Kieran stood from his desk, shuffling his papers for what felt like the third time that hour. The day had been hectic– digging through archive files, answering questions, smoothing over problems that had decided to show up.
But for the first time since coming home from the U.S., it was quiet. Everything was, hopefully, done. No more work to do, for at least an hour or two.
He glanced at the clock. 5:31 p.m.
Anthony should be back by now. Time to go hear what's been going on with that school.
Kieran grabbed his coat from the hook and made his way through the palace halls. He passed several groups of staff, enjoying their evening free time. He nodded to a few of them, but didn't stop.
The foyer was still as lively as it had been that morning. Kieran half expected Anthony to be drifting among the staff, or examining the paintings that adorned the walls.
Nothing.
He sighed, a smile forming on his mouth. Of course Anthony would be late. Must've gotten distracted.
By the time he went through the main doors and got to the edge of the massive gardens, Kieran spotted a familiar figure wandering through the palace gates, hair messy, face calm as ever.
Anthony saw him instantly. 'Oh, hey, Kieran. You're back!'
'There you are,' Kieran said, crossing his arms, sounding slightly amused. 'I was starting to think you'd run off and forgotten about us. I've been waiting ages, you know.'
Anthony laughed, jogging closer. 'I was just talking with some people. I didn't think it would take me so long to get back. I'm still working on memorising all the streets and turns.'
'Mm-hm,' Kieran said. 'Made friends already? They don't think you're a weirdo or anything, right?'
Anthony's smile widened a bit, eyes just a degree brighter. 'Yeah, I did, and I'm pretty sure they don't think so. Hopefully. I met so many people, and I met these three that are super cool. They're the people I was talking with, actually. One of them is Rita's cousin. What a coincidence, right?'
Rita's cousin goes to that school? Really? And he made friends with them, too. What are the odds?
'Oh, yeah? That's pretty funny,' Kieran replied. 'But how'd you even find out they were related?'
'Rita told me her name, that I should make friends with her, and that she'd be in my year. She was actually the friend of the very first student I met. I was pretty surprised.'
'...Anyway,' Kieran hesitated. 'Do you… wanna talk about any info you gathered so far? Sora said that the rebels are watching you. Have they made any moves other than that?'
Anthony's smile dimmed. His expression turned thoughtful, though there was a hint of worry just beneath the surface.
'On the first day, I noticed something strange during class. It kinda felt like someone was throwing invisible knives into my back. When I turned around, there was a girl looking at me. No, she was outright staring. Was one of the most unsettling moments of my life. But when I blinked, everything was fine. She was normal, talking with someone like nothing ever happened. Two more times I felt it. The next day, there was a boy. Then today, it happened three times, but no one was even facing me.'
Kieran stayed quiet for a moment. He didn't like the sound of that– even though Anthony getting noticed by the rebels was supposed to be a good thing.
What could they be planning? Are they going to test him, see how loyal he would be? Oh, no… what if they don't trust him at all?
'Sounds like you're pretty interesting to them. Probably just keep doing what you're doing, act like absolutely nothing's going on,' Kieran suggested gently.
'Okay.'
Anthony nodded, and the conversation fizzled out.
Kieran offered a brief smile, and gestured back towards the palace.
'Come on, let's get back before it gets too dark. I don't know about you, but my coat's doing nothing to stop me from freezing!'
They walked back together, following the immaculate stone path and walls of stunning flowers, cool wind brushing them softly. The palace doors swung open easily, and the hum of easy conversation filled the air. There were less people than before, but the foyer was still far from empty.
When they reached the hallway near the second floor landing, someone rounded the corner with confident steps– black hair pulled in a low ponytail, boots tapping lightly on the tiles.
Rita stopped the moment she saw them, eyes flicking between the two.
'Kieran. Anthony,' she greeted with a slight tilt of her head. 'Gonna go freshen up before dinner? You guys look very messy.'
Kieran huffed, brushing a bit of his frizzy hair to the side. 'Didn't have to be so blunt about it! We weren't, but I guess we should, now that you mention it.'
Anthony laughed. 'We can't argue with that, though. What about you? Heading somewhere?'
'No, not really. Just finished the daily mountain of things to do. Walking off the stress. But since we're all here now, why don't we catch up a bit?'
Kieran shrugged. 'Sure, might as well.'
Rita grinned. 'Come on, that sitting room near the offices is probably empty. It'll be warm, and no one will overhear me talking about how hard my life is.'
She turned and walked back the way she came, Kieran and Anthony following close behind.
The room she led them to was a small, softly lit space filled with comfortable chairs and couches all around a coffee table, various potted plants and decorations all around it.
