Chapter Text
The truth of the matter was that Kaveh was all-too-familiar with bad days. If there ever came a person more acquainted with them than he was, he would want to sit down with them and offer them his consolation without hesitation. Bad days always came in two’s and three’s. If Monday started out poorly, then so, too, would Tuesday or Thursday. More often there was a bad day than a good day in his experience. But the icing on the cake—if calling it a cake were even appropriate for the circumstance—was that the worst part of this particular day wasn’t realizing he’d left his key at home before going on a trip to the desert. It wasn’t that a complete stranger had shown up asking for his daughter back. It wasn’t even that said stranger stuck around for long enough to explain that Kaveh’s daughter had endured one of the most traumatic moments of her life. No, because it couldn’t just end there. As he went to bid this person goodbye, the last person he wanted showing up at his door with something else unfortunate was staring him down the moment he thought he might have some peace. And yet, for some reason, the General Mahamatra seemed surprised by the faces staring at him when the door opened. To the surprise of his guest, Kaveh instinctively pulled the door shut as quickly as he could. Cyno was quick to grasp the door and hold it open, though.
“Hang on, Kaveh, I’m not here to chastise you for not telling me about Amira.”
Kaveh wanted to wilt.
“Wh-who told you?!”
It was a question Kaveh had never wanted to ask. Not in a million years if he didn’t have to. Embarrassment flooded his mind alongside another, unexpected emotion—shame. For how long had he known Cyno at this point? He had always feared this moment. Everything between himself and Alhaitham had been complicated since the dissolution of their collaborative research. If Cyno knew about Amira, then it was only natural that he would ask who her other parent was. Answering that question meant he’d have to answer a lot of other questions. The picture he’d fought so hard to maintain of himself was going to crumble swiftly from this point forward. He had to ask himself if he’d constructed this façade for nothing. The life he put forth to his friend wasn’t the picturesque, beautiful façade that he had drawn up for himself, but it at least seemed prettier in his mind than the messy interior view.
“I happened to be with Alhaitham when Kazuha brought her back from Pardis Dhiyai.”
The conversation Kaveh had been having with this man he barely knew was suddenly back on the surface of his mind. This person, this Kazuha from Inazuma, had traveled to Pardis Dhiyai and walked up on a scene that had deeply disturbed not just himself but also Kaveh’s daughter. It was only natural that Cyno would hear about Tighnari’s injuries. Half of the struggle of keeping this secret had been how close the two were. There was so little that Tighnari knew that Cyno didn’t, and Amira fell into that category. And the reason Tighnari knew and Cyno didn’t—well, that was a longer story than Kaveh ever had wanted to repeat. But he would have to repeat it now, wouldn’t he? How else could he explain having a three-year-old daughter that Cyno had never met? This day could not possibly get any worse for Kaveh.
“I knew Kazuha left his daughter here, so I suspected he would return to retrieve her. Kazuha, could you step out of the house, please?”
“Sure,” Kazuha said.
The gentle-natured man from Inazuma took his own daughter’s hand in his and turned his head back to give Kaveh a small nod. There was a smile on his face, but the lines under his eyes suggested that something was stressing him out far more than his experience with Amira in Pardis Dhiyai. He clearly did not want to talk with Cyno, despite having noted moments before that he wanted Tighnari to check on his unborn child. Kaveh knew he was missing a lot of the picture with this person. Sighing, Kaveh released his grip on the door so Kazuha and his daughter could leave. Cyno pulled the door open for them, and Kaveh watched as the two made their exit. Cyno turned his attention to Kaveh and Amira.
“I have so many questions for you two,” he said, his expression revealing he was a bit frustrated. “But, later. Kazuha, I’m going to ask you to step to the far side of the street please.”
Kazuha turned back to Kaveh and gave him an awkward little bow. Kaveh was somewhat familiar with the Inazuman practice. He wanted to tell him not to worry about thanking him that way, what with how heavy his belly looked. Kazuha seemed unbothered, though, and he was surprisingly swift in turning to waddle across the street to where Cyno wished to speak with him. Cyno went to turn away as well. Kaveh cleared his throat.
“Hold on, is this an arrest?” he asked. “Your tone just now…”
Cyno shook his head.
“Not exactly,” he said. “I have no grounds to arrest Kazuha, but I do need to know if there are any. Since Alhaitham filled me in on your work absence, I know this all must be rather confusing for you. We have reason to believe that Kazuha is intending to help a criminal escape from Sumeru. That’s all.”
Kaveh felt his heart sink. So, this day could get worse. Just when he’d offered an olive branch to this man, he discovered some curious nature he’d been hiding.
“Don’t make that face,” Cyno said. “Evidence aside, Kazuha isn’t a terrible person at all. Let me go talk to him and sort it out. I’ll be right back.”
