Private Family, is Eternal

[Cassian Abrantes]

Deej'a Peak
Vineyards
Sibylla Abrantes
​

Morning light spilled like honey over the slopes of Deeja Peak, gilding the vineyards in gold. The air was cool and fragrant, a blend of dew, crushed grass, and the faint sweetness of ripening blossoms. Mist still clung to the valley below, and from where the Abrantes homestead stood on its rise, one could see the great mirror of Lake Deeja shimmering in the distance its waters catching the light like molten glass.

Rows of vines stretched in graceful arcs down the hillside, heavy with clusters of pale green grapes that would later become the region's famed Deeja Peak white. The fruit had just begun to take on its autumn hue, translucent against the morning sun. Here and there, Deej'a songbirds darted between the rows, their soft trills harmonizing with the gentle hum of the irrigation droids weaving through the terraces. Naboo's pastoral beauty was never loud it whispered instead, with the patience of a world that knew peace was something you tended to, not took for granted.

At the crest of the hill, the Abrantes villa stood in elegant simplicity, white stone washed by centuries of rain and sun, its verandas shaded by arches of flowering vines. The scent of morning bread wafted from the open kitchen windows, mingling with the spice of caf and fresh fruit. Cassian Abrantes had been awake since dawn, of course, reviewing a few old datapads on the terrace before finally giving in to their parents insistence that today was to be a day without reports, meetings, or holocalls. Mother and Father had plans for the day, they were to spend a family day at the vineyards. However Cassian couldn't help but feel something else was at play, perhaps it was the investigative portion in him stirring, from the long nights at the Intelligence office.

Cassian was already present at the vineyards now, as he awaited the arrival of his siblings,

Beyond, he could see a speeder was already making its way towards him. Elian, by the look of the silhouette, arm out of the sides, a smile upon his face. Sibylla was driving, apparently laughing at something Elian told her and Cassian couldn't help but laugh aloud. Whatever it was, he was sure it was mischief, but then a teasing thought came to his mind.

Sibylla was driving....

It came to a stop as Cassian's facial expression switched from happy to worried in an instant, he ran Elian's side of the speeder as he reached in and hugged him tightly.

"Brother! I'm so glad your safe!" Ignoring the gawks of protest as he he looked him over for injuries. "Are you okay?! If I would've known Sibylla was driving I would've told you to walk." Cassian laughed letting go of his younger brother and giving a small wink and teasing smirk Sibylla's way.


The vineyard was alive with warmth and color again, the ghosts of duty and distance washed away by sunlight and the voices of home. For the first time in a long while, Deeja Peak felt like what it had always meant to be not a memory of peace, but the heart of it. And today, beneath the boundless Naboo sky, that heart was strong.

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

DEE'JA PEAK
Abrantes Vineyards
Interacting with: Cassian Abrantes
Items: x x x x x

The hum of the solar engine softened as Sibylla eased the speeder to a graceful stop at the edge of the courtyard. The vineyards of Deeja Peak stretched wide around them in a sea of green and gold beneath the morning sun, but her attention was fixed squarely on her brother's face.
Cassian's expression had shifted in the span of a heartbeat, from a smile of fondness to that all-too-familiar look of concern.

Ohhh no you didn't!

Hazel eyes narrowed at once.

"Oh, what is going on with that look, Cassian? I saw that!" she cried out with playful suspicion. Of course, what he said next only promptly provoked Sibylla's gasp of mock outrage. "I beg your pardon!"

Elian, ever the accomplice in her brothers' nonsense, slumped in Cassian's arms in exaggerated despair.

"Shiraya, save me, I thought my life was flashing before my eyes!"

With perfect dramatics, Sibylla set the speeder into park and turned off the ignition. The quiet tick of cooling solar coils filled the pause that followed. It was a solar-powered engine that utilized green energy to minimize its carbon footprint. Part of the green laws to keep Naboo pristine

Sibylla's head snapped toward him, her tone rising an octave as her temper flared.

"Oh would you stop it! I can drive perfectly well!" She shoved the door open, her pale blue dress fluttering as she stepped out into the courtyard. The breeze tugged at the hem as she rounded the speeder, every inch of her posture declaring war on their collective teasing.

"Both of you," she warned, pointing accusingly at them, "are insufferable."

Elian's laughter only made her pace quicken, as if she might actually swat him for it.

Across the courtyard, Caleb stood beneath the shaded portico, a fond smile tugging at his lips as he watched the familiar chaos play out.

