A/N: Hey all! Have another chapter - and heads up, next chapter is going to have a lot of feels! Consider yourselves warned! :) Now, for the chapter and the meeting we've all been waiting for...

:Herald Bellamy, the Incendiary's sister is in the district and we are escorting her to the Hall for an introduction. Are you present?: Hansa's coolly formal voice startled Anur but he had a lot of practice at not twitching when sudden voices appeared in his mind, instead glancing over at where Kir was coaching Maltin through the fine details of maintaining a smoldering heat.

He looked relaxed, his mind felt at ease, and Anur hated to interrupt.

:We are within the Hall, yes,: he sent back before reaching for Aelius, his Companion immediately understanding his worries and offering advice.

:Kir will burn every hair on your head if you don't give him a heads-up on his sister's arrival.:

:Fair point.:

"Kir," he said quietly, standing and walking over when his brother looked up, keeping his voice low, "Hansa says he and Solaris are on their way over to speak with you."

"Ah, thank you Anur," Kir said, casting a curious glance his way before focusing on Maltin for a moment and saying, "Does that make some sense, at least?"

"I… think so," Maltin frowned, twirling his flute between his fingers, "But I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to implement that with music without holding a note forever, which isn't really sustainable."

"With that, I can't help at all," Kir said wryly, "When you want to experiment, make sure you have help ready, but I think I need to leave you for a bit."

"Yes, I need to think on it anyway, thank you Father," Maltin said thoughtfully, walking away and starting to play brief sets of notes on his flute, apparently hunting for something that might work for this technique.

He didn't even notice the pleased look on Kir's face when the acolyte called him by his simplest title, the first time Anur could recall either of the acolytes besides Rodri doing so. Etrius and Maltin had stuck to Eldest – or Incendiary if they felt particularly formal. Anur clapped a hand on Kir's shoulder and smiled, nodding slightly at Kir's thrilled look and feeling a brief pang as he murmured, "Your sister is with her, apparently."

Kir immediately tensed, breath hissing out between his teeth and Anur tightened his hold on his arm, "I said we were in the Hall. Do I need to ask them to stall?"

"No," Kir said shortly, wincing when he heard his tone and rubbing his hand over his face tiredly, tension draining away, "No – I made the offer. I should have – I should have expected this. She came all the way here, I should meet her."

"Kir that's up to you," Anur said gently, heart aching as he watched Kir stoically fret about what should be the most natural thing in the world. Sunlord, his sister was coming, at his own invitation, and Kir was acting like they were going to have to deal with one of the worst of the generals.

"I should," Kir decided, grimacing even as he said it, "Oh I hope this goes well."

:It better go well,: Aelius said flatly, :Or I will not be held responsible for my own actions.:

:Getting an invitation and then coming all the way to the Temple is a heck of a lot of effort just to spit in someone's face,: Anur pointed out, hoping that it wasn't a misplaced confidence. Maybe it was some cultural thing, if you were going to cut off all contact with someone you should at least do it in person? Sunlord, now he was the one who was going to fall apart and that was not going to help Kir.

"You know what, how about we get tea started?" Anur said abruptly, "Think you can heat water reliably right now?"

"I'd have to be a lot further gone to mess that up," Kir replied dryly, some of that jangling wariness fading at the idea, at having something to do. If Anur were being honest, Kir was relaxing at the idea of being able to employ his knack for flames. If he'd been able to come up with a way to make it less intimidating, he would have convinced Kir to actually properly light something on fire, or do his cat's cradle trick, or make fancy shapes – working with non-lethal fire was something that immediately got Kir to relax, to focus on the fire, not on whatever was worrying him at the time.

Realizing that, and wondering how hard it had been for Kir to retain that ease, that appreciation, when he was raised to use fire for such ugly purposes, had been a hard few days. It had been hard to recognize that, and recognize how different Griffon's attitude had been. Hells, watching the Firestarters interact with flames – respectful, understanding of danger, but not anxious, not angry or sad or bitter except towards their old purposes – it had been an eye-opener.

Dirk had taught Griffon because he was the only instructor able to react without fear when something went wrong, went even the slightest bit off-script. The only one, out of at least five that Anur knew had taught the Fetching group at various years, if not more.

Here they were in a country where people were regularly burned alive and there were more than double that number willing to work with fire and respond to exploding catastrophes with laughter and teasing, with reminiscences on their own mistakes and near disasters, and no flinching horror or terror at what the student had done.

Griffon would benefit so much from this group.