Somehow, the promise of Cyno’s swift return was not as comforting as Cyno might have thought it was. As much as Kaveh didn’t want to think ill of the man who’d held his daughter as she processed the trauma of watching Tighnari be gravely injured, he even more so didn’t want to face whatever conversation would lead to spilling the past four years of his life. He sighed and simply nodded his head as Cyno turned to go and interrogate Kazuha. The last glimpse of the pair he saw was an unnervingly calm expression on Kazuha’s face as Cyno started to speak. He closed the door completely before he had to witness his potential arrest. There was no way he was going to allow the day to get any worse than this.
Kaveh turned his attention back to Amira for the moment. She was clinging to him with such ferocity that he wanted to wail. As much as neither of her parents wanted to admit it, she had Alhaitham’s sensitivity to things. She was so easily overwhelmed, especially by noise. Kaveh tried to piece together her experience in his head according to how Kazuha had repeated it. Fatui had attacked the small academic village for reasons Kazuha either hadn’t known or had refused to state. At the time of the attack, there had been a storm with a lot of Electro energy occurring in the area. When a bolt of lightning appeared as though it would hit Amira, Tighnari had jumped over top of her and taken the hit for her. From there, Kazuha had gotten Tighnari off of her and pulled her into his embrace. Descriptive as the retelling was, it kept Amira’s perspective in the dark still. Kaveh returned to the main living area and sat Amira down in one of the chairs. She scrunched up her face as she looked at him.
“Do you want to tell Baba anything that Mister Kazuha didn’t explain?” he asked.
Amira stared down at her hands.
“Your friend and her father aren’t here now,” Kaveh said, hoping that would help her say anything if she needed to. “You can say anything you want.”
“Even if it makes you mad?”
Kaveh frowned.
“Now why would I be mad?” he asked. “I’m sure it’s not your fault there were Fatui there. Or a storm. Unless…you’re secretly telling me you can conjure up storms.”
As much as it didn’t change things, it at least got a small giggle out of Amira.
“No, Baba,” she said. “I can’t do that.”
“Then why do you think I’d be mad?”
Amira frowned and reached up to grasp her hair with one hand. When she was anxious, she would start to twirl her hair.
“Uncle Tighnari…told me to stay with Miss Collei,” she mumbled. “At his house.”
Kaveh suddenly understood where her worries stemmed from. It was rare that Amira broke rules. The very thought of breaking rules often upset her. If she thought she’d broken something or stepped out of line, she would do just as she was in this moment. She would clutch her hair and start to cower. Such a reaction was unwarranted, at least from Kaveh’s perspective. He had never raised a hand against her, and he was certain that Alhaitham hadn’t either. No, Alhaitham would far sooner lay hands on someone who’d hurt Amira than he ever would punish her that way himself. Kaveh couldn’t understand where her anxiety about doing something she wasn’t supposed to came from, but he could do his best to always reassure her that she wouldn’t have a reason to fear his reactions.
“What made you want to follow him?” Kaveh asked.
“I don’t know Miss Collei well…” Amira pouted.
Kaveh rested his hand on her head.
“I see,” he said. “So, you followed your Uncle Tighnari when he told you to stay with her because you were uncomfortable?”
Amira nodded. She lowered her head and started twirling her hair a bit faster. Kaveh put his hand on her shoulder. He wasn’t sure if this was a teaching moment or not. It felt like a situation where emphasizing that not doing as Tighnari had instructed had caused the problem. If it had been a small consequence that she alone could control, such as losing a toy or breaking something from rough play, he could ask her to reflect on her actions and think about how to prevent such a thing in the future. This was different, though. Her following Tighnari had nothing to do with the scene she had witnessed. From the sound of things, both from Kazuha’s perspective and Amira’s, no one had anticipated someone being struck with a bolt of Electro. It was probably an act of nature more so than it was a result of fighting, as Cyno hadn’t been there and Kaveh had gotten a glimpse of Kazuha’s Anemo Vision on his back.
“Am I in trouble?” Amira asked.
Her voice was so small and meek. Kaveh felt tears forming in his eyes. The truth of being a parent was so cruel and harsh at times. He could have done nothing to prevent this. There were plenty of things he wanted to instantly blame. Alhaitham should have been with her. Tighnari should never have gone off without her, leaving her in the care of Collei, who she barely knew. He, himself, should have never taken up work in the desert so far away from home—hadn’t he learned that lesson from his own father? The unpleasant memory of his own childhood sank into his skull. No, he couldn’t allow Amira to think anything was her fault.
“You’re not in trouble,” Kaveh said. “Why in Teyvat would you be in trouble?”
“I didn’t listen…and Uncle Tighnari…is hurt…”
He saw her face scrunch up. It was just as he’d feared. In the same way he’d always blamed himself for his father’s death, Amira was clinging to the thought that Tighnari was only injured because of her. Kaveh couldn’t stand it. He scooped her up in his arms and held her in a tight hug.
“Don’t you ever think that,” he said. “It is not your fault. Do you hear me? Do you hear Baba?”
