Verne started pacing. Aris internally reprimanded herself for not noticing he was missing his talisman. To be fair, all the other things happening around her had been extremely distracting.

  “Your parents are associated with the Bringers. Might you or your mother have some sort of ward without anyone noticing?”

  “Like a tattoo?” Verne said. “No. And you would have seen it on me.”

  True enough. His solute and the ‘space’ around it looked devoid of runes. Just the familiar green color. “Then perhaps another spell that protects you.”

  “You mean like a genetic disposition against the curse of the Gates?” Verne said in a strained voice. “Like the ones Caelisians and Ysicans have?”

  “Are you upset about the possibility of being Caelisian?”

  “I’m not. I’m upset that I didn’t know.” Verne sat back down beside her. “I’m upset at the hypocrisy.”

  “Your mother never said anything?”

  “No. But… I always felt my father didn’t like her very much,” his voice sounded pained. “He hit her all the time. Often for things I did. We angered him constantly. I never understood it.”

  “You think your father abused your mother because he knew she wasn’t a full blooded Gaian?” Aris asked.

  “It would make his actions make sense. Parts forgive me, I did nothing to stop it.” His solute winced as if it was trying to implode on itself. In her mind’s eye, she imagined reaching out to soothe it. But solutes were not tangible to her with touch and so she would feel nothing and soothe nothing. She started when she felt something warm on her real hand and suddenly realized she had reached out her physical hand and Verne had taken it in his.

  She felt a flash of embarrassment and almost withdrew her hand but decided against it. He had saved her life before, the least she could do was sit there and hold his hand for a while. “You were young. A child. It wasn’t your fault,” Aris said. “You could have done nothing to stop your father.”

  “I should have saved her from dying.”

  “Ral and I should have as well. Would you blame us?”

  “No,” Verne moved as if he shook his head. “There wasn’t anything you could have done.”

  “There you go. It’s the same.”

  “It isn’t. I was closer. I should have known my mother. I should have…,” his voice broke and he trembled with emotion.

  Aris clutched at his fingers, their hands tight together on her lap. She listened to every ‘should haves’ silently, not once commenting on how irrational or silly it would be. This was simply because they were no less irrational or silly than every ‘should haves’ she had thought of in her own life.

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  She had tried remorse. She considered forgetting. She had tried pure, unbridled fury. It never changed anything. The feeling simply festered in her and ate at her insides like an aggressive disease. It led from one extreme thing to another, with her chasing an answer that would also change nothing. She thought defying the path wrought for her by a god would be the answer. She thought killing her brother would change things.

  But in the end maybe all she needed was someone to listen to her. No matter how irrational, how maddening her words were, she needed someone to listen. That, too, would change nothing but at the very least she knew she wouldn’t be alone. Now she knows she isn’t alone at all - it took her so long to figure that out. Now she could only hope Verne would realize that it was true for him as well.

  When he had finished exhausting all the reasons why he was at fault for what happened, they continued to sit together. They were still battered by the ocean breeze but Aris crept closer to Verne’s side and tried to absorb his body heat.

  “We’ll give your mother a proper burial,” Aris said after a bout of silence. “When this is over. Your father as well, if you think it will help.”

  “Yes. Perhaps that will be a step towards doing the right thing.” Verne continued to sound uncertain but his voice was at least more steady. His thumb gently rubbed hers, their fingers still entwined. The sensation made her stomach flutter.

  “I’m sorry I don’t have any more comforting words to say.”

  “I’m grateful you’re sitting with me. You’re doing plenty.”

  Aris shifted uncomfortably. “Would it please you if I admitted I was the tree that gave you the buns back then?”

  “I already knew,” Verne snorted.

  “What?”

  “You used my name while we were out east. You showed every sign that you recognized me from our first meeting at the Academy.”

  “Camaz and Laell were constantly using your name,” Aris pointed out. “It would be easy for me to figure it out.”

  “How did you know I was Sekrelli?” Verne finally sounded amused.

  “Context clues.” Aris paused, then quickly added: “your accent.”

  “I see, you’re a linguistic detective on top of a genius runist and Inner Eye student at the Academy?” Verne laughed. She smiled at the sound. “Oh, and of course, a Caelisian noble.”

  Aris sobered at the thought. “You know, being Caelisian isn’t much different from being Gaian,” she said. “Well, except in the presence of a Gate. But besides that… Yscians aren’t that different either except for coloring. We’re all just people.”

  “No difference in their solute either?” Verne asked.

  “Mikol’s solute looks slightly different. Like it’s clearer, if it makes sense. More vibrant but it’s still a solute.” Aris paused. “It’s strange, I think of solutes like colors. But Ral describes them as if he could only touch them. Perhaps my perception of them is not entirely accurate so I don’t know for sure if a Yscian’s solute is different. However Ral’s solute is no different from a Gaian’s. Same with Rask.”

  “Aris, I’m not upset about not being fully Gaian,” Verne said. He squeezed her fingers reassuringly. It seemed now that they were touching he didn’t want to let go.

  “Good. There is only one thing we should be upset about.” She looked up at the dark line that was slowly opening in the sky. “The Bringers made your parents believe in that nonsense. Mind made them believe in it. And now it seems like they are doing something drastic. If this is my fate, I intend to do something about it.”

  He squeezed her hand again. “I want to help. I will help. And Aris, perhaps the rest of the Parts haven’t abandoned us in the slightest.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There’s a boat coming in from the Academy and I think I see Camaz.”