Beyond him, among the neat rows of vines, Lord Alistair Abrantes worked with quiet purpose, coat discarded, white sleeves rolled up past his forearms, the Naboo breeze ruffling the silvered dark of his hair and the trim of his beard.

The scent of fresh bread drifted from the villa's open windows, mingling with the sweetness of crushed grapes and the echo of laughter from the drive. They were already making preparations for the Harvest Festival, and this year was promising to be a bountiful one.

 

[Cassian Abrantes]

Sibylla Abrantes
​

Cassian laughed outright then, unable to stop himself. It was good to hear their voices together again the familiar rhythm of siblings, the kind of noise that filled the empty corners of a home too long quiet. Sibylla slammed the speeder door shut and stormed around to confront them, her pale blue dress catching the sunlight like a sail, the mountain breeze toying with her hair. They had been spending time together more often than not, which to Cassian was an incredibly good thing. And even more so that they were, all going to be together today.

"Both of you,"

"are insufferable."

Elian's laughter trailed after her, bright and unrepentant. "You love us anyway!"

Cassian held up his hands in surrender, a grin tugging at his mouth. "Only out of love, sweet sister." The eldest sibling turned as he caught sight of Caleb and smiled, moving towards him.

Caleb Irons emerged from his position as proper as he possibly could, the glint of sun catching the edge of hi hair. The longtime family friend and confidante wore that knowing smile of his the one that suggested he'd seen this same scene unfold more times than he could count.

"Master Abrantes." he greeted with a half-bow toward Cassian, though his eyes danced with humor. "Your sister's driving appears to have survived another outing. A triumph of the modern age." Cassian chuckled, shaking his head. "Careful, Caleb. She's still armed with that glare." As their laughter faded, Cassian's gaze shifted toward the vineyards. There, among the rows of vines, he saw his father.

Lord Alistair Abrantes stood where he always did at this time of year at the head of the vineyard's main terrace, coat hung over a nearby post, sleeves rolled past his elbows as he oversaw the workers preparing for the Harvest Festival. The years had added silver to his dark hair and lined the corners of his face, but he carried himself with the same deliberate grace, wisdom and commanding presence as he ever did.


Alistair's hands, though calloused from decades of work, moved with practiced precision as he inspected the grapes. He paused for a moment, watching his children from a distance. Cassian could feel the weight of that gaze even before his father turned.

There was pride there quiet, restrained but also relief. To see them here.. To see them together.

Caleb moved to stand beside Cassian, following his line of sight. "He hasn't said it aloud." Caleb murmured. "But I think this year's harvest means more to him than most.... it's promising."

Cassian nodded. "He's been out here since dawn, hasn't he?"

"As always. Hunting is your mediation." Caleb said softly. "The vines are his meditation."

The two men walked down toward the fields as Sibylla and Elian joined them. The air grew sweeter with every step, filled with the scent of ripening fruit and the faint musk of tilled soil. Workers passed carrying baskets, their laughter mingling with birdsong. Strings of lanterns were already being hung between the posts, their glass orbs catching the sunlight soon to glow in the evening when the festival began.

When Cassian reached his father, Alistair turned with that rare, restrained smile. "You made it in time." he said simply, his voice deep and measured. "I was beginning to think duty would claim another weekend."

Cassian inclined his head. "Not today. Today belongs to the vineyards and to family."

"Good." Alistair said placing a hand on Cassians and giving a small squeeze. He glanced toward the others, as a more relaxed smile graced his face looking towards Sibylla and Elian. Their Father, Lord Abrantes pulled them both in for a big hug. "It's good to see you, my children."

Cassian chuckled and showed a big smile as he watched the interaction between them. It was good, loving and real.

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

DEE'JA PEAK
Abrantes Vineyards
Interacting with: Cassian Abrantes
Items: x x x x x

"You love us anyway!"

Sibylla arched a brow. "That's debatable."

"Only out of love, sweet sister."

"Oh, I'll show you love," Sibylla muttered under her breath, though her lips twitched despite herself.

Elian tried to round the speeder to get away from Sibylla, his gait permeating the swagger of someone who thought himself clever.

"You know, statistically speaking, I think I've aged ten years since we left the estate. My hair might've gone grey."

"Then perhaps you'll finally start using that brain of yours," Sibylla quipped, about to bap him on the shoulder before he managed to lunge free. Sibylla merely huffed in response, lifting her chin as the flutter of her blue skirts shuffled around her legs, sweeping past Elian with her chin held high.

"The family could use another sensible Abrantes."

"Ouch," Elian said with mock offense, clutching his heart. "Mother would side with me, you know."

