“I have a helmet you can use,” I said, grabbing a helmet from the storage room in the back and tossing it to Arienne. She put it over her head, looking more beautiful than any woman had a right to look. I put on my own helmet and pressed the button that would unlock my bike.

“Wow!” she said, walking in a slow circle around the bike. “It’s huge.”

“I made it,” I said, and I was only bragging a little bit. A lot of time had gone into this bike, the only one of its kind on this planet. It hadn’t been manufactured. I’d scrounged parts and slowly created it with my own two hands. “Hop on the back.”

She climbed behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. I savored the feeling of her body pressed against mine before the bike came roaring to life and we were speeding back to where she must live, the Noble Quarter. We let the wind roar past us, stealing any words we might have said to each other. But truthfully, we didn’t need words.

In too short of a time, she tugged my ear with her fingers. I pulled the bike to a stop.

“We passed my home a mile ago,” she said. “I’ll walk from here.”

“I can take you back,” I said.

“I don’t want you to go out of your way,” she said.

“It’s no trouble,” I countered.

She shook her head. “I’ll get in trouble,” she said. I could hear the ring of truth in her voice. She tugged off the helmet, handed it to me, and then rumpled her own hair. “I’ll come see you again.” She waved at me and then turned.

“Until next time,” I said, watching her walk away. I had plenty to think about on the ride home.

* * *

“Xuan!” Phuong screeched. “Why do you encourage them?” She had a twin under each arm. Her face was dark. The twins were very wet.

“What did your children do this time?” I was practicing my dragon kicks in my room.

“You know what they did!” she yelled.

“I don’t,” I said, turning and picking up one twin who smiled angelically at me. That was how I knew that they’d been particularly diabolical.

“Did they get into the kitchen again?” Fire and water were both under the twins’ command, which meant that the kitchen was not a safe place for small beings who didn’t understand safety measures. They could easily float a burning log in a crazy circle around the kitchen without breaking a sweat, although it certainly made the Yore jump. Draka were, to some extent, impervious to flame, but Yore certainly weren’t.

“They conjured sea spirits!” She put the other twin on the ground. They were masters of fire and water, but they preferred crawling over walking. The twin on the ground scuttled over to my feet and began pouncing on me like a curious kitten then bounding away.

“That doesn’t sound too…”

“And they dumped water on the visiting Draka dignitaries!” She buried her face in her hands. “I can’t take them anywhere.”

I stifled a laugh. I believed that a soaking wet Draka in human form was pretty funny.

“You’re as mature as the babies,” she hissed. “I should punish you by make you take care of the little monsters.”

“No problem,” I told her. “But they might be worse after they spend time with me.”

Phuong threw her hands in the air. “It never ends!”

I raised my hands and backed away slowly. “I can see that I’m better off elsewhere. See you.”

I made a strategic retreat from my irate sister. I was in the mood for the ridiculously expensive Draka Moon tea, which my in-laws served constantly. When I got to the shop, it was filled by Draka nobles. They were dressed in finery that made me look out of place.

I went up to the counter and asked for a pot of tea. Instead of sneering at me, as some of the nobles were, they just nodded and pointed to an empty table. They knew who I was, the brother-in-law of their princes.

I sighed. It was weird, having a married sister. I was not just a third wheel. I was a fourth wheel. I still loved her and my nephew and niece, but I needed something more.

Unbidden, I saw Arienne’s smiling face. Just thinking about her made my heart beat faster. She was so incredibly lovely that it was hard to breathe sometimes.

But she wasn’t for me. No matter how powerful or influential my sister’s husbands were, I’d never be good enough. I could tell that Arienne was part Yore, but she was obviously noble enough to be accepted in Draka society. I was pure Yore. My sister had been snubbed sometimes in Draka society, despite her husbands, and I was in an even worse position because I hadn’t married into a Draka royal house.

I stared at my hands and the skin that would never be as light as Draka in their human form. I’d never be the one for Arienne.