I woke up around five or six. The repair guy had fixed our A/C, but I was cold now. I had T next to me and she was warm and all those other warm and fuzzy things, but it wasn't enough for me. I was still cold.

Still, I managed to stay under the covers for another hour or two. I didn't wanna disturb T when she was laying there so peacefully. Eight was a reasonable hour to be up, so that was when I got out of bed.

The second I got up, T opened her eyes. "Morning, Little Brother."

"Morning, Kaze."

She jumped in the shower. It was like she hadn't just gotten up a minute earlier. Was this her body getting confused? Thinking it was still seven? Young children loved being up at the crack of dawn.

I didn't feel like eating, so I grabbed a granola bar out of the pantry.

When I went to grab my phone off the charger, Kaze came out of the shower with her hair wrapped in a towel. "Where are you off to?"

"Elsewhere..." My flames pooled in my cheeks. "I'm cold."

Her eyes lit up. "Can I come?"

"Are you sure?" I smirked. "Most girls wouldn't be caught dead in public without their hair and make-up done."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course, I am." She put her hands on her hips. "I'm just supposed to be a regular girl. Not the future queen of another realm that I truly am."

"Tiana..." I kissed her hand. "You'll always be my queen."

"Whatever...!" My sister blushed, a laugh escaping her lips. "I really wanna tag along, okay?"

We slipped out of the house like mice.

"How was it yesterday?" I asked.

"It was nice." It was her turn to smirk. "I bet you're relieved you didn't have to stay."

My flames pooled in my cheeks. "Water is wet."

A breeze blew past. The neighbors' sprinklers went off in the background.

"How did Eni do yesterday?"

"He did great." T smiled. "He doesn't have an aversion to water like you do. He doesn't love it, but I didn't really expect him to when he has power over fire and hasn't been near a pool or ocean before."

I raised an eyebrow. "So, he doesn't know how to swim?"

She shook her head. "Alastair has a big family, doesn't he?"

"Sounds like it the way he was talking to his brother about their stash of swim trunks."

"Noah stayed with us. He was helping out. Phoenix wasn't sure about it, but Noah knew how to make it into a game. Honestly, I'm not sure how Phoenix would've handled things if he hadn't been there. It was like he knew a lot of people like our brother or something."

I raised an eyebrow. "It's totally possible. His relationship to Alastair could be similar to ours."

She nodded.

"Do you think Eni had fun?"

"He seemed to like Noah and he was exhausted afterward, so I'm hoping he did."

I guess we'd have to ask.

"How was Marshall? He was not built for hot weather at all."

T nodded. "He was sort of dazed in the beginning. Duke sent him a 'nice tidal wave'. He was annoyed for a little while, but it gave him what he needed."

I grabbed her wrist. We hid behind a tree. Something told me to wait.

"Off to feed the birds, Seb? Hoping you'll get a few pennies?" Audrey asked.

"I'm off today. I needed to get out of the house," the boy who used to be "friends" with her replied.

"Have fun with that then." She laughed behind her hand and left.

"Kayleigh, Alain. Who was that?" T asked.

He smiled. "You don't have to hide. I don't bite. You know that."

My flames pooled in my cheeks. "Sorry... I didn't mean to eavesdrop on you."

"You're fine." He waved his hand. "I'm pretty sure some aristocrats would laugh at me if I told them Audrey took etiquette classes if they saw her just now."

Yeah... I had to take those etiquette classes with them and their friend. It only came in handy because I helped my sister when she wasn't old enough to make certain decisions.

He offered T his hand. "Sebastian Barriola. Seb is fine."

"Tiana Cunningham."

I raised an eyebrow.

He said, "I only mind if Audrey calls me that. I threw up a little in my mouth when she did."

"Who was—?" T's eyes were the size of saucers. "Did you say Audrey?"

"I did." Sebastian took a long breath. "As you saw, she isn't exactly the sweetest apple in the orchard."

Did he just say that? Audrey wasn't a great person. I knew that very well. Still, did he just say that?

His phone vibrated.

"Hang on." Sebastian picked up. "Yes, Jake, I'm coming. I'll be there when the big hand is on the twelve." He hung up and sighed. "I have to get a move on. Can we get a coffee sometime?"

"Sure," I said.

