I tried my best to go to sleep, knowing full well my body needed rest in order to recover… But… If I lay on my back, the sting from the cuts kept me awake, lying on my sides, and my shoulders ached from my own weight pushing them into the hard bed. I was never able to sleep on my stomach in the first place, but I tried anyway to no avail.

At some point I ended up moving to the corner of my room, leaning against the wall, huddled up with a blanket and my knees tucked to my chest. Exhausted as I was, eventually I fell into something almost like sleep, and from there blacked out after a few hours.

When I finally woke up, the sun was high in the sky and brightly shining through my window. My first instinct was panic, thinking I overslept and was late for training. I jumped, slamming my head against the wall behind me. 'Wait, no, Mara never came to wake me up did she?…'

I held my head in my hands, taking a second to calm myself, feeling each heartbeat pound through my whole body.. 'If Mara didn't wake me up… Then does that mean I'm not training today?'

I struggled to my feet, taking my time and using the wall to steady myself. 'If I did have a day off, what would I do? I'm not even really sick…'

While I was daydreaming about it, I closed the window, cutting off the sun's bright light that was hurting my eyes. Then I changed into my training clothes out of habit.

Every movement I made ached as I got ready and headed downstairs, taking a single step at a time, and using the railing to help ease my way to the kitchen.

When I made it there I was greeted with an uncanny stare from Airsidh. Seeing his face was enough to bring my focus back to my arm, tucking it behind my back. 'That emotionless stare, that's the Airsidh I know.'

We stared at each other for a long time as I paused in the doorway, wondering what he was thinking. He never said a word though, so eventually I felt forced to move. I had only just walked down the stairs, but I already felt like I needed to get off my feet.

"Hello," I said, walking over to the table and sitting down.

He leaned back, revealing a large platter of food. "Hello, Siya."

With one arm he slowly slid the platter over to me. It was still warm and smelled faintly of honey.

"Are these…"

"Honey biscuits." He grinned back, as if his stare was just an act.

'He really did snag me some sweets…' I lifted one up to my mouth, slowly taking a bite, but again it was flavorless. But, the warmth in itself that it filled me with was sweet.

Maybe it was because it was only my brother there, and not Mara, but in that moment I couldn't stop myself from holding back my tears any longer.

"Siya…"

Even crying hurt, as the tears slowly moved along my bruised face, sinking into the cuts and scrapes on my cheeks.

I felt my brother's presence suddenly get closer, casting a shadow over me as he reached around me, hesitating to actually touch me.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry… I don't know why this is happening." 'Is it because I'm happy he did this for me? Or because I'm sad I can't even taste it because of the beating I took? It hurts in my mouth, but I feel so warm inside…'

He backed away and sat down again. "Sorry, I promised you butteries, not honey biscuits."

I started laughing, the tears still faintly continuing. "That's not why I'm crying."

He raised an eyebrow, as if more confused or curious than actually sorry. "It's not?"

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"No, it's not, honestly I think honey biscuits sound even better…" Finally, the tears stopped as I looked down at the full plate. "I do wish I could taste them though…"

They were one of my favorite foods in my old life. I was sure that had something to do with my reaction, but even that didn't explain it. "Thank you, Airsidh."

He grimaced. "If you like them so much, then why are you cross with me?"

"What?"

"You called me by name."

"Uh…" 'Maybe he wants me to give him a nickname like Lu and I have.' "A-Air… then?" 'or… maybe Sid would be better.'

He shook his head. "Call me brother, I liked the feeling I got when I heard someone skilled with a bow call me that."

"Oh…" 'I guess I still don't understand him at all… He's so weird…'

"Although…" He continued, "I suppose you do have two brothers, so maybe it doesn't make sense for you to call me that."

"No that's fine, as far as I'm concerned you're my only brother." I knew that Bhaltair wouldn't care one bit whether or not I saw him as family, but there was one way I could make sure it would bother him, if only out of spite. "You're the only one worthy of being called brother."

