Eydis trailed Lionel to the threshold of Natalia’s bedroom and paused there, leaning against the doorfra. She had no intention of intruding on a family reunion, though consciously fought the un-regal urge to press closer to Astra’s soft warmth beside her.
“Lionel? What are you doing here?” Natalia’s voice ca, uneven and frayed, still catching her breath. Her form was nearly obscured by Lionel’s broad fra as he hovered awkwardly by her bed.
While Lionel began the heavy lifting of an explanation, Eydis glanced back toward the living room. lissa had slumped on the sofa, her complexion pale and clearly burnt out. She glared at the half-eaten croissant with apparent distaste.
Eydis smiled to herself just as a knock sounded at the door.
Both Astra and lissa imdiately went on guard, light and droplets of water gathering at their respective fingertips.
Eydis pressed her thumb against a familiar spot on Astra’s shoulder until she felt the Saintess relax. “It’s just room service, Astra.”
Astra eased her fingers, letting tiny flecks of diamond dust dissolve into the air as she followed Eydis to the suite’s main door. There stood a delivery boy in a puffer jacket still wet with snow, Cerberus in disguise, carrying five bulging paper bags of takeout.
Cerberus lifted the bags slightly, a grin flashing the tips of his fangs. “My fastest run yet, Your M-Mistress.”
Eydis mouthed, “Good boy.”
Astra rolled her eyes and took the bags from him. They unloaded what they could onto the small coffee table. When Astra saw a nicely decorated paper bag from Queenstown’s infamous chocolatier, she smiled and set it aside for Natalia.
Eydis pretended not to notice and peeled away the lids from the aluminium containers, releasing the rich, steaming scent of buttery herbs and grilled ats into the living room.
lissa sat up a bit straighter, beaming at the spread of gourt dishes: juicy venison steak, grilled pāua, lobster tails, alongside an assortnt of seafood and ats. “You really ordered all this? It’s not even noon. How’d you convince a restaurant to—”
Eydis arched an eyebrow, and lissa let out a huff of laughter. “You’re just gonna say you were persuasive, aren’t you?”
“I could indeed,” Eydis replied with a sly grin.
“Anyone hurt in the process?”
“Not physically.”
“Works for .” lissa shrugged and grabbed a wooden fork.
“Enjoy your food, Doctor,” Eydis said airily, then turned to Astra and softened her voice. “And so do you. You haven’t eaten since yesterday.”
Astra sat down and gently tugged Eydis down beside her, their thighs brushing. Then, with the kind of audacity Eydis was not prepared for, she speared a slice of pāua and lifted it to Eydis’s lips.
“You need to eat too.” Astra’s smile was all affection.
Eydis hesitated, glancing at lissa, who was too busy drooling over a pile of natural Bluff oysters to notice. The doctor then drizzled a generous heap of Tabasco sauce over one plump oyster.
Cheeks warming, Eydis parted her lips without further protest and accepted the bite.
Astra’s eyes crinkled with delight as she watched Eydis chew, her thumb idly tracing the back of Eydis’s hand where it lay between them on the cushion. Leaning in, she murmured in that husky, private voice, “Good girl.”
Eydis almost coughed, startled. Since when was Astra this forward, brazen enough to act like this with an audience?
Astra’s warm smile turned insufferably pleased, and Eydis began to think she might not be the only one who relished a little provocation.
lissa seed to share the thought. She scoffed, or faked a cough, then actually coughed. Her face flushed from the hot sauce.
“Oi!” She downed her glass of water to cool down. “Can you two tone down the lovey-dovey crap? So of us are trying to eat without dying.”
Eydis, recovering quickly, nudged the Tabasco bottle. “Sothing this pedestrian could kill you, Doctor?”
“Yeah, well, between the bloody Hallmark Christmas movies and this,” lissa grumbled, gesturing at the tiny, or non-existent, space between Eydis and Astra, “this is worse. At least you can mute the movies.”
Eydis tilted her head. Astra gave her a blank stare.
“Forget it.” The doctor stabbed an octopus tentacle with extra force. “I’m about to eat this, if I die today, just know it’s because of your aggressive looov—”
Eydis’s eyes narrowed sharply.
lissa imdiately corrected herself. “…lovely, wholeso PDA.”
Eydis relaxed her brows, and lissa’s shoulders eased.
“Do try to live, Doctor.” Astra carved the lobster into neat morsels, sliding them onto Eydis’s plate before returning to her own venison.
lissa instinctively chewed more carefully. “By the way, how’d you know I love seafood?” she asked Eydis. “These are all my favs.”
Eydis pursed her lips and studied her plate intently, while Astra’s lips curved in a teasing little smile.
“No way…” lissa said.
“I went for everything Astra and I favour,” Eydis admitted nonchalantly, admiring how the amber LED light glinted off the succulent, glistening oysters on the tray.
lissa muttered to Astra, “But you didn’t touch a single piece of seafood.”
“I didn’t, never been a fan,” Astra declared, biting into a slice of venison.
“Which ans…” lissa muttered.
“Which ans you two have a lot in common.” Astra chuckled.
“A lot?” lissa squinted, as if a halo had appeared above Astra’s shimring silver hair. “Did you just laugh, or is my circadian rhythm completely screwed?”
“Minus the word choice.” Astra’s face snapped back to the usual icy mask, which Eydis was now certain was deliberate.
The doctor scowled, cursing in French, then eyed Eydis. “I must admit, you have good taste. Surprisingly.”
