Rene didn’t like coming home later than promised—no one ever minded, but Adelinde always waited up for her.

Ultimately, Rene said she’d be back by seven or eight and didn’t get there until closer to ten. She half-hoped Adelinde actually slept when there weren’t any lights; quietly going into their room proved her wrong, though, with a little lamp illuminating Adelinde as she sat on her side of the bed to read.

“You don’t have to stay awake until I get home,” Rene pointed out nicely.

Adelinde offered a little smile. “Someone has to ask after your day. Did they need you for longer than expected?”

“The guy that was supposed to take my place didn’t show up,” Rene explained. She walked to the dresser to change. “I tried to leave a bit earlier, but they were…stubborn. Sorry.”

“I don’t mind. Tara seemed a bit concerned, with the rain.”

“Hopefully I won’t be as late tomorrow; still not in time to make dinner, but not when its this dark. On the bright side, they offered to pay more than they would have otherwise.”

Rene changed into something a bit better to sleep in, then took down her ponytail down as she walked over to the bed. She offered Adelinde a light kiss as she sat next to her.

“What about you?” Rene asked. “Were you here all day for Tara?”

“I asked if she wanted to try staying at the house alone for an hour or so, but she didn’t look convinced. She might have been better than last year while I was playing on the piano, though.”

“That’s not bad at least. Matteo?”

Adelinde closed her book and put it on the bedside table, not quite frowning but not not smiling either. “He asked if he could travel—without either of us if he can.”

Rene prepared to say that Matteo could probably handle it on his own, then remembered that he was the prince—just because he could handle it didn’t mean he’d be safe. Granted, she had a tendency to give the kids more faith than most would.

“I was honest with him; I don’t trust his friends enough, so it’s either their parents or his,” Adelinde admitted. She readjusted her position a bit so she actually faced Rene, rather than just looking at her. “Tara offered to go with him.”

“And your reaction?”

“I would still worry, but I could allow it. It’d be good for both of them. I told them to talk it out with each other, but I don’t think they have yet.”

“I’d like to think Matteo would mention it to Tara—if not, he’ll have to deal with not going or coming with one of us.”

“That was my thought; I wanted to bring it up so you had some kind of forewarning, but I think that sums up the day.”

“All right. Goodnight?”

“Yes.”

With a final kiss, they both settled down. Rene fell asleep in just a few minutes.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

——

Tara woke up when she heard everyone else moving, the voices all blurring together until she was awake enough to hear actual morning greetings. It encouraged her to get up as well, still tired despite having gotten a full night’s rest. She was, as far as she knew, the only one in the family with that problem—Rene and Matteo were both omyn, and Adelinde allegedly always slept well while with Rene. Yet another thing Tara blamed on migraines.

She didn’t have a long routine—just finding clothes, getting dressed, then pretending to dye her hair if she needed to. At some point, her younger red became a dark pink; for a few years she dyed it back to red, but chose to say she dyed it the pink color now instead. Unnatural dyes were uncommon and, as a result, more expensive than she wanted to make Adelinde and Rene pay for, so while she had a bottle it just held some mixture of paint that had roughly the same consistency. If anyone asks, she didn’t let people borrow or try it due to that expense, and she bought each one with the money she received from drawing commissions.

It was easier than ever mentioning the anomaly, due to her own frustrating fears surrounding it. The most likely explanation was that she had some kind of kitsune or oni blood, but it still scared her. They had no way to know for sure; hiding and lying simplified things.

Tara left her room when she decided she fit some standard between Rene and Adelinde’s usual styles—both comfortable and more modest than it needed to be—and went downstairs. As per usual, everyone was already seated or, in Rene’s case, cooking. Tara quietly took her spot, the conversation mostly unchanged despite her presence being acknowledged.

Adelinde and Rene made more effort to include her while they talked as they ate, and Tara respectfully gave her usual responses. Rene left for work with a parting kiss to Adelinde and some goodbyes to Tara and Matteo; after cleaning the dishes with both children’s help, Adelinde said she would go into the music district. She left before either one could protest.

She immediately wondered if Adelinde wanted to make sure they held some kind of conversation. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Tara, having sat back down after doing her part so she could still hear the conversation, stood up. Matteo turned around to look at her from his spot near the sink.

“Is there a reason you offered to come with me?” Matteo asked, half curious and half cautious. “We’re…not the closest siblings, so I doubt it’s because you genuinely want to spend time with me. There are other—less adventurous—ways to do that.”

Someone a bit braver or a bit more prone to annoyance might have taken offense to how he phrased it. Tara didn’t mind it, honestly; he wasn’t wrong. If Itzun hadn’t told her to, she likely would have stayed silent. Her and Matteo weren’t the kind of siblings Adelinde and Mark were—they never would be. To some extent, he deserved a normal sister as much as Adelinde and Rene deserved a normal daughter.

She couldn’t quite decide how to phrase her response as a statement, so she asked a question instead.

“Is it related to what you found in March?”

“It is,” Matteo admitted, albeit after a second. “Are you interested in it too, or..?”

“…Adelinde told me the other day I need to get out more. I might as well go with you.”

“So you’re not at all curious about the legend itself?”

“It’ll keep you out of trouble and I’ll actually be doing something for once,” Tara maintained. “I don’t mind, you just…have to promise to be patient.”

Matteo paused for a moment, then nodded.

“I’ll think about it,” he said. “Either way, it’s being with you and have to make sure you don’t do anything weird, being with Rene and feel uncomfortable the whole time because it isn’t one of the stories she’s told us, or not going. In the worst case, I’ll just stay here.”

He took another minute to awkwardly look away to confirm all the dishes were cleaned, then walked towards the door. As he passed her, he said:

“So…thanks, I guess. Who knows, maybe there’d be something there that does catch your eye?”

Matteo waited at the door for a response, but Tara already said everything she wanted to. He murmured something about going to the palace for a few hours and then joining Adelinde in the music district as he left.

The house was never really quiet—even this early in the morning, there were musicians playing at the gazebo, and she could hear them perfectly fine—but being alone bothered her. She gathered some drawing materials and, after some debate, went to the music district herself.