For a mont, Zaeryn thought Viora hated the coffee.
The way she set the cup down, that careful, deliberate control, it had the energy of soone trying very hard not to insult their host. And she was royalty. Maybe she was expecting so rare imported blend from the northern mountains, not whatever Ysine kept in the plain ceramic canister by the stove.
But then Viora picked the cup back up.
She took another sip, taking it slow this ti, and her eyes did this thing where they went distant and focused at the sa ti, like she was trying to solve a particularly interesting puzzle with her taste buds.
"This is incredible," she said, and the surprise in her voice was so genuine it almost sounded like an accusation. "Where did you get this blend?"
"Oh, it’s nothing special," Ysine said, which was a complete lie. Everything Ysine made was special, she just didn’t like admitting it. "Just sothing I’ve been working on. I roast the beans myself, mix in a few things."
"A few things." Viora repeated it like she was trying to reverse-engineer a military encryption. She took another sip, and her eyes actually closed this ti. Full sensory analysis mode. "I can taste... citrus? No, sothing brighter. And there’s an underlying sweetness that shouldn’t work with the bitterness, but sohow it does."
"You have a good palate," Ysine said, and she sounded genuinely impressed. "Most people in this house, just taste ’coffee.’"
Zaeryn finally moved into the room properly, and the floorboards creaked under his bare feet. Ysine spotted him imdiately, because of course she did. The woman had radar.
"There’s my sleeping beauty," she said, and that warmth in her voice wrapped around him like a blanket. "Want so coffee too?"
He nodded, still processing the surreal dosticity of what he was witnessing. His sister. A literal princess. One of the deadliest won in the entire Queendom. Sitting on their new midnight-blue divan, complinting Ysine’s ho-roasted coffee like they were neighbors who’d known each other for years.
This taught him one thing about Viora. She didn’t treat ordinary people like they were beneath her.
It was weird. But the good kind of weird, that made him think maybe, just maybe, this whole "family" thing could actually work.
Ysine poured him a cup, the dark liquid steaming as it filled the ceramic. She handed it to him with both hands, and he took it carefully. The heat seeped through the cup into his palms, pleasant and grounding after the chaos of the morning.
He sat down in the armchair across from Viora. The coffee hit his tongue and detonated. Strong didn’t even begin to cover it. This was the kind of coffee that could wake up a corpse, bitter and complex and sohow smooth enough that you didn’t mind the assault. It tasted like Ysine had personally argued with the beans until they agreed to be perfect.
"Damn," he muttered. "That’s good."
"You say that every ti," Ysine said, smiling at him fondly.
"That’s because it is," Zaeryn shot back.
Viora set her cup down again. Her shoulders weren’t quite so rigid and her hands weren’t quite so controlled as before. She was relaxing.
"I have to admit," Viora said, her gaze moving between him and Ysine with sothing that might have been bemusent, "this is not how I expected this visit to go."
"What were you expecting?" Zaeryn asked, taking another sip.
Viora considered the question like she was weighing classified intelligence. "Honestly? I thought I’d assess you, confirm my worst fears, and leave with a very clear understanding that you were a threat that needed to be neutralized." She paused, and sothing flickered across her face. Not quite regret, but close. "Instead, I got exceptional coffee and a surprisingly competent sparring partner."
"Surprisingly competent," Zaeryn repeated, smirking despite himself. "I’ll take it. That’s practically a love letter coming from you."
"Don’t let it go to your head, little brother." But there was sothing almost playful in the way she said it. The ice was still there, but it was lting around the edges.
Zaeryn leaned back in the armchair. This felt like the right mont. The opening he’d been waiting for since she’d walked through the door.
"So," he said, keeping his voice casual even though his pulse kicked up slightly. "What’s the verdict? Am I a threat that needs neutralizing, or can I keep existing?"
Viora looked at him and those ice-blue eyes so much like Athea’s it was unsettling, t his without flinching.
"During our sparring session, I realized exactly how dangerous you could beco," she said, her voice matter of fact."The rate at which you adapt, the way your abilities evolved mid-combat, your exponential growth potential. Within a few months, maybe less, you could be functionally unstoppable."
There it was.
The familiar cold settled in Zaeryn’s chest, that old friend he’d been carrying around since the day he’d learned what he was. Of course. Here cos the part where she explains he was too dangerous to live. Everyone saw it eventually. The potential. The risk. The ticking ti bomb that needed to be defused before it went off.
He’d heard variations of this speech from Zia, from Thorne, from half the Council. Even Lysara looked at him sotis like she was calculating acceptable losses.
"You too, huh?" The words ca out more directly than he intended. He looked at Viora and felt sothing inside him shut down, that defensive wall slamming into place. "Got it."
He’d thought maybe, just maybe, his own sister would see him differently. See the person instead of the weapon. But no. Of course not. Why would she be any different from everyone else?
"Zaeryn.... "
He let out a long sigh. "No, it’s fine. I’m used to this," he said, and he even managed to keep his voice steady. Professional. Like this didn’t bother him at all.
He was bothered, but he was sure he would get over this in no ti. And maybe this was a sign that he should stop getting bothered by this to protect his own feelings.
"I get it. I’m the anomaly. The biological impossibility. The thing that shouldn’t exist but does, and that makes dangerous by default. Cool. Understood. Are we done here, or do you need to take notes for your threat assessnt report?"
Viora didn’t flinch at the bitterness in his voice. She just watched him with a steady, unreadable expression. And then, slowly, sothing changed in her face.
She smiled. Not a diplomatic smile. Not the careful, controlled expression of a princess managing a political situation. A real smile, small and genuine and almost... warm.
"You didn’t let finish," she said.
Zaeryn blinked. "What?"
"I said you’re dangerous. I didn’t say you’re a threat." Viora leaned forward slightly, her hands clasped around her coffee cup. "There’s a difference. A crucial one."
She paused, and when she spoke again, her voice had lost that clinical edge. It was softer now. More personal.
"When you finally managed to land that punch, after I’d spent the better part of an hour systematically dismantling you, do you rember what you did?"
Zaeryn frowned, replaying the mont in his head. The satisfying crack of his knuckles connecting with her face, the shock in her eyes, the blood on her lip. "I... hit you?"
"You apologized," Viora said, and sothing in her expression shifted into sothing that looked almost like affection. "Imdiately. Your first instinct, in the middle of a fight where I’d been beating you into the ground, was to check if I was okay. You were genuinely concerned you’d hurt ."
She set her cup down and held his gaze.
"That told everything I needed to know. You have power, yes. Frightening amounts of it. But you also have restraint. Compassion. Empathy. You’re not driven by a need to dominate or prove yourself superior to the people around you." She paused, and her voice dropped to sothing quieter. More certain. "You’re a good person, Zaeryn. I barely know you, but I can already tell that much."
The words hit him like a physical thing, knocking the air out of his lungs more effectively than any of her kicks had.
He’d been bracing for rejection. For clinical assessnt and careful diplomatic distance. For her to look at him negatively. Instead, she’d looked at him and seen... him. Not the power. Not the potential threat. Just him.
"Really?" The word ca out smaller than he intended, almost vulnerable, and he hated how much he needed to hear her answer.
"Really," Viora said simply. Her voice carried absolute certainty, the kind you couldn’t fake. "And seeing the woman who raised you?" She glanced toward the kitchen where Ysine was moving around, the sounds of dinner preparation drifting through the doorway. "That makes even more certain. Mother has spoken about her in a good light. And, I can confirm that Ysine is an exceptional person. I can tell that after spending an hour with her. I don’t think soone like her is capable of raising a monster. She can only raise good people."
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