It seemed like a dream that there could really be long, high beams in the training hall, where Lonan used to lay in long light-shadows from the windows while Xan practiced against his mother and Cyprus sat on the small of Lonan’s back. Maybe he had only daydreamed he and Xan would run down the piers, shouting at Nicolaos Porfirio’s ship coming or going, dropping hot and breathless beside each other at the edge of the water.

After the first pirate attack there were the humiliating murmurs, the way Neils would gently separate them after that. He’s meant for Cypress, people tried to explain to Lonan. Then Xan got the seashell tattoo, pearl-white on his chest.

–Elyan White, “Lost and Found”