He gave me his number before he left.

Tiana took a long breath. "So, that was the famous Audrey? No wonder you were so afraid of her when you were little."

My flames pooled in my cheeks. "I was not afraid of her!"

"You were. I remember that."

If I were younger, my voice would've cracked. "What?"

"I totally remember." She straightened up. "You were ten-years-old. I would have been twelve if I was out here with you." She glanced at the sun. "You told me Ms. Sarah took you to get ice cream."

"What ten-year-old wouldn't want to get ice cream with his mama?" I asked.

"That isn't why I remember it. You said you wanted peanut butter in your ice cream, but you forgot. Audrey didn't like peanut butter."

My flames were excited. "And why do you remember that?"

"Phoenix hadn't had ice cream to that point. I promised I'd get Annie to get us some for our birthday. You were going to be eleven. You weren't sure which one mine was. You thought it was thirteen, but you doubted yourself."

I wasn't anything like I am now. That was true, but was Kaze really telling the truth? Was I really that bad as a little boy?

"I counted it out with our chalk and walls. You were right. I would've been thirteen at our next birthday." T took a long breath. "You were so relieved when I told you, you were right. If you weren't sitting with Phoenix in your arms, you would've crumpled to the ground."

I would have?

"Audrey was terrible to you. She made you feel you didn't know how to count when you were ten years old. There were times I wished I could give her a piece of my mind; there were times I wished I could charm her; there were times I wished I could give her a taste of her own medicine."

"Kaze!"

She shrugged. "I might have been tall and mature for my age, but I was still only seven when we were sent into limbo. I'd been a big sister for nearly five years by then. That retched place couldn't take those instincts away from me. It pained me to know I couldn't protect you."

I knew that pain all too well. That was similar to how I felt about Eni. My heart burst whenever I saw him in pain. It was the worst feeling ever.

"Let's get back," I said. "I'm not cold anymore."

T took my hand, squeezed it, and nodded.

***

We went back to our room once we got back to the property. Everyone was still asleep, or pretending they were, anyway.

"I've been meaning to ask you this for a couple days now." She sat down on our bed. "What happened to your eyes?"

"My eyes?"

She pulled out the selfie cam on her phone. "Ever since you woke up from those revelations Alastair brought the Engrad to give us, your eyes have been clouded over."

They did look clouded... I hadn't noticed that before.

"I have no idea. I've never seen anything like this."

"Can you see okay? I know you love that 'mystery tome' as the boys call it, but you've been hugging it to your face whenever you read it."

The world felt like it was in a sort of eternal fog, but I wasn't sure if my eyes had anything to do with that. It coincided with that Engrad's bombshell. It could've been a physical manifestation of my feelings at the time.

"I've been meaning to ask." I tilted my head. "Where did you get that ring?"

"I think it's the royal seal." She gazed at it. "Leon gave it to me before we left to fulfill one of Mother's wishes. It's my piece of her."

I gazed at her hand. "What about the charm bracelet? You definitely didn't have that with you when we left. I remember you saying you didn't want to lug all your jewels along."

"Leon sent it to me. Apparently, Daddy had intended to give it to me for my sixth birthday, but he never got the chance. Leon said someone stumbled upon a note Daddy wrote about it. He sent it to me after he realized this."

What happened? Surely, he wanted his daughter to get her birthday present even if he died before he could give it to her.

"Was Sebastian your friend? I know the girl you came here to save was. I know Audrey wasn't. What about him?"

"I didn't really have friends growing up..."

T raised her eyebrows.

"Until I returned home, I didn't allow myself to open up to anyone." My flames swirled around inside of me. "You and Eni were my priority. Getting too close to anyone would've jeopardized that with how painfully shy I was and how badly I wanted to rescue you."

I'd definitely bit my tongue more than a few times to keep my secret. Nothing could jeopardize my chance to rescue them.

"What?" Her eyes widened.

"I was willing to do whatever I had to, to rescue you. It was worth it to get you back."

My sister went pale. "I had... no idea."

"Of course not." I kissed my sister. "I could never put such a cruel burden on a seven-year-old."

***

And Audrey has made her first appearance in the series proper! Thoughts on her? Seb? What about how the royal siblings carried themselves? Theories? Predictions?

~Shino out!