The two siblings now sat together in a room that served as an entrance to their home, a dining area, and a lounge.

There were a couple of candles lit on various surfaces as it was dark out. Maline sat across from her brother at a table on the leftmost side of the room, just a few meters from the front door. She was still shivering slightly, so her brother decided to cover her up with a small blue woven blanket. She sat in a fetal position on a chair with her arms crossed, her chin sitting atop her knees.

Despite her condition, she battered her brother with questions, still reeling from her earlier revelation.

“What exactly happened?” She pressed. “Did they do anything more to you? Is it okay if I could see your back again? I can find some bandages in…”

As she went on and on, stuttering profusely, her brother sat staid in his seat, gazing directly into her eyes. He patiently waited for her torrent of questions to subside before responding.

“Maline, respectfully, you’re hogging all of the concern for yourself. Could you give me a moment to check on you?” She hadn’t stopped talking until he was halfway through his sentence, but by the look in her eyes, he figured that she’d agreed.

Taking a deep breath in, he asked with genuine curiosity, “Do you have any inkling of why you slept for so long?”

Maline had thought on this for a moment once she woke up, but couldn’t come up with a concrete answer. After contemplating, she said with uncertainty,

“I’ve been very fatigued ever since you woke me up initially. After waking up today, I’ve felt the worst that I have in years. Just a bit of physical exertion caused what happened earlier if I remember correctly. I was trying to run over and check on you.”

Her brother consumed this knowledge with haste and quickly asked another question–“Do you remember much of what happened earlier?”

This question stumped Maline. She could recall everything concerning those events, but they seemed too outlandish to her.

In the moment, she was filled with utterly conflicting emotions; one of fear, another of searing pain, but accompanying those was a sort of exhilaration at experiencing something new. There was also a peculiar feeling of fulfillment when she called upon her brother that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She didn’t want her brother to think of her any differently and didn’t want him to worry. In her self-doubt, she explained it away as a severe headache.

In response, her brother looked at her in silence for a few moments before cracking a slight smile,

“And you expected to seek justice for me?” Seeing his sister’s worried expression morph into a scowl, he hurriedly interjected,

“To answer your questions, since I was able to finish most of our workload, Lord Marshall let me off the hook. It also helps that the Duke will be overseeing his and many other Lord’s fiefs over the next few weeks…”

Heaving a sigh of relief, Maline’s shuddering lessened slightly. Seeing this, her brother seemed to have remembered something.

“I made you some tea this morning. You weren’t awake, so it's gone cold by now. Do you still want it?” While speaking, he was already on his way out of his seat, as if he already knew the answer.

Maline was a bit late to answer, “Could you put some...” Before she could finish, he replied, “I’ll only put a tablespoon of honey in this time. You’re not feeling well.” His sister offered a weak smile in response, thinking about other matters.

Gabe walked only a couple of strides to reach the hearth, located in a corner of the room.

On the stone counter next to the stove, Maline’s cup of tea stood in waiting. The cup was made of birch wood of a light shade and had been oiled to prevent contamination. Inside was an almost completely clear liquid with a green tint.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

It was called Meadow Tea, distilled from auxiliary herbs commonly found in nearby plains. Its smooth, malty aroma did not venture, due to the amount of time it was left out for. To the right of the cup was a ceramic pot. This pot was one of Maline’s own expense and was filled about halfway with honey. She had saved up for both the honey and the pot years prior and had recently begun to use them.

In a compartment under the counter, he found a simple teaspoon of similar make as the cup and removed the top of the honeypot.

Inside was an alluring pool of amber liquid, one of the few luxuries that the siblings could enjoy. Only slightly dipping his teaspoon into it, Gabe turned his head to see his sister, clearly occupied with her own thoughts at the table.

Unperturbed, he picked up his spoon that had been swallowed by the honey and gently pulled it out. A graceful thread of honey followed, which he caught by twirling the spoon around a couple of times. A bit more than a teaspoon, but it will do, he thought.

He quickly placed the teaspoon into the tea and began to twirl it around. Gradually, the tea took on a hazel shade.

