Priscilla walked to her bed and patted the spot next to her. Illnyea followed, though her gaze remained low as the bed dipped beneath her weight. Priscilla studied her sister's profile as the silence stretched like taffy despite Illnyea wanting to speak with her in the first place.

Illnyea fidgeted with her fingers, rubbing her thumb nail over and over without saying anything. She had a pensive look on her face, with tension around her eyes as she swallowed.

"Copper for your thoughts?" Priscilla asked as she leaned back on her hands.

Mouth opening and closing twice, Illnyea laced her fingers together and pressed down so hard the scars from the magical overload turned a pale white against her tanned skin.

"Our parents disowned you," Illnyea said so quietly that Priscilla nearly didn't catch the words.

Priscilla's breath caught at the way Illnyea's voice cracked and her lips trembled as she spoke, like it took all of Illnyea's self-control to keep a straight face. Her golden eyes remained rooted on the floor, as if she couldn't bear to face Priscilla.

The letter she had written Illnyea had touched on this topic, briefly explaining Priscilla's name change so Illnyea wouldn't be blindsided by it when Priscilla signed the letter. Priscilla had written that it wasn't Illnyea's fault that it happened, that there was no reason to blame herself because it was something that Priscilla chose.

It seemed it didn't work as well Priscilla hoped it would.

"They did," Priscilla said.

Illnyea flinched, shoulders going tense as she curled in on herself like Priscilla was damning her along with the pathetic excuse of parents.

"It…" Priscilla sighed, running a hand through her hair as she wondered just how to phrase it. "They didn't just disown me out of nowhere because they hated me."

"Why did they do it then?" Illnyea sounded lost and so very young.

"It came about when I asked them to disinherit me," Priscilla said and Illnyea's head whipped up so fast that her braid nearly smacked Priscilla in the face.

"Sorry," Illnyea whispered when she saw Priscilla lean back.

"I have good reflexes, so it's no worry," Priscilla said, giving Illnyea a half-smile that didn't seem to help the girl relax. Though Priscilla was tempted to lighten the conversation with a joke, she resisted because this was clearly important to Illnyea.

She had never had a sister before but… Illnyea deserved Priscilla's best effort, especially after Priscilla had already screwed things up yesterday.

"You know the day before you left with that caravan?"

Illnyea nodded.

"On that day," Priscilla said, "I decided that I needed to change my life, and talking with you was just the first step. After you left, I drafted up a contract and took it to their office — in exchange for forsaking all my inheritance, I would instead get a biweekly stipend and a guard for my outings until my twenty-third birthday, and then after that, we'd merrily part ways forever. I have a copy of the contract if you'd like to see the details."

Her sister's eyes were wide. "I…" Illnyea shook head like she was recalibrating as she fully turned towards Priscilla and unlaced her hands. "Maybe later. Now, though… Now I'm wondering how you ended up changing your name – even if you forsook your inheritance, you didn't have to give up your name too because that's… that's cruel."

Priscilla sighed, mouth twisting as there wasn't really any delicate way to put this. "I gave them the contract and Cian pointed out in the second clause, I would be giving up my right to the Thornewood name with what I outlined. So, I said I'd be happy to be a No-Name, but Idalah offered her maiden name of Sunscarre out of nowhere and I decided it'd probably be easier to just accept so they'd sign."

A dark look crossed Illnyea's face when Priscilla called their shared relation by his name, the normally bright gold of her eye glinting darkly as Priscilla continued. Illnyea's lips were pressed together so hard they were pale and bloodless.

"They…" Illnyea took a deep, shuddering breath as she briefly closed her eyes. "I suppose that's somehow better than what I was picturing. I guess. If using vague contract terms to take away someone's name is better than making it a premeditated repudiation."

Illnyea sounded cynical and bitter as she stared at her hands, fingers idly tracing the scars over her wrists.

Carefully, Priscilla reached over and covered Illnyea's hand with her own. She wasn't even wearing Asha, as Priscilla had wanted to give her hand a break from the constant stimulation of cloth brushing against it. Asha was resting next to her bed, just within reach, and she felt the artifact's keen attention on their conversation and the pulses of sympathy as Illnyea quietly despaired.

"While I may no longer consider those two my family," Priscilla said, curling her fingers to get a better grip on Ilnyea, "I have never once ever stopped thinking of you as my sister."

Illnyea's head inclined down but didn't rise back up and she remained staring at their joined hands.

She wet her lips, fingers tightening around Priscilla's and then, in a rush, Illnyea said, "What if… what if I do the same as you?"

Priscilla blinked rapidly, taken aback because her formative years had been obsessing over Illnyea Thornewood, and asking, "Like… change your name?"

Illnyea let out a brittle laugh, a broken smile stretched across her face.