As Amira let out a wail and buried her face in Kaveh’s neck, there was a small voice in his head begging him to listen to his own words. He forced them back down. Now wasn’t the time for self-reflection. He needed to be present and in the moment for Amira. He’d sacrificed so much already for her in four years. That was the other truth of being a parent. Sacrifice was inevitable. He would have to sacrifice more of his pride now, too, if the truth was finally coming out. The carefully built façade surrounding their life would have to come down.
It took quite a long time to get Amira down for a much-needed nap, but Kaveh had to be up for the task. He did his best to try every trick he knew, from talking to her about architecture until she became disinterested, to serving her warm milk, to even humming a gentle tune. Once her eyes were shut, he was free to leave the house for just long enough to march up the Akademiya and sort out what happened with the clearly not-present Alhaitham. He slipped out of the house as quietly as he could and hurried off towards the front doors of the Akademiya.
By some miracle, Cyno and Kazuha had both left, giving him a clear route with no risk of being stopped and interrupted. He was able to just waltz right into the Akademiya. He made a beeline for the first person he laid eyes on. The man glanced up and saw him, immediately making a face as though he knew exactly what Kaveh was here to ask.
“Ah, Mister Kaveh,” he said. “Has something upset you?”
Kaveh pursed his lips for a moment.
“I’m just looking for Alhaitham,” he said. “Do I seem upset?”
“Ah, that explains it…” the man muttered. “Scribe Alhaitham has gone to the House of Daena. You should be able to find him there.”
“Thank you,” Kaveh said.
He dipped his head and hurried on his way. He wanted to avoid the reality that his face wasn’t appropriately masking his irritation. Even though he had perfectly good reasons for not being able to keep up appearances at the moment, he certainly didn’t want the people in the Akademiya to think something was off. Still, as he scanned the tables and chairs in the House of Daena for a glimpse of Alhaitham, the frustration of everything continued to boil beneath the surface. He finally spotted him sitting over at a table, his nose expectedly stuck in a book. Kaveh marched over to him and smacked his hand down on the table more loudly than intended.
“Where exactly have you been?”
“Well, that’s one way to say hello after you’ve been gone for weeks.”
“I don’t have time for your pettiness,” Kaveh said. “We both know you know I’m talking about leaving a certain someone by herself or with Tighnari long enough for her to experience something traumatic. I would at the very least like an explanation!”
Alhaitham glanced up from his book and scanned the room.
“…tell me you aren’t serious.”
“I am serious!” Kaveh stressed. “I leave for a few weeks and come back to her wailing about Tighnari being struck by lightning in the middle of an attack on Pardis Dhiyai? Why was Pardis Dhiyai even under attack from the Fatui? Why was she even there?”
Alhaitham stared up at Kaveh for a moment, as if trying to sort out something.
“You’re telling me you don’t have a clue as to what happened?”
“You say that like something more significant happened than that!”
“…go ask someone else about the sages.”
“Why, you—”
Kaveh stopped himself. Clearly, Alhaitham was bothered by Kaveh lacking some information. He glanced around the room. There had to be someone discussing whatever occurrence he was mentioning. He walked away from the table where Alhaitham was sitting and did his best to pass by people conversing quietly. Before he could ask, though, the murmurings of those people hit his ears. The topic of their conversation was so out of the ordinary for musings about the sages that Kaveh found himself immediately turning on his heel and rushing back to Alhaitham’s table, where he was once again absorbed in his book.
“I’m sorry, but did I just overhear that we’re awaiting a new Grand Sage? At this time of year?”
Alhaitham said nothing. Kaveh reached over to lean on the table again for a moment.
“Just put down that worthless book and tell me what happened in the Akademiya.”
That certainly got Alhaitham’s attention. Kaveh backed up a bit when Alhaitham turned to really look at him.
“This is not just some worthless book,” he said. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a physical book like this in Sumeru?”
Kaveh groaned.
“It doesn't matter, it's probably just another thing that you used your authority to get your hands on anyway. Just put it aside. Listen, I came back today only to hear that the sages have disappeared!”
Alhaitham gave him an unamused look. Of course, that was the look he was giving. Kaveh had only learned this information moments before as he walked a bit too close to two scholars discussing this very point. The grand sage was being replaced, along with a significant number of the other sages. And according to those people, they had no idea what had even become of those sages. For all Kaveh knew, it could have been anything—death, arrest, running away from responsibilities.
“Oh? You sound surprised. I thought you would already know the inside story.”
“Would I be here asking you if I knew? You're the Scribe, not me. So just tell me what you know already!”
The conversation was getting frustrating. Kaveh wanted to focus on Amira. Amira was his main concern. But if he had to go around in circles to talk about what Alhaitham wanted to focus on first, he would stubbornly just have to do it. After all, even with Cyno learning about Amira’s connection to the pair, he still wasn’t ready to just announce to the entire House of Daena that Alhaitham’s daughter was at home scared because he’d left her somewhere.