"She only would because she hasn't seen how you drive on turns," Sibylla shot back, earning another round of laughter that only made her glare deepen.

Sibylla fell into step beside them as they started toward the vineyard, her skirts brushing the tall grass, Elian walking backward ahead of her just to keep the banter alive.

"Don't tell me you're planning to work," she said lightly. "I'd hate to have to rescue you from manual labor again."

"Please," Elian said, "I'm the only one here with an artistic eye. Father's lucky to have me."

"Artistic eye?" she scoffed. "You tried to 'prune' a vine last year and nearly uprooted the irrigation line."

"That was... a tactical error," Elian defended weakly.

Sibylla shook her head, only for her smile to broaden as they neared their father.

"Father, I see you've decided to make it a day of it," she called out, moving in close to hug him. Lord Alistar wrapped his arms around her, and she felt the distinct strength in his embrace, inhaling the scent of rich pipe tobacco that he smoked, mixed with the earthy richness of dirt and wind.

"Indeed, but yours is a face I did not expect, your Majesty." Lord Alistar chuckled out but gave her another squeeze.

"Please... not here. And I am only the interim Queen while Aurelian oversees the Chancellery." Sibylla replied as she pulled back to smile at him, but not before her father's dark brows gave a slight incline at the informal use of King Veruna the Second's name. It was a look he shared with Cassian Abrantes as if in inquiry.

Elian, however, darted ahead with that trademark grin that always spelled trouble.

"Yes, she's not really a Queen," he declared loud enough for half the vineyard to hear. "If she were, she'd already be lording it over us -- demanding we kiss her ring and address her as Your Radiant Highness of Reckless Driving."

Sibylla froze midstep, one brow lifting with slow, imperious precision.

"Oh, is that so?" she replied in a dangerously sweet tone.

Elian only doubled down, grinning wider.

"I'm just saying, the royal temperament's there, Nez. You've got the glare, the dramatic exits, the habit of --"

"Finishing your sentences for you?" she cut in, a dangerous glint in her hazel eyes as she stepped closer until he instinctively backed up.

 

[Cassian Abrantes]

Sibylla Abrantes
​

He couldn't help but laugh at the banter back and forth. Yet that changed when Cassian caught his fathers gaze.

​

The look before his father even turned fully toward him that subtle narrowing of Lord Alistair Abrantes' eyes, the faint shift of his brow, the quiet, measured weight that came before a question never asked aloud. It was the kind of look that had governed the Abrantes household for decades: composed, probing, and far more eloquent than any reprimand could ever be.

He met his father's gaze steadily, though the faintest sigh escaped him as he tilted his head, the vineyard breeze tugging lightly at his hair. The sunlight caught on the edge of Alistair's silver temples, lending the older man a quiet authority that not even time or age could diminish. Cassian knew exactly what that glance meant...... Why Aurelian's name, and why so easily from her lips?

He'd known this was coming. It wasn't the first time his father's sharp ears had picked up something that brushed too close to the political undercurrents beneath their family's calm surface. Sibylla, of course, hadn't noticed the pause that followed her words, or if she had, she'd chosen to ignore it.

Cassian let the silence breathe for a moment, the faint hum of insects and the rustle of the vines filling the space between them. It was a comforting chaos, one Cassian had missed deeply though now, it provided a convenient distraction.

"I have no comment on the matter." Cassian said finally, voice low, controlled, yet a smile all the same. Leaving their presence, for the time being. And Elian seemed to be engaged in conversation with Caleb. "I'm going to see what Mother is doing."

He didn't add the rest that Aurelian Veruna's influence had begun to take hold. Nor that Sibylla, in her own sharp and unguarded way, might have grown closer to Aurelian than might be believed. But as his father had so eloquently put. She could handle herself, and so Cassian didn't intervene, in the slightest.

Lord Alistair studied her for a moment longer.

"You want to talk about that?" Alistair asked Sibylla, not invasively, but more so curious.


********************************

Cassian found Mother in gardens, where the morning light fell soft and gold through the ivy lattice. The hum of the villa was distant here the laughter of his siblings fading into the rhythm of the vines outside and the low song of bees drifting between the blossoms. Callista Abrantes sat at a small wrought-iron table, teacup in hand, her posture regal even in repose.

Cassian paused a moment before approaching, taking in the sight of her. His mother had always seemed ageless to him, her poise unshaken even when the galaxy around them shifted and fractured. But in the quiet morning light, he could see the soft traces of time: the faint lines at her eyes, the silver glint in her dark hair. She looked peaceful. Content, even. And perhaps, he thought, she'd earned that peace a thousand times over.

