Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce owns these characters; I do not.
"Rikash!" Sarralyn embraced her brother, a big smile on her face. Rikash faked a pleasant expression.
"How have you been?" she asked her brother eagerly. "I haven't seen you for a while, and I've missed you!" She stopped to examine her brother.
After a moment of silence, he realized he was supposed to reply. "I've been all right," he muttered.
She didn't seem to notice his tone of voice. "I wish you could have gone to the university like me." She looked at him, puzzled. "Why didn't you? You have the Gift, and the teachers would tutor you in that. The teachers tutor me about shape-shifting."
Rikash fought to keep the irritation he felt out of his voice. "If Mother and Father do not want me to be a knight, I will not give in to what they want me to do."
Sarralyn nodded, biting her lip. She knew that she had crossed the line. "Well, I've missed you," she told him again.
He nodded. "I'm angry at Mother and Father," he said abruptly. He wasn't going to lie to her and say that he missed her. But if he hated her so much, why couldn't he bring himself to kill her?
Puzzled, she stared at him. "Why?"
"They wouldn't let me become a knight. But that was only the start." He wasn't going to tell Sarralyn the other things Numair and Daine had done. Even if he did, she wouldn't listen, as she adored their parents.
"It was probably for a good reason," Sarralyn protested. Rikash smiled grimly; it was exactly the response he had predicted.
"Well, they probably did," she said defensively, seeing the look on Rikash's face. "They love you, you know."
"I don't know," he said coldly.
Sarralyn snorted. "They do love you." She hesitated. "So do I."
He glared at her, taking out the knife he had brought. Now would be the ideal time to murder Sarralyn. He pressed it to her neck, willing himself to push it into her flesh.
"Rikash?" she asked him, fear in her voice. She stepped back.
He took the knife away. "Watch for me," he snapped. "You're not the only child here with a brain, Sarralyn." He stalked away.
Frightened, she called after him. "Rikash! What did I do?"
He snorted, turning around. "Just by existing, Sarralyn. Why don't you ever stand up to our parents? All you care about is yourself." He walked away.
Frowning, he trotted into his rooms. He should have killed her.
He shrugged. He would have plenty of time to do that in the future.