"I don't want my father's name," Illnyea asked, her breathing going ragged as she struggled not to cry, "when he so easily disregarded you – and you, you lost your memories and almost sold your soul to a cult because you were rejected by us."

Illnyea wiped away her tears roughly with her free hand, sniffling, "I know I wasn't perfect and I'm sorry for never seeing how you were hurting – "

"You and I were just kids," Priscilla said, sympathetic tears stinging her eyes as she felt Illnyea's hands shake underneath her touch.

"But I could have been better," Illnyea whispered as her face crumpled with blame and self-hatred, "I could have tried to understand you, reached out sooner or, or – "

Priscilla lunged forward, dragging Illnyea into a hug, pulling her in close so Priscilla didn't have to watch her sister cry anymore.

"It's not your fault," Priscilla whispered as Illnyea buried her face into her shoulder, hands reaching up and twisting in the loose fabric of Priscilla's nightgown, "and even if it was, I forgive you, okay? You…"

Are everything to me, whispered the part of her mind that was still Priscilla.

"You're my sister, 'nyea, and that's never going to change. We might say stupid shit or hurt each other's feelings, but I meant it when I said I will always come for you no matter what."

"They didn't come for me," Illnyea whispered, voice cracking. "They were going to just let me rot there because they trusted Rudy, and, and now they're off on a stupid business trip – "

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Illnyea cut off with a sob.

The betrayal obviously rocked Illnyea to the core and Priscilla wished Cian and Idalah were here so she could tear them a new asshole for breaking Illnyea's trust. This was the daughter they supposedly loved, and they treated her heart carelessly.

"Why does their business matter more than me?" Illnyea asked, the question lodging deep in Priscilla's heart like broken glass.

It inspired a wave of rage within Priscilla, a bubbling volcano that begged to explode, because how dare they make Illnyea ask the same question that had kept Priscilla up too many nights.

Absolutely unacceptable.

"I don't know," Priscilla said, reaching up to cradle Illnyea's head protectively, "but I do know that they don't deserve you. If you want to change your name, know that I will love you even if you end up being a No-Name – and I'll go file the paperwork right away so you won't be alone."

Illnyea all but collapsed into Priscilla's arms and Priscilla held her close, a silent promise to keep her safe against the world. Priscilla rubbed soothing circles on Illnyea's back, and slowly, very slowly, Illnyea's breathing began to steady and the sniffles became rarer and rarer until Illnyea finally lifted her head from Priscilla's now very wet shoulder.

Her eyes were sticky and puffy, and Illnyea's forehead had a large red spot from where she had been leaning against Priscilla.

"I don't know what I want," Illnyea said, sounding tired. "But… I can't forgive them for leaving me there."

"No matter what you decide, I'll be here," Priscilla said, gently squeezing Illnyea's hand.

That brought the closest thing to a smile on Illnyea's face since she stepped into Priscilla's room, a softening of her eyes and relaxation of her eyebrows

"I don't…" Illnyea swallowed. "I don't want to stay in this house anymore."

"We've got to be smart about this," Priscilla said, the beginnings of plans starting to take shape in her mind, "but I think if we put our heads together, we can make it happen."

"Can't we just do a contract like you did?" Illnyea sounded impatient, like now that she had acknowledged the desire, she wanted to seize the opportunity with both hands and leave immediately.

Priscilla sighed, tapping her free fingers as she considered that but she ultimately shook her head.

"I knew they wanted me gone," Priscilla said, "and I had the perfect opportunity to catch them off balance, so I was able to push the issue and get what I wanted without them arguing with me much. Your approach has to be different because you're hoping for a different goal that might have less permanent repercussions."

Illnyea made an unhappy face, pursing her lips in a pout, as she said somewhat petulantly, "I might want to change my name too, I just… have to think about it."

"And that's fine," Priscilla said, "but we're going to be focused on your main goal because that's not going to change: getting you out of this house." Priscilla paused, glancing slyly at Illnyea. "Do you remember what I said about negotiations?"

Illnyea frowned for a moment in thought before saying, "That to get what I want, I need to know what my business partner wants. But I don't know what our parents want, I can barely understand what they're thinking half the time."

"And after sharing that nugget of information," Priscilla said, cutting through the rising emotion in Illnyea's voice with a calm tone, "I said that if you don't know what their motivations are, then ask someone who does."

"Mr. Ordan," Illnyea said, eyes going wide as she picked up what Priscilla was putting down. "He's worked for them for nearly twenty years now – if anyone knows what they're thinking, it's him."

That was a very useful nugget of information and helped to contextualize the relationship the original and the butler had. Illnyea looked like she was ready to stand up right then and go track down Mr. Ordan, demanding answers.

"Tomorrow, we'll go talk to him," Priscilla said, squeezing Illnyea's hand to get her gaze back on Priscilla. "We can't interrupt an old man's beauty sleep after dragging him around all day – that'd just be plain rude."

