Levitating above an elongated pedestal, Sorein watched a Caster from Chiori Faire's Infirmary perform a medicinal examination. An older woman with rounded features and warm skin, Ezre had mentioned how she tended to Iliya personally, thinking it might offer comfort.

Nothing about his mother's situation was comforting, not even the new information or forced aid from their allies.

"You look like her," the Caster murmured.

Sorein scrubbed dried out hands over his face, sighing. He'd been told, though besides the long locks of black hair and sharper facial features, he didn't see it.

Elsie was slender and elegant, barely reaching his shoulder once he'd grown. A Lady.

Despite this, he developed the broad shoulders of a warrior, lengthy and lean like his father.

His silver eyes from no one, Andrin told him.

Heithos, himself, Sorein assumed.

So he said nothing, nodding vaguely until he heard a knock at the door and went rigid. Launching himself off a worn out ottoman, his face twisted with anger as he opened his mouth to curse out anyone who dared enter that room.

Anyone but Iliya.

Her soft green eyes rinsed over him like spring rain and doused his raging effortlessly.

He searched for the pity, but there was none.

Only a war for dominance between concern and sadness.

Sorein sagged, wind leaving the sails of the brewing storm crawling through his skin. Anger wouldn't save him.

To his surprise, Iliya didn't say anything as she entered the room. She trailed from the entrance, hesitantly coming to stand in front of him. Her head tipped upward, her gaze never leaving his.

The Caster behind them chuckled and only glanced their way once before grabbing her case.

"Halavesta," Iliya said, smiling warmly. Gratitude washed over her face now. "Thank you for coming."

The Caster – Halavesta – blinked, quickly masking her surprise. Sorein observed her guarded mannerisms earlier, marking them with curiosity. Perhaps she'd come from Nynoli where mortals with magic were considered Dynali.

Whatever the reason, the Caster wasn't comfortable with praise or gratitude and it showed.

Certainly not from the immortal races.

Another layer of weight left his shoulders as he stared at Iliya, watching her ignore species entirely.

A soul was a soul to her.

Halavesta cleared out, hastily nodding to them as she ducked into the hallway.

Offering privacy.

Iliya inspected his floating mother, the Queen still hovering in the air, her breathing shallow but even. Her critical gaze scoured for something popping out of the ordinary. He knew she could see those faint soul ties tethering emotional connections, manipulate them if she wanted.

Sorein held his breath as his friend gently lifted her hands to either side of his mothers head.

Tiny threads of gold unwound from her fingertips, bridging ladders to her mind. After a few moments, they evaporated.

Elsie smiled faintly.

"She deserves a better dream," Iliya murmured.

"I wanted to tell you," Sorein found himself saying. "I almost did..."

"I know."

Her voice was tender as she stepped away again, returning to his side. Careful.

"I'm going to strangle Noah for bringing you here..."

The corner of her mouth rose.

"He's worried about you."

Sorein scoffed. "You're worried about me, he's..."

He didn't know what Noah was doing. His friend had only become more confusing in the last few weeks, his outgoing nature slipping into something Sorein didn't recognize.

"He's your friend," she finished for him, leveling him with another pointed look. "He knows you need support, but he knows you won't take it from him."

His chest tightened, a brow raising.

"But I'll take it from you?"

Iliya's smile grew. "Yes."

Sorein shuddered at the gentle echo of her voice inside his mind. His gaze pinning on his mother again, relaxing at the lack of pain pulling at her features.

"Thank you," he said, his voice raw. "For what you did for her..."

A comfortable silence fell between them as they watched the Queen take another peaceful breath. A breeze brushed in through the open window, coating his skin in gooseflesh. Even with a chasm of secrets between them, this felt natural. Reassuring.

"I want her back..."

He barely even admitted it to himself most nights, sitting alone in the room. Watching.

Iliya slipped her hand into his, lacing their fingers together.

He squeezed it, shocked she offered it so willingly.

"We'll bring her back," she replied. "We won't stop until she's healthy."

"I can't tell you about the illness," Sorein said, the words pouring out. He didn't know what he was saying and couldn't control the panic as it surged up. "My father–he would do anything for her and I mean anything. It's been eleven years..."

Iliya shook her head, clear disdain for the way they handled the situation written on her face, but she only sighed.

"I don't know what I can say–"

"You don't have to speak," she whispered. "You don't have to say anything at all."

He blinked.

Sorein couldn't understand how she took each punch with such a stride. Discovering her family's lies about her own curse, masking her health and hiding her from the world. He still hadn't had time to ask about those journals or offer his help.

Even as more information lay between them, he felt closer. Their relationship mending.

"And you?" He asked. "Are you okay?"

Iliya's lips pressed together as she spared a glance down. He watched her thumb spin the ring on her forefinger, a habit she must've adopted from much earlier than he imagined.

"I don't know."

Bare truth and bitterness coated her tongue.

He couldn't expect much better.

Sorein frowned between them, a yawn stretching his jaw as he considered their next move.

The Temple.

The investigation of their sacred land.

Tomorrow was going to decide a great many things. He'd felt the weight of it bearing down on him since he opened his eyes this morning.

Iliya seemed to be considering it as well, a pensive bite to the lip revealing her concerns. She didn't ask what they were looking for or even consider Ezre might have brought her here to keep her from reading those stolen texts. The hardened glare she'd been icing him with said enough.

Even her grandfather appeared uncomfortable.

If only he'd told her the truth before she went and discovered it on her own.

After a long moment, he sighed.

"We should get some sleep."

Iliya broke her stare from his mother's floating body and waited. She deemed him well enough - at least, so he assumed - and gave his hand a final squeeze.

"Will you actually sleep?" she asked.

He nodded, forcing a smile.

Stretching onto her toes, Iliya kissed his cheek and headed from the room, accepting his quiet dismissal.

His skin tingled with feather-light energy as she left.

~ 🔮 ~

Sorein laid on the leather couch tucked in the corner of his mothers study, far enough for privacy from visitors yet close enough to hear should anything go wrong.

Not that anything ever did.

He stared at the ceiling, listening as she drew breath, remembering what the past several months had been like before venturing to Chiori for Solstice.

In his apartment south of the capital, he'd found sleep again. Fitful perhaps, but more than the looming insomnia he experienced here.

Without his father – whom he'd promised to never leave his mother unattended.

Sorein couldn't imagine Ezre or another in his court harming Elsie. Not much could be done at all without her waking.

But Iliya...

Iliya had gifted his mother a night of peace.

He hadn't realized how much he needed that. Needed to know she was well enough within the confines of her own mind.

Perhaps if he closed his eyes, he might experience something similar.

Peace.

He hoped so.

Sorein shut his eyes, concentrating on the sensation still lingering in the palm of his hand. On his cheek. Iliya's molten aura discarding faint traces, leaving him a feeling to focus on.

One that was not heavy or painful.

Peace.

He'd call that sensation peace.