“Drop the ‘surprisingly,’ and I could pretend it was a mild complint.” Eydis squeezed a drizzle of li juice on one oyster and tasted it.
Surprisingly delicious, she thought to herself and watched Astra and lissa converse.
Both of them now seed at ease, as if they had found a new camaraderie. Astra had even been unexpectedly chatty with lissa.
But to think lissa had trusted them… trusted the Queen of Shadow.
Not wise, Doctor.
The crackling fireplace soothed the cosy quiet while they savoured their food. Cosy? When had sharing a al with others ever felt this natural? It had grown increasingly common ever since she was dragged into this world.
Eydis’s fork hovered over a cube of stir-fried steak, absently placing so on the Astra’s plate. She recalled the sa als she had at Mythshollows, dining alone at the long table, surrounded by crystal glasses, gilded tableware, and every delicacy the land could provide.
By “delicacy,” she ant the luxury of farm-raised at. Yet those als had always felt more like necessity than decadence.
Could she allow herself a little indulgence here, in this world, for just a little longer?
Eydis’s gaze fell on Astra, though she didn’t quite know how to voice the question. Astra finished off her grilled at fairly quickly. Her tongue darted subtly to catch a trace of sauce at the corner of her mouth, her expression softened, almost content.
Eydis’s chest tightened.
She hoped Astra would stay with her a little while yet. But she had been inside Astra’s mind and felt the depth of her alienation. She didn’t belong here. The lovely Saintess didn’t deserve to be reduced to a re operative.
How could Eydis selfishly ask for more ti? More ti with the acquaintance she had made here.
More ti with… Astra.
A gasp cut her thought in half, coming from Natalia’s bedroom.
Lionel stood by the foot of the queen bed, head bowed, shoulder tight, as if bracing himself for a verdict.
Natalia stared at him with teary eyes. “You an… your legs… they healed a long ti ago?” she asked shakily.
Lionel’s throat bobbed. His gaze remained fixed on his polished black Oxford shoes. “I showed you just now, didn’t I? I’m sorry I…” He swallowed again. “I’m sorry I lied to you… all this ti.”
Eydis and Astra stood at the threshold, with lissa lingering a little behind. She had anticipated this mont, yet she’d still dreaded it. Even lissa and Astra couldn’t mask their surprise.
Natalia needed to know the truth to grow, but would the truth scar them?
Natalia sat frozen on the edge of her bed, staring at Lionel like she was seeing him for the first ti. Her mouth opened, closed.
“How long?”
Lionel tensed. “Nine years.”
“Nine…” Natalia’s fingers twisted in the quilt. “That ans you were already… Why would you…?”
Eydis stole a discreet glance at lissa, whose eyelids lowered in guilt.
Oh. So she knew.
That was why she’d stayed outside.
Would Natalia be able to forgive Lionel? Eydis wondered, her fingers twitching towards a fist. Would the anger aim at lissa next?
As if she could sense Eydis’s unease, Astra leaned close, shoulder to shoulder, and interlaced their fingers. Her expressive crimson eyes whispered: It will be alright.
Eydis traced her thumb along the back of Astra’s hand, finding comfort in the simple contact.
Natalia pushed the quilt aside and walked on unsteady legs.
His voice grew more desperate. “You can be mad at . I get that. But please… let help you.”
Natalia ca to a halt before him.
He t Natalia’s bewildered stare. “Your power… it’s grown beyond concealnt so we need to—“
Lionel inhaled sharply as Natalia wrapped her arms around him, catching everyone off guard.
“Oh, thank God,” she choked, tears streaming freely. “You’re okay. You’re really okay.”
Lionel’s body went rigid. Then he sagged, hugging her back. “It’s okay to hate , Red. I deserve it.”
“I’m not going to hate you,” she mumbled against his shoulder. “I’m furious with you. And hurt. And so confused.” She drew back to et his eyes. “But I don’t hate you. I’m just… so relieved that you’re okay.”
Natalia’s sincerity seed to ease the suffocating tension in the suite. lissa’s mouth parted with astonishnt, and Astra’s grip on Eydis’s hand tightened.
“Can I tell you why?” Lionel’s voice was raw, his eyes glassy.
“Yes.” Natalia swiped at her eyes. “But first, I want to ask. Are you also secretly a football player? One, that proves you’re bad at it. Two, never gonna let this slide.”
Lionel let out a startled laugh. “Unfortunately, that ship sailed a long ti ago.”
Natalia buried her face into his shoulder. “I’m sorry too, brother.”
Eydis, Astra, and lissa stepped out quietly, leaving the siblings to themselves. The room was steeped in an almost sacred silence.
Back at the lounge, Eydis watched lissa’s usual sharpness soften into wonder.
“She’s all grown up,” lissa said
Eydis idly turned the ruby in her hand. “Forgiveness takes more than simply growing up.”
“I know.” The smile on the Doctor’s face was one of genuine astonishnt. “She is impossible.”
Yes. Eydis silently agreed.
Could forgiveness really be so instantaneous, so complete, so effortless?
So simple?
For once, she had no answer, and she wondered if Astra would know.
Would Astra…
Astra leaned against the window, watching the snow blanket the lake. Her mind seed elsewhere, distant in a way that made Eydis reluctant to interrupt. She had that expression often, when she wanted nothing more than to leave. To return ho.
It was inevitable.
The question Eydis had never dared to voice ford quietly in her mind:
Would Astra forgive for what I did to the Celestial Empire? To her ho?
But unlike Lionel, her reasons had never been noble.
Hubris. Pride.
Perhaps the Sin had chosen the right champion all along.
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