"To what do I owe this visit?" Kieran asked. "It's not everyday that the royals of Rievelt show up at my doorstep at once."

"Hm." Princess Debra, narrowed her eyes at Kieran. "Unable to cope with your absence in the kingdom, I too, departed. And I return only to find out that you're getting married, yet...you've been back just a few days."

Joshua, now standing next to the Prince, mouthed an "Oh", sensing trouble from the Princess' calm, yet intimidating tone.

"You were a bachelor the last time I saw you, Kieran. Now you're suddenly in courtship," she continued. "Knowing my knave of a brother to be quite the jester, I could not believe it when he said so; I had to come here to hear it from you."

"Your brother speaks the truth," Kieran told her and stepped back, finding she was too close for comfort. "I have found a bride."

There was a moment of silence, which was only disrupted by the sound of fast, shabbily shuffling footsteps, accompanied by the noisy thump and clatter of a satchel. Enoch thus appeared and landed next to Luke, his  fingers tracing the thick strap of his satchel. He was panting loudly, his face folded and worn out as though he was fighting for air.

"Your royal highnesses are too fast," he choked out between blustering breaths.

Luke and Josh glared at him, and Luke gave him a whack on the back of his head.

"Read the atmosphere, fool," he growled and motioned to Debra and Kieran.

Rubbing his head, Enoch saw the two of them and held his breath.

Debra lowered her head, at last letting up on her gaze on Kieran. She felt an ache within her chest when he confirmed his coming marriage.

"I had hoped you would say otherwise," she murmured, her eyes searching the ground. "This can nolonger be a pleasurable visit, Kieran."

"What are you saying, sister?" Luke cut in, attempting a light hearted tone. "You made us leave the castle so early, we didn't even have breakfast. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm famished. Why don't we all have a meal together since we're already here, eh?"

His aim was to lift the mood, and also make Debra eat, because she could be quite thoughtless when she was hungry.

"Yes, yes of course," Josh agreed right away, aware of the princess' cranky habits. "I'll have the servants organise the meal in the pavilion, and inform the others of your presence. Aira will be glad to see you, Princess."

Debra turned to Joshua and smiled for the first time that morning.

"We'll talk more after I eat." She intended the words for Kieran. Even though she was facing Joshua, they all knew she was talking to Kieran, and offered him sympathetic looks at the same time.

*****     *****     *****     *****

Aira had been practicing archery with Ray's help out in the gardens next to the gazebo. He would toss the projectiles (planks of wood) in succession, and she had to shoot them all before they hit the ground. Her ambitious self made sure to strike them all at their their apex. This meant she had to use an insane amount of speed to repetitively pick an arrow from her quiver, draw the string and release the shot.

She did all this without batting an eyelash.

However, when she heard the news of Debra's arrival, she immediately dropped her equipment and ran, leaving her brother behind.
She leaped over the small flight of steps that lead to the back lawns in one motion, and headed straight for the pavilion, excitement flooding her veins.

"Debbie!" she screamed as she lunged into the Princess' arms, nearly knocking them both over. They were currently outside the pavilion as the servants prepared the breakfast.

"Hey there, champ," Debra greeted, ruffling Aira's dark hair fondly. She was a whole head taller than her.

"It's so good to see you!" Aira practically beamed with joy. "It's been months!"

She and Debra were close since they were both warriors, and Debra often trained with her and taught her different fighting techniques. They hadn't seen each other since Aira left for Aldor and Debra went to J'bel.

Debra laughed. "And you living with those four, I can only imagine it felt even longer." She smirked. "Brothers, am I right?"

Aira laughed as Joshua shook his head.
She then looked past Debra and noticed Luke leaning against one of the pillars of the pavilion, watching them with a scowl on his face, his arms folded.
He nodded towards her, and she wore a disgusted frown.

"Oh, pint-size. You're here too," she said flatly.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Oh for the love of-!"

"That's new," Debra chanted, amused by the nickname.

"Yes, we all call him pint-size now," Aira  said lazily, like it was the everyday norm.

"No they don't!" Luke snapped. "Kieran, help me out here."

Kieran merely walked into the pavilion, to the now set table and said, "Let's eat."

"What's up, Debbie?" Ray showed up at last, and greeted her with his signature high five and grin. "Pleasure to be dining with you."

"Pleasure's all mine." Debra smiled.