If they were able to get past the Herald Demon Rider thing, admittedly, and Laskaris was only the most vocal of those that didn't like the idea of people coming back from Valdemar. Tristan and Henrick had both looked dubious, and he didn't really know how to read Seras' thoughtful expression when they'd discussed it near him.

Pulling down the boxes of tea, he chose mint tea for himself – spice-cake tea was delicious, but he didn't need to drink it literally every time he had tea. The lemon-black tea went into Kir's mug because he liked citrus and could use something bracing, and he was in the middle of debating between another of the same or a calming herbal blend – probably not very subtle but the real question is if it would be insulting – when the door opened, Hansa stalking in first.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked, directing the question to both of the women who'd walked through the door but entirely unsurprised when Solaris shook her head.

"No, but thank you Anur. I came across Captain Dinesh in the gardens and offered to escort her, since I would be able to get her straight to you two. Kir, Ulrich has an idea on the wards, don't let me forget to tell you about it in more detail later – but for now, Kiara Dinesh, may I introduce you to Kir, my Incendiary and your brother. The other man is Anur Bellamy, his Enforcer and near constant shadow. They're essentially a two for one deal at this point," Solaris said, looking between the three of them before smiling faintly and concluding with, "And now I will take my leave. An honor to meet you, Captain."

"The honor is mine, Radiance," the woman said, bowing – Kir's sister and sweet Sunlord the resemblance was incredible. She was a little shorter, but they had the same lean build and jet black hair, skin just as bronzed from the sun and her eyes were the exact same shade of gray. If he ran into her on the street he might not have immediately though Dinesh, but he would definitely have noticed a resemblance to Kir.

Straightening, she looked over at Anur and said, "I would love some tea, any sort of black, thank you."

***===***pagebreak***===***

Between Solaris' long introduction and Anur's question about tea, Kir had plenty of time to take in his younger sister. They had the same eyes – grandfather's eyes, from what he remembered. Her vest was something he recognized too, at least in style – faded memories of Midsummer best had all his family in clothes decorated with knotwork patterns. If he'd been taken on a Feast of the Children, he'd have been wearing a hat decorated that way, he'd been so thrilled to get one of his own the Midwinter before…

After Kiara expressed her tea preference, she looked back to him and he couldn't afford to hesitate any longer.

"It's very good to meet you," he finally managed, suddenly grateful for the mug of tea in his hands. He had no idea what he'd have done with them otherwise, probably shoved them up his sleeves and defaulted to his blandest tone.

A faint smile, and she was as nervous as he was, thank Vkandis this wasn't one-sided that had to be a good sign, it – it had to.

"It's good to meet you too," she echoed, raising an eyebrow when Anur passed the mug of tea intended for her to him first, and the other flew up to join it when steam started rising from the mug only afterwards. "That is wonderfully practical."

"It is probably the ability I would miss most," Kir admitted, passing her the mug and waving for her to join him at the seats clustered around a low table at the end of the room – recently one more chair had been added to the pair that he and Anur had dragged in moons ago, and if it weren't for the timing of its appearance he'd have never noted its presence as odd. "Being able to make tea without having to stop and heat water with fire directly is fantastic."

Anur settled in his usual chair, Kir flicking his fingers in that direction when he set Anur's mug to steaming.

There was a brief silence, Kir very carefully focusing on his mug of tea and struggling to figure out something to say next that wasn't incoherent demands for information.

"I have a letter," Kiara said, tone hesitant even as she reached into her vest to pull the folded missive out, "It's from Lukas, he asked that I bring it, since he couldn't come himself."

"He's alive," Kir whispered, Anur having to lunge and steady his mug when his grip loosened and he set it on the table heavily, bracing himself against the heady rush of relief at that knowledge because he'd been so still -

"What?" Kiara asked, sounding bewildered, knuckles white around the letter, "I – was there a reason you feared Lukas dead?"

"When I last saw him he'd been badly injured," Kir said, leaving so very many details out but if she hadn't known – if she hadn't known why he might think Lukas dead, she could very well have no idea of the circumstances of his taking beyond the basic fact that he had been. Taking the letter she still held out, he hesitated over the seal before setting it aside for the moment.

Smiling at his sister – his brother was alive, Lukas had lived, there was a chance – he said quietly, "I will read it later, and if you would wait for me to write a reply I would appreciate it, but I do not know how long you have?"

"Told my first mate I'd be back for the dusk watch, so a few marks," Kiara said, eyes narrowed slightly but not suspicious, just thoughtful. "His arm, then? I was ten by the time I realized he hadn't been born that way."

