"No no no no no." Mor shook her head, cringing at Tassia. "You look absolutely disgusting."

Tassia gasped dramatically, "Excuse you, I look amazing." Tassia was standing in the changing room of one of the many shops Mor had dragged her to. She was wearing a knee-length chiffon dress with a beaded back and atrociously puffy sleeves. "Don't blame the model, blame the dress."

"Well right now, I blame both of you," Mor darted into the heap of clothes she had placed on the floor, organized in no manner that was discernible to Tassia. But somehow Mor knew where everything was. She erupted from the pile and tossed her a sage green blouse and a skirt, "Here, try this."

Tassia caught the clothes and groaned, walking back into the changing room. "This is the last one, I swear to the gods."

"I highly doubt that will turn out well, considering Mor's iron will." Amren.

"Hey, Amren. Please tell Mor that I don't need all these clothes." Tassia pleaded, slipping her arms into the sleeves of the blouse.

"Oh, you definitely need all these clothes and more." Tassia groaned again and walked out of the fitting room. Amren snorted at the outfit she wore. "Oh dear girl, that looks absolutely horrendous."

Mor rolled her eyes at that. "It's not my fault."

"It absolutely is." Amren looked at the pile and began holding up various clothes squinting between the fabric and Tassia. "You can't wear yellow, beige, and brown. Orange is also a no. But everything else should be an option." Amren turned to Tassia who shifted uncomfortably under her silver eyes. "Floral designs would work as well as solids, stripes, and checks. I'd suggest staying far away from dots."

Mor handed Tassia a blue and red flannel checkered button-up, a white top, and pants. "Try this."

When Tassia walked out, Mor unbuttoned her flannel and let one side slip until it was loosely hanging over her arm. Tassia twirled as Mor grinned. "I think we've discovered your look."

"Look?"

"The type of style most of your clothes would be in. Yours is subtly cute or preppy with an edge."

Tassia just blinked, confused as Amren began speaking, walking over to her. She started playing with her hair. "Thick and tight curls. You could pull it back into a loose ponytail, half up half down, or leave it open. You should leave a few strands loose either way to frame your face. If you want to look effortlessly chic, you should tie it in a bun and pin it to the top of your head."

"Okay," Tassia tried her best to not show how lost she was when Mor linked their elbows, "Come on, I'm starving and since I spent my entire day on you, you can pay for the food."

"I don't have any money."

"Of course you do. Rhys grossly overpays all of us, not that I'm complaining, and we have a line of credit at most stores." Mor replied as Amren walked over to the store owner and began pointing out the things they wanted to be delivered.

"He touched Rhys' ass?" Tassia tossed her head back laughing, her eyes blinking with unshed tears. "Oh my gods!"

"I know!" Mor snickered, "And Cassian and Rhys were too drunk to notice."

Mor was telling Tassia about what happened one Starfall when Cassian and Rhys were drunk slow-dancing and Cassian accidentally groped him.

"They were both smiling the entire time and this one," Amren looked towards Mor, and tilted her beer bottle towards her, "fell off her chair laughing."

"Gods," Tassia took a sip of the ridiculously pink drink Mor made her order, "I wish I had been there."

"I wish you had."

"Mor!" Tassia yelled. Her bed was buried under the huge pile of clothes she bought. "What do I wear?"

"Choose one of the things we bought, dummy," Mor was lying down on the floor, her blonde hair in a halo around her as she read a book.

"Oh really? I thought I'd choose one of the things we didn't buy." Tassia's voice dripped with sarcasm.

Mor got up with a groan and walked to Tassia's bed, pulling out various clothes. "Wear this, this and this." She held up a light gray woolen sweater and blue jeans before pointing towards Tassia's brand new black boots.

"Thank you, mother."

Mor slapped Tassia's head at that, "Mind your manners when you speak to your elders."

When Tassia was finished dressing, Mor looked over her once and nodded before grabbing her hand as they winnowed away.

Kaera was already waiting at the cafe and her face brightened as she looked at Tassia. "Hey."

"Hi," Tassia's voice was all wrong, too high-pitched and breathless.

"Um," Kaera paused and her eyes focused on Tassia's right shoulder, "so my friends told me that you might not know this, but when I asked you to meet up for coffee it was for a date and not only to, you know, talk about your brother."

"Oh yeah, I understood that just fine." Tassia decided to omit the part where Mor had to tell her it was a date.

"And you're fine with that?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Tassia was confused. She hadn't talked about liking people of the same sex with the people at her camp but her mother and step-father were always fine with it. She hadn't thought it would be a problem.

"Well," Kaera's hands shifted and her eyes darted around, "some people think it's weird or unnatural and stuff."

"Please, if I thought any of that, I doubt I would be here."

Kaera laughed and tilted her head towards the cafe door, "Shall we?"

Tassia had bumped into Cassian as she was making her way to the House of Wind and he offered to carry the girl up the flight of stairs, something Tassia had wished she thought about earlier. When she walked into her room, her skin was flushed, partly from the flying and partly from the date.

