"What if we pushed him out his stupid window?" Edin asked. Thalia looked at him in alarm.

"What are you, insane?!" She asked. "That'd kill him!"

Edin looked over at his sister. "Isn't that what we want?"

"No! I don't want him dead!" Thalia realised this wasn't enough for Edin. "And if he's dead, who are we going to bully?"

"Bully is such a strong word." Edin said. "I prefer mess with."

"Fine, if Virgil dies, who are we going to mess with?" Edin nodded his head to the side.

"That's fair, I suppose." A sick grin crossed Edin's face. "Though it was fun to see the panic on his face when I pushed him down the stairs."

"Even that was too dangerous." Thalia said. She tucked her feet under herself and spread her skirts out around herself. "If mother had bothered to look at him, she would've seen the cut."

"Virgil's a good liar and terrified of us." Edin said flippantly. "He knows what'd happen if he told mother what really caused that cut." He looked down at the book in his hand and closed it with a snap and a sigh. "What if we hit him with a book?"

"Why the sudden rush of violence?" Thalia asked, focusing back on her needlework.

"We've already exhausted every other option." Edin said. "Besides, violence is fun."

"What's wrong with you, Edin?" Thalia asked. "You're weird."

"I'm pragmatical." Edin said curtly. "We need to keep servants below us."

"Virgil's not a servant, though." Thalia mused, talking to herself more than to her brother. "He's our step-brother."

"What's the difference?"

"Aren't we meant to actually care about him?" Thalia asked. Edin shrugged.

"Who knows? Anyway," he got up and slid the book back into its place on the bookshelf, "he take your bait?"

"Hm?" Thalia asked, looking up from playing with her thimble.

"Did he take your bait?" Edin repeated slower.

Thalia nodded. "Yeah. At least, he didn't leap at me or snap. So I'd say he did."

Edin nodded, grinning.

Virgil lugged the washing from outside, where it had dried, to the rooms upstairs. This involved balancing on the steps while carrying a basket of very heavy washing and not falling over.

"How'd he take it?" Edin's voice made him pause. Thalia giggled a little.

"Hook, line and sinker." She said and Virgil could imagine her cruel little smirk crossing her round face. "I even looked at his stupid pictures to try get him on my side."

"So he doesn't suspect you?" Edin asked. There was a small pause and Virgil realised he was holding his breath. Still, he didn't dare let it out in case they heard him.

"He's Virgil." Thalia said. "He suspects everyone. But I don't think he suspects me as much anymore."

"Well, I do now." Virgil thought. He dumped the laundry in the nearest room he could find before running up the spiralling stone staircase to his room.

"Hook, line and sinker, huh?" He asked, slamming his door closed. "Well, fuck you, Thalia. Screw you!"

Virgil paced around his room, cursing himself for being so stupid, so gullible, so... so-

The glint of the little brown bottle Thalia had given him caught his eye. He stormed over to it and gripped it tightly, trying to channel all his anger in just crushing the bottle. That wasn't enough.

Virgil threw the little brown bottle out of his window and watched it disappear over the garden wall.

Have I changed my mind about Thalia? You'll see.
Bye,
Blaize