"Still hiding from the chaos?" he asked softly, stepping closer.

Callista smiled without looking up. "A mother learns to recognize the sound of her children's footsteps." she said. "And when those footsteps are slow, it means the conversation ahead isn't one of teasing or festival plans."

He chuckled and took the seat opposite her. "I see my subtlety hasn't improved with age."

"Subtlety was never your weapon of choice, Cassian." she replied, finally turning to meet his gaze. . "You wear your thoughts too close to the surface. It's a gift, and a burden."

"I used too, but I'm not like that anymore. No one knows what I'm thinking now, its better that way."

"It's also dangerous...." A smile still on her face, as she looked at her Eldest son. "Have some tea."

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

DEE'JA PEAK
Abrantes Vineyards
Interacting with: Cassian Abrantes
Items: x x x x x

Elian was the first to sense the shift in tone. One moment he was leaning casually against a post, making a joke about grape stomping, and the next, Lord Abrantes's voice dropped into that measured cadence that meant serious conversation ahead.

"You want to talk about that?"

Elian froze mid-grin, blinking once before glancing between his father and sister.

"Right," he said, drawing out the word as if tasting danger. "I, uh… suddenly feel a bit parched. Might go see if the kitchen's got anything cold. Maybe two of those tarts Caleb hides in the chiller."

Sibylla opened her mouth to protest, but he was already backing away, hands raised in mock surrender.

"Don't look at me like that, Sib. You're the one who got that tone from Father."

"I didn't get any tone," she shot back.

Elian gave her a pitying look. "Of course you didn't. Anyway, enjoy your chat."

He gave her a sympathetic wince before disappearing toward the villa, muttering something about 'emotional ambushes' and 'the things I do to survive.'

When Sibylla turned back, her father was watching her with the amused patience of someone who had seen every version of her since she could walk. His weathered hands moved slowly as he brushed away soil from his palms, the faint smell of earth rising between them.

"What?" she asked, blinking her hazel eyes at him.

Lord Alistair only lifted one thick brow, a mirror of her own expression.

"I am but a humble Lord of these vineyards, Your Majesty," he said with mock solemnity, gesturing out toward the golden rows that rolled down the hillside. "But forgive a father for being curious about the names his daughter so casually mentions in passing."

That stopped her short. Heat rushed to her cheeks before she could even think to mask it.

"Oh," she managed, voice a touch higher than usual. "That."

"Yes," he replied, folding his arms with mild satisfaction. "That."

She tried for composure, though the flush stubbornly refused to fade.

"We've been working closely together," she said, far too quickly, brushing at an invisible crease on her sleeve as she fell into step beside him when he started walking.

"Mmm," Lord Abrantes mused, his tone neutral but his eyes sharp. "With a man I am still not convinced should have been elected to the throne. His reputation --"

" -- is exaggerated," Sibylla interrupted before she could stop herself. "He's more than what infamy colors him, and that is evident in his actions. That has more merit than gossip from the Swan."

The way Sibylla's tone had come out too quickly and fiercely was the kind of defense that revealed more than she intended.

Alistair slowed, turning to look at her properly now with an unreadable but calm expression, the wind rustling his peppered hair.

"Is that so?" he said softly. "Well then, your Majesty, do tell me more about the man who convinced my daughter to step away from the Crown she worked for tirelessly most of her life."

​

Lady Callista Abrantes poured a cup of tea for her son with the grace of habit, filling the delicate porcelain cup. The faint aroma of Nabooan chamomile rose between them, mingling with the sweet air of the garden. She passed the cup across the table to Cassian, her wedding ring and betrothal ring glinting in the morning light.

"Here," she murmured in that typical mother's tone that was both gentle and expectant.

Only after he took his first sip did she lift her own cup, blue eyes lingering on him over the rim. The years had carved lines of patience into her face, but her gaze was as sharp and perceptive as ever, a socialite's and Minister's measure wrapped in a mother's warmth.

"So," she began lightly, setting her cup down with the faintest click. "What updates do you have for me regarding how you are doing?"

Lady Abrantes' voice carried that lilting calm that could soften the most stubborn diplomat and unsettle any of her children who thought to deflect her. Her lips curved faintly as she added, "And don't give me your father's version of a report. I want your truth, Cassian."

 

[Cassian Abrantes]

Sibylla Abrantes ​

Cassian sat back in his chair, the cup balanced between his hands, steam curling in the air between them. For a long moment, he didn't answer. The garden around them seemed to hush in anticipation the low hum of pollinators in the hedges, the quiet trickle of the fountain at the center of the courtyard, the whisper of the breeze across the grapevines. It was the same garden he'd played in as a child, but now it felt smaller somehow, or perhaps he had simply grown into the spaces that once dwarfed him.