A part of me thought I was only digging my grave by trying to make him angry, but after the way he was already acting toward me, I doubted it would make a difference, and in the moment it felt pretty good.

A grumble came from a nearby room as my father walked in. "You shouldn't say such things. Everyone has a story…"

I timidly looked back at him before turning back to the plate in front of me, my neck hurting from having to tilt back so far. I wanted to take his side… But just seeing him made me feel like a child, and in kind it made me feel ok to be a little childish. "If you have to justify something, that usually just further reinforces that fact that it's wrong…"

His eyes widened as if he had just been struck by lightning. "Where did you learn to talk like that?"

'It's not like I used any fancy language… I guess I am still pretty young though.' I rolled my eyes with a sigh. "Oh, you mean how I can speak whimsically, and effortlessly put my cognitive processes into understandable linguistic oral communication?"

He took a step back, having to regain his balance as the hair on his arms stood up.

'Did I… go too far? I mean I used a lot of big words but it's not like I actually spoke that well… My jaw is still swollen…'

I glanced at my brother to see if he had a similar reaction, but his face remained like that of a doll, just shrugging. "You sound like someone from the empire when you talk like that."

'The empire? That's… To the west right? So it just shocked him then because it's so far away?'

My father, finally recovering from shock, managed to get out a response, however short. "What?"

Looking back at his dumbstruck face quickly brought my smile back as I suppressed a laugh. "Uhm… I talk good." 'That made me sound patronizing didn't it…'

Airisdh snorted at my comment, but as I quickly turned to look at him again, again his face remained calm and emotionless. 'I'll get you one of these days…'

Suddenly the wood began to creak, as if the floor was crying out in pain from my father's heavy footsteps as he approached, kneeling down next to me. "Mara is out hunting, she said you would need to go to the cave spring though."

His expression soured, his eyes tracing my bruises as he got closer. "Are you… feeling alright?"

Seeing him worried somehow dulled the pain, but I still couldn't help but shy away from him. "Yeah… I mean, I'm sure I'll be fine…"

He sighed, patting my head. "Still, if you're injured I can carry you."

I bent down and pulled my pantlegs up past my knees 'Honestly… I'd rather not be babied… But looking at my legs it's no wonder walking down here was so hard…'

My knees were swollen, and my ankles too. My shins and calves were purple and covered in small scrapes. I looked back up at him but didn't even have to say a word for him to know what I was thinking.

He simply let out another sigh. "Right… I'll carry you then."

After he picked me up, I made sure to grab another honey biscuit before we left. My hands were already sticky anyway from the first one. It may not have had flavor, but the smell was enough to make my body relax even through the pain. "Thanks! A-Air?"

He suddenly had a deathly scowl, staring holes through our father. "Father…" He said coldly as if it was simply an acknowledgment of his presence, but he couldn't wait for him to leave.

"Airsidh…" My father did the same, returning the cold glare as we left.

'Wonder what that's about…'

We got to the cold spring and for once the icy water felt nice, numbing my bruises and achy joints, helping the swelling to go down as I moved a bit. My body was so tired though that apparently my mouth was already turning blue by the time I got out, so my father quickly took me back to the house and sat me in front of a fire. He was so… Different… He didn't make me walk just because I could… He didn't have me go first, leading the way himself when he wasn't carrying me… But, he still came off as cold, even more so somehow.

"I heard you did pretty well on the tests you took yesterday…" He said gruffly.

I huddled under the blanket he gave me and turned away from the fire to look at him. "Is that what you heard?"

"Well… I mean… Technically passing is still passing."

I couldn't help but smile softly as I turned back to the fire. "It's true…"

"Still, you can't survive the academy if this is the state you're in after each day of training."

I let go of the blanket, letting it hang over my shoulders as I rubbed my arms. "That's also probably true…"

He sighed, leaning back in his chair, making it creak under his weight. "So, I guess I'll teach you magic."

My whole body tightened to goosebumps as my muscles tensed and my eyes widened. "Ma… But…"

"It's illegal right? Against tradition… So… I guess you better not get caught."

"I…" 'What? Seriously? Magic?'

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