Page 60 of The Mercy of Dawn

So, every day, he pulled up a chair at her table and imparted bits of his wisdom on everything from pronunciation to regional nuances, and even debated variations on common words, as she poured over tome after tome.

The breadth of his mind was astonishing, frankly.

Tobias also had the most uncanny ability to sense when Cyril's mind had reached its capacity for the day. Just moments before her eyes went cross and the runes on the pages in front of her became a giant smear of ink, he would excuse himself. Cyril wasn’t sure where he would disappear to, but it was never for more than a few minutes, and he always returned with two steaming mugs of tea.

That was when the history lessons would start.

Mostly little facts about the palace and its grounds, which parts of it he saw built, and what the decor has looked like over the years. He even delved into little stories about what Lars was like as a child—painfully quiet, apparently, which Cyril almost didn’t believe—and how his sons compared to him.

All fascinating things to hear, but today?

Cyril came armed with a question for him.

One that she’d been too afraid to ask…well, anyone, truthfully.

She waited until he’d taken the first sip of his tea before she sprung it on him.

“Tobias, can I ask you a potentially stupid question?” Cyril winced.

“Stupid?” He blinked. “I doubt it is anything of the such, but I’m happy to entertain any of your curiosities if I can.”

Gods, he really was a far too kind and patient man.

The best she’d ever get from Dion was a judgemental, “Try me.”

“Why are moon-fae called moon-fae?” she all but blurted out. “I…I understand sun-fae, I think. Our lands are hot and dry and steeped in the sun. But it is sunny in Reykr, too, and plenty hot from what I’ve seen already.”

Definitely a stupid question.

She felt her cheeks burn as she kept fumbling the words out.

Tobias only smiled at her. All warmth, no judgment.

“It was many eons ago, but the people of Reykr were once children of the night,” he explained, “our lives guided by nothing but the moonlight and sea of stars. Obviously, that is not entirely the case anymore, but we still find ways to pay homage to our roots. You’ll get a good taste of it on the solstice in a few weeks, I’m sure.”

“Is the solstice different here?”

Gods, Cyril hoped not.

Summer Solstice was one of her favorite days of the year, and they did it really damn well in Helia. She was so desperate for a night to unwind that didn’t involve being stuffed in a lounge that she never considered the possibility that Reykr might not celebrate their holidays the same.

“Only in the sense that the festivities do not start until well after nightfall,” Tobias said, and Cyril breathed a sigh of relief. “You’ll see that is the same for all our celebrations too. We still have great respect for the night, so they always take place in the evenings, preferably out under the open sky, and they rarely end until we are freed by the mercy of dawn’s first light.”

Tobias chuckled, like maybe he struggled to make it to dawn a few too many times in his life. Cyril could only imagine how many solstice celebrations he’d seen.

“Well, I’m looking forward to the solstice even more now if it means I won’t be stuck out in the sun all day.” Cyril smiled, and Tobias chuckled again, shaking his head. She was sure that was about as boisterous as the man got. “And thank you for answering my question.”

“Of course, dear. You needn’t be afraid to ask things of the like in here. You said yourself that the time our people have spent divided has done us no favors, and I am glad to do my part to rectify some of that.”

To that, Cyril could only nod.

This wasn’t the time or place to unpack the full breadth of just how true that statement was. Tobias didn’t push it any further either. He just sipped his tea as Cyril did hers, and didn’t say another thing until his eyes snagged somewhere behind her and he tipped his head.

He looked back at her as he said, “Have you not been dining with Their Majesties? It just dawned on me you’ve been here well past dinner most days.”

“Oh, no.” Cyril breathed a nervous laugh. “Everyone else is gone now, and that’s…well it’s a bit too intimate for me.”

On the first day that Dion was away, Cyril hadn’t even given it a second thought when Runa checked if she would join them for dinner. Truthfully, she was looking forward to possibly broaching the subject of ascension and nymph blood with the queen after they ate.