“I will discuss this with the Air Elementi of the conclave,” she finally said. “I would bring you to them now, but with the border the way it is—we will bring them to you.”
Iryana nodded, fighting a grimace. She had fought with her grandmother over telling the settlement, but there was no way around it. She was Third, a guardian heir, and vital to the new agreement with the 18th. That would protect her.
Vesima and the duchess went over the details of the last few months and the expectations of the year to come, while Iryana retreated into herself. She would need to learn to handle these situations herself eventually, but the reality that she was going to be in her grandmother’s role one day was sinking in. She felt a little lightheaded.
When they had covered everything and the duchess gave them the leave to return to their post, Iryana sighed with relief.
“Well, my Third.” Her grandmother smiled at her, taking Iryana’s hand tightly. “Let’s go home.”
Home. A smile broke out across Iryana’s face.
Chapter Forty-Six
Iryana carried a trunk into the room two doors down from Hadima’s. It had been her room after her father died, before she’d moved back to their little cottage. She had been offered the Second’s old room, but Iryana didn’t want to displace her aunt and uncle, who had just settled into it.
She was more than happy in her old room. It felt like the right place to start rebuilding her relationships with her family.
It was simple. A small bed, a side table, and a little table with two chairs. The furniture was mismatched, but it was earth-carved and lovely, at least a few decades old. There was a small blue rug with yellow flowers along the edges, something that must have been brought from Klees because it looked familiar. Her quilt from her house was already on the bed, tucked tightly around the mattress.
Iryana laid the trunk down at the end of the bed.
It didn’t feel like home yet, but that would hopefully come with time.
She was never going back to the cottage. Couldn’t, actually. She had burned it down last night with her sisters. A way to celebrate the arrival of the Falling Moon as they put the past behind them.
“What do you think?” Misha asked from the door, sticking her head into the room.
“It’s perfect.” Iryana smiled nervously, searching for something else to say. Talking to her sister wasn’t getting any easier.
Misha had grown more closed off and distant since Iryana had returned, and Iryana was trying to give her space.
Hadima appeared in the doorway, saving them from the awkwardness. She swept into the room, pushing Misha in with her. The room was cramped for all three of them, forcing Iryana to sit on the edge of the bed while her sisters took the chairs.
“And you know, Iryana,” Hadima narrowed her eyes the way only older sisters could. “Just because you’re Third, and part of the family again, doesn’t mean you have to give up the new friends you made.”
She would love to see Vaneshta again, maybe even bring her to see the post. If only she were not a soldier and her family not guardians. Either Vaneshta would get along well with Kladara, or perhaps they would argue relentlessly. Iryana smiled at the thought. She couldn’t imagine her worlds truly merging with the hatred and distrust still between them, but perhaps her sister was right. Perhaps she could keep a foot in both worlds.
“And we may not have spent much time together lately, but I am still your big sister. Tonhald told me what was said during the challenge, how Karvek had brought him to watch as punishment. How the new general looked at you afterwards.”
Iryana stiffened, her cheeks reddening.
“What happened?” Misha demanded, looking rapidly between them.
“It was nothing,” Iryana rushed to say, but Hadima talked right over her. “Apparently the new general, the oneour sisterput in power, looked like he was desperately in love with her!”
Her sister was being intentionally ridiculous and dramatic, trying to soothe the tension still between them as sisters.
“Hadima!” Iryana protested, desperately embarrassed and not wanting anyone to hear.
The things her family had said about the 18th, about its new general… it would be a long time before Pyetar earned their respect and forgiveness.
Misha’s jaw dropped. “I need all the details.”
“That’s all Tonhald told me,” Hadima sighed.
“Ugh, fine. I will get the rest out of him.” Misha jumped up and rushed out of the room.
“Misha!” Iryana called after her. Her whole family was going to be talking about it now, if they weren’t already.
