Bri nodded, turning to the door. She looked over her shoulder with a smirk and winked at her friend. Carys grinned and flashed her a lewd gesture in return. It was what made Carys one of her best friends. They could tell each other hard truths and get in each other’s faces, but there was never any doubt that their friendship remained.

As Bri wandered the halls, ambling toward Lina’s chambers, she thought about her twin. She felt that way about Talhan too, despite how they left things. They would always have each other. Even when they hated each other, they loved each other more. It was a strange sort of tether that held their group together. Perhaps that was why she gravitated toward people like Remy and Rua, always pulling more rudderless people into their circle. She couldn’t imagine the pain of not having that assurance, that confidence that someone would always be there.

The candlelight flickered across the red stone walls as she padded quietly up to the westernmost tower. Despite those friendships, she still knew the pang of loneliness all too well. A vacant spot festered within her even a handful of years later. In the whispered quiet of the night, she felt it more acutely. She hated that stillness. In the quiet she could remember things she wished to forget: the smell of her hair, the sound of her voice, the feeling of being loved.

A shroud billowed into the hall, revealing flashes of the city. Bri ducked under it, looking out to the firelight brightening Swifthill. The stars seemed different here than in the East. The night sky was brighter, peppered with flickering white stars. Movement below the window caught her eye. Guards swapping posts?

She trained her fae eyes to the shadows and spotted a black cloak walking toward the front of the castle, carefully avoiding the torchlight. She knew that cloak, that shape, that gait.

“Shit,” she hissed, turning and running to the front entrance.

She’d forgotten about Airev.

* * *

Bri put on her calm, cavalier mask as she finally spotted Lina.

“And what exactly is Airev up to tonight?” Bri said as she swaggered up to the open tavern window.

Lina whirled and, despite her shadowed hood, Bri could tell by the slump of her shoulders she was glowering back. The tavern in the center of town was much finer than the seedy ones in Southside. Fae in delicate dresses and furs chatted in a riot of sound, but Lina clung to a far doorway, hidden in the shadows.

Bri grinned, leaning her elbows onto the window ledge. “Surprised to see me?”

“Why are you here?” Lina muttered.

Bri raised her eyebrows and placed a hand on her chest in mock offense. “Am I not allowed to frequent taverns in my free time?”

“Why this tavern?” Lina stepped closer to the open window frame, the torchlight illuminating her full lips as a frown pulled them downward. “There’s mostly fae here, loyal to the Crown. I can’t imagine a Catullus would have a warm reception.”