"What? I'm a scholar. A fairy scholar. We're naturally inquisitive." She propped her chin on her hands. "I just want to understand the timeline. You were intimate, his shadows exploded out for the first time ever, and the bond snapped into place. Yes?"
"We are not discussing this at breakfast," Ada said.
"We're barely discussing it at all, that's the problem. Nobody tells me anything." Banu turned to Sarp. "You were in the general vicinity. Did you feel any magical tremors? Hear any?—"
"I was in a different building," Sarp said. "But I felt the shockwave. Thought we were under attack."
"A shockwave!" Banu clapped her hands. "That's magnificent. Were there aftershocks? How long did it?—"
"If you finish that question, Banu," Ada said pleasantly, "I will set your wings on fire, sister-in-law."
Something about Ada calling Banu sister-in-law — the easy claim to this family, the assumption that she belonged here — made me instantly hard under the table. I shifted in my chair and caught Kaan watching me with the expression of someone who knew exactly what had just happened.
He said nothing. He didn't have to. The bastard just smiled into his kahve.
"I'm only asking because shadow-light bonds formed during intimacy are historically unprecedented," Banu continued, completely undeterred by threats of immolation. "The onlycomparable case is Kaan and Nesilhan's, and theirs involved significantly less pleasure and significantly more stabbing."
"The stabbing was entirely justified," Nesilhan said.
"She had a list," Kaan added. "Color-coded by method of execution. Cross-referenced by difficulty level and likelihood of success. She'd ranked poisoning as her top option, which I found personally offensive. Poisoning is so impersonal."
"You were very difficult to kill up close," Nesilhan said. "I had to be practical."
"My wife, the romantic."
"I also considered drowning, suffocation, and something involving bees that I never fully worked out the logistics of," Nesilhan continued. "The bee plan would have been spectacular if I'd had more time."
Kaan looked at me. "Two hundred years of marriage and I'm still not entirely sure she's abandoned the bee plan."
"I haven't," Nesilhan confirmed.
"And yet I sleep soundly beside her every night. Either I'm brave or stupid."
"You said it, not me, love."
I felt a surge of satisfaction. My bond with Ada had formed from genuine desire, genuine connection. She'd wanted me just as much as I wanted her.
"So what you're saying," I said, meeting Kaan's gaze, "is that my bond is better. Formed through actual desire rather than forced consummation with someone who wanted you dead."
Ada made a small choking sound beside me.
Kaan's eyebrows rose, and then he laughed — genuine and pleased. "Look at that. The little brother has teeth after all."
"I'm never too polite."
"Good. Politeness is boring." He grinned. "And I'll concede your bond probably felt significantly better in the moment."
"I still maintain mine is stronger," I said. "No effort required. Pure power and connection."
"Arrogant," Kaan observed. "I approve."
"You're encouraging him," Nesilhan said.
"I'm bonding with my brother through competitive posturing. It's traditional."
Kaan helped himself to more cheese, and his tone shifted — still casual, but with an undertone of genuine curiosity. "Tell me about the Light Realm. Not the politics — I know the politics. I want to know what it was like growing up there. Both of you."
I glanced at Ada. She set her tea down carefully.