"I'm here as well, you know," Luke informed them, walking onto the lawn. "In my sister's presence, I suddenly become a shadow. You all forget that I am the Crown Prince and therefore your future king."

"Hello Enoch." Ray smiled at Enoch who was standing next to Joshua, and completely ignored Luke's bemoaning speech.

"Hello, sir." Enoch was more than happy to reply.

Luke was appalled. He looked from Enoch to Ray, in shock and disbelief.
"You greet my servant before you greet me?!" He demanded.

"Oh sire, there you are." Ray faked mild surprise. "So sorry, I didn't see you since you're so..."

"Short." Aira was quick to finish the sentence, and everyone, including Enoch, started to chuckle.

"Ha ha," Luke drawled with irritated sarcasm. He always dropped his guard and was laid back with the Hammedathas because despite being his soldiers, they were also his friends. He never took offense to their teasing, but it didn't change the fact that it was downright annoying,

"I swear, this family-" He slammed his arm back into Enoch's stomach and he let out an "Oomph!"
"Proceed to where you belong," Luke ordered, seething.

"Yes, sire," Enoch croaked and left the grounds.

The rest made themselves comfortable for breakfast, with Kieran and Luke at either ends of the table. Debra sat on the seat next to Kieran, on his right.

"I don't see Aaron around," she observed.

"He went with father and mother to see the physician," Ray clarified, and the royals, knowing of Aaron's ailment, became worried.

"So early in the morning?" Luke asked.

"Is everything alright?" Debra asked.

"It's nothing to worry about." Kieran replied, his voice firm and assuring. "Just a small check up."

Debra's general mood lifted when she got to chatting with the Hammedathas as she ate. She talked of her stay in J'bel, and they talked of their most recent quest. They did a lot of catching up, and the guys were all careful not to touch the topic on Kieran's betrothal.

They wouldn't dare.

Kieran knew better than to participate in the conversation. Dealing with Debra wasn't always easy, and he had learnt over the past few years that there were times when he had to let her call the shots. She had told him they would talk after she ate, so cautiously, he did not engage her during the meal.

Finally, she set her napkin on her empty plate after the meal and said,
"Let's walk."

Everyone at the table, except Aira, knew she was talking to Kieran. And yet again, they offered him sympathetic looks, to which he rolled his eyes with unshaken nonchalance.

"Thank you for sharing the meal with me and my brother," Debra expressed to everyone else and stood up.

They beamed at her in response as she stood up and started to walk, Kieran following behind her.

Ray dropped his smile and turned to Luke, replacing it with an angry frown.
"What is wrong with you?" he asked, eyeing the Prince up and down.

"What do you mean?" Luke's reply was  impassive, and he deliberately avoided his gaze.

Ray, not having it, slapped his forearm. Luke winced, but did not turn.

"Why would you come to visit us so early in the morning as though it is an emergency?" Ray demanded. "You know it is an unwritten rule here that morning training cannot be disturbed. Yet you come here and that too with your sister; putting us all in an awkward and unnecessary tension."

Joshua nodded in silent agreement with Ray.

Luke shrugged his shoulders. "She wanted to come."

"I get that," Ray hissed. "But why so early? A leisure visit can happen any other time. I could not bring it up with her because well...she can be a bit scary."

Luke dropped his cutlery on his plate and finally turned to Ray, frustration etched on his face. "You know how scary she can be and yet you ask me, the younger brother, why I let her come so early?" He hissed back.

Aira rolled her eyes. "Of course you two are scaredy cats like that."

"Listen," said Luke, his face relaxing into one that showed a complete drain of energy. "In fact, she had wanted to come over late last night after she'd just arrived from J'bel. I was the one who convinced her to come today instead, and you know how hard headed she is. I went through so much."

"Wow," Aira chirped. "Was she that excited to see us?"

The three men all looked at her.

"Not us per say..." Ray mumbled.

"Anyway it was after I told her Kieran was getting married," Luke said, and took a gulp of his cocktail juice.

"Oooooh," Ray drawled with a slow nod of his head, putting the pieces together. "So you already told her. Everything makes much more sense now."
He understood that Debra must have been more shocked and bewildered than anyone else, owing to her past relationship with Kieran. It's no wonder he had been sensing icy vibes from her; this was not a leisure visit after all.

"My sister aside, do you guys know?" Luke asked, acquiring a suspiciously happy tone, his pale blue eyes twinkling. "But of course you don't, so I'm just going to go ahead and tell you."