“Well, I almost became a sage,” Alhaitham said, as calmly as he could.
“Huh?”
“Don't sound too surprised now,” Alhaitham said flatly. “You're the renowned Kaveh, light of the Kshahrewar. Besides, as a master builder and craftsman, chances are you'll be appointed as a sage, too.”
Now he was just prodding at him to prod. It always felt as if Alhaitham was intentionally trying to get beneath his skin and annoy him.
“...hmph,” he huffed. “Why do I feel like you don't really mean it?”
There was no change in Alhaitham’s expression.
“Hmph, what makes you say that?” Alhaitham countered. “Why would you question my heartfelt sincerity?”
There it was. That bluntness that always was treated as normal by Alhaitham. It was as if he didn’t understand how his previous statement sounded. Was he tone deaf or simply toying with Kaveh? Such was always hard to tell. If Alhaitham was being sincere, he wouldn’t know what to feel. He knew what Alhaitham thought of his collaboration style when it came to research and academia. It was far easier for him to believe that Alhaitham was mocking him for even daring to sound confused at his nomination for the sage position of Haravatat. Yes, that was far more likely, when he thought about it that way. Alhaitham had never changed on this one point: he couldn’t stand the way Kaveh comported himself as an academic.
“Maybe it's because you've never said anything good about me before.”
Kaveh should have known better than to let that slip. Yet his irritation was reaching its boiling point. Alhaitham kept his cool, as he always did.
“Yeah, well, I share a similar sentiment.”
The man’s penchant for delivering statements with unwavering confidence and a lack of anger or upset always felt far more aggressive. Kaveh almost wished he would yell at him.
“And anyone who knows you as well as I do would surely do the same.”
“Ugh, you…!”
Herein was the problem: that piercing gaze of his was giving off just enough confrontational emotion that although it was subtle, Kaveh could tell he’d ticked him off a little. Alhaitham’s arrogance was surely nothing he took steps to hide, and that was, perhaps, the crux of the issue. Kaveh spent so much of his own energy to keep up a façade of his life. He hid his trauma, he hid his failures, and he hid his own daughter all for the simple reason of maintaining this front that he had everything together in his life. And because he was so insistent on keeping his masks up, the fact that Alhaitham lived his life as his truest self—Amira and Kaveh aside—simultaneously pissed him off and drew attention to the unfortunate fact that this very arrogance was fairly attractive. What was worse? Alhaitham clearly knew that Kaveh found him attractive. And he was abusing it.
“See!?” Kaveh exclaimed, trying to regain his sense of control. “This is why I hate discussing anything with you. Your ridiculous and arrogant attitude always gets in the way!”
“Hm, it seems that you really can't stand my personality.”
Now he was just playing with semantics. Was it for Kaveh’s little façade? Or was it his way of distracting Kaveh from the real problem.
You’re not escaping the conversation about Amira! You still haven’t explained where the hell you’ve been!
He did his best to convey that with his eyes. There was only so much he felt he could get across to Alhaitham without being straightforward about it, though. He surely was sitting in the House of Daena knowing that Kaveh returned on this specific day. He was avoiding getting yelled at about leaving Amira with Tighnari for too long.
“Hah, what was your first clue?” Kaveh snapped back.
“Well, then you might as well move out of my house.”
“Are you threatening me? Stooping to a new low, I see!”
No, this was a red herring. Alhaitham wouldn’t kick him out. He wouldn’t dare. They’d reached an agreement about this years ago. Kaveh was on the right page now. He was spouting things just to piss Kaveh off.
“Ugh, and don't change the subject. You? A sage? What a joke. The Akademiya might as well just close tomorrow!”
A couple of people started to awkwardly hover nearby. Some blond guy holding a little girl. Kaveh glanced over at them. No, that person was floating off of the ground, not being held. They were staring over at Alhaitham and Kaveh. Shaking his head, Kaveh pretended he didn’t see them.
“Forget what's going on with the Akademiya, haven't you been busy with your construction project?” Alhaitham asked. “Tell me, when are you going to build yourself a mansion?”
The nerve of this man. Not only was he talking nonsense just to get under Kaveh’s skin, but now he was making him seem like a pompous fellow who would live in wealth while anyone around him suffered. Never mind that this was all just Alhaitham prodding him as much as he could get away with. He was now speaking loudly enough that people could overhear that Kaveh lived with Alhaitham—information that he was supposed to be keeping silent about. And as he did it, he was taking jabs at Kaveh’s integrity! They were no closer to discussing the actual problem that he’d left the house to discuss in the first place. Amira would awaken well before he returned at this point. He decided to focus on the first half of what Alhaitham asserted.
“Don't get me started... I get angry just thinking about it.”
“So, what great building did our master architect work on this time?”
He was truly veering as far off of the topic as he could about Amira.
“Like I need to tell you! Keep your nose out of my business.”