"Yes," Kir agreed, because the arm had been the worst of it, he wasn't surprised there had been permanent damage, and if she had gone ten years thinking Lukas had been born with a crippled arm then they certainly hadn't spread around how it had happened. "It was – quite bad."

"Well," Kiara said, taking a deep sip of her tea before continuing, "He's alive, the only one – grandfather had died before you were taken, right?"

"Years before," Kir confirmed, and she nodded shortly.

"Thought so – then the only real loss you've missed is that our father went missing years ago, presumed dead. I had just turned thirteen," Kiara shrugged uncomfortably, "He hadn't been – right, for a long time though. I'm sorry."

Kir could hardly focus on the fact his father was gone, had probably wandered off to die – he wasn't surprised, he remembered – the screaming -

"I'm not surprised," Kir managed to say, wrenching his focus back to where he was, to who he was talking to, "Though it is sad to hear. I'm sorry I – Nana is still alive?"

"Alive and terrorizing the town," Kiara said dryly, expression softening slightly as she continued, "She's one of the ones that wanted to write – to find out what had happened. Not – not everyone did. That's one of the reasons I came. Well, that and – and to find out if you actually wanted to meet us again, to try. If you didn't – there was no reason to hurt anyone needlessly."

"Kir don't even try to martyr yourself saying that there's no need to tell anyone you're alive, so help me if you try I will ruin your formal vestments and you'll have to get a full refitting before Midwinter," Anur said, Kir shooting him a glare at the threat.

"I wasn't going to," he denied, "And don't even joke about that, Jaina would murder us both if she had to figure out how to bribe the tailors to get us ahead of the queue."

Focusing on his sister again, who was hiding a grin behind her mug, he finally let himself relax a bit because now there were objectives for this meeting, there were goals and he didn't have to flail for a conversation with a woman he'd never met but should have grown up knowing. "In case you missed it," he said, "I would like to meet everyone again – to try, as you said. But not everyone – ma wouldn't have."

He wrinkled his nose, because calling someone 'ma' felt strange, felt foreign but that was what his memories held, and calling her mother felt absurd, before setting it aside and continuing, "She wouldn't have thought I was alive – not if she named you Kiara."

"I was born within a year of you being taken," Kiara said quietly, "But yes, she treated you as dead. Nana didn't object to my name because she's lakes, doesn't think names have to be after the dead, but it didn't help the arguments that started when word got out priests could contact their families again."

Judging by the grimace twisting Kiara's face before she visibly braced herself, there was worse coming.

"And Elisia – I don't know which way she fell on the letter issue, but she hates Firestarters. She loathes them and I can't imagine this going entirely smoothly on that front. Lukas – I heard stories, I mentioned that – I would tell him about them, but I don't think he let himself seriously think you were alive, not until we got your letter. But he wants to see you again – he's already made me promise to bring him here if you decide not to come back and meet everyone," Kiara winced and looked away briefly, "If you do come back – if you visit, it's only fair if you know going in what you might run into."

"Do you know how the others took my Order?" Kir asked, staring at his tea. He hadn't fished the sachet out in time, it was over-steeped and bitter. Elisia hated Firestarters.

"Lukas is the only one I shared your reply with," Kiara admitted, "I wanted to make sure you even wanted to try first."

"Well, I do," Kir said, finally stating things plainly and meeting his sister's gaze, "I do. And I've been hated by very many people, for a very long time. I will manage, should I be invited to."

"Okay," Kiara nodded, most of her own tension fading away and she leaned back in her chair, looking between the pair of them and smiling, "I'll pass that along, and let you know. But now that that is out of the way, I'd like to get to know my brother – and his shadow."

"If this makes Light's Shadow stick as a title I am going to be so annoyed," Anur grumbled, and Kir laughed before explaining the story behind that complaint to his sister.

His sister.

***===***pagebreak***===***

Marks later, she finally had Bellamy to herself. Kir – her brother, her brother the Firestarter, the Incendiary, who had gray eyes and a sly humor and had looked so resigned when she said Elisia would hate him, who had nearly cried when he found out Lukas was alive -

You two care so very much, she heard again, she had heard so many times while she talked with her brother, with his shadow, and laughed over their stories and wondered after the in-jokes and shared her own snippets and he had been thrilled to hear she made Captain in her own right years ago. He had echoed her vicious grin when she told the story of the pirate attack that her ship had run afoul of and that she and her crew had beaten back – his Enforcer hadn't even blinked when she talked about running a business with no man to oversee it.

This just might work.

"He says people have hated him before, and fair, most of the country hates Firestarters, or at least did," Kiara said, meeting Bellamy's mild gaze and not believing it for a minute, "But Elisia's his sister. I've already spoken to Lukas about it, we're going to try and get things battened down before you two even have a chance to visit, but it could be ugly, and you need to know that."