"Tell us what?" Joshua inquired, and Luke grinned with childish glee, eager to spill the beans.

"The real reason Kieran is getting married to Elena," Luke answered, but his excitement halved when he saw their unimpressed faces.

"Oh. That," Ray said, his tone laced with disinterest.

"What's up with that expression?" Luke was disappointed by their calm reactions. "It's a really big affair; especially how he proposed and got her to say yes. Aren't you just squirming in anticipation to know?"

Luke always found joy in being aware of information that other people didn't know. If he believed it would cause no real danger, then sometimes he was eager to spill, and other times he liked to tease, so they'd have to beg him for it. The Hammedathas all knew of this trait of his.

"You're such a gossip, pint-size," Aira stated, rolling her eyes. "I'm sure Kieran must have told you to keep it a secret, am I right?"

"Yes, he did," Luke replied casually.

"And you are busy telling us." Aira narrowed her eyes at him.

"Well, yes." Luke lifted his shoulders in a carefree shrug. "I mean, there really is no harm in doing so."

Aira clicked her tongue as she shook her head towards the Prince, who in turn scowled at her.

"Sire, there is no harm in telling us because we already know," Josh duly informed Luke, effectively bursting his bubble.

Luke's eyebrows shot up. "No way."

"I was the one that figured it out," Aira said proudly. "So we went and asked Kieran, and he had no choice but to tell us everything."

"Everything?" Luke echoed.

"Everything," Aira and Ray affirmed.

Just to double check, Luke asked, "That Elena doesn't love him?"

"Yes," answered Ray and Aira.

"That he saved her life?"

"Yes," Ray and Aira repeated.

"That she swore on Rivera's honor?"

"Yes!" Ray and Aira chorused, and she added, "Everything."

Luke blinked. "Huh." He leaned back in his chair, feeling deflated. "Well that was rather anti-climatic."

"But something still doesn't sit right with me concerning what he said last night," Aira said, contemplatively placing a finger on her chin.

"What else did he say?" Luke asked.

"He said that love isn't his intention in this marriage," she answered. "But I think otherwise. Don't you guys?"

"What do you mean?" asked Joshua.

"I mean that I think Kieran will eventually fall in love with Elena."

"That's preposterous." Joshua said almost immediately, disregarding her notion.

"Kieran said so himself that his relationship is based solely on compatibility," Ray cut in, inclining to Joshua' side. "I do not agree that he will fall in love with her."

"That is because you are being short sighted," Aira argued. "You don't know the future."

"And you don't know Kieran," Ray shot back. "He is not the type to go falling in love when he does not intend to."

"He might not intend it but it will happen." Aira was becoming passionate about the argument. "How can there be such a long life relationship with compatibility but without love? It is not possible."

"With Kieran, anything is possible," Ray  quipped.

"Ray is right." Joshua nodded. "Even if it seems impossible, if it is something Kieran has set his mind to do, he shall definitely do it."

"Oh phooey. The both of you trust Kieran too much, that you speak hogwash." Aira glared at either of her brothers. "You are forgetting that people change. And Elena will most definitely change him, because she isn't like those crazy girls."

"You are the one speaking hogwash, sister." Ray glared back at her. "How can Elena change him if she doesn't even love him?"

"It's precisely because she doesn't love him that he will be able to fall in love," Aira stated strongly.

"Pfft." Joshua snorted. "That is just illogical. You are spewing nonsense, Aira."

Aira flamed with anger and puffed her cheeks at Joshua.

"No, she is not spewing nonsense," Luke finally cut into the argument.

Everyone looked at him at once. His eyes were on his cup as he swirled the cocktail in it.

"Kieran will fall in love with Elena," he stated, surprising them all.

"Wow." A disbelieving smile forming across Aira's lips, "For the first time, you are on my side. I must say, you have grown quite a bit."

"I will choose to ignore that comment," Luke grumbled at the double meaning of her words and placed down his cup.

Aira was genuinely surprised. Always, the Crown Prince would shut her down whenever she spoke about things like love, saying she was too young to comprehend it. He usually called her 'little girl', a name that irked her as much as 'pint-size' irked him, and made fun of her lack of femininity.

"But why are you suddenly agreeing with Aira?" Ray asked Luke. "You never do."

"Because this time, she has a point," Luke answered, casting his gaze to Ray. "She is still a little girl, but I will give her credit just this once."