“No, I think we deserve to know. Where were you when Sumeru needed you most?”
Kaveh couldn’t hold in his frustration any longer. He slammed his hands on the table and lowered his voice.
“Enough of this,” he whispered. “Where the hell were you when Amira needed you most? I left on this project trusting that everything was handled in my absence, and I come home to our daughter crying after being told by some complete stranger that in your absence she almost witnessed her caretaker dying.”
Alhaitham stood up, causing Kaveh to jump back a little. He leaned over closely.
“While you were out fiddling around with your pet project, Sumeru was experiencing a bit of a crisis. So, excuse me for thinking she would be safer outside of a dangerous city.”
Kaveh frowned. Nothing looked like a huge crisis had happened. His tone seemed to indicate something like an attack had occurred. But nothing about the city had seemed even remotely off until Alhaitham had suggested he go and talk to someone else about the sages. In fact, his only indicators that things were off were that conversation from moments before and the very fact that Amira had apparently witnessed an attack by Fatui agents. Surely, though, that was an isolated incident. Right?
“Hah, and you think I'd believe that?”
He had to assert it for his own sanity.
“Look, all you really need to know is that Azar and all his accomplices have all been overthrown. We can discuss the details at home after she’s gone to bed.”
Those were heavy words. Accomplices? Had something criminal happened. Kaveh shook his head.
“Huh? What nonsense are you talking about?”
Alhaitham’s usual cocky gaze seemed a bit more serious than usual.
“It's no skin off my nose if you don't believe me,” he said. “It's not like my Darshan was the one trying to apply for funding from the Grand Sage. Yours, though, on the other hand...”
This was a point that simply needed to be handled at home. Alhaitham was clearly preoccupied with this crisis he was describing. Amira was only one part of it all. Something bigger had clearly happened, and Alhaitham was in no mood to discuss it in public. No matter how Kaveh prodded him, he wouldn’t get the answers he sought by continuing to ask about it here.
“You know what? I'll ask around! I'm sure someone knows what's going on here. You're dead if I find out you're lying to me.”
He had to have the last word, whether it actually meant anything or not. Although, if he did find out that Alhaitham was making up an excuse to avoid answering for why he’d not been home in what was likely days on end. Having said his final piece, Kaveh turned on his heel and made for the door. He would return home, be there for Amira, and contemplate Alhaitham’s absence later. Or so he presumed. As he passed into the main atrium, Kaveh caught the attention of Cyno, who appeared to be heading the same direction. Cyno stepped over to him and reached out to catch him by the shoulder.
“Are you busy?” he asked.
“Aside from no one caring to explain what in Teyvat happened while I was in the desert, no, I suppose I’m not exactly busy,” Kaveh said.
Cyno hummed.
“How about a joke? It might cheer you up a bit.”
It was hardly ever the case that Cyno’s jokes were truly humorous. They often were the sort that made a person groan. Kaveh wasn’t one to put him off for it, though, even if a joke of that nature wouldn’t do much for him in the moment.
“Go ahead,” he said, sighing.
“So, you know marble is valuable building material, right?” Cyno said.
Kaveh frowned.
“Well, it’s certainly considered beautiful and straightforward to carve,” he mumbled.
“It really shouldn’t be taken for granite.”
“Oh, uh…”
“Get it?”
“Yeah,” Kaveh said with a sigh. “I got it.”
Cyno smiled, pleased with himself for the joke he’d come up with. Kaveh wondered if he was priding himself for coming up with one that was related to architecture. He didn’t want to ask if that was going through his head or not. In fact, he was fairly certain that Cyno was, in his own way, trying to deescalate their earlier conversation at the house.
“Do you think Alhaitham would be open to discussing the, uh, situation over dinner?” Cyno asked.
Kaveh put his palm to his head. There it was.
“I have some time before my reinstatement as General Mahamatra.”
Kaveh finally really looked at Cyno. He’d been mostly avoiding direct eye contact.
“Wait, really…what happened while I was gone?” he asked. “I thought Alhaitham was…”
“How about this?” Cyno offered. “Alhaitham and I can fill you in on the details of what happened here, and if you’re open to talking about Amira, we can do that in the same meeting.”
Kaveh sighed.
“I suppose that’s a fair enough exchange,” he said, though he didn’t truly feel it was a fair trade.
“I’m sure you have a reason for keeping Amira a secret,” Cyno said. “As shocked as I am, it’s a part of my job as Mahamatra to look at the facts before making a hasty judgement. I wouldn’t be a truly impartial entity if I made hasty assumptions.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Kaveh mumbled.
Cyno shrugged.
“It’s meant to set the tone of my approach; nothing more, nothing less,” he said. “Something tells me it might be easier for me to know how to explain what’s going on with Tighnari if I know even just a little bit about her.”
Kaveh nodded.
“That’s fair,” he said. “He’s…pretty badly injured, then?”