"Your honesty is refreshing," Bellamy said politely, inclining his head, "And I'll take it under advisement. If we were to visit, who would we stay with, or should I start thinking of inn arrangements?"

"Me," Kiara said immediately, "Nana and Ma – we have family dinners there."

"Neutral ground, Elisia would feel unwelcome and we don't need to make it worse, agreed," Bellamy replied, "Lukas?"

"Lives in a single-room set up near the shipyard," Kiara shook her head, "I rent a sublevel – houses are tiered, the lower level is mine. There's room for three. The inn rents out stable-space without renting rooms, so your horses can stay there."

"Good," the Enforcer nodded shortly, "Do you think before Midwinter would be feasible?"

"Should be," Kiara said, tilting her head slightly as she tried to work out timing, "Really, the delay will be in letters, and we have eight weeks before Midwinter so it should be all right."

"Send letters here, they can be sent on to us quicker than through standard messengers," he explained, "That should help."

"That would," she agreed, deciding not to ask after that just yet. Maybe one day, when asking questions about the priesthood's strange powers didn't send a thrill of terror running down her spine. Kir's warming tea had been startling enough, and that was something so at odds with the usual nightmares of fire and death that she hadn't had time to be afraid.

They sat in silence for a brief time before the man shrugged and said, "We don't have a particularly stocked pantry and larder in the Hall – but we have some breads and cheeses and cured meats, if you'd like something? I don't want to drag Kir to the District's kitchens and didn't arrange for meals to be brought here today."

"Something basic sounds perfect," she agreed, "How can I help?"

Helping Bellamy put together a tray for the three of them to share kept her from fretting over what exactly Lukas had written and gave her the chance to snoop through cabinets besides. The Enforcer noticed what she was doing rather quickly but just grinned, "Kir and I had to buy mint-tea ourselves, the cheapest thing they had when we arrived was that lemon-black blend."

"You're kidding!"

The random anecdotes of the strange qualities life in the District had – catacombs that you could live in, there were nightmare stories of the round-the-fire type – were all delightful, because she never thought she'd hear them. They were pieces of her brother's life that she'd never understand, not really, but that she had a chance to hear.

Also, it gave her plenty of impersonal gossip to fend off nosy busy-bodies with when it eventually came out she'd come to the District on her trek to Sunhame. They'd love these sorts of stories, and she would be able to milk these for weeks, easily.

No one but kin was going to hear the stories her brother had told, or the fact that she had actually met Solaris, had conversed with her. She might admit to seeing her from afar, or glimpsing a Firecat, but that depended on who asked.

Bellamy was very visibly debating between starting a fire for warming more water for tea and waiting for Kir to return and getting him to do it when the matter was solved by Kir walking back in from the courtyard the Hall surrounded, followed by a boy who would only just be in his teens if she had to guess, but wearing Firestarter robes nonetheless.

"Enforcer Anur!" the boy beamed, "Seras finally accepted a draft!"

"Ha! I told you modifying those paragraphs would fix it!" the Enforcer crowed, pulling down another mug while the boy – an acolyte maybe? – boosted himself onto the counter to dig through the tea cupboard, heading straight for the back boxes.

"My student, Rodri," Kir said quietly, brushing a hand across her refilled mug and she could feel the heat start to radiate through it almost immediately. "He and Anur have been working on a detailed description for forging sun-blessed steel."

"Sun-blessed steel?" she echoed, blinking for a few moments as she tried to process that, "I thought that was just a – well, a description for the fact that holy people wielded weapons."

"That's one way to interpret it," he agreed, nodding, "But there's also a particular forging process that a local forgemaster and I figured out that seems to do something special."

"It's amazing," the student said, appearing back at Kir's side with a mug of soon steaming water in hand. "I can't wait to learn how to do it!"

"Let Beka figure out the rhythm herself first," Kir said, accepting his own refilled mug from Bellamy and moving towards the table, "At least one of you should know what you're doing. Rodri, this is my younger sister, Kiara Dinesh."

"Really?" the student perked up, sitting next to his teacher and Kiara settled across from them, Bellamy snagging the seat on the end of the table and sliding the tray of food into place between them. "Exactly what would you want in exchange for embarrassing childhood stories?"

"She wasn't even born when I was taken for the priesthood, Rodri," Kir said dryly, Kiara just laughing at the utter disappointment, so familiar – her nephews were around his age and Sunlord they would have demanded the same.