"Amazing how you can sound both insulting and praising at the same time," Aira muttered.

"Elena is different, and that makes her special," Luke continued. "She is a puzzle that Kieran will enjoy solving without even realising it. That is what will draw him to her, and eventually, he will love her."

"Princess Debra is definitely different, but Kieran did not fall in love with her." Ray thought.

"No matter how different the women are, Kieran remains the same," Joshua voiced out Ray's same thoughts.

"Took the words right out of my mouth, brother." Ray smirked, relieved and proud that there was atleast one other sensible person at the table that saw the truth.

"Well you just wait and see," Aira challenged with a fire in her brown eyes. "They are courting now, and the more they see each other, the closer they will get. By the engagement ceremony, Kieran will have fallen for Elena."

"No, he won't," Joshua and Ray chorused.

"Yes, he will!" Aira retorted.

"No, he won't!" The other two countered.

"Guys, guys, no need to bicker on," Luke intervened and crossed his arms onto the table. Leaning forward, he grinned playfully and asked in a cunning voice, "Shall we settle this with a bet?"

The three siblings exchanged glances.

*****     *****     *****     *****

Meanwhile, Kieran and Debra were walking in silence thick with tension. She was that one who finally broke it by asking, "What is she like? Elena Rivera?"

Kieran looked up at Debra as she walked in front of him. It would have been wiser to give her an answer that would appease her, but he thought the quicker he spoke the truth, the quicker she would get over it. He searched for words to describe Elena, his gaze darting to the side.

"Kind," he replied. "Delicate. A bit demure, but playful as well. She finds either worry or happiness in the littlest of things, and has more compassion than valor. She'd never harm a fly."

"Hm..." Debra mused at his words, and the fondness with which he spoke of her. "So she's the complete opposite of me."

She turned around and faced Kieran.
"I had hoped you would describe her otherwise. It would hurt less to know that you atleast found someone with resemblance to me."

"Deb-"

"I'm not mad, Kieran," Debra cut him off, turning on her heel and advancing onto the training grounds. "You and I are long since done, you made that very clear."

She walked towards the bundle of reeds, which, embedded into the ground in a circle, provided a cage for the swords; and pulled out one.

"But you know how our relationship is," she said, unsheathing the sword.
She tossed it to Kieran, who caught it expertly by the hilt.

She tilted her head to the side and smiled a bit. "Time and time again, you always say to me that we are done. Yet somehow, we find ourselves naked in the same bed the next morning."

Her eyes gleamed with gratification as she watched him narrow his eyes at her.

"And if not the next morning, any other morning," she added, and picked out another sword. She unsheathed it, and lifted it up so she could admire the blade.

"I still believe in that relationship," she said softly, and without warning, struck her sword at Kieran, who, without his amazing reflexes, would not have blocked her blade with his own as he did.

He felt the force with which she struck, and knew at once that she had been lying when she'd said she wasn't mad.

There was no time to counterattack as she stretched her leg and aimed to trip him, so he had no choice but to jump back. No sooner had he landed on his feet than he was forced to block her blade once more.

Debra Forsyth was a great fighter. She was the best female warrior he'd come across; second to his mother Alyssa. In fact, she was one of the few people who would match him in a high pace fight, be it sparring or sword play. With her, he could fight at his full strength, and respected her for having such a talent.

As they fought, with Debra repeatedly coming dangerously close to slicing off his head (he'd had to duck backwards a couple of times), he realised she was venting. Brawling and or smashing things, had always been her quickest outlet when she was frustrated or angry. It was one of the things he'd found very, very attractive about her.
And when she vented to him in this way, her fury always, always turned into unbridled passion for the both of them, and one thing led to the next.

Kieran eventually knocked the sword out of her hand with his foot, and kicked her in the stomach. She stumbled back to a tree, and stepped forward to attack again, but he grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back against the tree trunk.

"Be still." His voice was thick with authority.

She glared into his eyes, except her anger had been replaced by something else, and glazed with lust. Both of them were breathing heavily at this point.

"This is the part where you kiss me like you desire me," Debra spoke first. Her eyes travelled to his lips and lingered there longingly for a while before she met his calm, yet steady gaze again.

She adored those blue green eyes.

"I know," Kieran replied. "But not this time."

He let go of her and stepped back, running his fingers through his hair.

