ADRIAN

“I don’t like that boy.”

My father stood tall in his dark travelling coat, flanked by two guards. Not tired. Never tired. Just disappointed in advance.

The sun wasn’t even fully up when we escorted our father to the courtyard. Cassian yawned without shame. Tristan looked like he hadn’t slept. I didn’t bother pretending I wasn’t tired. None of us said much.

Cassian blinked. “You’re going to have to narrow that down. There’s like six boys here ...