Average ships made it from Gin and Kuro to Sólstaeur in two weeks; Roken claimed that in good conditions and with a fast ship, it ended a little after one week. Roken and his family left, then returned six weeks later. He brought good news—Sólstaeur’s council agreed to aid Gin in whatever capacity needed, largely on an ‘enemy of my enemy’ basis. Soldiers were heading towards Hiroki to defend the front line.


    On the other hand, not even a full day later and meals were even quieter, with Kyoumi and Sorai both grim despite trying to put on smiles. Rei wondered if they thought it would work or if they just pretended it did. Regardless of the reason or the cause, it didn’t put him any more at ease.


    His thoughts immediately strayed to Taiyo—maybe something happened, or they got news. But at the same time, he knew what they looked like when they were grieving; if it was about Rei’s twin, it wasn’t a matter of death. The only other thing he could think of was about the war, which held enough possibilities that he didn’t dare try to sort the most likely ones.


    The Roken children—Emelie, specifically—still wanted to see more of the city, so Rei offered to tour them. He hoped it would keep his mind off things, but the silence only made his fears worse. Maeko and Snowbell came along to give moral support.


    They went around the city in the morning, then cycled back to the palace for lunch. They all grouped on one side of the table; Emelie regularly broke off little pieces of her meal and fed it to Snowbell, and Kasper sat next to her. Snowbell stayed on Maeko’s lap, but watched Emelie every time she took a bite.


    Snowbell mainly led conversation, in her own cat way—or at least, Maeko and Emelie quickly bonded over the cat.


    “We don’t have tiny kitties at Sólstaeur,” Emelie mused. “We have, like…big kitties.”


    “Rei and I found Snowbell last winter,” Maeko explained, petting the cat in question. Snowbell purred. “Stray cats—or cats in general, I guess—are rare in large cities. I think she was a surprise baby that either wandered off or was released.”


    Emelie perked up and looked at her brother. “What if we found a kitty and brought it back with us?”


    “Elias would throw a fit,” Kasper mumbled. He kept a sketchbook next to his plate, always doodling.


    Emelie deflated, muttering a disdainful comment in her native language before perking up again. Rei followed her gaze to see Roken entering the room.


    “Papa!” Emelie switched to Sólstaeuric to ask a question.


    After Roken responded, Kasper chuckled.


    “That’s what I told her.”


    Roken gave his daughter an apologetic look.


    “Sorry. But we also need to start preparing to leave.” Roken shifted his attention to Rei. “Your parents want to talk to you.”Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Rei nodded and stood up. “I’ll head over now.”


    Roken flashed a little smile—Rei wondered if he did it subconsciously, since he was more comfortable with it than anyone Rei knew—and gestured for his kids to follow him. Rei patted Snowbell on his way past Maeko.


    …


    The study door was already creaked open; Rei knocked before he fully pushed it. Kyoumi and Sorai’s shared scowls shifted into something friendlier.


    “Is this about Taiyo, or the war?” Rei asked almost as soon as he entered, closing the door behind him.


    Kyoumi grimaced and Sorai’s expression fell for a second.


    “Both, to an extent,” Sorai admitted.


    Rei took the seat in front of the desk and Kyoumi shuffled some papers and put them aside. She didn’t let him see them—he could guess the contents enough, though. Her reputation didn’t exactly improve as time went on.


    Sorai looked to see if Kyoumi would elaborate, but she sighed and leaned back in her chair instead. Sorai gave Rei an apologetic look.


    “First of all, we’re giving you a choice, so please take this lightly.” What an excellent way to start a conversation; he dreaded the words before they were even said. “Your mother and I have to go to Hiroki’s fort.”


    “To fight?” Rei asked, biting his lip a little.


    “Preferably, no,” Kyoumi murmured, trying to give him a gentle look. “I haven’t held any kind of weapon for over twenty years, so I would be a liability; your father might be asked to go out, but for the most part he’ll be with me.”


    “So I can come with, then.”


    He didn’t mean it as a request—to an extent, it was a demand. Both of his parents understood.


    “I can’t take you out there with a clear conscience,” Kyoumi said firmly.


    Rei sat back and folded his arms. “So I don’t actually have a choice?”


    “You do,” Sorai maintained, walking from the edge of the room closer to the desk. “It’s whether you wanted to stay here with Tsujihara Isei or stay with your uncle.”


    “So a stranger or a house full of loud cousins? I’ll be miserable either way.”


    “Nesshin will still be here,” Kyoumi pointed out.


    “If I only had Maeko as company, we’ll get tired of it,” Rei argued. “I’d rather not lose the one person that isn’t listening to rumors or taking pity on me because my brother has been gone for about two months now.”


    Neither of his parents had skill in continuing their points; they didn’t have to, in most cases. Conversations that led to conflict were few and far between—relegated to when Taiyo resisted training, mostly—so they didn’t have much practice.


    Rei sighed, taking a few seconds to search for a way that would actually get to the point.


    “...It’s already normal to only see you two during meals,” he murmured, looking down as he said it. “Honestly, if Taiyo was here I wouldn’t question it—but I don’t want to go every day for the next few weeks or longer without seeing anyone in my immediate family. It’ll be too easy to imagine that none of you are coming back.”


    In the corner of his eye, both of his parents’ expressions softened. Sorai came over to gently pat his shoulder.


    “You’ve convinced me,” Sorai conceded kindly.


    Rei looked up and offered a tiny, grateful smile as Kyoumi nodded.


    “You just have to promise to stay out of any danger,” she said.


    “I will. Thank you.”


    “We’re leaving tomorrow morning with the Roken family,” Sorai explained. “Make sure you tell your friends and pack a few things before then.”


    Rei murmured some agreement and waited a few seconds before standing up. With Kyoumi and Sorai’s silent permission, he left the room with a faint sense of relief.


    It would feel better than sitting around the palace without anything to do, at least.