"And," Alex said slowly, turning the words over even as he said them, "you’re telling me all of this now because—"
"Because I’m leaving as soon as my carriage and my squad are ready," Eclipse said, and this time she was the one who couldn’t quite meet his eyes, her gaze drifting briefly toward the window instead.
"So soon?" Alex’s voice cracked just slightly on the last word, the disappointment no longer something he was even trying to hide.
"You only just got here yesterday morning. You haven’t even finished unpacking, I’d bet."
"I’ve been with you for five years now," Eclipse said, gentler than her usual volume, reaching over to rest a hand briefly against his shoulder, her thumb rubbing a small, absent circle against the fabric of his sleeve.
"It’s my responsibility as the leading heir to maintain my strength and my standing, you might not fully understand that yet, not really, but you will eventually, the way these things tend to make themselves understood over time whether we want them to or not. I just hope that day doesn’t come too soon for you, whenever it finally arrives."
"Speaking of pushing yourself," she added, seizing on the shift in mood with the transparent relief of someone glad to change the subject to something she could actually argue about,
"Zara told me a little about what you’ve been doing this week, while I was away dealing with grain shipments and delegations. Ten different exercises in a single day? Sparring against recruits twice your size, with a live blade, no less? Alex, I was your age once too, you know, and do you know what I was doing at five years old? Playing with wooden blocks and complaining loudly about nap time to anyone who’d listen. You are five years old. Five. I feel the need to keep repeating that number because I don’t think it’s fully registering with you."
"I’m aware of my own age," Alex said, with as much dignity as he could muster, sitting up a little straighter in his chair.
"You should be playing with toys, not throwing yourself into cold water basins and getting cut open by practice recruits with actual weapons," Eclipse said, though there was no real heat in it, just the particular exasperated fondness of an older sister who already knew, deep down, that she’d lost this argument before she’d even started making it out loud.
"I did get cut once," Alex admitted, a touch defensively.
"Barely a scratch. It’s basically already healed, you can hardly even see where it was if you look."
"He threw his own sword at a recruit’s head," Zara added helpfully, entirely unhelpfully, sipping her tea with the serene, deliberate satisfaction of someone lighting a small fire under the table and then leaning back to watch exactly how far it would spread.
"He WHAT—"
They spent the rest of breakfast like that, Alex recounting pieces of the week with careful, deliberate underselling, trimming every detail that made him sound more reckless than he wanted to admit to, Zara filling in every single thing he’d conveniently left out with obvious relish, Eclipse alternating between horror and reluctant, disbelieving pride, her expression shifting so fast between the two that Alex started to lose track of which reaction actually belonged to which story, the three of them talking over each other in a way that felt, for a little while, like nothing outside this room mattered at all, like the whole continent’s growing attention could simply wait outside the door until they were done.
Then a maid stepped in, bowed her head low, and said, "Your Highness. Lady Eclipse. Your carriage is prepared, and everyone is waiting for you at the main gate."
Eclipse nodded to her, the easy warmth of a moment ago folding itself away into something more composed, more ready.
"I’ll meet with my mother before I leave. You can collect the dishes now, we’ve finished eating."
She stood, crossed to Alex, and took his face in both hands, squeezing his cheeks together and pressing quick, rapid kisses all over his face while he squirmed uselessly in her grip, one hand coming up to try, hopelessly, to push her back.
"My cute little brother," she said, "you’re going to take care of yourself, and you’re going to keep writing me letters, I want to hear from you every single week, no excuses, Alex, I mean it, I will find out if you skip one."
"I-mll ma-ll sull to do dat," Alex managed, through cheeks still trapped between her palms, the words barely recognizable.
She hugged him for a full minute, longer than she probably needed to, her arms tight around him in a way that told him she was holding onto the moment as much as she was holding onto him, and then moved to Zara and pulled her into a lighter embrace.
"Take care of yourself," she said quietly, all the teasing gone from her voice now, "and take care of him too. He always thinks he’s smarter than everyone else in the room, and it makes him reckless in ways he doesn’t even notice half the time. I’m trusting you to keep him safe while I’m gone."
"I’ll make sure he’s in perfect health every time," Zara said, a small giggle escaping despite the sincerity underneath it.
"He’s difficult sometimes, more than sometimes if I’m honest, but he does listen when it actually matters. I promise you that much."
"I’ll go see mom, then," Eclipse said, straightening, some of the readiness settling back over her like armor being buckled into place.
"Take care, you two. Both of you."
She pressed one last kiss to the top of Alex’s head and was gone, her footsteps fading quickly down the corridor, quick and purposeful, the way everything about her always was.
Alex watched the door close behind her, the empty space where she’d been standing a moment ago somehow louder than the whole conversation that had just filled it.
’Be safe, sis,’ he thought.
’I’ll get strong as fast as I possibly can, so none of you have to keep carrying everything by yourselves anymore. Not you. Not mother. Not father. I’ll catch up. Just wait for me.’