The warm morning light the spills through the blue and green stained glass windows should warm his hands, but the conversation between his sister and mother across the table had all of the blood rushing to his neck.
"Are you both ready for our departure this afternoon?" His mother, Astrea Lani asks.
He nods and his sister excitedly nods. "This quarter's summit should be interesting." His sister smirks.
His father, Apollo Lani, grunts while still reading his reports.
His mother speaks calmly, her hands cupping her tea cup. "Are you excited to see Kaj? Atlas? Are you with us this morning?"
Atlas takes in a deep inhale, opens his mouth to speak, and then closes his mouth. His sister takes the opportunity to speak, as she always does.
"Mama… Kaj won't be there… for a long time…" Her eyes shift to her brother for a moment, concerned, before looking back to her confused mother. "Didn't you notice that his star is out?"
"Now that you mention it… Is that why the Ayers are going after the Belmonte family? Did something happen with Kaj and one of the girls?"
Before anyone can say another word Atlas abruptly stands. "Thank you for breakfast mother and father." He bows his head, but before raising back up he walks away from the table and exits the sunroom, heading towards his room.
Astrea looks to her daughter. "Ariel? What do you know?"
Ariel shrugs and tilts her head, her black hair, full of stars and constellations this morning as it falls to one side, her violet eyes widen to appear innocent. "Well mother, there is only one way, that we know of, that someone's star would go out…"
"Heart break…" The mother whispers while setting her tea cup down on the glass and metal garden table. She places her fingers to her chin to think for a moment. "He offered someone his heart and they refused him… but who? It must have been that girl from the Ayer family, you know the one. Her family was exterminated at least a decade ago now… the Ayers took her in as one of their own. I heard that Kaj and your brother spent a lot of time with her these last three quarters. Ariel, what is her name?"
Ariel shifts uncomfortable in her seat and reaches for her own tea cup, full of coffee, before adding her milk she grabs a few cubes of stardust and stirs to help it melt into her drink. "Eyre."
After satiating her mother's curiosity with rumors and some lies to conceal what she did know to be true Ariel excused herself from the table and went to find her brother.
He sits on his cushions in the middle of his garden in a meditative posture as the star Lillies and bright purple asters did their best to thrive despite the turbulent mind of their master.
"These poor flowers." Ariel holds one of the wilting blooms as it appears to sigh in her hand. "If you don't sort out your mind soon brother, this place will be in ruins, and I doubt mother and father will be pleased to have to give you new starters…"
He sighs and mumbles his words. "Fitting." His dark hair is a mess over his face, his golden eyes that are normally bright as fireworks seem dim now as he opens them to look at his sister, tears have been spilt, the trails they left behind betray him.
"You're still punishing yourself for last quarter…" Ariel sighs as the flower falls from her hand, looking even more pitiful than when she walked in. Her brother only hangs his head in response. "It's not your fault. He shouldn't have been so— so— frivolous with his heart. It honestly surprises me though… people from his region aren't normally so-- reckless." Ariel begins to walk around her brother as she speaks. "But we are. The Lani family is known far and wide for our stunts of reckless bravery and frivolous flirtations yet you seem to have changed completely since last quarter…" Still no response from him.
She decides to sit in front of her brother on her knees and lift his chin up to see her face. "You couldn't have stopped him… could you?"
Atlas begins to shake as more tears begin to spill from his eyes. The garden around them begins to fade from vibrant purple and blue flowers and bushes to grey. "I didn't… I didn't think it would break his heart... and now… now…"
Ariel speaks when he collapses into her arms and begins to sob. "Now you will have to wait a decade for him to return with a new heart... and who knows if that heart will hold the same feelings and affections... or if he would ever risk it in the same way again. Mother and father have always said that a decade of isolation would change even the strongest of their generation... Sh-- shh Atlas…" She rubs her brother's back. He has always carried the weight of their family's position on his back, and last quarter he nearly let that weight slip away, if even a tiny bit, but in a last minute moment of fear the famously reckless Atlas Lani broke his best friend's heart.
When his crying stopped, and the flowers began to brighten again, he sat back up. "And who even knows what he will return to in a hundred years. What we did last quarter may just be the spark that leads to the war our parent's have been able to avoid for the last millennia…"
As her brother spoke Ariel watched as several new plants began to sprout. "Brother… I think you have some weeds in your mind you need to tend…"
Atlas stands, straightens his jacket and offers his arm to his sister. "I think I will leave them there for awhile… at least a decade… maybe longer."
That same morning the Ayer castle was also preparing to leave for the Fall Quarter meeting.
Eyre, their adopted daughter did not join them for breakfast, she was too ill in the mornings lately and had spent the entire Summer isolated in her garden, only accepting visits from her attendants and family.
"She's been acting strange ever since last quarter…" Anahita Ayer paces in their library, her husband is still getting ready for the day, all she has to talk to about her concerns about this upcoming summit with are her twin sons, Ecthelion and Aberforth. The are sitting at the clear and frothy chess set playing a their third round for the morning to break the tie before they leave.
"Yes mother." Aberforth blankly states before making his next move.
"And your father seems to think the worst…" She bites her lips, still not sure she believes the same things her husband does.
"Well she hasn't spoken a word since last quarter." Ecthelion remarks, making his move and looking up into his twins dark blue eyes, turbulent with waves as his usually white hair turns begins turning grey. He places a steadying hand on his twins and the their hair once again matches, white and still.
"Your father thinks that your sister's silence and the Belmonte boy's star going out are connected…" She mumbles, but her twin hear it all.
"Do you think he will want an investigation into the matters?" Ecthelion asks, his hand gripping his brothers as his dark blue eyes begin to brighten and a slight smile crosses their lips.
"I think so… How else will he still his mind from the storm he's created there?" She sighs and stairs out over the back garden's where her adopted daughter can be found sitting in the center, silent and still. "Would you boys go get her? We should be heading out soon."
Aberforth silently moves his last piece. "Checkmate brother." With that the twins stand, bow to their mother and head towards Eyre.
The fountain that should be full and steady inside of Eyre's garden, that should be full of bright pink and purple lotus's in the pond below, surrounded by healthy blooms along the edges of the stream that leads to the center garden space of the family, is instead a small steady stream, hardly thicker than a piece of yarn.
"Look at this little strand of water, Eyre, you really should work on making your mind stronger, you're going to need it moving forward." Ecthelion speaks in a fake concern while Aberforth lets out little repetitive "tsk" after "tsk." The twins circle her in opposite directions like two sharks circling their prey.
She only opens her eyes slowly to her brothers and the stream seems to dwindle further.
"Really Eyre, you act like you're the one with a broken heart." Ecthelion sneers.
Eyre's grey eyes darken, her head falls forward as her white hair falls over her shoulders and a pained sigh escapes her. Her hands reach for her heart. Her heart has been fractured for many years, since before the Ayer family took her in. She had grown used to the cracks from her childhood though and never allowed the relentless teasing and hatred from the twins hurt her further.
Even being ignored by the other heirs and heiresses at the las three summits didn't bother her, she merely went where she was supposed to and did her best to not make any waves. How was she to know that accepting kindness from Atlas and Kia would nearly break her own heart, and destroy one of theirs.
"Eyre…" the soft spoken Aberforth begins and as he speaks the lift in the corners of his mouth become impossible to ignore. "Aren't you looking forward to seeing Atlas?"
Eyre closes her eyes as she begins to shake. The stream of water gets a little larger when she stands and then settles back down when her eyes reopen and she begins to exit the garden.