Moonlark Turned Evil

44: Who Do You See, When You Look at Me?

Kinda a short chapter, but it's pretty important for the story.

I think.

The dining hall was as silent as ever, the heavy atmosphere only broken by the clinking of cutlery.

Alden sat at the head of the table, with Della on the other end. Biana sat on her mother's left, with her two brothers across from her.

Their usual places, their usual expressions, their usual silence.

Nothing new.

"Fitz, Biana, you have a test tomorrow, right?" Alden said, setting down his spoon and wiping his mouth. "Both of you should get at least second place."

Biana's gaze darkened as she stared at her plate, refusing to answer his words.

"Yes, father," Fitz said, clearly excited to prove his worth.

Alden gave an approving nod. "Good. I expect that you, at least, will do well."

Biana's fingers twitched as she reached for her glass of water.

"Biana, don't ignore your father," Della reprimanded.

"Yes, father," Biana said loudly, echoing Fitz's words. She kept her eyes firmly on the table.

Alden frowned. "Don't speak so loudly at the dinner table, Biana."

"Yes, father." She lowered her voice.

"That's too quiet," Della said.

Biana covered up her inability to answer by lifting the cup to her lips. When she lowered it, setting it down on the table with a barely audible clunk, she met eyes with Alvar.

He gave her a sympathetic smile, and she sneered at him when neither of their parents were looking.

"Save the pity for someone else," she mouthed at him. "Leave me alone."

Fitz, who caught the exchange, breathed a small sigh from his nose, setting his fork down on his empty plate. "I'm done. Thank you for the food," he said, possibly in an attempt to stop an argument from breaking out.

Not that it would have.

Both Biana and Alvar knew what would happen if they broke out of their happy family act.

Biana put down her cutlery, wiping her mouth with her napkin. "I'm also done."

"You may be excused," Alden said, but it was more directed at Fitz than her.

Biana rose from her seat, smoothing her dress, and walked out of the dining room. Her brother followed behind her, and she heard Alvar repeat their exchange with Alden before also getting to his feet.

Once the three of them were safely out of earshot, Fitz turned to her.

"Why do you need to get angry at Alvar every time we see him?" he said, exasperated. "Can't we have a nice family dinner—"

"Nice?" Biana repeated incredulously. "How is anything about that dinner nice?"

"If would have been nice if you didn't lash out at Al," Fitz replied, crossing his arms.

She looked away. For you. But you don't see how they look at me. You don't understand. Because they love you.

"Fitz, calm down," Alvar said. "It's also my fault. I thought Biana had forgiven me, but . . ." He flashed a pained smile. "I guess not."

"I don't get why you two argued to begin with," Fitz said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You two used to be so close."

"Yes, we used to be close," Biana agreed. "Things change, Fitz. Get used to it."

She turned on her heel, her brown hair swishing, and stalked off to her room.

As she turned the corner, she heard Alvar say, "There are things you don't need to know yet, Fitz."

The middle sibling said, "Don't treat me like a child, Alvar," but she could hear the small laugh in his voice that spelled out his opinion clearly.

Fitz didn't understand.

He couldn't see the way Alden and Della pushed down on both Biana and Alvar, because he didn't receive the same treatment. And as long as he couldn't see past the bubble that surrounded him, he would never understand why Biana didn't get along with their oldest sibling.

It was true that Biana had once been close with Alvar.

They'd been together all the time, especially when Alden had started pressuring Biana, too. They both went through the same things, staying in the shadows behind Fitz, and so they understood each other.

Or so she'd thought.

Because Alvar ran.

He broke.

And he left.

He left her alone, in the house of lies that they called 'home,' with the Golden Boy who didn't know the truth and the parents who refused to accept Biana no matter what she did.

When he finally came back home, after three years, she just couldn't find it in herself forgive him.

Maybe she never would.

So yes, I have changed the Vackers a lot from their portrayal in the original series.

I was actually planning to make Alden nice, because, y'know, he's hated in the original because of the SoKeefe stuff. But yeah, I guess the role of an 'evil' character fits him better lmao.