Leaving the spoon inside and putting the top back onto her pot, he began to walk back to his sister. A couple of steps away, he noticed that she had changed her sitting position and that the blanket was no longer on her head, but on her lap. Even more, it was under an immense level of scrutiny.

Sitting down, he placed the cup on her side of the table. She gazed upwards at the cup, giving a thankful look before staring at the blanket again.

After a few moments, she spoke.

“I made this one for you,” she said with a hint of dejectedness in her tone. She seemed to be observing every strand that made up the blanket as if to make sure none were damaged from being used as a towel.

Gabe couldn’t help but feel a bit confused. “At this point, we have a closet full of them. Is it untoward of me to use one as a towel for my sister?”

After a moment, his sister replied, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it in that way.” Taking time to order her words, she continued, “I just feel that you don’t get to relax. At all. We both work, and we both provide for each other, but when things happen, you’re the one taking the punishment. And it’s every single time.”

She put emphasis on the last three words, her gaze rising to lock with her brother’s.

He knew that she felt this way, and this was not the first time they’d discussed things of a similar nature. The way he felt about it hadn’t changed since.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Gabe's eyes softened as he spoke, his gaze unwavering and filled with sincerity.

He responded in a familiar manner, continuing, “Do you think I’d let you come to harm? In any way? As I said, it’s better it be me than you and I’ve felt that way ever since we came here.”

Maline, taking on a pensive expression as she had in many a similar conversation, began to speak,

“You can’t really…”

Just as his sister began to speak, Gabe raised a hand slightly to signal his intention to continue.

Fed up with it, Maline raised her volume and addressed her brother.

"Gabe!"

Maline's frustration bubbled over, her voice rising slightly in urgency. "Let me speak!" Her eyebrows furrowed, and she took a deep breath to compose herself. After a moment of silence, she resumed.

“How do you think I feel?” Maline's voice trembled as she spoke, her words laden with emotion. “You go to work in pain, you take beatings, and all because of me! Do you think of my feelings? How I want to protect you—my own brother?”

She stared daggers into her brother’s eyes, her knuckles white from unconsciously gripping the blanket.

She attempted to continue, but her sentences were marred with fits of coughing and wheezing. Each sentence was a struggle, and her voice strained to a rasp.

Gabe’s expression held a hint of guilt and concern, his lips opening for a moment as if to say something, but eventually deciding against it. After waiting for her to calm down, Gabe gently pushed the cup of tea closer to her.

It wasn’t standard of his sister to have outbursts like this, and he knew that they could talk it over in a civil manner. Maline looked between Gabe and the cup, her lips eventually souring. She took the cup and began to mix the now amber liquid inside with the spoon. Taking a sip, the taste held a subtle buttery note, accented by the honey that overpowered its usual bitter taste.

She could tell that he had added a bit more than a teaspoon.

Amidst the sounds of her stirring, she said with a weak voice, “I’m sorry, it’s just, you know how I feel. I don’t get how you can be so casual about this.” Her gaze was unfocused while stirring as if she was solely focused on her own thoughts.

It took a while for her brother to come up with a response. When he did, it wasn’t as clear as he would have liked. “It isn’t me being casual, Maline. I just try to be strong for you, you know?”

Continuing with a slightly embarrassed smile, he said, pointing to his back with his thumb, “What, is the cool act not working? I’m very thick-skinned!”

Maline looked up at her brother before smiling, raising her cup, “Thank you for everything.” She was almost finished with her tea.

“This is a team effort, Maline,” Gabe assured her before getting up.

Surprised, Maline asked, “Where are you going?”

Her brother replied, “Back to bed. I’m going to the market tomorrow. We need more bread.”

Maline’s gaze wandered down onto the blanket again, “Right, I woke you up. Sorry.”

Scoffing, her brother replied, “Today’s a spa day. I’ll get enough sleep regardless.” As he began to walk to his room, he heard his sister shout,

“I’m coming with you tomorrow.”

His steps halted for a moment before continuing in a less stiff stride, saying with a relaxed cadence, “Sure, sis.”