He glanced up, catching his mother's gaze. She was watching him not with suspicion, but with knowing. She'd always had a way of seeing past words before they were even spoken a skill honed both at court and at the family table.

"I'm… managing." he began, the diplomatic answer out of habit. But Lady Callista's brow arched slightly, that subtle, imperious tilt that could unravel any performance.

Cassian sighed softly, smiling in defeat. "You never let me get away with that one."

"Would you want me to?" she asked, tone light but kind.

"No." he admitted. "I suppose not."

He set the cup down, tracing the rim absently with one finger. "It's been… different lately. And Naboo… Naboo feels quieter than I remember. Peaceful, yes, but also—"

"Empty?" she offered gently.

He hesitated, then nodded. "In a way. There are moments when I look out at the vineyards and I can almost forget everything else. The noise, the politics, the compromises. But the quiet never lasts. The moment I stop moving, my mind goes back to the things undone, the duties waiting."

Callista's eyes softened as she regarded him. "Your father once said much the same. But he learned eventually that duty without rest becomes its own kind of blindness. You cannot serve Naboo if you forget how to breathe its air."

Cassian smiled faintly at that. "You make it sound so simple."

"Oh, it isn't simple." she said, lifting her cup again. "It's discipline. The kind that comes when you recognize your limits without shame."

He looked down, his thumb brushing the handle of his teacup. "I think sometimes I've convinced myself that limits are for other people. I don't have any limits."

A quiet laugh escaped her. "You sound like your father at your age. Always believing strength meant endurance. But real strength, Cassian, is in discernment, in knowing when to yield so that something new can grow in the space you leave."

The words landed deeper than he expected. He leaned back, letting them linger. "You sound like a philosopher, Mother."

She smiled a slow, knowing smile that carried both affection and amusement. "I sound like a woman who raised three Abrantes children and sat through more Senate meetings than I care to count."

Cassian laughed quietly, and for a moment, the heaviness between them lifted. He looked at her truly looked and saw not just the Minister, the formidable presence at galas and councils, but the mother who had sat beside his bed when he was ill, who had taught him how to tie a cravat properly before his first public appearance, who had believed in him when he doubted himself most.

"Truth be told, I've missed this." he said softly.

"I know." she replied, her hand reaching across the table to rest atop his. Her rings were cool against his skin, grounding, steady. "The galaxy will always find ways to need you, Cassian. But don't let it take you away from yourself, or from home for too long-" She paused, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "Why have you been away for so long? Is our family so horrible that you must find sleep in the barracks."

He met her gaze again, the sunlight glinting through the lattice and painting gold across her face. Also as if asking how did she know. "No, I'm just..." he said quietly, as he pulled his hand away and reached for the cup with both hands, something to steady him, ground him in this moment once more..

I did something a long time ago. I think of what would happen if I did the opposite, would it would make things better, or made things so much worse. I did what I had to based on what honor dictated, because at the time, that was the right thing to do. I thought about the war it could cause, the lives it could end, our lives, Sibylla's , Fathers, Elians, yours.....

He wanted to say, to explain himself, but it just sounded like excuses, even though he knew it wasn't.

"Thessaly came back...." He raised the cup and took a small sip.

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

DEE'JA PEAK
Abrantes Vineyards
Interacting with: Cassian Abrantes
Items: x x x x x

Sibylla hesitated, caught between pride and vulnerability, the morning breeze tugging at her skirts and hair. For once, her polished words felt clumsy, her careful composure unsteady.

Her father said nothing more, only waited in that patient, steady knowing way of his. The same way he used to when she was a child and had something on her mind but didn't yet know how to say it.

So Sibylla drew a breath, hazel eyes flicking to the horizon where the vines stretched endlessly across the light.

"He didn't convince me," she began quietly. "He reminded me."

Alistair's brow furrowed just slightly. "Reminded you of what?"

"That the Crown is only as strong as the people who serve it," she said in a soft but firm tone, looking out into the vineyards as she gave a slight furrow of her brow, recalling the conversation that she and AUrelian had back in Theed during Foundation Day. How it had all turned out in the wake of the revealtion that he had sent someone to protect her from his father's assassination attempt at her and how she'd been determined to discover just where did that land Aurelian in the "And that I serve Naboo best when I am unafraid to follow conviction rather than expectation."