That hollow feeling within her chest returned. It was the first time he had rejected her after their normative intense fight, and she knew what it meant.

"So you were serious about ending it this time round," she mused, the realisation hitting her like a slap in the face. "But I just don't get it."

Kieran looked at her. Since phase two of their vent session had not proceeded as usual, she had to settle with her words. That was one thing Elena and Debra had in common; expressing themselves with words was a hurdle.

"Why?" Debra finally asked the question that had been disturbing her mind; about his marriage. "I'm definetly sure your marriage isn't about love. I know you. You're not the type."

Kieran nodded. "You're right."

"Then what is it about?" she asked. Even though she spoke fiercely, she had calmed down.

He knew Luke had not told her the entire story partly because she must have stopped him at the headlines, and partly because she must have wanted to hear everything from Kieran himself.
After knowing her for so long, both as a friend and lover, he felt he owed it to
her to be honest.

So he opened his mouth to speak.

"You know what, don't tell me," Debra said suddenly, confusing him. He looked at the palm she'd raised to silence him, and gave her a perplexed look.

She inhaled deeply, and let it out. "It doesn't actually matter," she said with a carefree air around her.

Now he was all ears.

"I'm still here, aren't I?" She asked rhetorically and gave him a small smile. "Our relationship might have ended, but our friendship has not. Right?"

Reluctantly, Kieran affirmed, "Right."

"That means I am still in your life, Kieran," Debra said, and her smile only widened, "And I'm not leaving."

He didn't know why, but he felt an ominous feeling befall him when she said that statement.

*****     *****     *****

The next day started with an emergency within the castle grounds, as horns blared to alert the public of an escapee. The Prince had been immediately alerted and briefed before even the crack of dawn, upon finding the prison cell empty, the guards on night duty knocked out of consciousness.

As he stepped into the courtyard, he threw orders left and right of an immediate search, and to find the cause of the security breach.

He gave specific orders to Jethro, his most trusted henchman, to get the message out to the regiment captains of the Prince's Guard.

Enoch, with sleep still dripping from his  eyes, brought Luke his horse and both rode fast out of the castle gates, heading for the Hammedatha Manor to personally deliver the news.

Upon arrival, Enoch sent the servants out to alert the Hammedatha siblings of an emergency meeting, and he and Luke headed up to the Guard's meeting chamber. Enoch leaned against the wall near one of the lantern stands while Luke slowly paced about the place at the head of the round table as they waited.

Enoch had just started to snooze with his head nodding forward when Joshua burst through the mahogany double doors first, effectively jolting him awake. He at once pretended to have been standing upright all along. But Joshua saw through it; they all did.

"Rough night?" Josh asked with two fierce pats on Enoch's cheek before moving along.

"You look like the undead," Ray teased Enoch as he passed by.

Kieran strolled past him without a word.

Aira was the only sympathiser. She stopped and looked at him with pity.
"It's because pint-size overworks you that you end up looking like garbage so early in the morning, isn't it? You should try talking back to him. You're taller than him, you know. It'll make him feel even smaller."

Enoch's face split into a cheery smile at this.

"Aira!" Luke shouted, his voice a warning.

Aira raised her fingers to her lips, "Did he hear that?" she mumbled to herself and walked to stand at her place at the large round table.

"So what's the pinch?" she asked Luke.

"He calls himself the Eluder," Luke replied. Both hands gripped the edges of the table as he hunched over it. His forehead was creased, his face set in a grim expression.

"Isn't that the thief we captured right before we left for Aldor?" Kieran inquired.

"Yes," answered Luke.

"All this fuss for a petty thief?" Ray asked incredulously.

"He is not just a petty thief," Luke's tone was grave. "This guy has outsmarted many nations and no one has been able to catch him. When he ended up in Rievelt, the army was on the case. Kieran and I were just lucky to be in the right place at the right time, so we took him by surprise and captured him in the act.

"That's when my father told me how sneaky he is. Witty and clever with words; has a bunch of connections. He must have been able to escape because of an accomplice. I ordered the guards to find out the cause of the security breach. I hope it's not one of our men."

Luke loathed betrayal. He couldn't stand it when loyalty was sworn to him and the kingdom, only to discover treachery.

"Okay, but how great a threat is he?" Joshua asked, still not understanding how a thief could incite this much unease in the Prince.

