Family

  “Hey! Hey! Ty! Didja see that? Didja?”

  Sitting on the courtyard benches, observing her students practicing with other first-years, Ty smiled at Elias and stopped fidgeting with her new sword in its protective scabbard: a light, black leather one that she had gotten Darius to fashion for her so that she could keep it by her side. “Yup!” she called back with a laugh.

  “I knew I could beat her!” he continued before running back to the center of the field, giving the tactician a rare moment of peace and quiet with her weaponsmith.

  “Elias is like kid,” Darius chortled from beside her, eyes tracking the cheery duelist. “It is warm to see him…so bright. So happy.”

  Ty reciprocated the smile, trying not to focus on the underlying meaning of his words. “It makes me happy, too.”

  But instead of turning back to watch the fight, she kept looking at Darius, trying to study his face, trying to decipher his look of admiration when a question popped into her mind.

  “Hey, Darius, do you have any siblings?”

  He blinked, finally letting go of Elias to focus on Ty. “Sibling? Family?”

  “Sure, family,” offered Ty kindly.

  His eyes wavered as he answered, taking a few seconds first to gauge the seriousness and intention in her eyes. “I have mother and father. Mother…return to Earth Mother. Father, gone, as you know.”

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  “Did you have any brothers or sisters?”

  He shrugged. “In community, yes. Many.”

  Ty hummed, trying to figure out another way of asking the question. “I mean, did your parents have anyone else other than you? Like a younger brother or sister.”

  Darius paused, fixing his eyes on a sole position on the field. “I…did not grow up with sister, but my parents tell me I have.”

  Ty scrunched her eyebrows and put a palm up to her cheek in contemplation. “How does that work? Where did she grow up then?”

  “Another community. Another parent,” he mused quietly, eyes unmoving. “One day, maybe I find and tell her. Tell her I am her brother. I think father would like. He tell me to take care of her.”

  Yet all she could do was continue to gaze at Darius searchingly. “Did they ever tell you where she is? I mean, there are a lot of communities out there, but the Headmistress, she—”

  “Yes. I do know. But I do not think is good idea to tell so soon.”

  “Why?”

  “Because is not easy to know your family is not family. To accept not-family is family.”

  “I…I see.”

  “Ty is always family.” Darius moved in his seat to face her fully, finally coming up with the words he had been trying to express. “You know, from Elder. When I had to leave my community to fulfill promise, only one I could go to was Headmistress. But is lonely, with only one person. Then, I had class. I had you. And I always remember you telling me, ‘Class is family.’ I have many little brother and sister to protect. I have people to care for. I have reason, like you.” He finally paused, breaking eye contact with Ty and turning back to the field. “Even though I have made many mistake, and I have sinned much, I must keep going. I must keep going for all my family. For father. For Headmistress. For class. For you. I hope you understand.”

  Silence.

  “I want…I want to tell you.” He looked at the sword in Ty’s lap. “One day. One day, you must use father’s sword against me. Like decision, it will not be easy, but sometimes even though we love family, we must do what is right. Not what is comfortable, not what is good to hear, not what keeps the peace, but what is right. That, my dear sister, is what courage is.”