Watching my mother and sister pack was akin to pulling teeth. Until the wedding was complete, Mother would live at the palace to help Ranya get used to her new life. Had it just been my sister leaving, I could have rationalized that she was the only one in the family going to the palace.
The training yards became my home outside of political lessons and any time I could take with my sister, when she wasn’t organizing twenty different things and in etiquette lessons for proper palace behaviour. Since those took up most of her time, I was rarely seen outside the courts.
One of my older half brothers, Jalil, found me there. Chidam and Aryan were away in the mountains, leaving me with just punching dummies to spar against.
“I see we’ll have to increase the budget for sparring equipment for awhile after Ranya leaves,” he said from the fence a couple meters away.
I glared at him. “Shut up.”
He smiled. “Touchy today. As per usual.”
I inhaled and brought my fist up to my chest, ready to punch the dummy with the force of my emotions on top of my own strength. “Want to replace the post, too?”
He flinched and held up his hands with an apologetic smile. “Alright, alright, I’ll stop.” Once I’d dropped my hand he leaned against the fence again. “I just don’t get why you’re getting so worked up over this. I’d rather stay here than go to the palace any day.”
I kicked the dummy. “Hence you jumping at the chance to help me out as regent, when everybody else is trying be part of the group going to the palace.”
Jalil just grinned. “What better way to learn about how the province is run?”
“You truly are a fox,” I said, looking at him out of the corner of my eye. He was being trained to replace my full brother as the family representative in the Imperial Court. At nineteen, he was already helping our father run the province. One of the reasons my parents trusted him not to cause upheaval was he lacked the ambition to try and lead a coup. Not like he could anyway, with me staying behind.
He laughed. “Had to be. To convince Father I didn’t need to be introduced to Court at the wedding.”
I rolled my eyes and went over to the fence. “For how adamant he was for me staying here, he was just as adamant you go.”
“Thanks for putting a good word in for me,” he said, punching my shoulder.
I smiled and took a drink from my waterskin, resting on the fencepost by his elbow. “I’d hoped it could work for a trade. I go to the palace in your place. Since they trust you so much.”
It took him a minute to realize I was kidding. He playfully growled and ruffled my hair. “You have too much faith in me.”
There was no reply but to laugh and take another drink of water. I replaced the skin on the fence post, lingering by the fence because of Jalil’s intent to speak.
He glanced at me. “You’ll only get stronger from this.”
I froze before managing to growl, “I know.”
His eyes widened, hands going up again. “I didn’t— I thought—you don’t really think they—”
“Planned this to make me tougher?” I said quietly. I ran my tongue over my teeth. “I doubt it. Last time they decided separation would do me some good, they at least had the decency to tell me.”
I turned to go back to the ring, only stopping as Jalil’s intent to speak overwhelmed his awkwardness and the mix of bad feelings quickly taking him over. “I didn’t mean… to remind you of them.”
I rubbed my fingers together. “It was for the best.” You grew so much more without them. “And this will be for the best, too.” Just keep reminding yourself that.
He stayed and watched as I went back to the punching dummy. The straw was getting crushed and kept falling to the bottom of each extremity. With each hit, I could feel wood beneath the straw. The feeling just kept increasing, until it was like punching a tree covered in rough burlap. My teacher would’ve been proud, me working through the pain for so long.
Jalil tossed me a towel when I’d finished. I caught it and wiped off my forehead, glancing at him as I wiped the sweat off my neck. “Being sorry doesn’t look good on you.”
He smiled crookedly. “In other words, ‘drop it’?”
I chuckled weakly, going to dust the straw and burlap fibers caught in calluses and small scrapes on my knuckles. “Preferably.”
He smiled and ruffled my hair again, much more affectionately this time. “I’ll go see if Ranya’ll be ready by the time you get cleaned up.”
“With maybe three days left before she leaves? With minimal time to practice certain skills as they travel?” I asked. “Good luck!”
He laughed. “I’ll just tell your mother that she needs a break to absorb everything, and who better than us to let her relax in polite company?”
I chuckled before beginning to count off people on my fingers. “There’s Father, our uncle and his family, any of Father’s wives, nearly every other relative besides—”
“I get it! I get it!” He had his arms back in the air again. But that wicked grin told me what he thought of my analysis. He glanced around. “You can still mask actual events going on, right?”
I nodded. Trying to swallow a grin should any of the guards on the wall turn around, or any of the servants roaming decided to walk by.
He had a similar not-quite-swallowed grin. “So I can say anything I want.”
I draped the towel over the fence and caught up to him as he walked down the hall. “You think they don’t know we don’t always follow the rules?” I could name five instances we’d been nearly caught somewhere—or doing something— we shouldn’t have been off the top of my head. A favourite of mine was when we found the advanced magic books. That lock had been… interesting to pick.
He just grinned. “Leave that, to me.”
I shook my head and began trotting down the hall to my room. “Good luck!” I called over my shoulder. I looked ahead again. “You’re going to need it!”
He heard my last comment. I could sense him chagrinned at my stab at his ego. I was glad I was too far to continue an argument. At this rate, we would go all night.
I continued chuckling as I trotted to my room.
