Nascha wandered through the Bane's camp with Aeron at her side. Training had ended early that day. It had been ending early every day lately. Nascha didn't know why. Vaughan never answered when she asked him, and Elgan didn't seem inclined to talk to her beyond giving her instructions during training.

The camp itself was busier than usual too. Several new huts were being built. New weapons and supplies had been brought in. It looked like the Bane was preparing for war. Nascha didn't think her assumption was far from the truth. Fenrys and Aelin had gone to several meetings with Rayan and Eliora's delegates over the past two weeks, but still, no new agreements had been reached. They wanted Nascha, or they wanted independence.

Nascha still couldn't bring herself to accept Aelin's terms. She didn't want to see her old home go to war, but how could she take a place that was never meant for her? A place she didn't deserve to fill? A title she didn't deserve to bear? She spent most of her evenings hunched over her notebook, writing down her worries and frustrations in the form of different stories.

Fenrys was usually asleep while she was writing. He was always asleep when he wasn't actively doing something. He'd been kept so busy with meetings and preparations for the Midsummer's Eve ball that he hardly had enough time to sleep. His recurring nightmares only made it more difficult.

Nascha had woken up several times in the past two weeks to the sound of Fenrys vomiting. That was how she knew the nightmares were particularly bad. He never screamed. Never cried. Never threw up. He refused to talk about the dreams and grew agitated when Nascha brought them up.

She had finally stopped asking, and didn't even think about trying to discuss what was going on between them. They hadn't had a chance to do that since the dinner at the palace, and it didn't seem likely that they'd have another opportunity until after the ball.

"Look out!" Aeron grabbed Nascha's arm, jerking her out of the way of several warriors. The males glared at them as they passed by. "Pricks," Aeron sniffed, then turned to her. "You're off in your own world today. Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, I've just had a lot on my mind lately," Nascha replied. "Why is the camp so busy all of a sudden?"

Aeron's features lit up with an excited grin. "The Bane is receiving new recruits. More room is being made and Elgan mentioned that our officers have been drafting new training routines for us to follow."

"Oh." Aeron's grin remained. "What else is going on? You can't really be this excited over new training routines," Nascha laughed.

"My half sister is one of the recruits."

"I didn't know you had any siblings. You've hardly told me anything about your family."

Aeron grimaced. "I forgot about that. Come on. Let's get out of the way and I'll tell you."

"I can't leave the camp without Aedion or Vaughan."

"I know. We'll just go to the outskirts of it. No one will bother us there." Aeron bit his lip. "I'd prefer if no one else heard this."

"All right." Nascha followed him in between rows of huts and groups of warriors. A look of contemplation had fallen across Aeron's face. Nascha's curiosity grew, but she remained silent.

Finally, they reached a small copse of trees on the outskirts of the camp. Nascha tucked her legs beneath herself, leaning back against a tree trunk. Aeron joined her and propped one of his legs up, letting his arm dangle over his knee.

"I'm not sure where to begin," he admitted with a nervous laugh.

"Tell me about your sister. Which parent do you share? Your mother or father?"

"We share a father. He is Fae, and a renowned war general in Wendlyn. He serves King Glaston, but Luci told me he took a few missions for Maeve too."

"Luci?"

"My sister, Luciana. She's a pure blooded Fae, not Demi-Fae like me. She's younger than me by two years."

"And she's in Wendlyn with your father?" Aeron nodded. "Why aren't you?" Nascha asked.

"My father has never wanted anything to do with me," Aeron replied. "Mother worked as a cartographer during one of his crusades. Apparently, he had his eye on her during the entire campaign. After orders came for the army to return to Wendlyn, he got Mother drunk and raped her. I was the result."

Nascha studied Aeron silently. Something similar to shame filled his eyes. Before she could question him, he continued. "When Brye learned about Mother's pregnancy, he demanded that she do whatever was necessary to get rid of me. He was already married to Luci's mother at the time and didn't want a bastard son. A Demi-Fae one at that. Mother refused and he became angry. He sent people after her in an attempt to kill us, but Mother survived the attack."

