“I sometimes forget that Morfran killed the late Matron.” 

That rips me out of my dazed trance of boredom.

“Dearest mother went and slipped off a cliff when she went on a walk with our Pillow King.” Alpine mused, sending shutters down my spine.

“For the runt of the family.” Morfran mumbled without lifting his head.

I glance around, none of the siblings looked like runts aside from Morfran himself but I doubt he was talking about himself. That’s what Alpine would do, not Morfran. I look to question Avarice but he’s aggressively interested in a smack of colorful jellyfish dancing on the ocean surface below the veranda.

I turn back to the group and almost instantly lock eyes with Addanc. He’s blatantly staring at me through the corner of his eye, though he’s just now sitting down and handing off a bowl of noodles to the small girl perched next to him with her legs tucked up under her. She snatches the bowl from his hands and devours it with the ferocity of a starving piranha. Once she’s finished, she pokes Addanc’s arm until he turns his attention to her. She’s saying something to him, I can almost hear but I’m distracted by the thing approaching from behind. 

I wheel on a servant who’s fingers brush some of the smaller feathers closer to my spine, obviously intending to pluck one while I wasn’t paying attention. I bat his hand away, moving to put my back to a wall and noticing that Addanc’s companion has completely vanished from his side. I scan the veranda for her with no luck.

Thunk. Everyone’s attention snaps to the source of the sound. Avarice’s hand is pinned to the arm of his bench, Noodles’ hand still gripped tight around the handle, holding it down.

His face is blank as he stares at it and holds when he meets her scarlet gaze.

“That’s for making your brute toss me into a pit of rotting oversized-mouse carcasses.” She chides in her unnervingly sweet voice, a bone chilling smile on her face. Having said her peace, she prowls back to Addanc, giving Avarice a cheerful wave when she sits down.

Conversations resume after a moment and I lean toward Avarice to whisper. “You did what?”

He shrugs. “Better to toss Noodles than lose my fingers in a fight. Plus, Revel was tearing into your arm down the hall from said pit and she wasn’t going to just let us pass.”

I let out an exasperated sigh and yank the fork free, blood spilling from the wounds, eerily reminiscent of a hot spot spawning a chain of islands. “Is there anything to wrap that in around here?”

“There are. Here, I’ll show you.” He stands, gesturing for me to follow as he leads me into the villa.

I follow him past three bedrooms and the house’s sun room until we reach a bathroom, different from the first one I saw on the way to the veranda. This one wasn’t nearly as decorative, a potted fern sat in the corner next to the tub where Avarice sat himself down, digging through a drawer. Rolling my eyes, I wet a cloth and get to cleaning his wounded hand. Finally he’s found what he was looking for and holds it out to me. Our fingers graze when I go to take the roll of gauze from him but he’s clamped down on it and it takes some effort to pull it free. I diligently avoid his eyes while I bandage his hand and close it between mine. It’s only after it’s healed that I brave his gaze.

“What’s the point of the bandages if you’re just going to heal me?”

I raise an eyebrow. “That’s what you’re concerned about and not the huge secret Lezabel exposed?”

“Morfran is the same, I don’t care.”

“I think you’re lying.”

“Why would I lie about Morfran?”

“Ugh, nevermind, let’s just go back to the veranda.” I’m stopped by a hand around my elbow.

“What if we went to the beach instead?”

I give him a bemused look. “It’s snowing.”

“Lezabel won’t kill as she would if we actually leave and I thought you might be missing the ocean.”

I’m shocked to find that he’s right, I haven’t exactly been silent about it but I didn’t actually think he was paying attention. “Okay.”

Avarice hops off the balcony, surfing the breeze. I follow, relishing the taste of salt on the air. When I touch down, my feet nearly slide out from under me on the frozen sand. Avarice pulls me up by the scuff of my shirt before I break my tailbone. He holds me up until I’ve steadied myself.

Snowflakes speckle his hair, paired with the streaks of green, it’s reminiscent of the bioluminescent fish that swim the skies after dark. I can’t decide whether he’s a star or the luminescent fish, the moon is a bit of a stretch though.

“Hey, would you hold out your hand for me?”

I blink at him.

“What?”

“I’m not used to you giving me gifts. Is this a trap?”

“Let me give you the thing before I change my mind then!”

I roll my eyes and hold out my hand. Avarice digs through his coat, then drops a seashell in my hand. I recognize it.

“This is from my old collection… Where did you find it?”

“It was the lash shell you were going to huck at the ocean. Figured you might want it back someday.”

“...Thank you.” I breathe. Images of that day flicker through my mind: An arrow missing my ear by a hair’s length, Lezabel leaping from the bushes to grab me, launching myself  into the sky, Avarice perched at the top of a tree just as his arrow pierces my wing, the feeling of falling, tumbling through singing branches, and a red beast trampling the forest just to catch me on a cliff.

