Zale

Instead of leaving with the other students, Astrea watched them go with a small smile that grew wide once we were alone. She leaned against the desk closest to my own and said, "I have an idea."

"Yeah?"

"Well, I know you weren't super excited about being the advisor for the alliance club, so I thought maybe we could bring on a co-advisor," she said, seeming really excited about it.

"No." Bringing in another teacher would only make this more of a social engagement than it already had to be. Better not to.

"But why? You haven't even heard who I think we should ask."

I noted her use of the word "we" and, after a second of consideration, decided to ignore it. "We don't need a co-advisor. The year only has a couple months left and you haven't even had any meetings yet. Or found other members, unless I'm mistaken. So, I don't think there's enough work here to justify bringing someone else in."

She pouted. "Okay, fair point. But what about next year?"

I froze. How had I not thought about this? I wasn't going to be here next year, which meant these next couple of months might be the only time I had to get to know my sister. When would I see her again after this?

"Mr. Knightley? Are you okay?"

"Zale," I corrected automatically. "Remember?"

"I still think it's a little weird to call you by your first name," she replied. "No offense."

My stomach twisted with nerves and my mind raced, trying to figure out the best time to tell Astrea I was her brother. I couldn't just drop this on her... although it looked like she was in a pretty good mood right now. But no. She probably had homework or something. I couldn't distract her from her studies.

Or maybe I was just a coward.

"Astrea?"

She caught my serious tone and her big smile wilted. I was a distraction already. "What's wrong?"

"Could you take my key and lock the door? I don't want you to feel trapped, but I wanted to talk about something with you and it would be best if we weren't interrupted."

Now she was actively frowning, but she took the key I held out with wide eyes and did as I asked. When she came back, she stood awkwardly in front of my desk with her hands crossed over her chest with the key clenched in one fist. Not a great start.

Trying to ease her into the conversation was probably not worth the effort, since any delicate words would surely be overshadowed by the magnitude of what I had to say to her. So rather than mincing words, I came out and said it. "I'm your brother. Well, your half-brother."

She bit her lip, but didn't otherwise betray any emotion. "How do you know?"

"Euripides requested that I look after you." And as much as I loathed to say it, I added, "He's my biological father, too."

"Huh."

That was all she said.

Until a long moment passed and she added, "I bet he wanted you to spy on me for him."

I shrugged. "I really don't care what he wants."

It was true he had sent me a few letters since Astrea came to the school, but I had ignored them. I wasn't watching out for Astrea as a favor to him. I did it for her.

My response made Astrea smile. "Okay, then. Was that all you wanted to talk about?"

I was so surprised by how casually she had taken this that I completely forgot I wanted to tell her this was my last semester at Ashen Oak. "Yeah."

"Okay. Then I'll see you later, bro." Astrea snorted and unlocked the door to the classroom, dropping the key on the nearby counter on her way out. I thought I could hear her chuckling from down the hall as her footfalls grew quieter, and then nothing.

"What the fuck?"

I stood there, staring at the empty doorway for a few minutes before shaking my head and locking up the classroom for the night. I was starting to understand those moments when my mother would get so frustrated with me it seemed to fry her brain and she would just whisper "Teenagers," before walking away.

I never thought I was all that old until now, when I found myself muttering "Teenagers" as I headed back to my suite for the night.

--

By Friday, I was getting annoyed with both Astrea and Fen. Astrea, because she was treating me pretty much like normal except for occasionally laughing when she met my eyes. Fen, because I hadn't seen him since Tuesday when I dropped the book off with him. I was used to him being sort of everywhere, and it was obvious he knew how to find me when he wanted to. The fact that I hadn't seen him meant that he didn't want to. Some soul mate he was.

Well, one problem at a time. I was all set to confront Astrea after class, but instead of heading out of the classroom like usual, she approached my desk and waited until the room cleared.

"Do you have plans tonight?" she asked. I thought there was a glint of amusement in her eyes even now.

Teenagers.

"No."

"Good. Come with me."

She actually started leaving the room, pausing only when she reached the door and realized I wasn't following her.

"Where are you taking me?" I demanded.

"Dinner. We have a lot to talk about, don't you think?" Astrea bit her lip and I could have sworn she looked like she was trying hard not to laugh. I felt like I was being mocked... but I really did want to talk to her, so I reluctantly followed her out the door.

We walked toward the parking lot and I assumed I would be driving since I knew Astrea didn't have a car here and probably didn't even know how to operate one. Instead, Astrea headed for a limousine that was parked at the curb as though waiting for someone.

"Astrea?"

"Come on!" she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me unwillingly toward the ostentatious vehicle.

I hadn't been too worried about being seen leaving campus with Astrea until now. After all, we hadn't been drawing attention to ourselves and if someone happened to notice, it would be easy to dismiss their concerns since we were related.

This, though...

Students were lingering outside, and I knew they were watching the limo curiously. There was no way people wouldn't notice me and my young student getting into it together and being driven off campus, which meant this was going to become some kind of incident and then everyone would need to be told about our relation. It was exhausting to even think about the drama this was going to spark.

But Astrea was clearly not worried about any of this. Why should she be? She wasn't the one whose reputation would be called into question and whose job would hang by a thread until this was all resolved. She just kept blithely dragging me along until we were standing next to the limo. Then she yanked the door open and shoved me inside. I wasn't expecting the move, so I sort of fell inside, sprawling across the plush leather seats with my legs dangling out of the vehicle. A growl of annoyance vibrated my throat and I clambered up into a sitting position. By the time I was situated, Astrea had climbed in after me and shut the door. The limo was moving before I could blink.