"Besides, I don't think Kir managed something as absurd as the squirrel-fish incident," Bellamy inserted, and Kiara was certain no one at the table even remotely believed his innocent tone and blandly smiling expression. Rodri certainly didn't, groaning and burying his head in his arms.

"I cannot believe she actually sold me out!" she managed to hear him mumble, Kir patting his student's shoulder and explaining.

"His sister – Rodri made a bargain with me to not try and find out the details, but he forgot to include Anur."

"Ah, beginner's error," Kiara said with little sympathy, "At least you'll never forget that detail again."

"You are all the worst," the boy grumbled, "But mostly Enforcer Anur."

The man in question just shrugged, "Yeah, that's fair."

Conversation flowed fairly easily at that point, and by the time they'd cleared the tray of food and had another mug of tea for each of them Kiara was startled to hear the fourth-bell toll and honestly dismayed that this visit had ended. Kir noticed her jolt and smiled faintly, "You have to depart, then?"

"Yes, I have the evening watch," she said, passing Bellamy her mug when he offered and rising to her feet, "And it will take me some time to get back to the docks."

"I understand," Kir said, also standing and coming around to her side of the table, holding a pristinely folded and sealed envelope with Lukas' name written across it. "For Lukas," he said unnecessarily, handing it to her and she carefully tucked it away.

She met her brother's eyes – her eyes, if her mother was to be believed – and didn't quite know what to say. Hesitating a moment longer, she finally plunged forward, "It was good to meet you. I – I'll keep you posted, for a visit home. Maybe before Midwinter?"

"I'd like that," he murmured, looking torn between hope and worry at the idea and she didn't blame him at all.

Grabbing him in a hug, she buried her face in his shoulder and felt more than heard his faint gasp before he returned it, breath hitching momentarily.

"You're going to come home," she said fiercely, "You're going to see Lukas again, and ma, and nana, and Elisia even if she hates it, because you're alive, and that's a miracle. We'll make this work, Kir."

He didn't quite manage to verbally thank her, but the suddenly tighter hug got the point across nicely. She finally let him go, locking gazes for a moment and exchanging smiles before turning to the Enforcer, clasping hands with him and offering another silent farewell. Rodri offered her a smile and a wave, and she returned both with a small laugh before giving one last smile to her brother and heading out the door.

She remembered how to get to the docks from here. Memorizing escape routes was important.

***===***pagebreak***===***

"I believe you owe me an arrowhead," Rodri said smugly, Anur scoffing but still handing over a sun-blessed arrowhead and Kir snorted.

"I had wondered why you were so insistent on seeing Anur immediately," Kir said, shaking his head, "Did you even finish a draft of that essay?"

"An outline," Rodri shrugged, pocketing his bounty, "But Seras said it looked like a good start. The meeting seemed to go okay?"

"Better than I could have hoped," Kir admitted, raising an eyebrow at Rodri's beaming expression and saying, "No arrowhead if it went badly?"

"Oh then I'd have gotten two for dramatically interrupting with accidental fire and maybe accidentally-on-purpose getting her hair," Rodri said frankly, "But I'd rather get the one."

He had to laugh at Anur's utterly unrepentant expression and wrapped an arm around Rodri's shoulders, shaking his head fondly, "I see this has been in the works a while. My thanks, Rodri. Go secure your bounty, we'll see you at the Sun Descending."

"I regret nothing," Anur said as Rodri left, smiling nonetheless. "Though I am glad none of those contingencies had to come into play."

"Contingencies, plural?" Kir snorted, shaking his head as he started cleaning their mugs. "Just how many people did you drag into this?"

"Well, Jaina had her own plans in place," Anur admitted, clearing the table, "So we made sure not to conflict too badly. I had Kari get Rodri into place while we were swapping stories, and I mentioned to Solaris that you had invited your sister to the District during these weeks. I have no idea how she found her in the gardens, because a random happenstance is definitely not how that occurred."

"Oh I'm sure she had some sort of alert set up," Kir agreed, "And some sort of stay-calm effect, if Kiara's nonchalance was any indicator."

"That could be useful," Anur mused, grabbing a towel to start drying things, "I'll have to ask her if it's mage-only or if anyone can do it."

"At the very least it would require enchanted objects – or an empath, they could probably manage the same," Kir replied, "But you can always ask. Jaina had plans too? We'll have to tell her they're unnecessary."

At Anur's silence, he glanced over and was immediately suspicious of the bland expression on his brother's face. "Because they are," he repeated, eyes narrowing, "Entirely unnecessary."

