He moved farther into the room and found his sister was bent so that her head and most of her torso were under the bed.

Celyn placed his travel bag and sword in a corner, faced the bed, and took off running. When he was near the bed, he jumped, arms and legs spread wide, so that he landed hard on the mattress.

“Motherfucker!” his sister screamed out, the lower half of her body rolling forward so that her legs slammed into the floor.

Celyn laughed, even when his sister scrambled onto the bed and began pummeling him with her fists.

As he used his arms to protect his face, Elina and Kachka walked into the room, speaking to each other in their native language. Elina grabbed her bow and a quiver of arrows and left. Probably to do some hunting with Kachka.

“What, Kachka?” Celyn called out. “You can’t say hello?”

Kachka stopped in the doorway. “You are busy getting slapped like whore by own sister. Did not want to disturb.”

Elina closed the door, leaving Celyn alone with his baby sister and, by then, Brannie had worn herself out.

She stopped swinging her arms and dropped next to him, the pair gazing up at the ceiling.

“Feel better?” Celyn asked.

“What made you think something was wrong?”

“You only go upside down when you’ve had a bad day. The last time I saw you like that, you were pissed because Mum wouldn’t let you start your Dragonwarrior training. So what’s wrong now? Keita?”

“No. We found a way to work together.” Brannie turned her head to look at him. “Did you know she was a Protector of the Throne?”

“Everyone knows she’s a Protector of the Throne. I’ve told you myself that she was a Protector of the Throne, but you would just giggle and say, ‘Go on!’ After a while, I stopped trying to convince you.” He bumped her shoulder with his own. “Now tell me. What’s bothering you? It’s not a male, is it?” He frowned in disgust. “Please tell me it’s not a human man.”

“Gods, give me some credit!”

“But it is a male?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not Caswyn, is it?”

Brannie snorted. “No. It’s not Caswyn.”

“Don’t give me that tone. You’re the one who’s always liked them big and stupid. Just tell me if you need me to beat someone up.”

“No.” Brannie scratched her head. “Probably not.” She let out a breath. “We’ll see.”

* * *

Aidan easily found his baby sister by searching in the rafters of the queen’s stables. She was curled into a corner, doing her best to stay as hidden as possible.

“Have you been living up here since I left?” he asked when he’d finally tracked her down.

Orla rubbed her nose with the back of her hand, smudging dirt across her lower cheek. “I like it up here.”