"How was it?" Mor squealed, her brown eyes wide and bright. She and Amren were laying on her bed and they were clearly a few drinks ahead of Tassia.

"Well, if I wasn't sure if I liked girls then, I definitely am now."

Amren giggled, her voice taking on a Spring Court accent. "Oh, you naughty girl. You had sex on the first date?"

"We didn't go all the way," Tassia climbed in her much-too-big bed and grabbed a wine bottle and drank a few gulps, relishing the way the liquid burned as it slid down her throat. "It was just making out."

"Just making out, huh?" Mor leaned over and poked the mark on Tassia's neck with a long fingernail. "And I suppose this was just from when you fell. On your neck."

"What else would it be, Mor?" Tassia put a hand on her heart, faking outrage, still riding on her happiness from the evening, "how dare you assume such dirty things. And about me?"

The three of them erupted in a fit of giggles. "I was supposed to tell you something," Amren began, "but I have no idea what."

"Well, if you can't remember, it probably wasn't important." Tassia pulled herself up and crossed her legs, staring at Mor and Amren, "now, tell me more embarrassing stories of everyone."

"Well once, I ate the last slice of cake when Cassian wanted it and he said you're dead to me," Mor tried to continue but when she tried, she started laughing uncontrollably.

"And for the next week, every damn time Mor tried to talk to him, Cassian would pretend to weep and go 'she may be gone but it's almost like I can hear her voice' and Mor got so mad that she emptied an entire pail of ice water on Cassian's wings and winnowed away screaming 'I bet you hear this now, you arse'."

Tassia laughed so hard that she fell off the bed and rolled on the floor which just made everyone laugh louder. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed like this.

"Oh!" Amren shot up, "I remember what I had to tell you. Azriel was looking for you."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe something about your brothers?"

Tassia darted up, her head clearing immediately, "Where is he?"

"He should be in the library." Mor supplied before burrowing her face in the blankets.

Tassia got up and opened the door before turning towards the others, "Don't finish the wine before I get back."

"We make no promises!"

When Tassia reached the library, she knocked twice and opened it to see Azriel with her brothers. Charlus was sleeping, his head in the shadowsinger's lap and Aleskand was reading a book. Azriel's eyes were already looking at the entrance and he looked at Aleskand, his finger pressing against his lip in a 'shush' gesture before he gently placed Charlus' head on a pillow and walked towards Tassia.

"How was your date?" Azriel's voice was low and unreadable like it was most of the time.

"It was fine, Amren told me you needed to talk to me?"

Just as Tassia's scent hit him, Azriel's nose wrinkled, "Gods, how much did you drink?"

"It wasn't just me," Tassia stated, defensively, "I was with Mor and Amren. Mor introduced me to this fizzy pink drink that I clearly had way too much of. I blame her."

Azriel nodded, the corners of his mouth twitching into an almost smile before setting back down. "Aleskand had a few questions to ask you. He said it was urgent and refused to tell anyone else."

"Oh, okay." Tassia's body relaxed. She whispered her brother's name as she walked towards him. She sat down near Charlus and stroked his hair whilst Azriel remained standing.

"Some kids at school said you weren't my real sister." Aleskand started. "Because your skin and mine are different."

Oh. Oh. Tassia nodded as she tried to formulate a response. "Well, I'm your half-sister. We have the same mother but a different father. When our mother was younger, a few years older than me, she met a man and fell in love." Tassia moved her hair behind her ears and pointed out the slight sharpness at the ends, sharper than a mortal's but rounder than a fae's.

"You're half-fae?"

Tassia looked up at the surprise in Azriel's voice and grinned, "I prefer the term bastard born half-breed, but I suppose that would do."

"Anyways, they had a child, me, without getting married. But before I was born, he died." Tassia continued. "A few years later, mom met yours and Charlus' dad. And this time, they were mates and got married before having kids."

"And then he died?" Aleskand asked.

Tassia paused and she blinked back tears before she continued, "Yes. One day, mom had you and a few years later when she was pregnant with Charlus, your dad died.

"What I'm trying to tell you is that we are half-siblings. Brothers and sisters aren't only bonds made by blood. They can also be forged by choice, by friendship and love." Tassia looked at Aleskand who looked at her, his green eyes wide. "You and Charlus are my brothers because I choose you to be. No one can tell you I'm not your sister. That's something you have to decide for yourself. You have to choose if I am your sister, or not."

"You are my sister. The same way Arly is my brother, you are my sister." Tassia let tears slip out of her eyes at Aleskand's words.

"Now, come on. It's getting late and you and Charlus need to get to bed." Aleskand nodded and got up to his feet sleepily as Tassia picked up Charlus and placed him against her hip.

"Thank you for taking care of them." She whispered to Azriel who nodded before Tassia gripped Aleskand's hand and took them towards their rooms.

"Anytime."