A long silence followed, save for the whisper of wind through the vines. Then ever so faintly Alistair's lips curved into something like approval, wry but proud.

"Conviction," he repeated. "I suppose that's the Abrantes in you."

Sibylla smiled faintly, her earlier embarrassment finally giving way to warmth. "And the stubbornness?"

"That," he said dryly, "is all your mother."

Their laughter carried lightly down the rows, mingling with the scent of ripening grapes. None the less, Lord Abrantes still couldn't help but study his daughter as the walked, checking another bushel of grapes as they paused.

"But expectations? What exactly do you mean by that?" he inquired, his curiosity piqued.

 

[Cassian Abrantes]

Sibylla Abrantes ​

Lady Callista's expression changed, not in shock, but in the quiet way a mother's heart recognizes the depth of what is unspoken. The faint clink of her cup meeting its saucer was the only sound between them for a long while. Beyond the veranda, the vineyards swayed in the soft breeze, their rhythm patient and ancient, untouched by the tremor that passed through her son's voice.

"Thessaly." Tasting the name like a memory returned. Her tone carried no judgment only understanding layered beneath restraint. "I wondered when you would tell me."

"Thessaly" she repeated quietly, the name carrying a weight of years and unspoken memory. "That is also a name I haven't heard from your lips in a long time."

Cassian didn't immediately respond. He simply stared into the cup as if the pale amber of the tea might hold answers he'd spent years avoiding. The ripples stilled with each breath he took, the silence between them stretched taut, intimate, and heavy.

"She returned" he murmured at last. "Unexpectedly. Not to see me, but the moment I saw her, all of it came back. She's changed, vindicative, so much hatred, I don't blame her. But since that is the same night I was attacked, and her first night of appearing. It can't be all coincidence....."

Oh, Cassian." she said softly, her voice gentle but steady. "Did you think a mother wouldn't notice? The way you spoke of her, the way you didn't speak of her, told me more than words ever could. Running off in all hours of the day and night......"

There was no accusation in her tone. Only understanding that quiet, unrelenting compassion that made his chest ache more than anger ever could. He leaned back, exhaling through his nose, the scent of chamomile suddenly too sweet, too heavy.

He said nothing, his fingers tightening around the porcelain. The steam had thinned to nothing. He stared into the dregs as though the right words might surface there. He finally looked up to his mother, finally looking his family in the eyes, the same reason why he never told anyone. And this whole time.....she knew. Cassian's breath faltered for a moment, for the first time in his life, fear had overcome him, completely, as he would knew be marched in front of his entire family and he would be crucified for his choice.

"Mother....You knew?"

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

DEE'JA PEAK
Abrantes Vineyards
Interacting with: Cassian Abrantes
Items: x x x x x

Sibylla paused at his question, one hand brushing lightly over the nearest vine as though the texture of the leaves might steady her thoughts. The morning sun had risen higher now, glinting across the dew still clinging to the grapes and for a moment Sibylla looked as if she were trying to find her answer in the rows themselves.

Her father's tone hadn't been disapproving, merely curious with the same calm inquiry that had guided her since she was small. Yet something in it made her chest tighten all the same.

"Expectations," she repeated quietly, as if testing the weight of the word. "It means what people see when they look at me, not necessarily who I am."

Alistair arched one brow, watching her sidelong as he plucked a grape from a low cluster before inspecting.

"Go on," he said, though the faint glimmer of amusement in his voice told her he already understood more than he let on.

Sibylla let out a small breath and clasped her hands before her, those hazel eyes shifting over towards the distant sun on the sunlit horizon.

"My entire life, I've been told what an Abrantes should be. What I should be. The poised daughter of House Abrantes, the one who would do great things, the one who would gain the Crown one day, the one who brings reason and diplomacy to every table. I thought if I could meet every expectation, if I could never falter, then I was serving Naboo the best way possible -- because I thought that is what I wanted to do."

A sense of nervousness filled her as Sibylla finally admitted her doubts and fears to her father, regarding what she had been contemplating for over a year.

"...but as the months passed...I realized that I wasn't so certain about what part of me truly wanted the Crown and which part wanted it because you, mother, and everyone expected me to reach for it.... and if that was the case, then it also meant I was serving an image, not a truth....at least, not always."

Alistair said nothing at first, merely choosing to instead to walk beside her in silence as the rows of vines stretched out before them. Many thoughts passed behind his calm expression, the quiet weight of a father's reflections held close.

When he finally spoke, it was in a low, deliberate tone, colored with curiosity rather than reproach.

"Sibylla," he began, her name softened by the wind as he paused mid-step and turned toward her. The afternoon breeze caught in his salt-and-pepper curls, ruffling them as he studied her face.