"She fled here, to Terrasen, and found refuge in a remote village. I was born and eight years later, Mother died of sickness. A family in the village took me in after her death, although they were never particularly fond of me. When I was fifteen, I received my first letter from Luci. At first, I wanted nothing to do with her, but I finally responded to her and we gradually built a relationship through letters." Aeron grinned once more. "This will be my first time seeing her in person."

"Really?" Nascha blinked in surprise. "I understand your excitement then. Does your father know she's coming?"

His smile faded. "No. She's running away from him."

"Is he...abusive to her?"

Aeron shook his head. "The opposite. He dotes on her, but he's very controlling and has become even more so ever since her mother died. Luciana decided she's had enough, and I'm the only person she can go to."

"Well, I hope she gets here safely, and I hope your father never finds her." Nascha rested a hand on his shoulder.

Aeron smiled. "Thanks. I want you to meet her when she arrives. I think you'll like her."

She mirrored his smile. "I'd love to." They faced the camp once more, settling into a comfortable silence.

◦ ~ ❘ ☼ ❘ ~ ◦

Fenrys flopped onto a sofa, his eyes gritty with exhaustion. Aelin sat down nearby. "Are you all right?" She asked. "You've been half asleep all week."

"I've hit another patch of bad dreams," he murmured. "I'll be fine in a few days."

Aelin pursed her lips, watching him. "Stay home tomorrow and get some sleep. Rowan, Lysandra, and I can handle the last of the preparations for the ball."

"Yes, your Majesty."

"You must be tired if you're not going to argue with me. Do you want to talk about the dreams?"

"No." Fenrys closed his eyes and turned his face away from her.

Aelin stood with a sigh. "I'm going to find something to drink. Do you want anything?"

"No." He wanted to sleep without being plagued by nightmares. That was what he wanted. Aelin sighed again and her footsteps receded.

Fenrys opened his eyes, rolling onto his back. He clasped his hands over his stomach and stared vacantly at the ceiling. At first, the nightmares had just been the usual ones. Connall's death. Seraphina's. Occasionally, they were dreams of himself and Maeve. But at some point, the dreams had changed.

He dreamed that it was Nascha who had been tortured while he slept soundly beside her. It was Nascha whom Connall held down. Whom Lorcan's magic silenced. Whose body Cairn tore apart. It was Nascha's blood that Fenrys woke up covered in. It was her body he held, begging for her to come back and desperately trying to heal her. It was her blood he smelled as Vaughan and Rowan held him, while Gavriel whipped his back into shreds. It was her broken body he saw while Maeve smiled down at him.

Every time he woke from that dream, he had to teleport himself to the bathroom before he vomited from terror. Nascha was always waiting when he returned, but he couldn't bring himself to talk to her. He couldn't reveal the true nature of his dream. Not to her. Not to anyone.

Fenrys lifted his head as someone paused in the doorway. Vaughan entered the room and sat down across from him. "What are you doing here?" Fenrys asked.

"I was speaking with Aedion." Vaughan studied his clasped hands. "He offered me a position as an instructor in the Bane. He said they could use my experience, now that the new recruits are on their way."

"He's right. Are you going to accept?"

"I haven't decided yet."

"I think you should. You seem better now that you've been training Nascha up there."

"I seem better?"

"A little happier," Fenrys clarified. "You come around more often and aren't as quiet anymore."

"I think that has more to do with time and less to do with being with the Bane."

"What do you mean?"

"I was..." Vaughan hesitated. "I've been...grieving."

Fenrys sat up and faced him. "We've all been grieving for Con and Gavriel."

Vaughan swallowed, cold sorrow flooding his dark gaze. "No one has grieved for Connall like I have. Not even you."

