The Twin Who Out-darkened Heaven
Copyright© 2026 by A. K. Veyron
Chapter 20: A Brother’s Advancement
The church escort arrived four days after the inquiry.
Lys left the Voryn estate on a gray morning in a white carriage with a gold sun painted on the door. Two wardens rode in front and two behind. Lady Voryn cried at the gate, and Lord Voryn gave a short, stiff speech about duty. Kael stood at the back of the family and watched his brother lean out of the window to wave.
Lys looked right at him as the carriage turned onto the road. He raised a hand and mouthed two words. Be careful.
After that, the house felt quieter. Nobody talked about the tournament at dinner. Varos Dain did not appear, and the inquiry into the Harrow house dragged on without news. Kael practiced at the abandoned ground, listened at doors, and kept a low profile.
Eleven days later, a rider galloped up to the gate with a message sealed in white wax. Lord Voryn read it aloud to the household, and his hands shook.
“Lys has completed his private evaluation. He returns tomorrow.”
The carriage came back at noon, and the whole estate turned out to meet it.
Servants lined the drive. Lady Voryn twisted her handkerchief at the front. Kael stood near the back, next to Mei, who held a tray of cups and kept sneaking glances at him. After the inquiry, she had said only one thing to him, and she said it now, barely moving her lips.
“A man from the inn asked about your habits again, young master. I told him you were sleepy and clumsy and fall asleep in the laundry yard.”
“Thank you,” Kael murmured.
“I do not know why I am telling you,” she whispered. Then the carriage door opened, and she stepped away.
Lys climbed down in a new white coat with gold trim. He looked taller. His face was thinner and more serious, the face of a boy who had spent eleven days among people who watched everything he did. Then he saw his mother, and the seriousness cracked. He caught her in both arms and lifted her off the ground, and the whole yard burst into applause.
A hero’s welcome, said Maltherion in Kael’s mind.
He deserves it. He is the only person in this house who ever apologized to me for being ignored.
The announcement came at dinner.
Thirty guests sat at the long table under white flowers and gold ribbons. Lord Voryn stood and tapped his glass. “Tonight, my son Lys will tell you what he has been given.”
Lys rose. He took a breath before speaking.
“I have been accepted into the preparatory program of the church. The Shoshi of Justice, Ilvane, has taken me as her student.”
The hall erupted. Lord Ashgrove shouted, “A Shoshi’s student!” so loudly that a servant dropped a pitcher. Lady Voryn cried into her hands. Kael raised his glass with everyone else and smiled the smile of a proud brother.
The seven do not take students lightly, said Maltherion. Even fewer pick one in a private evaluation. I wonder why she wanted your brother.
He is talented. Everyone says so.
Many people are talented.
Kael found Lys afterward on the stone terrace behind the house. The guests had gone. Lys sat on the low wall with his coat unbuttoned and his feet dangling over the garden, looking tired and content.
“Is this seat taken?” Kael asked.
“Only by a very tired person.”
Kael sat down. For a few minutes they watched the moon rise over the pond. Through the glass door behind them, he saw Mei stacking cups and looking out at them, and she turned away when he caught her.
“What is the church like?” Kael asked.
Lys thought about it. “Bigger than I expected, and stricter. The Shoshi of Justice rules the church on our continent. The cathedral in the capital is her seat. Meals at fixed hours, prayers at dawn and dusk, no talking after the evening bell. I got lost on the second day and a priest lectured me for an hour about punctuality.”
“And the people?”
“Kind. The examiners were fair. And Ilvane is calm. She does not raise her voice. She looks at you, and you want to tell the truth.” He smiled. “There was a gray stone in the evaluation room, shaped like an eye. It glowed when someone lied. Mine stayed dark.”
A truth stone, Kael noted. “What about the other six? Do they visit?”
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