"Vkandis helps those who prepare for no – hey!" Anur's attempt at a pious tone was thwarted when he spluttered, not quite dodging the mug-full of wash-water Kir tossed at him. "It's not my contingencies that are still in play!" he said indignantly, throwing his towel at Kir's face, putting his hands on his hips and any attempt at looking serious ruined by half his hair dripping soapy water onto his uniform.

Kir peeled the damp towel off his face and just raised an eyebrow, "And yet you're not planning to help me tell Jaina tha – Anur!"

"Haha!" Anur cackled, dodging the whip of flame he tossed out of habit, now empty mug flying to his hands while Kir tried to wipe some of the water out of his eyes. "You should know better than to get into a throwing match with – gah!"

Fire tossed at his feet set him stumbling and he managed to turn it into a roll across the table, a gesture sending the dried mugs at Kir's back and he ducked, lunging forward to shove the table into Anur's thighs and overbalance him across the bench – between his flailing arms and failing to retain his balance the mugs crashed onto the floor with him.

Leaning over, he didn't have time to smirk, Anur's feet crashing into the edge of the table and sending it tipping over to him, Kir yelping as he knocked the bench back and not able to recover before Anur lunged over the furniture to tackle him -

Any further efforts were interrupted by the door opening when the two of them crashed into the floor, Kir throwing Anur off him and scrambling to his feet, meeting Jaina and Laskaris' incredulous looks with a bland expression of his own. "Can I help you?" he asked calmly.

The bench slowly slid out from under the table and that precarious balancing act slammed into the ground too. Anur was grumbling about how he would have won in a few more minutes – Kir would let him cling to his delusions.

"I think it can wait," Jaina said faintly. "Do you even have another set of vestments?"

Kir looked down at his vestments, half-soaked with dirty water, and then at Anur's uniform, though at least that was mostly black and wasn't as obviously damp, though the sash would need to be washed.

"My formal ones?" he replied dubiously.

"You mean the ones currently being re-hemmed at the tailor's with gold edging?" she said slowly, Laskaris raising an eyebrow and carefully taking a step away from her. Kir just returned her glare with a mild look of his own and offered Anur a hand up.

"Jaina," he said calmly, "I went to the main morning service, and no one in the Hall gives a damn if I preside without official vestments – if it bothers you, then we can have someone else preside for the Sun Descending. We'll wash these tonight, and Anur's sash, and we'll clean the kitchen. Take a deep breath, and calm down."

"They're important," Jaina insisted, stepping around the drips of dish-water and inspecting Kir's damp sleeves, "Vestments are important Kir, appearances are important here you can't just - "

"Jaina," he cut her off, grabbing her hands and meeting her gaze, waiting for her to take a few breaths before he continued, "Jaina, vestments are your armor. Mail and metal-plated leather are mine."

They held gazes for a moment longer before she sighed, bowing her head slightly and saying, "My apologies. I forget, sometimes."

"You spent years managing the Order in Sunhame under Lastern," Kir said dryly, "Well-maintained formal vestments, elaborately adorned, were very important in those battles."

Laskaris gave a bitter laugh, shaking his head as he accepted a mug of water from Anur and dropped some tea in – Kir had already heated the water. "That they were," Laskaris said, "I remember Lumira and Fabron working new spells into your vestments every year."

"And rotating through adornments between all of us so I wouldn't attend services with the same adornments two days in a row," Jaina huffed a quiet laugh, "I almost forgot we wouldn't have to do that this year."

"All I'm hearing are more and more reasons to show up to Midwinter in our oldest uniforms, covered in road mud," Anur grumbled, righting the table and shoving the benches back into place.

"Please don't," Jaina chuckled, squeezing Kir's hands before pulling back and heading for her own mug, "I might have a fit."

"Karchanek would probably be annoyed too," Anur said cheerfully, Kir rolling his eyes and Laskaris snorting, shaking his head.

"You hold grudges against the strangest people," the priest commented, passing Anur a rag at his gesture, "I thought it was just your horses that hated him."

"He was the first member of Solaris' Council we met after finding out I was originally in line as her successor," Kir said dryly, carefully drying his vestments before turning his attention to the random patches of water on the floor, "No longer, with Hansa here to protect her, but it was a concern apparently, and no one made it clear to him that the succession plans were no longer necessary, nor did anyone realize I had never been told."

"I'm surprised you didn't stab him," Jaina told Anur, "Though thank you for not doing that, having to cover the murder of Solaris' Heirophant would be difficult in the extreme."

"I wouldn't have lethally stabbed him," Anur groused, "Why does everyone think I'd have killed him?"