Cyno nodded.
“He’ll be off his feet for a while,” he said. “From the looks of it, the strike wasn’t intentional, but that Harbinger certainly wasn’t holding back his power.”
“Harbinger?” Kaveh said. “Kazuha stated that Tighnari was struck by Electro in an unexpected storm.”
Cyno grasped his chin.
“Interesting…he was already on his guard when he ran into you,” he said. “Never mind Kazuha. He’s only minorly involved. Let’s save the details for when we’re all sitting down. We can meet at Lambad’s Tavern in about an hour.”
Kaveh just nodded. He supposed it was his task to let Alhaitham know about this. He glanced over his shoulder at the House of Daena. He didn’t exactly want to march back in there after causing a scene.
“Let me handle it,” Cyno said. “I assume you want to get home to Amira.”
Kaveh dipped his head.
“Thank you.”
To Kaveh’s surprise, Alhaitham had agreed to meet with Cyno at Lambad’s Tavern. It was less about the Amira disclosure than it was Alhaitham’s high potential to avoid social events. After all, the secrecy surrounding Amira had mostly been Kaveh’s idea. He had caught Alhaitham with Amira in tow in suspiciously public places before, and it had always made him nervous. People might start to question a little girl clinging to the Scribe’s leg. Yet it was this very careless thing that Alhaitham did that proved he wasn’t bothered by the insinuation that had a child. Kaveh was the one who feared for his public image. As he considered that, he glanced down at Amira as she expectantly waited for Alhaitham to join them in the main room. She was twiddling with her hair again.
“Amira, sweetie, are you nervous about meeting your Uncle Cyno?” he asked.
She turned to look at him and nodded. Kaveh knelt down to her and gave her a smile.
“Don’t worry too much,” he said. “He’s someone Uncle Tighnari loves, so I’m sure you’ll love him, too. He likes to tell funny jokes.”
Amira perked up a little.
“He does?”
Kaveh felt as though he might wind up regretting telling her this. Any hint that someone enjoyed Cyno’s bad jokes would surely only lead to more of them. What was most important right now wasn’t preventing a series of unwanted puns, though. It was making certain that Amira felt comfortable for what was technically her first ever family dinner outside of the home. With that in mind, he couldn’t let on how nervous he was to recount the past four or so years. Nor could he let her know that he was unprepared to learn about what had gone on in Sumeru’s rainforests while he’d been away. Amira needed to feel safe, especially after what had happened in Pardis Dhiyai.
“Yeah, he does,” Kaveh said.
“Don’t tell her that.”
Amira whirled around and through her arms up in Alhaitham’s direction.
“Baba, do think Uncle Cyno is funny?” she asked.
“His jokes could use some work.”
Amira looked back at Kaveh.
“It’s a preference thing,” Kaveh said.
“You’re setting us up for a really long night,” Alhaitham said. “Are we ready to go?”
Kaveh stood up and thought he felt a chill. They were really doing something like this. They were going out to dinner with a friend as a whole family. As much tension had sat between himself and Alhaitham earlier, he wasn’t even sure that Cyno would buy the family picture. But that was what part of this was about. Differences and quarrels aside, this was a family. Perhaps it wasn’t the picture of a family that most people had when they pictured a perfect little family—but it was one, no matter what anyone else tried to claim. It was just hidden deep beneath this little façade they’d put on.
“Why are you making that face?” Alhaitham asked. “Are you regretting your decision from about three years ago?”
Kaveh wasn’t certain how to answer that. The decision to keep everything a secret had been for his sake. After all, he could only imagine how his clients, friends, and fellow scholars might react. The truth was simple: Kaveh lived with and shared a child with the exact same man he had so brutally argued with in academic writing. Following the dissolution of their collaborative research, anyone who was anyone could have stated it plainly: Alhaitham of Haravatat and Kaveh of Kshahrewar were not just fierce rivals in academia—they absolutely hated one another. And that was the public image they’d maintained, certainly. Yet in Kaveh’s embarrassment over the whole situation, he had insisted they keep up their little façade.
Because he’d unquestionably fallen for that arrogant Scribe quite some time ago.
“Just ask yourself who you’re trying to impress,” Alhaitham said, breaking him away from his thoughts. “I’ve always held that you’re too worried about your social image.”
“Will he even believe it’s true?” Kaveh muttered.
Amira dashed over to a little bench they’d set up for her to draw at. She stared to rummage through her drawings.
“Hey, Amira, we’re about to head out, sweetie—” Kaveh started.
She found the drawing she was looking for and ran back over to Kaveh. She held it up for him to take. Kaveh gently removed it from her hands and looked down at the scribbles of crayon. She had drawn three stick figures all holding hands, and the smallest one was in the middle. They were surrounded by small doodles of plants, and each stick figure had their hair drawn on them.
“Can we give Uncle Cyno a picture of our family?” she asked.
Kaveh smiled.
