fanjie was on Nerluce's left. The five of them were sitting in the front of the banquet hall on a dais, Mother nowhere to be seen.

It was probably for the best. Nerluce didn't want her to make a fool of herself in front of all these people. She didn't have much favor left, even less than Nerluce. The last banquet she'd attended she'd spilled wine all over a visiting member of the Sonkugi Clan - their neighbor to the east and one of the five southern border clans. To say that had been a difficult situation was an understatement. Lady Okiachi had gotten it worked out somehow.

"Oh, Coam!" Lady Okiachi exclaimed. "Tell us about how you managed to take the great walled cities of the south. The letters we received said that you managed to conquer them one after another using only your left hand!"

Coam smiled like she always did and lifted her glass of wine to her lips. Nerluce turned away, picking at his rice. "They always exaggerate in those things, Lady Mother," Coam said. "I used both my hands. One to hold my sword and the other to burn the cities to the ground." She snapped her fingers and a flame appeared.

Lady Okiachi gasped. "Oh my!"

"Your Magick is progressing well," Lord Father said. Nerluce stole another glance because he knew Lord Father was looking at Coam. His eyes were soft, his shoulders relaxed. He even wore a small smile filled with pride.

For some reason looking at them made Nerluce feel sick.

"I feared without proper masters your progress would stagnate. I am glad to see the adage is true: experience is the best teacher." Lord Father nodded his approval. "You were close to breaking through when you left. What finally allowed you to?"

Coam laughed and blew out the small flame she seemingly created from nothing. But that wasn't exactly true. Despite being useless at Magick, Nerluce understood its most basic principles. Something could not be created from nothing. What looked like Coam snapping her fingers and creating fire was, in actuality, her harnessing the kinetic and heat Magicks from the snap and transforming it into fire Magick.

The Magick just changed types. It was still plenty hard - many fire Magickians never mastered what Coam had just done with such ease - and Nerluce couldn't even control a flame that had been lit for him. He took another bite of the rice, only half listening as Coam retold the story of how she'd first done this transformation of Magicks.

It was about halfway through this story that Lady Fanjie leaned over and pinched his cheek. Nerluce let out a little noise of surprise but it went unheard among all the other noise in the room. Lady Fanjie smiled innocently at him. "Why so sour, little Luce?" she asked. "They put vinegar in your cup instead of wine?"

"No," Nerluce snapped.

"I think there's a little in mine as well," Lady Fanjie said, swirling the contents of her cup around before she took a sip. "Some people are just born with fortune shining on their shoulders."

"I don't know what you mean," Nerluce said.

Lady Fanjie laughed. Then, they were both quiet.

To Nerluce's right, there was talk and laughter and a portion of Nerluce wanted to be a part of it. However, the other part wanted to keep his head turned in the direction of Lady Fanjie because he knew whatever he saw to his right would break him a little bit more.

"Your sister really is something," Lady Fanjie said before she let out another little chirp of laughter. "Little Luce you really do wear all your emotions on your sleeve!"

"I do not!" Nerluce protested.

He, of course, was lying. He knew that everything he felt went right to his face. It was what got him in so much trouble. He reacted without thinking. He didn't have the discipline or intelligence to shield how he felt. So when Lady Fanjie started to speak of Coam, Nerluce couldn't help but react as he felt. Annoyed, angry, jealous; oh gods, he was jealous.

"You're really something, too," Lady Fanjie said, picking up from her first statement. "A different kind of something. I think it's because you remind me of myself when I was your age."

Another face and another laugh from Lady Fanjie.

"Stop that!" she said, waving her hand at Nerluce. She giggled again before picking up her chopsticks and taking another bite. Lady Fanjie was always a light eater so her plate of food looked as if it had been picked at by a bird who could only fit one grain of rice in its beak at a time. "I am serious Little Luce." Lady Fanjie smiled at her plate. Something soft and fond. "You have a lot of potential in you. You just don't seem to want to use it."

"Well maybe I'll end up like you at least," Nerluce said as if this was some silver lining. "Married to a rich noble." He snorted and finished the last of the rice on his plate.