It also brings me joy to run my fingers down the smooth ridges of the shell. Charmeine was the first to give this to me, she had said it reminded her of me. I’m glad Evangelos didn’t get the chance to shatter this one.

“I have something for you too.” I say, fishing out a small emerald carved into the shape of a dragon. “I had to trade a few feathers for it so you better like it.”

He quirks an eyebrow. Feathers are worth a ton in Ecrye and I have feathers to spare, though I’d rather not know what is done with them. Hopefully just decoration and arrows.

“Hey… You’ve been acting awfully weird since last night. What’s going on?”

“Well, first it was the healing thing. It’s not everyday that you encounter a demigod. Then it was Lezabel’s comment.”

My eyes narrow. “Does it make you uncomfortable? I thought this sort of thing was common here, Morfran even said ‘Don’t matter as long as it don’t disturb my sleep.’”

“No of course I don’t have a problem with it, that’s something too complicated to really get into though.”

“Is there something else?”

“Alpine was talking about our mother earlier… I don’t exactly have a lot of fond memories of her.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“I don’t know.” Avarice’s hands are shaking, it had been shaking before too, I just hadn’t really paid much attention. Shame kicks me in the gut.

“If you ever want to talk, I’ll tell you about my own past struggles.”

Avarice shifts uncomfortably but I don’t press him. For a while we stand quietly, surveying the dark blue-grey waves of a winter ocean.

Until he speaks up. “I was supposed to have Addanc’s role once and he mine. Once our mother realized Addanc was exactly what she hoped I would be but wasn’t, she gave up on me and plucked me from my bed for a night walk.” By now his hands were shaking so bad they are little more than a blur so I lay one of mine over them and they relax, he relaxes with them. “I woke up alone in the middle of the forest with nothing and a pack of hungry wolves to outrun. It was perhaps three days before my aunt found me and brought me home- not to mother, to her home. My home.

Since Addanc was removed from her, and because I could never just let anything go, she raised me as she had intended to mentor Addanc.”

“Remind me to thank Morfran later.”

Avarice snorts. “Aw, now I feel bad for dumping my trauma on you.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s my turn to share anyways, so we’ll call it even.”

“Go on.”

“I used to date this guy Evangelos back in Cloud Spire.”

Avarice cocks his head. “Right under Lady Ivory’s nose?”

“Yes and no. He was one of her spys, not even his twin sister knew and I didn’t find out until after I was branded.” My fingers wander to my sternum where the scar remains. “He sold me out and watched it happen.”

“Isn’t it hard to talk about this?”

I shrug. “It’s only hard when I’m near him, the rest of the time I'm just numb to it. Charmeine was there for me, that made it easier to get over it.”

“Can’t say I can relate, I’ve never had a lover.”

“The worst part is the pet names. Evangelos’ pet name for me was: ‘Little Sapphire.’ I didn’t hate it back then but if you dare call me it now, I will declaw you.”

Avarice cackles. “Thank The Fallen ‘Blue’ isn’t a pet name, huh?”

“You two aren’t so different. Apparently I have a taste: tall, dark, and handsome. There is one big difference though.”

“I don’t see how I’m even remotely similar to this Evangelos guy but do continue.”

I chuckle. “Evangelos never got me to laugh.”

A blood curdling scream bursts from the villa above us.

Avarice pales. “Lezabel!”

Shaking the snow from my feathers and take off toward the villa. Figures appear at the railing, tossing something over the edge. Avarice is nowhere to be seen so I dive for the plummeting thing. I catch it right before it hits the ground. It’s a child!

Tentatively, she opens her eyes, regarding me with awe. She clutches me tighter when I swerve to avoid an incoming Leverii. I zig zag, hoping to shake them. When that doesn’t work, I dive straight down. I’m faster at pulling up at the last second, causing the creature to plunge into the waves, never to be seen again.

When I land on the veranda, the conflict has already ended, Leverii disappearing on the horizon. It looks like even Morfran got in on the fight, he’s no longer in his chair and there’s yellow hairs scattered on the floor, as well as what appears to be his black hair tie.

Lezabel is rushing over to me when Addanc crashes in. “They took Noodles!”

“How?” Lezabel says, taking the child from my arms.

“Hell if I know- Avarice hurry up!”

“Give me a moment to take care of something.”

“I can help-” Avarice pulls me into the house and shoves me into the nearest bedroom, blocking the door so I can’t leave.

“No. You,” He jabs a finger at me. “Are to stay here. I will not have you and your squishy arms pressing straight into the arms of my sworn enemies.”

I scow, crossing my arms and dumping myself moodily onto the sofa. Appeased, Avarice scoops up his bow and locks the door behind him. The moment he’s gone, I bound across the room to take the short sword from its mount on the wall. It’s a simple thing, finely made but unadorned. Perfectly sufficient.

With that in hand, I hop to the window and throw it open; I'm surprised it's even unlocked in the first place. One leg draped over the sill, I wait for Avarice to take off before slipping out myself to follow him. My ears work fine, I'm just not good at listening.