"Kir as Son of Sun?" Jaina said, raising an eyebrow, "If I'd been told about that plan, I would have been tempted to kill somebody. You'd hate it. I suppose Solaris hadn't known you well at that point, to think it was a feasible plan, but you would have immolated yourself inside of a year."

"Yes well, it's not going to happen," Kir said, shaking his head. "Hansa is here to protect her and we've almost talked her into declaring Markov as her successor should she die before her planned successor is of age – she'll know them when she meets them, apparently."

"Well that's one way to discourage assassins," Laskaris snorted, "Though if that gets out, Markov is the one that's going to be targeted in her stead."

"We'll warn him next time we see him," Kir shrugged, crouching down to check a newly dried spot for any residual tackiness – nothing, so it looked like just sweeping away the particles left behind when the water evaporated would take care of things. "There will always be those desperate enough to try something, the hope is just that we can keep them from succeeding or attempting anything more than once. Aside from that one coup attempt there's been nothing, and that was entirely outside of Sunhame, so any in-Sunhame conspirators are probably still around."

"And if they're going to act, near her first Midwinter would be a well-timed one, dramatically speaking," Jaina frowned, "Is that something we're worrying about?"

"In general, certainly, but specifically, as in we've heard rumors or hints? No, nothing on that front yet," Kir shrugged, "Though I wouldn't be one to hear those things. Not with how seldom I'm here."

"I'll get Seras to keep his ear to the ground," Jaina sighed, passing him a broom, "And I'll set Henrick on it when he returns from Ruvan patrol – though I'm leaving in a few days to meet with the mercenaries that have arrived, so you might need to pass on that message."

"If you need us for any reason, call on Kari and we'll be on our way as fast as we can," Kir informed her, Anur nodding agreement as he picked up the fallen mugs.

"Thank you," she said, inclining her head slightly before looking him over again and frowning, "Speaking of adornments, I've been meaning to ask – what happened to your Sun in Glory? You mentioned giving it to some girl, but have you not gotten a replacement?"

Kir looked down at his robes – foolish, he knew exactly what she was talking about, but he couldn't resist – before meeting her gaze and shrugging, "I forgot, I suppose."

Forgot because when out of Sunhame, when with the 62nd, he wore the white Sun in Glory he'd crafted from Aelius' hair. It was only when they drew near Sunhame's walls that he put that Sun in Glory away, tucking it under his vest. With only six moons to go before he could wear it openly – before he would wear it openly, no matter what anyone thought because it would be far too easy for people to target Anur, to forget that he stood with his brother in all things, and wearing a Sun in Glory emblem made from the hair of a Companion would at least serve as a reminder – with only half a year to go, it hadn't seemed urgent. But if it would make Jaina feel better, he would requisition another one.

"Actually, Eldest why did you give it away?" Laskaris asked curiously, stirring some honey into his tea, "I assumed at first it was to Anika Brersi, but then I hear you're gifting her with sun-forged steel instead?"

"She's learning to wield a spear," Kir said, opening the door to sweep the dirt from his and Anur's brawl out into the courtyard and heading for a corner to continue – he was already sweeping, might as well finish the job. "Lieutenant Kalesh is helping whenever he goes through, and there are some veterans in her town – they're so close to Hardorn, and she would use one wisely."

"Oh no argument there," Laskaris agreed, "I've heard the story from Kavrick more than a few times, he's very impressed with her from the times he's visited Loshern. Maltin's harder to get words out of but from what little he has said she's a very impressive person. But your Sun in Glory? It was a standard issue one, I assume, but why give it away?"

"I was asked to assist a girl who had abruptly woken a mental Talent – she was drowning in it," Kir said, keeping Laskaris in the corner of his gaze and rather heartened to see the man's eyes tighten, but otherwise not show his discomfort with those once condemned. "Between the old etchings I'd put on the back and some string-magic modification I was able to craft a shield that held her walls long enough to teach her to maintain them herself."

"The usual mental discipline tricks work then?" Jaina frowned, "I wouldn't think they would though."

"Not quite," Kir shrugged, rolling his shoulders and feeling Anur's tension humming against his mind even while he managed an admirable casualness, re-cleaning the mugs they'd tossed to the floor, "It's a separate focus. It was simple luck that I was able to get to her in time – the usual protective shielding only muffles that sort of thing, not silencing it."

"And how did you learn this?" Laskaris asked, voice tight.

He looked directly at the older man now, taking in the tense shoulders, the white-knuckled grip on his mug, and decided to be blunt. He'd given the man nearly a year to get his mind wrapped around these changes, it was time to push him further and see where he was stuck.

