Fendros gave his farewells and goodnights to the rest of the family with a smile. Rhazii was just about nodding off in his chair by the time they decided to retire. With another thanks, Fendros took Rhazii's hand and followed Ahnasha into Vasiq's room.

The bed itself would be small for all three of them, but it was no worse than they were used to. Fendros helped Rhazii out of his shoes and over-clothes, laid him down on the bed, and then tucked him in. He was asleep almost instantly. Fendros didn't regard Ahnasha during this time.

Once Rhazii was settled, Fendros sat down carefully next to Ahnasha on the bed. He thought he would be angrier about the situation, but after the hours spent perpetuating it, he was just tired. Still, he wanted to talk about it. He put his hands together and looked to Ahnasha sadly. His tone was more quietly pleading than cross, "We just replaced a lie with another lie, Ahna. Wasn't one of the reasons you came back because you were sick of living a lie? Why didn't you tell them?"