She walked over to the brazier, casting the book in the flame. Just because she’d made the mistake didn’t mean she had to live with it.
“You’re burning it?” He balked.
“I don’t make a habit of burning tomes.” She knew where his mind was without him having to say anything. “But it was a journal. The words within it are more of a liability than anything else.”
“If you insist…” Romulin looked from the fire to her. “So it is true, then. Your magic has Awoken.”
“It has.”
“I’m so happy for you, sister!” Without warning he threw his arms around her, pulling her in for a tight embrace. Her brother was wider than the portrait artists had portrayed him, but Vi enjoyed the feeling of how stable he was in her arms.
They pulled apart, before going back in once more for another long hug.
“How I longed to see you,” he whispered in what sounded like relief. “Finally.”
“I know.” Vi finally pulled back, to better take in her brother from head to toe. Even though he was younger by mere minutes, something about his shorter stature made her feel like a true elder, protective to boot. They continued staring for another few long minutes, before Vi broke the silence with a laugh. “I’ve replayed this meeting in my mind so many times, and now that it’s here I don’t know what to say.”
“Thank the Mother I’m not alone in that.” He chuckled and then motioned to her sitting area. “Shall we sit?”
“Yes, that sounds like a good place to start.” She was ready to settle into a long conversation with him, but as Vi went to sit down, her legs screamed in protest and she fell ungracefully onto her bottom.
“Are you all right?” Romulin hastened to her side.
“Yes.” Vi gave a small laugh directed at herself. “The saddle—”
“—is brutal,” he finished for her. Without even trying, their minds already seemed to be working in tandem. She wasn’t surprised, but it still pleased her immensely. “I know, it took me the first week to work out the stiffness coming up here.”
“I hope it doesn’t take that long,” Vi mumbled, bending at her waist, trying to stretch. “Push on my back, will you?”
“Sure.” He eased off her shoulders as quickly as he applied pressure when she hissed in pain.
“No, good pain, do it again,” Vi said quickly. Romulin pushed back to the point and held her there for several long breaths before letting her up. Vi closed her eyes, moving her leg around its socket.
“Better?”
“Marginally.”
Romulin finally sat across from her. “I have another stretch, if you’d like?”
“Since when have I ever said no to your counsel?” Vi smiled.
“Do as I do.” He patted the spot next to him and laid back. Vi stretched out next to him, copying his movements. “Now, put your heel there, against your knee. And reach through, grab your shin. No, there. Yes. Now pull and you should feel it—” She interrupted him with a sharp inhale as her whole hip seemed to tense and then blissfully relax all at once. “—there it is. Sounds like you got it.”
Vi repeated on the other side before dropping her legs. “I got something, all right…” She turned her head, looking at her flaxen-haired brother. “How’d you learn that?”
“Master of Horse in the palace. When I first started learning to ride, I had the same problem. Couldn’t find a comfortable seat for years. I’d have all kinds of pain after. It still haunts me from time to time. Like when I have to travel across the world to collect my sister.” They shared a grin. He paused before something else seemed to strike him. “Pain in your lower back?”
“No… Or should I say not yet?”
“Hopefully it stays that way.”
Vi pulled herself into a seated position, arms wrapped around bent knees. “Thanks for that.”
“Any time.” He smiled. Somehow, they had found an easy cadence near-immediately. “How was the trip north?”
“Tedious, but worthwhile, because you were at the end of it.” That had her beaming from ear to ear.
“Thank you for coming.”