"What the hell?" I demanded. "Astrea, you must know what people are going to think!"

"Astrea?" an unfamiliar voice asked and for the first time, I realized the back of the limo had been occupied when we got in.

"I told you," Astrea answered the woman.

Her hair was the same pale blonde as Astrea's, and there was a certain similarity to her features that made it easy to guess who this was: Astrea's sister. And, possibly, mine as well.

"Not many people call Astrea by her real name," the woman said. "I don't hate you so far."

I shot Astrea a pleading look and she laughed again. "Zale, this is our sister, Kyra. Kyra, this is Zale."

And there it was. I began to understand Astrea's little laughs throughout the week. She hadn't responded to the revelation of our siblinghood since she was planning an ambush.

"Pleasure to meet you," Kyra said, her lips twisting up in a little smirk.

"Yeah," I managed through a throat that felt tight with emotion.

I had sisters. Of course, I had been getting to know Astrea already and I had known there was a possibility I was related to Astrea's sister, too... but having it confirmed was strangely overwhelming.

"Zale doesn't like to talk much," Astrea said. "Don't take it personally."

"I hope you'll make an exception," Kyra said to me. "We have a lot to talk about."

I nodded, because we did have a lot to talk about.

"Can I go first?" Astrea asked eagerly.

I shot Kyra a pleading look since there was no way that eagerness could bode well for me, but she sat back and nodded to Astrea.

"I've been dying to know. Who's your mother? Why are you such a secret? How old are you?" Astrea fired off.

None of these questions were particularly surprising, thankfully, and I didn't think they warranted the level of excitement and interest Astrea showed. "I'm twenty-five. My mother is Undine Yrellia."

I ignored the question of why I was a secret, since I really only had guesses (I would never claim to understand the way Euripides thought) and I really didn't want to get into the whole I'm a male siren thing.

"Twenty­-five?" Astrea gasped, looking to Kyra with wide eyes. But you're-"

"Twenty-four," Kyra filled in. "Yes. I suppose our father didn't waste much time."

"Wait!" Astrea said on another gasp. "Undine Yrellia? Queen Undine Yrellia?"

"Yes."

Astrea and Kyra exchanged wide-eyed looks. "How did they manage to keep you such a secret if you're a prince?" Kyra asked.

"I'm not a secret in Rell," I answered. I couldn't speak for Vidonia, where they were from.

"Shit," Astrea said.

"Language," Kyra chastised. It seemed automatic, since her eyes were still distant with thought.

"Do you think Mom knows?" Astrea asked.

Kyra shook her head slowly. "I'm sure she didn't know before they were married. Who knows about whether she knows now. When's your birthday?" she asked me.

"December."

Kyra snorted. "Yeah, you weren't even born yet when they got married. Much easier to keep a child a secret when they aren't out yet. How scandalous."

But she didn't seem to care much about the scandal of it all.

"Are you considered legitimate?" Astrea asked.

Kyra looked shocked, then horrified, and I couldn't help laughing.

"I'm so sorry. I swear she was taught better than this," Kyra said urgently. "Astrea, why would you ask that?"

"Aren't you interested?" Astrea prodded, seemingly completely unapologetic.

"Yes, of course, but this is publicly available information. I was just going to look it up at home."

I laughed again, and they both eyed me warily. But how could I not laugh? So much about this conversation was ridiculous. Just to keep it going – I really wanted to see what Astrea would say next – I answered. "I'm legitimate. I'm my mother's heir."

Astrea's eyes widened further. "But... what are you doing teaching, then? On land?"

"Wait," Kyra cut in. "Wait, wait, wait. I just heard something about the Rellian heir." We waited while she obviously thought very hard, tapping her fingers on her lap and delicately biting into her lower lip. Then her eyes lit up and she sat up straighter. "I remember! Your mother just sent out announcements that you're betrothed to a fae!"

"What!" Astrea squealed excitedly. "Ohmygosh," she said quickly, the words all running together. "Oh. My. Gosh!"

Had I ever thought Astrea was reserved? She was a completely different person now that she wasn't in the teacher-student mode. I looked to Kyra again, since it was obvious she could act as a voice of reason for Astrea, but it was obvious she was waiting for me to respond, too.

I really did not want to talk about this, but I begrudgingly nodded, staring out the window and hoping they would take the hint.

They did not.

"Who?" Astrea demanded. Then, "Ohmygosh! It's Mr. Martritz, isn't it?"

"Who's Mr. Martritz?" Kyra asked.

"The new fae teacher I told you about. He's gorgeous and, like, obsessed with Zale." Astrea said.

Great. So Fen had been unsubtle enough that even students were noticing how he followed me around. He was going to get eaten alive in court.

"He is not obsessed with me," I defended weakly.

But Astrea was not deterred. "It's him, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Sort of," I admitted.

"It's... sort of him?"

"Well, he and I haven't exactly talked about a betrothal yet." Not that Fen would refuse. "It's complicated."

This started a whole new round of excitement and questions, and I finally leaned back against the seat and shut my eyes in defeat, preparing for a very long evening.

Kyra laughed and said, "Astrea, let's give him a break. There's plenty of time."

"Fine," Astrea sighed dramatically, though it was clear she was playing up her disappointment. I met her twinkling eyes and she smiled softly at me. "I think I like having a brother."

The warmth that filled my chest was piercing, and it took my breath away. I looked to Kyra to see her reaction to this, but she just smiled softly at me and nodded.

When I caught my breath again, I admitted, "I think I like having sisters."

The car was blessedly quiet for a few minutes after that... until Astrea started up a whole new round of questions.