Lady Fanjie laughed as well. "Oh don't give your father ideas."

Nerluce smiled - tried to make it a bit of a real smile - at Lady Fanjie. She had always been soft towards both him and Coam. Lady Okiachi said this was because Lady Fanjie couldn't have children so she was trying to steal them away from their real mothers.

Nerluce wouldn't have minded being stolen away from Mother. It wasn't like she wanted much to do with him anyway. Nerluce's expression darkened but he managed to tuck it away by swallowing what was left of the wine and engaging in cheerful conversation with Lady Fanjie until one of the disciples, her face as red as an apple, approached Nerluce and asked him if he'd like to dance.

Quickly glancing at his Lord Father - who gave a curt nod - Nerluce accepted her offer. The girl was older than Nerluce but not by much. She had to have either distinguished herself on the battlefield or been of a rather important bloodline. Either way, Nerluce was just relieved to have finally escaped the table and to get to dance with a beautiful girl. Her hair was dark and lush and her smile charming. She smelled like the wind and when she danced with Nerluce, she was so graceful it hardly seemed as though her feet were touching the floor at all.

"Does young mistress practice air Magick?" Nerluce asked.

"Yes, Young Lord Hebikoti," the girl said, looking down. She was just as shy as she was light-footed. Through the dance, Nerluce tried a couple more lines to coax her out of her shell but she refused to take the bait.

The song ended and Nerluce found another partner to dance with. All of the people in the hall were older than him so it felt a bit stiff. Nerluce would much rather be in the town, celebrating with the young girls and boys his own age, flirting carelessly and losing his last scrap of reputation.

However, Nerluce reminded himself how lucky he was to be allowed to dance with these older women. Lord Father probably didn't want him to but Lord Father cared more for appearances than for disciplining Nerluce in front of an audience. In fact, the entire reason Nerluce had yet to face consequences for the day's events was the audience of judgemental eyes.

The song ended and Nerluce turned around, ready to seek out his next partner, but before he could, someone sought him out instead.

Coam caught Nerluce by the elbow. Nerluce instantly froze, having not seen her until she was touching him. Like the light-footed girl, Coam was nearly silent on her feet, even when she wore armor. Coam smiled, her eyes closing when she did so. Was that the reason Nerluce shut his own eyes whenever he grinned? It had been so long since he'd seen Coam he hadn't recalled she did that.

"Want to take a walk?" Coam asked.

"Okay," Nerluce said.

He was too docile sometimes. He didn't want to go on a walk with Coam, but he couldn't bring himself to refuse. So he and his elder half-sister left the banquet hall and walked to Lord Father's personal gardens. Only Lord Father and Coam had access to this place, guaranteeing them privacy. Nerluce wondered at Coam's motives for wanting to take this walk with him

The gardens were empty and therefore much, much quieter than the chaotic hall where voices and music became a cacophony. It was overwhelming at times but the silence of the gardens was just as overwhelming if not more so.

Finally, Coam broke that silence. "You never wrote any letters. Have you been busy?"

"Yes," Nerluce said.

He looked down at the cobblestone path they walked, its sides lined with artificial beauty. The plants were all pruned to perfection. The statues - which were of all the great leaders of the Hebikoti clan and several fire gods, such as the goddess Aithne of the Flame - were manicured and maintained so they never lost their luster.

"How have you been doing in your academics?" Coam asked.

"Fine," Nerluce said. He kicked a rock.

"That's good to hear," Coam said, smiling. "If you need any help, now that I'm back I'd be more than willing to tutor you."

She didn't specify a subject because she was good at all of them. The corners of Nerluce's mouth tightened but he didn't say anything. What he wished to say, however, was that the last thing he needed was another tutor. He didn't need one more person to humiliate himself in front of. Maybe in his next life, he'd be born with the strength to speak freely to his perfect elder sister.

"And what about your Magick?" Coam asked, clearly still trying to find something that Nerluce would talk to her about.