"Did you believe," he asked quietly, "that your mother and I expected you to run for the Crown?"

 

[Cassian Abrantes]

Sibylla Abrantes ​

"I thought I hid it well." he murmured finally.

"You did." she admitted. "From most. Not from me."

There was no accusation in her tone. Only understanding that quiet, unrelenting compassion that made his chest ache more than anger ever could. He leaned back, exhaling through his nose, the scent of chamomile suddenly too sweet, too heavy.

"I didn't tell you or the family because…" He faltered, searching for the right phrasing, but the truth had never been neat. "Because I didn't want you......" Hate him, despise him, whatever it was. He didn't want to lose his family.

"I never would have, we never would've." Callista said, and for a moment her expression softened into something that reminded him of his childhood the look she gave when he scraped his knees or came home with a lie already unraveling on his tongue. "I know you loved her deeply, I know she loved you deeply."

"If I had gone through with it." he said at last, his voice low, "If I had married her, our houses would have torn each other apart. Her Father would never have accepted this, there would have been war. Deeja Peak might've burned to the ground, Sibylla and Elian might've....." He stopped suddenly as if the very breath was taken from him. "If something happened to them, to you or Father because of my choice. I would never have forgiven myself.

He looked at his mother then, the gold of the sunlight catching in the tension of his expression. "And Naboo would have burned for it. For me. For my love."

"I did what I had to do, and I would do it all over again. There was time that I wonder if my choices would come back to haunt me, and I feel that they have."

Lady Callista's expression softened, her features gentled by that rare blend of grace and ache only a mother could carry. The light caught on her rings again as she leaned forward, her hand returning to his where it had been before warm this time, steady, and certain.

"Cassian." she said quietly, her voice threading through the stillness like silk. "You have done nothing wrong."

The words came with a firmness that brooked no argument. It wasn't comfort it was conviction.

Her thumb brushed lightly across his knuckles, grounding him as much as her tone did. "You were handed an impossible choice in an impossible time. You were asked to weigh love against duty, peace against honor. There was no path that would not break something, or someone. And yet you chose the one that spared countless lives, even if it meant sacrificing your own happiness."

Cassian looked down, but she wouldn't allow him to retreat into silence.

"Do you think I don't know the weight of choices like that?" she continued softly. "Your father and I have carried them, too the quiet ones that history never records, the ones that cost a piece of who we are. We made them for Naboo, for our children, for a fragile peace that never thanks those who preserve it."

Her hand lifted to his cheek then, fingertips brushing the edge of his jaw an old gesture, from a time when he still fit beneath her arm. "You did what honor demanded, yes. But more than that you did what compassion required. You looked beyond your heart to see the thousands of others who would suffer if you didn't. That is not cowardice, my son. That is courage of the rarest kind."

He swallowed hard, unable to meet her gaze for a moment. "Why do I feel so....awful then. Why do I feel so angry."

Her voice softened even more. "Because you're human. Because you loved her."

Cassian's breath faltered. The truth in her words cut through the quiet, gentle and devastating all at once. Callista let her hand fall back to the table but didn't withdraw entirely.

"Listen to me." she said, and her tone shifted, the woman who had stood before senators and kings without trembling. "There was no right or wrong in what you did. There was only the choice you could live with. You made it with honor, and with empathy, when so many others would have made it for ambition or pride. That is the measure of who you are."

The garden held its breath with them. Only the fountain murmured in the distance, water glinting gold in the light. Cassian finally looked up, and she met his gaze with that same quiet strength that had anchored their family through every storm.

"You did what you had to." she said once more, firmly now, as if sealing the truth between them. "And though it hurt though it left scars it was not wrong. There are no villains in such choices, only hearts that did their best in a world that rarely allows mercy to triumph."

Her hand squeezed his one last time. "Let yourself forgive the man who made that decision. You never needed our forgiveness for this choice."

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

DEE'JA PEAK
Abrantes Vineyards
Interacting with: Cassian Abrantes
Items: x x x x x

Sibylla froze at her father's question. For a heartbeat, the world seemed to still around her, the gentle hum of the vineyard fading into a quiet hum beneath the weight of his words. Her fingers brushed against the soft edge of a leaf, the gesture more to steady herself than anything else.
Did she believe they had expected her to run for the Crown?

She parted her lips only to close them again, and then parted once more as she gathered her thoughts. Finally, she let out a slow breath, gathering the courage to look at him.

"Yes," she said at last. "I did."