“If that’s what you want,” he said.
He looked back up at Alhaitham. Amira did, too.
“Do you think he’ll like it?” Amira asked.
“I’m certain he’ll love it,” Alhaitham said. “Shall we get going?”
Alhaitham made his way over to the door. Amira dashed after him, somehow being extremely quiet as she did so. Her enthusiasm was clear, even as she ran on her tiptoes towards the door. Kaveh wondered if he had ever seen her so eager to go somewhere. She looked back at Kaveh and thrust out her arm.
“Baba!” she called.
Kaveh passed the drawing in his hands to Mehrak for safe-keeping as they headed to Lambad’s. He then finally made his way towards the door with Alhaitham and Amira. Before he opened the door, he turned back to Kaveh and pulled him into an awkward embrace. His voice was quiet when he spoke.
“I wouldn’t have left her with Tighnari if I knew it would put her in danger,” Alhaitham said. “You know that, right?”
Kaveh let his head rest against Alhaitham’s.
“I…I know.”
When they arrived at Lambad’s Tavern, Cyno had already grabbed a table. To Kaveh’s surprise, Collei was seated with him. He knew of Collei from Tighnari, and he did know what she looked like from descriptions of her. It naturally followed that Cyno also knew Collei, but he hadn’t quite expected to see her here. Amira seemed to recognize Collei well enough. When she saw her, she shyly hid behind Alhaitham’s leg. Alhaitham just moved forward and pulled out two of the chairs, one for Kaveh and one for Amira. Kaveh scooped Amira up and placed her in one chair, and then he nodded at Cyno and Collei in turn as he sat down. He noticed the almost shocked expression on Cyno’s face at seeing Kaveh allow Alhaitham to pull his chair out for him like that.
“Are we that belligerent in public?” Kaveh murmured.
“It is quite the sight,” Cyno said. “It’s almost expected at this point to find you two bickering.”
Kaveh sighed. He glanced down at Amira. She was reaching over to Mehrak to get her drawing. Once she had it in hand, she leaned over the table and offered it to Cyno.
“Baba said you liked drawings,” she said, taking unusual initiative in the conversation.
Cyno took the picture and smiled at it.
“You’re a very talented artist, Miss Amira,” he said. “Is this you and your two babas?”
Amira nodded.
“Uncle Cyno, is Uncle Tighnari okay?” she asked. “Baba said you loved him.”
Cyno gave her a small nod.
“He’ll be okay,” he said. “He’s very strong, you know. Well, unless he goes in the desert. Then he wilts like a flower.”
Amira giggled a little at that.
“So, Alhaitham,” Cyno said. “Do you want to explain what all happened in Sumeru’s rainforests while Kaveh was busy? Or shall I?”
Alhaitham finally sat down next to Amira and leaned back in his chair.
“It’s only fair that we tell the parts we were involved with,” Alhaitham said. “After all, many people were involved in saving Sumeru.”
Collei frowned.
“Why didn’t we invite the Traveler and Paimon, then?” she asked. “They could offer some of Master Tighnari’s point of view…since he’s still healing in Pardis Dhiyai.”
Cyno shook his head.
“It’s best to let them rest and not worry about this,” he said. “I think I overheard that they’ll be headed through the desert towards Fontaine next. This should remain a family matter.”
Collei just nodded. Cyno straightened up in his seat, called the waiter over, and ordered a few plates of food. When the waiter stepped away to go inform the cook, another one came and placed waters on the table, asking if they might like some coffee or wine to accompany their meal. Cyno ordered both options, ensuring everyone had a little something alongside their water. Once the matter of dinner was settled, he took a long sip of his own water and rested his elbows on the table.
“It started with a pair of Fatui Harbingers applying to do research under the Kshahrewar darshan…”
From there, Cyno, Alhaitham, and, at times, Collei together recounted events dating back not just the few weeks that Kaveh had been in the desert, but rather a few years. Such details almost sounded fantastical at moments. Two Harbingers, people loyal to the Cryo Archon, had been working on research that remained top secret to the public and a good majority of the Akademiya. Whether they were the start of corruption amongst the sages of the Akademiya or not, the effects of corruption started there. Of all the details of the removal of corrupted sages, the research to create a god to replace Lesser Lord Kusanali, and this peculiar Traveler, Kaveh only really found himself focusing on one. Cyno had mentioned it previously in the Akademiya, but he reiterated it when recounting Tighnari’s injury. That particular point had stood out to him because Kazuha, someone who only appeared at rather curious intervals within this story, had for some reason left out the fact that the Electro had come not from a weather incident, but actually from one of the Harbingers involved in the research project.
“Why would he omit that fact…?” Kaveh mumbled.
“The same reason I might omit something unpleasant that Tighnari did,” Cyno said. “He likely doesn’t want people to think poorly of his lover.”
Kaveh straightened up.
