It made keeping her secrets feel worth it.
Now, with dawn only just beginning to nudge the sky into color, Thalen straightened his tunic, tied his boots tight, and checked the mirror. Not bad. He looked serious enough.
Then he slipped out. The servants’ passage always felt like his secret. He fit into it perfectly, and he didn’t need light. He knew every twist and turn. He’d given Alaric his map because he memorized every hallway like a knight memorizes the weight of his blade.
He emerged near the east wing and made his way across the dew-damp stones of the castle grounds. The guards were fewer here, a few nodded to him. Most people were still sleeping offwhatever they'd poured down their throats at the wedding feast. He also found the Silverwards trading jokes; the worst, everyone said, was behind them.
But Thalen had a goal.
He knew Evelyne’s things were being packed in the lower stables. He’d heard it yesterday and made a note of it, as he did with most things. If she was leaving for Varantia today, that meant Cedric would be nearby. And if Cedric was nearby, there was a good chance Vesena would be too.
And there they were.
They talked by the stables, talking in the kind of hushed tones adults used when something important was being said. Cedric leaned against a post, trying not to look like a soldier. Vesena stood with arms crossed, her braid trailing over one shoulder. She looked like a thunderstorm.
They didn’t notice him at first, which was fine. He liked observing people before they saw him. It made them more honest.
When he stepped into the open, the hay crunched beneath his boots. Cedric glanced over with his usual sharp look, halfway between a greeting and a security assessment. Vesena turned too, her expression warmer.
“Prince Thalen,” she greeted with a lift of her brow. “What are you doing here?”
“I don’t sleep in,” he replied plainly. “Waste of good hours.”
Cedric made a low noise in his throat.
Thalen stopped a few paces from them and straightened his shoulders. “I just wanted to say thank you.”
Cedric arched one brow. “For what?”
“For your time here,” Thalen said, carefully. “For protecting my sister. You taught me how to hold a sword properly, and also that court shoes are impractical in gravel.” He hesitated, then added, “You didn’t have to be kind. But you were.”
Cedric looked like someone had just tried to knight him with a soup spoon. “I wasn’tthatkind.”
Thalen caught the twitch at the corner of his mouth. Close enough to a smile. Almost typical Edrathen behavior.
He turned, eyes flicking to Vesena. She was watching them both with that unreadable expression she wore when she was doing ten things in her head. Thalen cleared his throat and reached into his coat pocket.
“I, um. This is for you,” he uttered, and offered the small, slightly wrinkled white forget-me-not in his open palm.
Vesena blinked, then reached forward with a gentleness Thalen didn’t know grown-ups were allowed to have.
“Where’d you get this?” she asked.
“I picked it two weeks ago. From the edge of the gardens,” he explained. “I kept it. I thought… maybe it’d be good to give you something before you leave.”
Vesena smiled—one of her real ones, the kind that reached her eyes—and reached out to ruffle his hair with her free hand.
“It’s perfect,” she said quietly. “Thank you.”
Thalen, flushed and suddenly very aware that his ears were red, tried to redirect the moment. “I just wanted to say goodbye properly. You’re both leaving. And… so is Evelyne.”
That earned a surprised blink from Cedric, though he tried to mask it with a cough. Vesena, of course, just smiled wider and tucked the flower into her belt. Thalen drew in a quiet breath. Straightened his tunic again. He glanced once more at them.
The castle would feel empty tomorrow.
“Well,” Thalen said, smoothing his tunic for the third time. “I should go find my sister. She’ll be expecting a farewell.”
He offered a bow—deep and precise, nothing like the careless nods most boys his age gave. Then he pivoted, not waiting for a response, spine tall, boots striking the stone in crisp rhythm as he strode toward the rising sun.