They each took their seats without thinking. It was a place they'd visited more than once, on the quiet days when they just wanted to chat.
Rita stretched across the couch, arms dangling over the side like she owned it. 'Today was ridiculous. I swear, the new hires are getting slower and slower by the year. I asked for the monthly school statistics overview, and I was still waiting four hours later. Being a department head is so damn hard. Kieran, I'll never understand how you can manage it all!'
Kieran smirked. 'Let's just say I enjoy the challenge, heh. You know what, it would be funny if they were doing it on purpose, just to mess with you.'
'When I look at you, I get the feeling you're the kind of guy to do that. In secret.'
'You think so, too?' Anthony chimed in. 'He's nice, like, 99% of the time. After that, he'd just go around switching documents or moving things for fun.'
'What kind of friends are you guys?' Kieran demanded dramatically. 'I would never. People look up to me, and you're suggesting I'm the type to do that?!'
Rita smiled, and rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, you're the light of Laurelian, we get it.' She turned to Anthony. 'Anyway, speaking of troublemakers, my cousin sent me a veeeery interesting letter about you, Anthony.'
'Really?' Anthony said, surprised.
'Told me about how you're cool, and I quote, "weirdly enjoys school." So far, so good, as far as impressions go. Sounds like you're all getting along nicely.'
'Yep,' Anthony agreed, leaning forward slightly. 'She's kinda scary, and changes her mind a lot… but she's a good friend. Like you.'
'Thanks, buddy. Good to have people you can trust around you. You never really know who's on your side these days, with all the rebels, or whatever Sora's paranoid about this time.' She laughed jokingly.
Kieran nodded along, but he didn't say anything.
…What was that? She seemed off for a second there, he thought. Her tone shifted, then went back to normal.
He looked at her sideways. She was relaxed and smiling, like nothing ever happened.
She's always been like that. Slipping weird comments in between jokes. I guess this is just another one of those times.
I can't really go out there and directly ask why… I'll just ignore it, like always.
'You know,' Rita went on, 'it's kinda nice how quiet everything's been. There hasn't been a public execution for a few months. And the palace is running pretty smoothly.'
Kieran raised an eyebrow. 'That's a grim example to measure by.'
Rita shrugged. 'I mean, it's true. Less people going missing. Less resulting chaos.'
Neither Anthony nor Kieran knew how to respond to that.
She'd said it so casually.
Almost everyone in the palace had been through times where unrest lurked around every corner. It was a given for things like that to happen often, when you lived close to the law.
Kieran still remembered the week his predecessor disappeared, three years ago.
There was no announcement, no reason given why. Just silence.
Everything was thrown into disarray, and as a junior assistant to the head of the administration department, he'd tried his hardest to help keep everything together.
But she's right. Nothing like that's happened for a while.
Anthony finally spoke up. 'That's good. That it's been quiet, I mean.' He fiddled with a cushion before continuing. 'But is that true… for the people outside the palace? At school, I keep hearing rumours about students who got executed for little things. Even in class, everyone's quiet, like they're scared of something.'
Kieran noted the serious look on Anthony's face.
He's noticed a lot. I'm proud.
But I don't want him to start thinking everything is so bad. He doesn't need to know.
'Oh, rumours are just rumours,' Kieran scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. 'At my old school, they said if you yelled in the hallways at 3 a.m., you'd summon the ghost of Orin Veldun. People are just bored, they make up things for fun.'
Anthony's frown lessened slightly. 'I guess people need stories.'
Rita leaned back, gaze drifting to the window. 'Stories are powerful. Even more than the truth, sometimes. Especially when it's so risky to say the truth out loud.'
Kieran let out a short laugh. 'Now that's ominous.'
'Nah, just realistic.' She tapped the coffee table lightly, then stood. 'Anyway, it's six. Probably time for dinner. I'm gonna go, you guys can come with, if you want.' Without waiting, she calmly walked past them, and out the door.
'...Stories, huh?' Anthony suddenly looked thoughtful.
I feel like he just had an epiphany, Kieran thought, looking at him. I guess it's a good thing, 'cos Sora definitely can't just discard him, especially when he's learned so much.
But that kind of thinking… It might be dangerous. It could get him hurt, or worse.
Kieran stretched his arms, trying to shake the weight of that idea off. 'C'mon. Let's go, otherwise there won't be any mashed potato left!'
Anthony blinked, then grinned. 'Oh, no. What a tragedy.'
They headed together, the door swinging shut behind them. Leaving the sitting room quiet again, like their conversation had never taken place.