“I meant us, the three of us. Remember when we used to sneak around in the servants’ passageways to get away from that odious nurse we had?”
“I don’t remember doing such a thing.” Aristea sniffed primly.
Liane shook her head. They used to always be together; before Aristea married Heinrich and Elias died, they were inseparable. Now there never seemed to be a time when they were together. Aristea had her duties, and Liane focused on ridding the city of stardust. Even their little brother, Mathias, had joined the royal army two years ago and hadn’t been home since.
“Today would be perfect if Mathias were here,” Liane said, stretching her arms above her head.
“I am pretty perfect,” said a rumbling voice behind her.
Liane tilted her head backward, and for a moment, she thought her eyes were deceiving her. They and the shape of the mouth were her brother’s, but he’d matured since she’d last seen him.
“Mathias!” Liane shrieked and leapt from her seat to throw her arms around his neck.
Mathias’ arms crushed her in his embrace with enough force to crack a rib.
“Good to see you, sis,” he said, tussling her hair.
“I hardly recognized you. You grew a proper beard.” She tugged on the ends of his thick black beard.When he’d left, his mustache had been a shadow on his upper lip, and the hard angles of a man had melted the plump cheeks she remembered.
Aristea stood and said formally, “Mathias.”
“Don’t be so stuffy, Artie, come here.” He opened his arms, welcoming her into his embrace.
When Aristea hugged him, he picked her up, twirling her around and eliciting a giggle from her. After setting her back down on the ground, he slung his arms around both their shoulders, and they took their seats back on the bench beneath the tree.
“How are you here? Your last letter said you were headed for the Soccicio border,” Liane said.
“First company captured elvish raiders in the north, which were attacking a mining town near the northern border. Mother rewarded our valor with a promotion and a month’s leave.”
Jealousy pricked at Liane, but she stifled the feeling, not wanting to ruin the happy reunion.
“You would’ve heard had you been at dinner last night. Mother announced it then,” Aristea said, flattening the imaginary wrinkles in her gown.
Mathias’ lips curled in a knowing smile. “You missed a family dinner? And why is that, dear sister?”
Liane shrugged her shoulders. “That’s my business.”
He caught her in a headlock before she could squirm away. “What were you doing? Were you with a man? Were you sneaking out to meet your lover?”
“You think now that you’re a soldier, I won’t pound you into mush?” Liane said, grasping onto his forearm as she wriggled in his grip to no avail.
“I’m not that scrawny kid anymore,” Mathias teased.
“Could have fooled me.” Liane threw a playful punch against his arm, and he pretended to be wounded and let her go, feigning cries of pain as Liane crowed at his imaginary agony.
“Mathias, Liane, you’re acting like children.” Aristea sighed.
“And you’re acting like a stuck-up princess,” Mathias taunted, ruffling Aristea’s perfectly coifed hair.
What ensued was a three-way tussle; hair was pulled, sides were pinched, and it ended with Liane’s arm twisted behind her back by Mathias.
“Ouch, ouch, ouch,” Liane whined. “You’re hurting me.”
“Tell me what happened last night, and I’ll think about letting you go.”
“I, too, would like to know what Liane deemed more important than meeting the ambassadors.” Their mother’s calm voice silenced their playful banter.
Mathias let her go, and Liane smoothed out her ruffled hair, avoiding her mother’s gaze. But she couldn’t avoid it forever. Slowly, she looked up at her, and her mother’s serene expression gave nothing away about her real feelings.
