Realm of the Sun

Chapter 17

A lot had happened in the last few days.

One- Solarie was almost assassinated. She couldn't quite remember if it was days ago or weeks ago, but it happened. She was not fond of it.

Two- Solarie presented a plan she did not know would definitely work, but now that she was in Nebesa, she had to try.

Three- she found out her whole family is dead. They were some of the only civilians injured during her assassination attempt, yet they died in the hospital.

And four- Roza swallowed a dragon.

Dinner at the Tsiolkovsky house was... awkward, to say the least. What did you do today? I watched a friend almost plummet to her dead only for her to wake up and realize she absorbed a mythical creature that terrorized a country for years. What about you?

Solarie was not ready to face a lot of things. For instance, after her initial sobs, she made sure to never acknowledge her parents death. Bottle it up and compartmentalize, after the first feels. That was her routine when dealing with grief- first her father, now, her mother and Ariana.

Other things she had to deal with: talking to other people while hiding an enormous amount of grief and somber tears, negotiating with the tsar of a country she barely knew existed up until a few years ago, and generally navigating the teetering bridge known as Roza Zhelvakova.

Everyone ate in silence. The house was mostly empty; Sofiya and Tatiana both practiced abstinence and took an oath not to have children. Roza was dealing with her internal problems, quite literally and metaphorically, and Solarie was still trying to decide whether or not she was going to tell Roza what happened to her family, whether or not she wanted to go back to Cai after the day's events, and other miscellaneous issues that had popped into her brain in the last few hours.

"Well, the good news is that the crystal has been repaired. No more escaped syzmeiskazki, and the storm is dwindling. Looks like only one got out." Tatiana tried her hand at starting a conversation, but ultimately failed.

In the end, Sofiya took everyone's plates despite their protests, and banished them upstairs to wash up and rest for the next day. Solarie thought she saw a hint of sorrow appear on Sofiya's face, but it wasn't there for long. Now she knew where Roza had gotten her cynicism and eye rolling from. How many visits to Sofiya had it taken? Probably not many. How jolly Tatiana could put up with her cynic of a sister, she did not know.

There was not much Solarie could do for now other than what Sofiya had told her to do. As soon as she finished cleaning herself up and Tatiana had shown her to her guest chambers, she flopped down onto the bed, and silently, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

They were gone.

All gone.

All gone.

What if Solarie had stayed in the shop that day? Would her fate have been any different than it was now? Going to the Sun Trial, getting involved in socialite politics, and becoming some kind of figurehead? Was it worth every loss that came?

She recalled a memory from years back, when her father had just passed away and she was trying to get Ariana through the funeral procession.

"Sh-shh, Ari, it's okay-"

"No! It's not! Daddy's not coming back and that's not okay!"

Solarie held back tears as she hugged her sister closer, cheeks red and hysterical tears streaming downwards. "I know. Damn it, Ari, don't you think I know?" it came out more aggressively than she had wished, and felt so guilty projecting her guilt and depression on to her little sister.