Instead, Nerluce just turned and saw her. He saw her in her gleaming silver armor, like a warrior of the gods. She was heaven kissed. Her white hair was long and perfect and pulled up into a high tail. Her eyes - oh gods her eyes - were bright red, the reddest eyes of anyone in the Hebikoti clan. Nerluce turned and he saw Coam, the prodigy.

And that was what turned her words foul and dark, leaving a taste on his tongue as though something had rotted there.

"Fine," Nerluce said again.

Sensing his hostility, Coam's brows knit together. She frowned and looked like she wanted to say something but she was never given the chance.

"I was hoping I'd find you two here," a calm voice said as Lord Father approached the pair of siblings from behind. Nerluce tensed - as he always did - and forced his face to go blank. Coam, on the other hand, smiled and took a step forward. Nerluce hated her for that. She thought she was strong enough to do anything.

Lord Father would destroy her if only he knew the gesture for what it was. The arrogance of the perfect, favorite child who would never be punished for her wrongdoings no matter how wrong those doings were. Not that Coam even did anything wrong! As far as Nerluce knew she'd never made a single mistake in her entire life! Everyone made it sound like Coam came out of the womb brilliant.

"Good evening, Lord Father," Coam said bowing.

Nerluce bowed as well. "Good evening, Lord Father," he said, his voice an echo of Coam's. An echo seemed a good way to describe Nerluce. He was a distorted, eery thing that could never come close to replicating the noise, no matter how hard he tried.

Lord Father smiled faintly. "Coam, you always bring back the most interesting news," he said. "What was it you were telling me about the High Priestess, Honami?"

"Ah-" Coam laughed a bit, rubbing the back of her neck. "She's recently given birth to a baby, despite being a virgin. Rumor has it that this baby is Chosen Light." She laughed a bit more. "Lord Father please don't pay too much mind to what this one says when she is drunk like this."

"No I find it very... interesting," Lord Father said.

Nerluce started to chew on the inside of his cheek. It was no coincidence that Lord Father cornered them here when they were together and was asking Coam to repeat herself like this. He wanted Nerluce to hear these words but... why? Nerluce knew of the prophecy, everyone did. The reincarnation of the First King, Chosen Light, would need to stop Darkest Shadow, or else the entire world would collapse into shadow.

But Nerluce didn't put much weight in things like prophecy. No Seer had ever managed to tell him his future, at least. Neither did Lord Father for that matter. Nerluce wasn't certain about Coam but she certainly didn't seem to believe in it either so... why?

"The High Priestess is the leader of Ethera - the temple which belongs to no King but the gods." Lord Father turned his head as he said this. "It's a very sacred place, guarded by the Seraph knights."

"Yes," Coam said. "Yes, I've met a couple of these Seraphs. Both as ally and enemy. They are strong fighters in blade and Magick."

Nerluce remained silent. What was this about? He felt like it was so obvious but for some reason, he just couldn't grasp it.

"I think I'd like to send a group of disciples to train as Seraphs," Lord Father said.

"That makes sense, Lord Father," Coam said. "If this prophecy really is true it will be in our best interests to have a direct influence over Chosen Light."

"Exactly," Lord Father praised. "You are such a bright girl. You will make an excellent leader of the clan one day." And then he turned to Nerluce, all of the warmth and softness he'd given to Coam in his words of praise evaporating in a heartbeat. "Nerluce, I think you should be one of the disciples."

Nerluce's heart stopped.

"The tutors and masters here clearly don't seem to be helping you improve," Lord Father said as if it was as simple as that. "And what greater way could we show our respect to the newborn Chosen Light than sending someone of such high status?" He raised a brow. "Will you agree to go, Nerluce?

No. Nerluce didn't want to go. He wanted to stay here, to enter the town every day and drink and flirt. He didn't want to fight. He didn't want to become a Seraph or a soldier or anything in between. He wanted... he wanted...

He didn't know. And he couldn't argue with Lord Father either.

So instead he smiled and said, in the strongest voice he could manage, "This one would be honored, Lord Father."