Priscilla's playful tone drew a weak smile from Illnyea.

"We can't possibly be rude," Illnyea agreed, finally slouching and releasing the tension in her shoulders.

"I heard that you and Kavil had a sleepover last night," Priscilla said accusingly, abruptly changing the topic after a quiet moment and sending Illnyea a mock glare. "How dare you two get up to fun without me? I heard you even made a pillow fort with him – the sheer audacity to do that and not invite me is staggering!"

After a tough conversation, the best remedy was to focus on something silly and stupid and it didn't matter at all so you could leave behind the negative emotions in the past.

Illnyea giggled, shaking her head at Priscilla.

"What's so funny?" Priscilla asked, crossing her arms with an annoyed hmph.

"Nothing, you just reminded me of something Kavil said," Illnyea said, smiling like she was recalling an inside joke. "If you're so jealous, I guess we can have a sleepover tonight – though you have to break the news to Sulaiman tomorrow that he's being left out."

Priscilla rolled her eyes, tossing her hair dramatically as she stood up.

"He's been able to monopolize you for a decade now," Priscilla said as she waved her hand dismissively. "He can suck it up."

"So what's first on our sleepover agenda?" Illnyea asked, rising to her feet as well.

"Obviously," Priscilla said haughtily as Illnyea followed her like a duckling, "we have to give each other makeovers, do our hair, and dress up to feel like a badass bitch."

"Obviously," Illnyea repeated, giving Priscilla a bemused look.

Priscilla threw open her closet door, staring down the racks of dresses.

"You're a bit taller than me," Priscilla said, eyeing her sister, "but since you're a bit thinner, I think we can find something that'll work. Spot anything you like?"

Illnyea looked between the dresses and Priscilla, looking overwhelmed.

Priscilla patted Illnyea's arm comfortingly. "Don't worry, I've thought extensively about what would look best on you and luckily I have a few options here."

There was nothing quite like the experience of trying on clothes and striking a pose for your captive audience – leaning into the sheer ridiculousness of the situation without an ounce of hesitation brought about joy like nothing else quite could. With no judgement and overly enthusiastic encouragement from Priscilla, Illnyea took to the silly activity like a duck to water, giggling as she struck a dramatic pose with a leg on the wall to show off the black and silver layers hidden underneath. Priscilla did her best JoJo pose while leaning backward to show off a dress's cape and fell onto the pillows laughing when she inevitably failed. Illnyea tried the pose as well and failed just as spectacularly, landing next to Priscilla in a giggling heap.

They combed and braided each other's hair, chatting about what they wanted to see at the festival, what might be fun to visit in the capital, what type of monsters they hoped to see one day, just about everything they were looking forward to in the future. Priscilla gave Illnyea two twin french braids that made her sister whip her head back and forth before declaring, "I must learn how you do this because they're so secure." Illnyea only knew how to do a simple braid but she made up for it by doing about fifty of them on Priscilla, going so far as to attempt to braid Priscilla's bangs into five different braids.

"Is this really necessary?" Priscilla asked while Illnyea completed her task with a look of intense concentration.

"Obviously," Illnyea said, adopting a mocking tone as she tutted, "you fail to see my vision if you must ask that."

"You just want my hair to be wavy as shit tomorrow," Priscilla said, narrowing her eyes, "so I have to explain myself to Sulaiman."

Illnyea's eyes danced with mischief as she said, "Noooooo."

"You absolute fiend," Priscilla said, failing to sound stern as she laughed, and Illnyea laughed too as Priscilla's bangs slipped from her fingers and she had to start over with the braid.

It was far later than Priscilla had meant to go to bed when they were finally back in their nightgowns and done posing, but she felt satisfied as Illnyea crawled under the covers. Priscilla doused their lamp and joined Illnyea, curling under the warm bedding. The bed was comfy and warm on a colder night, and Priscilla knew once she closed her eyes that she'd be out like a light.

"Thanks, Priscilla," Illnyea said. She sounded tired after their flurry of activity, but in the moonlight, Priscilla saw how Illnyea's smile hadn't dimmed.

"Anytime you need a night like this again," Priscilla said, "you just let me know and we can strut the walkway once more, maybe even grabbing Perry to judge who's better at it."

Illnyea chuckled, "I will, though we won't have access to your extensive wardrobe if we're traveling."

"We can improvise," Priscilla said. "It's less about the clothes themselves than having the willingness to try new things. Plus, we'll have the boys to drag into our antics, and I would kill to put bows in Sulaiman's hair."

"He'd hate that," Illnyea giggled, though she sounded as if sleep was already stealing her away. "Goodnight, Priscilla."

"Sweet dreams, 'nyea."

Priscilla sent the same sentiments into her bond with Asha and then went to sleep as Asha's responding warmth curled around her soul.

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