Usually, if someone talked to him like Lucie had, Arus would have shot back with a heated retort. Even if he hadn’t seemed mad outwardly, he would have quietly seethed; it was his nature. But he’d never heard Lucie talk like this before—never seen her this upset. When she got angry with Lara for playing a prank on her, it almost seemed like she was putting on an act, like she was only mad just long enough to scold Lara. Lucie was a perfect big sister. The extremely cool sort who never vented her feelings, never did anything bad, and never whined or complained.
“Hey, um, Lucie?” Arus hesitated, more confused than angry about the outburst. He didn’t know how to respond. If it had been Lara or Sieg, who he had practice bickering with, he would have said something, but what was he supposed to do here?
Then, Clive came over to them and sat down beside Lucie. “You okay? Lucie?”
Lucie was silent. The other boy was only a year older than Arus, but he seemed much more mature. He was diligent and got good grades in school, and he was also kind and skilled with people—though he could be strict with younger students when he had to be. He seemed far more adult than Lara, who was the same age.
“All of us know how hard you work,” Clive said.
“Mm.” Lucie sniffed. Clive put an arm around her and patted her head.
“You’ll apologize to Arus later, right?”
“No, now’s good.” Lucie gave another wet sniff, then turned to Arus, who was frozen in his push-up position, and bowed her head. “I’m sorry, Arus. I was rude.”
“No! I mean…I’m sorry too,” he said. He wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong, but he was pretty sure that someone had told him that if he made a girl cry, he’d better apologize. Maybe it was Blue Mama or White Mama. Could it have been Aisha? In any case, he shouldn’t have asked Lucie about what she’d do after finishing school. He was just curious and wanted to hear what his cool sister had in mind for the future. Maybe he’d also hoped that he’d get an idea for himself from her perfect-big-sister answer. He never in a million years thought she’d yell at him like that.
“Sorry, Arus,” said Clive. “I’ll take Lucie and head back to the house.”
“Oh, uh, yeah. Okay.”
Clive, his arm around Lucie’s shoulders, went inside.
Left behind, Arus was speechless. He simply stood, frozen in disbelief. Just then, Lara and Sieg came over to where Lucie and Clive had been. Leo joined them, looking worried.
“That was a lot,” said Lara.
“I didn’t know Lucie could get angry like that,” Sieg agreed.
Arus was close with his brother and sister, and talking to them usually helped him think about things. He nodded. “I guess, I dunno, Lucie must worry about the future, too.”
He’d assumed that Lucie was too perfect to worry about anything. Clearly not.
Lara opened her mouth. “Lucie…” she began.
Arus never knew what the younger of his older sisters was thinking, but sometimes she opened up with something that got to the heart of things. Arus listened closely so that he didn’t miss anything important.
“…is definitely going to marry Clive,” was all she said.
“Oh, right,” Arus nodded, feeling let down. Lara just as often said something anticlimactic. She wasn’t interested in the same things as Arus and the others. She was in a world of her own.
“That’s not what we were talking about,” Sieg said.
But Lara hadn’t finished. “Clive is an only child, so when they get married, Lucie will live in Millis.”
Now that Arus understood her train of thought, he knew what she was getting at. “So, she’s leaving when she gets married?”
“Right,” said Lara.
Their family and Clive’s family, the Grimors, got along well, helped by the fact that they were related. Arus didn’t really understand why, but noble families married their children to each other to build stronger bonds. The grown-ups could already be making plans for Lucie and Clive. They’d be “betrothed.”
“You think Lucie’s unhappy about that?” Arus asked.
“I bet she’s not mad about it.”
“Yeah, she does like Clive, but then why’d she yell like that?”
“Girls are complicated.”
Arus felt pretty lost. Lucie was obviously unhappy about something. It even seemed like she thought she was the one who had to be the Greyrat heir. Arus also thought she was the one who deserved it, though that might have been his own inadequacy talking.
Thinking that he’d ask Aisha about it later, he tried to change the subject. “What about you, Lara?”
“I’m going to marry a capable man who’ll cook and clean and do everything else, allowing me to lounge around all day.”
“‘Going to’? Wait, are you betrothed to someone?”
“No.”
“Ah.” He wanted to ask where she thought she was going to find someone like that but restrained himself.
“It won’t be too hard,” Lara added.
“Sure. Good luck.” His less cool big sister was starting to get on his nerves, so he turned to his little brother. “What about you, Sieg?”
Sieg stared down at the wooden sword in his hands. “I’m gonna be the strongest swordsman in the world.” He was being even more ridiculous than Lara. “Once I’m the strongest, I’ll defend world peace.”
Well, Sieg did like Cheddar Man and the Epic of the North God, but Arus was trying to talk about serious things, not dreams for babies. He sighed and said, “Try beating me first.”
“I will.”
“Oh yeah? When?”
“One day!”
“Well, take your time, but don’t call yourself strongest until you do!”
Sieg puffed his cheeks out sulkily. Arus didn’t see himself losing to Sieg for a while yet, but his brother was getting stronger by the day. Sieg really might take him one day, even if it seemed ridiculous at the moment. Maybe Seig’s dreams of heroism weren’t so childish. Of course, beating Arus wouldn’t make Seig the strongest. There were a lot of seriously strong swordsmen out there.
“Don’t you want to be heir?” Sieg asked suddenly.
Arus screwed his mouth up and mumbled, “How should I know?”
He was the Greyrat family heir…except he wasn’t sure what that meant, including whether it was good or bad. However, their conversation had given him a different perspective on it. The Greyrat family served Dragon God Orsted, but they were also a branch of the Asuran nobility. Being heir to the family would mean mixing with other nobles. That fit with what Lucie said about having to attend not only the Ranoa University of Magic but also the Asura Royal Academy.
“Hmm.” What did nobles do, anyway? Arus supposed he’d learn the answer at school, but for now, it was a mystery. Ties between families were important, so maybe he’d have to marry a woman he didn’t know or something.
“I guess I kind of don’t,” he eventually said. Arus had certain kinds of girls he liked, so he didn’t want to marry just anyone. Actually, while he was too embarrassed to admit it, he had someone he liked already.
Still, he couldn’t make a fuss about how he didn’t want to if it was already decided. Lucie would definitely get angry at him for that. She put up with it all, she’d say, so what made him so special that he could dodge it? If nothing else, Lucie would be unhappy if he didn’t put everything into being the best heir, but he didn’t know how to do that. He didn’t want her to hate him.
Aisha might tell him what he needed to do if he asked, but ever since he’d turned ten, she hardly ever gave him a straight answer. Usually, she’d just give him a hint and then tell him to think it through himself—something he wasn’t good at. He’d reflected a lot after going to Millis and was starting to think a little harder, but he was struggling. His mind immediately went to solving things with his sword or magic.
Arus looked wordlessly down at his hands. Lucie’s magic was so beautiful, and she used it skillfully. It was so effective, even though it was only simple wind magic. It shifted and changed, just like her. She was strong. If Arus could only learn that magic, he’d be strong too.
“All right,” he said decisively. He still wasn’t sure what he ought to be doing, but for today, he’d try to copy Lucie. Still thinking, Arus rose, sword in hand.