Matteo didn’t always appreciate the world. Did most kids, really? His friends didn’t—not exactly and not immediately. His earliest memories of Tara were of her being quiet and scared and antisocial. Not that she wasn’t still quiet and scared and antisocial, but the point remains: she didn’t particularly scream ‘I think the time we live in is neat.’

Matteo knew he would be king for about as long as he’s known his father was dead—which is to say, as far back as he could remember. As such, when he was younger he tried to keep his expectations grounded, tried not to get excited about the family’s infrequent trips outside of San Asari for birthdays or anniversaries.

That went about as well as putting Adelinde in a room with a piano and telling her she couldn’t touch it, letting Rene plan out a trip and say her family couldn’t go on it, or giving Tara a pencil and a piece of paper and constantly reminding her she couldn’t draw with them. Everyone had their own little hobby, and looking into what shaped the world, history and legends alike, happened to be Matteo’s. The world suddenly became fascinating and, while he knew he would eventually be confined to San Asari once he took Mark’s place, Mark himself actually admitted that it could help Dakari’s standing; having a ruler who was willing to travel and knew enough about other cultures to not offend someone the second they got there would be extremely helpful.

Matteo woke up to, as per usual in his post-school life, Adelinde and Rene talking downstairs. He wondered—not for the first time, although he didn’t really mind it—if the palace had thinner or thicker walls, making conversations more or less audible. At least it wasn’t sibling or parent arguments like in some of his friends’ houses; just morning greetings he could only slightly understand.

He didn’t take too long to get dressed, only slightly checking his appearance in the mirror to make sure he looked fine before heading downstairs. Tara sleepily opened her door to watch him for a second before retreating back into her room. Sometimes she just ate breakfast in a nightgown and went back to sleep, but maybe she had plans for once.

Rene was no longer in the kitchen by the time Matteo poked his head in. Adelinde nodded a greeting as she moved some plates over to the table.

“Is Rene not down here anymore?” Matteo asked, moving a bit to help her. “I thought I heard her.”

“She just left,” Adelinde explained, giving him a grateful smile. “Someone needed her early today. I woke her up early so I didn’t hear any complaints about my cooking.”

“In your defense, you didn’t really need to cook for twenty-something years of your life,” Matteo pointed out. He picked up one of the plates—basically a pile of scrambled eggs, Adelinde had already brought out the toast to pair with it—and moved it to the table. A bit more jokingly, he continued, “In my defense, though, everyone agrees with me—even Tara.”

“Hence why I got Rene up when I did,” Adelinde reasoned, cycling back to the original topic. All the foodstuff was moved, so Matteo brought over the right about of cups while Adelinde got the silverware. “Do you know if Tara’s awake, speaking of?”

“I saw her for a little bit,” Matteo said. “So provided she didn’t go back to sleep she should be out soon.”

“All right. Thank you for helping me set up.”

“I can wash everything too, if you want?”

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“I don’t mind doing it myself. I have a separate request for you.”

Matteo gave her a questioning look, but she didn’t immediately continue. He sat down, getting whatever portion of the food he wanted but waiting until he saw Tara to eat. The girl in question came in the kitchen after a few minutes, wary as always despite having been here for little over a decade.

Adelinde smiled, and Matteo recognized the expression. He had to actually try to not interrupt her as Tara sat down; he knew Tara noticed the look, too, because her little frown got a bit deeper.

Adelinde glanced at Matteo. “You said you were going to the Qrian house today?”

“Yes?” Matteo replied unconvincingly. “Do you need me to get something while you’re out?”

“I would like”—she still kept the smile, but did make sure to give both teens equal observation—“if you could take Tara with you.”

Each one’s protests came at around the same time, albeit Tara’s were quiet enough to be mostly inaudible.

“I’m going to the palace again after lunch, though. I’ll only be there for a few hours.”

“I have…things to do in town. Commissions.”

Unfortunately, Adelinde was nothing if not fully prepared to argue with her children if need be. For better or worse, she had a lot of practice with these kinds of back-and-forth.

To Tara, she said, “You can draw while you’re there.” She looked over and added to Matteo, “And it wouldn’t hurt for her to talk to Mark, either.”

“Mark always teases me, though,” Tara murmured as a kind of protest.

“Mark teases everyone,” Adelinde pointed out lightly. “He’ll stop if you ask him, but in order to do that you need to actually talk to him once or twice. Otherwise he’ll keep doing it just to get some kind of response out of you in a conversation.”

“But Mark’ll be with me the whole time, right? Since it’s that ruler training stuff,” Matteo said. “So there won’t be a chance for Tara to talk to him.”

“Right. So I…don’t have to go.”

“Just because you can pick apart my reasoning for the palace doesn’t mean you have an excuse for the Qrian house,” Adelinde maintained.

Both paused just to think of something. Matteo, at least, came up blank—anything he could try to use as a protest would be deflected pretty easily. He had just enough sense—enough consideration and slight understanding of Tara’s feelings—not to give the one excuse that might work, even if she would probably say the same to him.

Adelinde seemed conflicted on whether the silent was a good or bad thing, just sighing after a moment.

“It’d be nice to see you two actually getting along,” Adelinde said, frowning a bit. “When Rene and I leave—whether we’re dead or just not in San Asari—I would like to go knowing that you would talk to each other.”

“We talk,” Matteo reasoned. “We’re talking now.”

“That’s not what I mean, and you’re well aware of that. I’d be satisfied with just a few hours—a basic conversation. If you can’t find anything to say, just try different topics until one branches into a short discussion. By the time Matteo is done at the Qrian house, Tara can come back here or go into town.”

Matteo glanced at Tara, who did the same (albeit with her typical look-and-look-away thing she did). After a second, he figured it wouldn’t hurt.

It shouldn’t, anyway. A few hours…hopefully won’t be bad, just full of silence at worst. He was used to that by now; being in a room with her was just like being alone, so it didn’t bother him as much as it might with someone else.

“I can take her with me,” Matteo conceded.

Tara nodded some kind of agreement. “I…can just take my drawing things over there.” She looked at Adelinde. “Will you still be here by whatever time we leave, or..?”

“I’ll probably be in the music district,” Adelinde replied, shaking her head. “You can take a key if you think you’ll want to come home.”

Tara murmured an acknowledgment, and Adelinde cast both of them a grateful smile before letting them start eating.