𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕(𝙰𝙲𝙾𝚃𝙰𝚁)

𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔬𝔲𝔯

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

age: 10

     Azriel's shadows flew around to entertain me at breakfast. I giggled at them, letting one wind around my finger.

"They've never taken to anyone like this before," Azriel said to me as he ate his eggs. I grinned.

     Astraea came downstairs to join the rest of us, filling her plate up. I furrowed my eyebrows. There was something different about her scent.

     I looked over to my mother, whose face had grown solemn. Mother stood up and went to Astraea, placing her hands on her shoulders.

"What's wrong?" Astraea questioned, confusion stretched across her features.

"Dulzura," Mother whispered, her voice breaking.

"What is it?" Astraea repeated, more urgent this time.

"You're with child, mi amor," Mother informed her. My eyes widened as I exchanged a glance with my twin.

   Astraea's face fell. She dropped her plate, which shattered on the floor. She shook her head, a hand going to her mouth.

"I'm sorry, baby," Mother said to her, tears in her eyes. Astraea turned away, rushing out of the room and back upstairs. Mother sighed, wiping her eyes.

"I'm going to talk to her," she informed us. "Please, please, be kind to her through this."

    I knew that was mostly speaking to Rhys, who had been quite rude to her in the past few months. When Mother left, Rhys snickered.

"Rhys, don't be mean," I insisted.

"She's sixteen and with child," he pointed out.

"Exactly, so be nice to her," I snapped. I turned to Azriel, who was staring at his lap. "Az, you okay?" He nodded.

"She's not even married," Rhys mumbled.

"My mother wasn't married, either," Cassian snapped. I glanced at him, surprised to see him standing up for Astraea. "But that didn't make her a bad mother."

"I didn't know that," Rhys said quietly, guilt evident on his face. Cassian never spoke of his family.

     Cassian got to his feet, knocking his chair over as he stormed out of the kitchen.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

I had thrown a fit because I had to do my lessons, and I had lost that fight. So now I was wiping my eyes and sniffling as I read through my book.

The boys should have been back from training and doing their lessons with me by now, but they'd been coming home late every day lately.

Mother had been working, so she didn't know. Since Astraea had been given the news that she was with child, she spent most of the day hidden away in our room. At night, I could hear her quietly crying, but I never said anything.

The door opened and the three came in. Cassian and Rhys laughed, but Azriel was silent.

"Where have you guys been sneaking off to?" I demanded, pouting from feeling left out.

"Az can't fly," Cassian snickered. Azriel looked down in shame, his cheeks blushing.

I furrowed my brow, my heart wrenching at the sight. He'd told me very little about his upbringing, but I imagined there was a terrible story behind why he'd never learned.