Zephrine and the two men fell to the floor, all three in tears and clutching each other tightly.

"Zeph, oh, Zeph, you're back." Rhys's voice whispered in her left ear.

"We thought you were dead!" Caius's whimpered in her right.

"I thought both of you were dead!" Zephrine held her brothers' heads close and ran her fingers through their hair.

"Wait." Caius pulled back. "Where's Eetu? You left together for the festival."

"Guys," Zephrine bit her lip. "Eetu... didn't make it."

"What?" Rhys asked.

"I don't know what happened, he just fell on top of me and when I looked up, there was an arrow in his head, and there was a rockslide and..." Zephrine's heart fell straight to the ground. "I'm so sorry."

"Leon, you allow such behaviour to occur in your hall? Between servants and a noble no less." The woman sat across from the king and queen, hardly older than Zephrine herself, exclaimed in disgust.

"My Lady," Xavier gestured to the siblings, "This is clearly a family reunited. Surely you can understand that."

"No. It's a distraction."

"Xavier, Vana's right, take them outside." Leon ordered.

"Lady Zephrine." Xavier held a hand out for Zephrine to take.

As she stood, with Rhys and Caius by her side, she turned to face the king.

"I'm sorry, my Lord." Zephrine bowed her head and let Xavier steer her outside.

As they left the hall, Zephrine swore she saw Xavier shoot a dirty look at the back of Vana's chair.

"I'm sorry about her." Xavier rolled his eyes, shutting the Great Hall doors. "Zephrine, I'm sorry about what happened to your brother." He put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you." She placed her hand on top of his, running her thumb over his knuckles.

"I think your brothers want you." Xavier nodded toward Caius and Rhys. "I'll leave you to it." He kissed Zephrine's hand, then, with a reassuring smile, he walked away, back into the Great Hall.

"What did he mean, 'Lady Zephrine?' And why are you all dressed up like this? And what did Vana mean by 'noble?'" Rhys exploded with questions.

"Guys-" Zephrine started, but Rhys cut in.

"What was that with the prince? Don't tell me that's a thing."

"Rhys, could you just shut up for once?" She snapped. "I'm trying to tell you that I'm a Dragon Singer."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, I'm with Rhys on this one." Caius said. "It's a little unbelievable. But I also want to know what that was with Xavier."

"It was a friendly interaction." Zephrine crossed her arms impatiently.

"Yeah, 'friendly.'" Rhys scoffed. "Somehow I don't think Princey wants to get friendly with you."

"Great, so now you're back to being suspicious of every male that even looks at me."

"We shouldn't be fighting like this." Caius rubbed the back of his neck. "Let's just all be happy we're together."

"Not all of us." Zephrine shook her head, tears falling already, mixing with whatever powder was still left on her eyes. "It was great to see you two again." She turned around, and as soon as she rounded the corner, she ran up the stairs, into her chambers.