“Lover?” he repeated. “Hold on…”
“Yes, Kaveh,” Cyno said. “I was planning to arrest him earlier today. As an accomplice in the plot to overthrow the Dendro Archon.”
“And…?”
Kaveh cast a wary glance down at Amira, who had started coloring.
“What did you do with…Miss Atsuko?”
Kaveh sighed.
“I didn’t arrest him.”
“Hold on, that’s not what we agreed on,” Alhaitham said, his tone sounding firmer than usual. “That Harbinger could have killed Amira.”
Cyno put him his hand.
“I understand that you’re frustrated that your daughter was caught in something very dangerous,” Cyno said, “but Kazuha’s only crime was not disclosing the Balladeer’s location.”
“And that’s still a crime,” Alhaitham said.
Kaveh had never seen Alhaitham so worked up about something. Perhaps Cyno couldn’t even see it, but Alhaitham was truly angry. There was enough of a difference in his posture and facial expression that Kaveh knew this was different than his usual confrontational tone. Alhaitham, who never seemed to be deeply emotionally invested in much of anything outside of his own interest, was absolutely livid on behalf of Amira. Kaveh felt his face grow hot as he stared at him.
“I understand that,” Cyno said. “I only let him go because I knew he wouldn’t stay put in Sumeru until I was reinstated as the General Mahamatra. That, and…”
Kaveh looked back at Cyno, and then he looked over at Amira and Alhaitham.
“You didn’t want to separate a family, did you?”
Alhaitham now turned and looked at Kaveh.
“I can understand that reason,” he said. “Even if I want to know why he might be defending his lover’s actions, I can’t know the answer if I make assumptions, now can I? But I can understand making difficult choices for family. We did that not that long ago…”
This was it. This was the starting point. The time was right for the truth to surface. Had it been right at any point before this? Kaveh would never know. But in this crucial period of change for Sumeru, perhaps it was time for him to change, too. Amira deserved a life in which she didn’t feel hidden, too. She may not have understood how things were up until now, but this was the time to change them; before it was too late, and she came to resent her life and want her own façade.
“The issue of the Balladeer and Kazuha can wait,” Kaveh said. “You asked for the story surrounding Amira.”
Cyno sat back in his seat, but not without casting a wary glance in Alhaitham’s direction.
“I suppose I should be the one to start,” Kaveh said, also glancing at Alhaitham. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, Amira is a little over three years old. Towards the end of this year, she’ll be four.”
“Four years old…” Cyno murmured. “And all this time, I didn’t even have a clue.”
Kaveh nodded.
“No one knew,” Kaveh said. “Not anyone else in the Akademiya, our teachers included. Just the two of us and Tighnari.”
Kaveh looked down at Amira.
“Do you remember, back before we graduated, how Alhaitham and I had attempted some collaborative research?”
“I recall one of the biggest falling outs on collaborative research most of us has ever seen, yes,” Cyno said. “Anyone enrolled at the time surely remembers it.”
“I had told myself after we parted ways on that project that I would never forgive myself for ruining my relationship with my best friend,” Kaveh said. “Our feud left the walls of the Akademiya and bled into our publications with such intensity that I’m certain no one doubted we deeply hated one another.”
Cyno nodded.
“Some fairly harsh words were exchanged in those publications, all things considered.”
“And as far as we’ve conducted ourselves in public, you would assume that nothing has changed,” Kaveh said. “But the proof that things are different than you might have assumed is sitting right here with us.”
Amira glanced up at Kaveh for a moment. She smiled at him before resuming her coloring.
“My biggest question is pretty straightforward,” Cyno said. “What exactly is your relationship?”
“To answer that, I’ll have to go back to how this all happened,” Kaveh said. “Right after the Withering destroyed a significant amount of my work on the Palace of Alcazarzaray, I dug too deeply into my own funds to finish it, out of a sense of stubborn pride…”
Cyno frowned.
“Wait, so…you paid for most…if not all of that palace yourself?”
Kaveh lowered his head.
“I’m not proud of it, okay?” he mumbled. “I’m even still technically in debt to this day. I gave up everything to finish that palace. Even everything my mother left to me when she remarried and moved to Fontaine.”
Alhaitham huffed and leaned back in his chair again.
“You’ve never been one to make the most logical decision in a situation.”
Kaveh shot him an unamused look.
“Yes, thank you for highlighting that,” he grumbled.
“You just think more with your heart. That’s all.”
“Is this supposed to be a compliment?”
“Just continue with the story. We don’t want to be stuck here all night.”
Kaveh sighed and shook his head.
“Either way,” he said. “That feels like a good enough place to start. I went into a lot of debt. The best friend I had thought I had was now my stringent academic rival and basically enemy. I was sort of at the end of my rope. And as anyone who knows me might suspect, this all starts…with a few too many glasses of wine…”
Four Years Earlier
Enough mora on hand to buy a few more meals, and there he was, staring over at the tavern and contemplating only one fairly useless purchase: a bottle of wine.