"I have the same witch-power," Kir said calmly, managing to suppress the shudder at admitting such a thing aloud – at saying it at all, much less saying it in Sunhame – and tightening his grip on the broom before his hands could start shaking. "Not as powerful as hers was, or I'd have never lasted, but I could hear others with the same – and hearing them burn even after their voices were smothered was the furthest thing from enjoyable."

Laskaris hadn't lashed out, that was in his favor, but he was practically vibrating with tension and wouldn't meet his eyes, instead staring intently at the wall.

"I see," he managed.

"When you define Talents by their power source – entirely personal, entirely mental, with no allowance for reaching out for mage-power to reinforce your own reserves – under that definition, the majority of my ability with flames is a witch-power as well," Kir continued, rocking back on his heels and not taking his eyes off Laskaris – Jaina he wasn't too worried about, not in the potentially doing something foolish like attacking him sense anyway.

The wounded noise Jaina made at that explanation hurt, though.

"Is that the distinction?" Laskaris ground out, "The only difference?"

"Magic is broader in scope," Anur said, taking this explanation and speaking over his shoulder, still washing mugs though Kir suspected he'd been washing the same mug for a few minutes now. "My and Kir's mental Talent can't be used for scrying, or to call fire, or to move objects – all it can be used for is mental communication. A similar level of potential in a mage would allow them to learn to do any and all of those things, though probably without as much skill as I can do with that one. But yes, being able to draw on outside power versus not is the primary distinction."

:I want you both to know I am having a quiet panic attack in my stall right now,: Aelius said sternly.

:I'll bring you an apple,: Anur promised.

:You'd better!:

"Thank you, for explaining," Laskaris managed, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his jaw for a moment before continuing, "I – do not know that I will make the Sun Descending. I need to think."

"Take as much time as you need," Kir allowed, returning his blessing gesture and watching as the man headed out the door.

Once it swung shut behind him he sagged, bracing himself against the wall and Anur swore quietly, hunched over the sink and trembling. Jaina looked between the two of them, hands fluttering slightly before she firmed and reached towards him, taking the broom from his hands and saying, "It needed to be said, Kir."

"Oh I know," he managed to bite back a hysterical laugh, "Sunlord, I know – that's the only reason I said it, frosted hells tonight is going to be terrible - "

Anur laughed weakly, looking over at him with a smile, "What, acting out your nightmares doesn't make them disappear?"

"Ask me again in a few weeks when neither of us have been executed," Kir scoffed, managing to hold his reaction to widening eyes when Jaina flung her arms around him. Carefully returning her hug, he said, "You're getting your own vestments dirty now, you know."

Her laugh was distinctly watery and he winced. Needing to say such things to Laskaris aside, he probably could have afforded to pull Jaina aside first.

"We were trained to hunt you," she gasped into his shoulder, "You were – you had to watch and listen and know and talk strategies with us and if you hadn't been touched with fire I would have burned you and felt righteous doing it!"

"Jaina, no, it – it wasn't that bad," he murmured, casting a helpless look Anur's way and startled by the shattered horror on his face, "Anur, it wasn't that bad – when did my life turn into something where I have to hug two people at once and don't have enough arms?" he demanded, relief flooding him when both of them laughed, Anur walking over and Kir reached to wrap an arm around his shoulders, pressing their foreheads together and murmuring, "It wasn't that bad, Anur. It wasn't."

"It was terrible and horrifying and the fact you were so used to it you can't see that doesn't make it less so," Anur retorted calmly, a smile on his face nonetheless, "But that's all right, we'll be horrified on your behalf."

Jaina made a wordless sound of agreement, giving him one last squeeze before pulling away, brushing away tears with her sleeve. "We will," she agreed, before some new thought occurred to her and her eyes closed, lips tightening before she looked to them and said, "Rodri – what he can do with flames, that's a Talent, like you?"

"Yes," Kir said, nodding, "He has no mage-craft at all, I'm at least a journeyman in that, so I was able to take mage-lessons and force them to work for me."

"But no others? He won't hear – he didn't hear them?" she asked desperately.

"No others – and he's never witnessed a burning," Anur reminded her, "By the time he came to Sunhame Solaris was on her Ascent and had arranged for burnings to be turned aside or waylaid, and no one in Aulch has been burned or taken for the priesthood in two generations."

"Really?" Kir asked, surprised and Anur shrugged.

"You find out strange things when you're hiding from a four-year old."

"When you're what?" Jaina asked, the sheer incredulity in her tone wiping away those traces of horror and grief.

"Oh you'll love this," Kir assured her, more than willing to explain.