Fenrys stiffened. The silent minutes dragged on. Vaughan ran a hand down his face with a heavy sigh. Something new accompanied the sorrow in his eyes. Fenrys recognized the look. "You cared for him."

Vaughan looked away. "I loved him," he said, almost inaudibly.

"I never kn... Why didn't you say anything? Either of you?"

"Because nothing ever happened. I never even planned on telling you, but Nascha said you deserved to know."

"Nascha?"

"We were talking about Connall a while ago and I told her the truth. I asked her not to tell you and she agreed, but said you deserved to know and I should tell you sometime."

Fenrys ran his hand through his hair. "When did it start? How?"

"Shortly after Connall swore the blood oath. Before you two came, I was Maeve's bed partner. After he swore the oath and took my place, I made an effort to be friendly towards him. You have no idea how lonely he was when you refused the oath and went off to war."

Vaughan paused, seemingly lost in thought. "Con always told me he was glad when I left," Fenrys said. "He was glad that he wasn't stuck in my shadow anymore. He hated that I stole Maeve's attention from him. Sometimes he acted like...like he hated me."

"He lied. He was just trying to push you away, so Maeve couldn't use you against each other. It's what he did to all of us." Vaughan shook his head, digging his fingers into his hair. "He wanted to serve Maeve, but when he realized the destruction and horror that came with that, he changed his mind. By then, it was already too late. He hated serving her in bed. He hated when you returned and took his place. You said you were protecting him, but he wanted to protect you."

"How do you know all of this, if Connall was always pushing us away?" Fenrys asked.

"He told me. When Maeve finished with him and sent him away, he usually came and found me. Maeve always had me attending to a few things at night, so I was the only one awake that he could talk to. At first, there was nothing wrong with that, but when we started to care deeply for one another, Connall began to push me away."

"And you didn't try to reach out to him?"

"I cared for him enough that I left him alone. We both knew what the risks were if Maeve found out. We didn't want to take those chances. We didn't want to be a source of pain and weakness for each other, or for any of you."

Vaughan's throat bobbed. "But despite the distance we usually kept, we couldn't stop caring. When you were gone on assignments and Maeve summoned me in your place, he was always waiting for me to come back. He stayed in his wolf form, but slept at the foot of my bed. If I couldn't fall asleep, he stayed awake with me. When Maeve chose to punish you both and left him to bleed out on the floor, I was the one who took care of him. I was the one who kept him alive when she made you whip each other after Zeno died and Nascha escaped."

"But you never told each other how you felt?" Fenrys asked. "You were never truly together?" Vaughan shook his head. "Since Con first swore the blood oath? Over a century and you never..." He stared at Vaughan in disbelief. "You loved my brother for over a century and never even had the chance to actually tell him?" Vaughan shook his head again.

Fenrys stood abruptly and Vaughan rose too. Fenrys didn't hesitate. He pulled Vaughan into a tight embrace, something he'd never dared to do to any of the others. Not even Gavriel. Vaughan hesitated, then returned it. There was a bitter ache in Fenrys' heart, and the stinging in his eyes was no longer from exhaustion alone.

"Thank you for telling me," he rasped.

His brother didn't hate him. He had never hated him. It was just Con's way of protecting him. It was Con's way of showing that he still loved him. And he had loved Vaughan too. Over a century, and Connall had pushed Vaughan away to protect him. To protect all of them.

Fenrys stepped back and left the room without another word. He breezed through the corridors, ignoring the servants and visitors who called greetings as he passed by. The burning in his eyes worsened. Fenrys left the palace and teleported outside of Orynth. He shifted into his wolf, bounding towards the cabin.

Sorrow swept through him in unrelenting tides. The White Wolf threw his head back and howled, longing to hear the Black Wolf's response. He howled again, out of sorrow for himself. Out of sorrow for his brother. Out of sorrow for Vaughan. For the century they had together, but spent apart.