"He broke into the the treasury of the county Ridian, and made of with half of it, yet he was never caught," Luke answered, his eyes glaring into the table. "We're lucky to have caught him here before he did any serious damage to the kingdom. Father was planning to send him to Ridian on the Count's request after he served a small sentence here, but look what happened. The bastard broke out 10 days before his scheduled delivery."

His hand balled into an angry fist and banged the table.

"We'll definitely get him," Kieran assured Luke. "He hasn't faced the true power of the Prince's Guard. What precautions have you taken, sire?"

"I already issued orders to the captains through Jethro. Captain Aggrey shall involve the weapons regiment and have them search West. Captain Harvey shall have his regiment search South. Joshua, inform your regiment to search the Eastern sector," Luke said, his words rapid, but able to be caught by the others.

"Yes, sire," Joshua conformed curtly.

"I've given specific instructions  to scatter the espionage regiment everywhere. They're our best chance of finding the Eluder," Luke continued. "For now, it's a joint operation with the army, so I'll concentrate them in the North and Central. You siblings and I should join them. The captains as well."

Kieran nodded in agreement, satisfied with the Prince's course of action, "The Captains will be on their way here then. We'll meet them halfway." He looked up at everyone. "Let's move."

"Wait," Enoch called, stopping them in their movements. They all looked at him.

"Are we really leaving for this mission right away?" Enoch asked, his face folded and haggard, dark circles still drooping  under his eyes.

The rest looked at him as though he were an obstacle in their path.

"Without eating first?" Enoch added.

Luke rolled his eyes, walked to him, and grabbed him by the collar of his coat.
"I'll buy you a bun on the way." He sighed, dragging him outside.

*****     *****     *****     *****
The Hammedathas spent nearly the entire day away from the Manor, but there was no luck in finding the Eluder; even when sketches of his face had been plastered in convenient places all over the kingdom.

Joshua and Ray met that evening, en route back home.

"Any progress?" Ray asked, as he rode along beside him.

Joshua shook his head. "Not even a clue. We went house by house in the villages but there wasn't any shady business. We'll search again at night, and continue tomorrow. We'll move through the marshes."

Ray sighed. "I hope the espionage team found something. They're the expert trackers."

There was a bit of silence until Ray spoke once more.

"You know, I've been thinking. I thought about it quite a bit last night but I couldn't bring it up to you today because of all this ruckus."

"What were you thinking about?"

"The bet we made with Aira and the Prince," said Ray, "and how I don't want to lose it."

"Neither do I," mumbled Joshua, his mind drifting away from the difficulties of the day.

"But then I also thought about what Aira said," Ray went on. "That the more Kieran and Elena see each other, the closer they will get."

"So?"

"So it bothers me."

"What are you getting at?" Joshua asked impatiently.

"There's a way we can win that bet." Ray stated and earned a questioning look from his brother.

"A way? What are you talking about?" Joshua taunted. "The only way to win a bet is by sheer luck. We have to wait and see what happens."

"Are you really just going to sit and wait?" Ray asked. "You have forgotten that this is more of a challenge, considering who we are up against. The Eluder might be sneaky, but so is Prince Luke. He likes to talk and has a way with words; not leaving out the fact that he can do anything to make sure things go his way. I'm quite certain he'll try to get into Kieran's head."

Joshua hummed in agreement. "That is his character..."

"And then there's Aira." Ray narrowed his eyes in distrust. "Little sweet and innocent Aira- oh please. She is a wolf in sheepskin. With a smile and a little pleading, she can get Kieran to do what she asks. I can imagine it even now."

Ray pouted and tried to imitate Aira's countenance and voice.
"Please brother, will you see Elena tomorrow?" He mimicked. "Please do it for me. Don't forget that I am your only sister!"

In his normal voice, he added, "You know how much he cares for Aira. He won't be able to refuse."

"Kieran cares for each of us very much."

"I don't doubt that brother, but Aira is the only girl," Ray persisted. "She is also the youngest, so she holds a great advantage over us. Remember when we were children? Many times, Kieran picked to play with Aira over us. And occasionally he picked Aaron, but that was only because he was sick and needed extra attention. In any case, he values her happiness quite a lot. Do you understand how bad that is for us?"

Joshua was quiet, but he knew there was truth in what Ray was saying.
"So what way are you talking about?" he asked.

Ray grinned, clearly contented that Joshua was ready to board his boat. "Simple. We just have to stop Kieran from seeing Elena so often."