I tried my best to go to sleep, knowing full well my body needed rest in order to recover. The injuries made that almost impossible though. If I lay on my back, the sting from the cuts kept me awake, lay on my sides and my shoulders ached from my own weight pushing them into the hard frame of the bed. I was never able to sleep on my stomach in the first place.

At some point I ended up moving to the corner of my room, leaning against the wall, huddled up with a blanket and my knees tucked to my chest.

When I finally woke up the sun was high in the sky and brightly shining through my window. My first instinct was panic, thinking I overslept and was late for training. I jumped, slamming my head against the wall behind me. ‘Wait, no Mara never came to wake me up did she?…’

I held my head in my hands, taking a second to calm myself. ‘If Mara didn't wake me up… Then does that mean I'm not training today?’

I struggled to my feet, taking my time and using the wall to steady myself. ‘If I did have a day off what would I do? Maybe go see Elsie?’

While I was daydreaming about it I closed the window, cutting off the sun bright light that was hurting my eyes. Then I changed into my training clothes out of habit.

Every movement I made ached as I got ready and headed downstairs, taking a single step at a time, and using the railing to help ease my way to the kitchen.

When I made it there I was greeted with an uncanny stare from Airsidh. Seeing his face was enough to bring my focus back to my arm, even if the pain I was feeling now wasn’t even his fault. I stopped still at the bottom of the steps, lightly holding my arm in my other hand.

‘That emotionless stare, that’s the Airsidh I know.’

We stared at each other for a long time as I paused in the doorway, wondering what he was thinking. He never said a word though, so eventually I felt forced to move. I had only just walked down the stairs, but I already felt like I needed to get off my feet.

“Hello,” I said, walking over to the table and sitting down.

He leaned back, revealing a large platter of food. “Hello, Siya.”

With one arm he slowly slid the platter over to me. It was still warm and smelled faintly of honey.

“Are these…”

“Honey biscuits.” He smiled, finishing my sentence.

‘He really did snag me some sweets…’ I lifted one up to my mouth, slowly taking a bite, but again it was flavorless.

Maybe it was because it was only my brother there, and not Mara, but in that moment I couldn’t stop myself from holding back my tears any longer.

“Siya…”

Even crying hurt, as the tears slowly moved along my bruised face, sinking into the cuts and scrapes on my cheeks.

I felt my brother's presence suddenly get closer, casting a shadow over me as he reached around me, hesitating to actually touch me.

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“I'm fine. I'm sorry… I don't know why this is happening.” ‘Is it because I’m happy he did this for me? Or because I’m sad I can’t even taste it because of the beating I took? It hurts in my mouth, but I feel so warm inside…”

He backed away and sat down again. “Sorry, I promised you butteries, not honey biscuits.”

I started laughing, the tears still refusing to stop. “That's not why I'm crying.”

He raised his downtrodden head to look at me again. “It's not?”

“No, it's not, honestly I think honey biscuits sound even better…” Finally, the tears stopped as I looked down at the full plate. “I do wish I could taste them though…”

They were my favorite food in my old life. I was sure that had something to do with my reaction, but even that didn't explain it. “Thank you, Airsidh.”

He grimaced. “If you like them so much then why are you cross with me.”

“What?”

“You called me by name.”

“Uh…” ‘Maybe he wants me to give him a nickname like Lu and I have.’ “Air… then?” ‘or… maybe Sid would be better.’

He shook his head. “Call me brother, I liked the feeling I got when I heard someone skilled with a bow call me that.”

“Oh…” ‘I guess I still don't understand him at all…’

“Although…” He continued, “I suppose you do have two brothers, so maybe it doesn't make sense for you to call me that.”

It was true, by blood, Bhaltair was also related to me. That being said… “No that's fine, as far as I'm concerned you're my only brother.” I knew that Bhaltair wouldn't care one bit whether or not I saw him as family, but there was one way I could make sure it would bother him. “You're the only one worthy of being called brother.” I continued.

I smirked at just how much it would bother Bhaltair, hearing I insulted his honor by calling him unworthy. A part of me thought I was only digging my grave by trying to make him angry, but after the way, he was already acting toward me, I doubted it would make a difference.

A grumble came from a nearby room as my father walked in. “You shouldn't say such things. Everyone has a story.”

I looked up at him. Every time I saw his massive frame up close I instantly felt like a child again. After everything he had done for me, I wanted to take his side… But I couldn't.

“If you have to justify something, that usually just further reinforces that fact that it's wrong…”

His eyes widened as if he had just been struck by lightning. “Where did you learn to talk like that?”

‘It's not like I used any fancy language.’ I rolled my eyes. “Oh, you mean how I can speak whimsically, and effortlessly put my cognitive processes into understandable linguistic oral communication?”

He took a step back, having to regain his balance as the hair on his arms stood up.

‘Did I… go too far? I mean I used a lot of big words but it's not like I actually spoke that well…’

I glanced at my brother to see if he had a similar reaction, but his face remained like that of a doll.

‘So it just shocked him then.’ He was never around enough to know much about me, so it made sense that he wouldn't understand that I had a pretty big vocabulary. I rarely used it anyway, so when we were around each other he never heard me express my thoughts the way I did with Mara.

‘I guess in some ways that means I'm actually closer to Mara…’ I felt my playful smile turn to a frown at that thought.

My father, finally recovering from shock, managed to get out a response, however short. “What?”

Looking back at his dumbstruck face quickly brought my smile back though, as I suppressed a laugh. “Uhm… I talk good.” ‘That made me sound patronizing didn't it…’

Airisdh snorted at my comment, but as I quickly turned to look at him again, again his face remained calm and emotionless. ‘I’ll get you one of these days…’

Suddenly the wood began to creak, as if the floor was crying out in pain from my father's heavy footsteps as he apouched, kneeling down next to me. “Mara is out hunting, she said you would need to go to the cave spring though.”

His expression soured, his eyes tracing my bruises as he got closer. “Are you… feeling alright?”

Seeing him worried somehow dulled the pain. “Now that you're here.”

He sighed, patting my head. “Still, if you're injured I can carry you.”

I bent down and pulled my pantlegs up past my knees ‘Honestly… I'd rather not be babied… But looking at my legs it's no wonder walking down here was so hard…’

My knees were swollen, and my ankles too. My shins and calves were purple and covered in small scrapes.

I looked back up at him but didn’t even have to say a word for him to know what I was thinking.

He simply let out another sigh. “Right… I'll carry you then.”

After he picked me up I made sure to grab another honey biscuit before we left. My hands were already sticky anyway from the first one. It may not have had flavor, but the smell was still divine.

Airisdh suddenly had a deathly scowl, staring holes through our father. “Father…” He said coldly as if it was simply an acknowledgment of his presence, but he couldn’t wait for him to leave.

“Airsidh…” My father did the same, returning the cold glare.