They all remained silent for a long time, then, a faint smile appeared on Tessandra’s lips.

“...It seems like the Yekara haven’t won yet, after all.”

“So, do we get to kick ass or not?” Darsan asked, his mouth half full.

“Probably,” said Kassian with a smile. “For now, though, we should get some sleep. Especially you two. Let’s make sure you treat your injuries before sleeping, I don’t want you to catch a fever overnight.”

“You sure are your mom’s son,” chuckled Tessandra. “Don’t worry, Mommy, we can take care of ourselves. Damn, we survived just over a week before you had to come and save our asses... Come on, Cessi, let’s go upstairs. I really need some sleep.”

However, as she stood up, Cessilia’s eyes were still on Ashen. Kassian came behind her and gently pushed her to go with Tessandra.

“Go sleep, Cessi. Darsan and I will watch him.”

“We will?” asked his brother, raising an eyebrow. “I’m still not fond of the guy, for the record!”

“If you do anything to him, you’re dead, Darsan,” groaned Tessandra, pulling Cessilia’s hand to leave the room.

“Fine... Hey, so you’re introducing me to Nana tomorrow, right? Right?! Hey!”

“It’s Naptunie to you! Don’t you dare think you’ll get a love life before I get my boyfriend back!”

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 22

Despite how worried they both were for their partners, Cessilia and Tessandra fell asleep almost as soon as their bodies hit the bed. The day had been absolutely exhausting for both of them and although their minds couldn’t quiet down, they needed the rest. Lady Bastat had prepared a room with a comfortable bed for them too, so despite the noise outside and their injuries, they managed to sleep through the night.

When Cessilia woke up and opened her eyes, the sound and smell of the rain came to her first. The room was still dark, but from the noises outside, she could tell the day was slowly starting. She sat up, worried she would miss the time the Cheshi had given her and glanced around. Tessandra was still sound asleep on her side of the bed, but someone had brought fresh clothes for the two of them and put them on the little table against the wall. There was also everything necessary for a quick body wash, with a basin of water, soap, and towels. Cessilia sighed and got up to quickly clean herself. She checked her injuries, but most damage was internal. She could tell her muscles were sore from the brutal sword fighting and swimming. She was a bit mad at herself. If she had kept training regularly, at the very least, she might have been in better shape than this...

She quickly got ready, glad to be able to refresh herself a little and get into some clean clothes. The simple but thicker dark brown dress Bastat had found for her was both comfortable yet pretty, off-the-shoulder with a flowy skirt. It was definitely a good fit and a nice change. She had gone straight to sleep in her dirty clothes from the previous day... whatever was left of them. At least Tessandra had undressed and slept pretty much naked. Cessilia decided to let her cousin catch a few extra minutes of sleep and went downstairs, dying to check on Ashen’s state. As soon as she thought about how she had left him the previous day, she couldn’t help but be worried. She knew Kassian wouldn’t have let anything happen to him and wouldn’t have left his side if he promised to look after him, but she just had to check for herself.

“...When did you arrive?” a voice groaned.

She stopped, a couple of steps away from the door, recognizing Ashen’s voice and a chuckle from Kassian.

“Last night. Just in time to save our younger sister, who was also trying to save you.”

“...I see.”

“You’re welcome, by the way,” grunted Darsan.

“I don’t remember inviting you here.”

“We invited ourselves,” retorted Kassian. “From what I understand, Cessilia and Tessandra weren’t here by your invitation, either. Yet, they still got into a life-threatening situation because of you. Again.”

Ashen went silent, probably pissed. Cessilia sighed. She hadn’t expected the relationship between her brothers and him to suddenly be all good, but... there was a time when they did get along. She had hoped this would help a bit. Right now, though, they only sounded pissed at each other.

“Where is Cessilia?” Ashen asked, suddenly sounding nervous.

“Upstairs. She deserved some rest after everything she went through because of you.”

“I did not ask her to come here, I did not ask her to get in the middle of our political affairs, and I did not ask her to put herself in danger because of me! She chose to stay and she chose to stay by my side. If you’re not happy with that–”

“There you go again. Blaming everyone who’s putting their lives on the line for you.”

“You–!”

“K-Kassian,” said Cessilia, stepping forward. “Stop it, p-please.”

Her brother was leaning against the window, arms crossed and looking just like she had left him the night before. Ashen had managed to sit up on the table, holding his waist injury with his hand, while Darsan was seated on the other side of the room, in a chair, busy drinking from a large mug.

“...Cessi,” muttered Kassian. “How are you feeling?”

“B-better,” she said, her eyes on Ashen.

She walked up to him, checking on his state. Ashen immediately grabbed her hand, looking her up and down too, his expression getting darker for each scratch he spotted on her body.

“...I’m sorry,” he muttered.

“I’m f-fine. How about you? D-does it hurt a lot?”

“I’m fine.” He shook his head.

“Hey, hey, hey!” exclaimed Darsan. “Why are you holding hands? Stop holding hands with my sister!”

“Beat it, Darsan, she’s a grown-up,” yawned Tessandra, stepping into the room.

She had also changed outfits, although her hair was an utter mess.

“I don’t care if she’s a grown-up, she’s my little sister! That guy can’t touch her like that. I said let go!”

Tessandra rolled her eyes and walked over to grab a piece of fruit from the little plate that had been left there, most likely for them. From the smell and greasy stains, there also used to be beignets, but Darsan had obviously only left crumbs behind him.

“How l-late is it?” Cessilia asked, a bit worried.

Now that she was downstairs, she could tell the darkness outside was mostly caused by the terrible weather, the sky very dark once again. The rain was much lighter, though, just quiet drops hitting the cobblestones in a pretty melody.

“Not that late,” said Darsan. “Sunrise just began, it was still completely dark only minutes ago. I was about to come upstairs to get you but he woke up first.”

His green eyes exchanged a glare with Ashen, and Cessilia sighed.

“He watched over you all n-night,” she said to him, a bit annoyed.

“...Sorry,” muttered Ashen, looking away first.

Despite that, a heavy silence came over the room. Neither Ashen nor Cessilia’s brother were happy about the other’s presence, and for a while, Tessandra eating her apple was the only sound in the room. Cessilia insisted on checking Ashen’s injury quickly before they planned to leave, but that was done in complete silence too.

“Good morning!”