The words lingered in the air and Sibylla swallowed hard, continuing before she could lose her nerve.

"You placed so much emphasis on my study, my training, the governesses you selected, the etiquette tutors, the endless sessions on rhetoric and diplomacy. You saw to it that I joined the Youth Legislature before I was even of age, and every dinner, every charity gala, every late evening spent with visiting senators -- it all felt as though it had purpose, as if every step were meant to lead me toward one destination." Her voice softened then as she murmured. "The Crown."

Unable to help herself, her gaze dropped, lashes lowering as a faint sigh escaped her, her hand moving to caress another grape vine leaf.

"It did not feel like ambition alone, Father. It felt like duty. Every path before me had already been so carefully paved that I believed it must have been done with intent. Yours. Mother's. The House's. I thought... I thought it was what you both desired for me."

When she fell silent, her words lingered with that raw and vulnerable quality of a little girl afraid to hear or see the disappointment in her father's face and voice.

However, Alistair did not answer at once. He simply watched her, the quiet furrow of his brow betraying the thoughts passing behind his calm exterior. His hands moved absently over the vines, inspecting the fruit as though they, too, required patience. When he finally spoke, his tone was not that of disappointment, but warmth.

"I can see why you might think that," he said softly. "Yes, as your father, as Prince of Dee'ja Peak, and as patriarch of our House, your mother and I ensured you had every opportunity -- the best teachers, the most capable mentors, the doors open to every hall that might lead to greatness." He paused, a small sigh leaving him as his eyes turned back toward her. "But it was never because we expected you to be Queen."

Sibylla's head snapped up at that, her brows arching high in disbelief.

"What?"

At her reaction, he smiled faintly, the expression touched with tenderness.

"We only did so because we believed it was what you wanted. Even as a girl, you were captivated by the Assembly debates. You would quote Senators and correct their phrasing before you could even reach the desk of your first tutor. You loved the art of discourse, the intricacy of politics. We merely nurtured what was already there."

Sibylla stared at him, blinking as if she had misheard. "You didn't expect me to be Queen?"

Alistair chuckled, the sound low and warm. "Shiraya, no," he said, shaking his head with an indulgent smile. "I thought you would end up commanding the Assembly, not sitting upon a throne."

The expression on her face was almost comical, with her lips parting and then closing, her disbelief now tinged with bewildered confusion.

"Then why," she demanded softly, "were you so very upset when I stepped away?"

The smile faded from his features, replaced by something more serious, a frown drawing over his sharp features.

"Because of the suddenness of it," he confessed. "Not because you turned aside from the Crown, but because you did so without coming to us. I had hoped you would tell me what troubled you, what changed your heart. In the wake of the assassination attempt by Remus Veruna, I feared the worst." so much so that it was one of the many reasons he had tasked Cassian to investigate matters, how that also turned into the necessity for him to be demoted and to hunt down the dangers that threatened their House, but also Sibylla as well.

He glanced toward the hills, the wind blowing the dark peppered forelocks along his brow.

"If anything, I wanted to shield you from all of it. But once you made your choice, I swore that if it was truly what you desired, then Cassian, your mother, and I and all the strength of our House, would stand behind you."

Sibylla could only look at him, her heart caught between astonishment and something deeper, more fragile. For so long, she had been carrying a weight she now realized she had fashioned herself.

"Father…" she breathed, her voice softer than the wind through the vines.

Alistair turned back to her, his expression gentling.

"You've never disappointed me, my dear," he said quietly. "You only forget that this path was yours long before it was ever ours to prepare."

 

[Cassian Abrantes]

Sibylla Abrantes
​

The air was ripe with the scent of earth and ripening fruit, that familiar perfume of home and heritage. Alistair brushed a hand along one of the trellises before before glancing back toward his daughter once more.

"Walk with me, Sibylla." he said quietly, his voice carrying that unspoken gentleness that only came when he set aside his title as Head of Dee'ja Peak and spoke only as her father. For a time, neither spoke. The quiet between them wasn't tense, but thoughtful the kind that had defined their relationship since she was a child who asked so many questions and he, a man who rarely answered them outright.

Alistair's hand moved to his signet ring the family crest engraved deep into the gold, worn smooth in places from years of habit. He twisted it once, then twice, before slipping it off his finger.

"Do you know." he began softly, holding the ring up so it caught the sunlight, "Your grandfather once told me that every line in this crest carried weight a story, a lesson, a reminder of what it costs to keep the name we bear."

He placed the ring in her palm, so she could look at it as she did countless times before. But the never fully had this talk, but now was the best time.

"When he gave this to me, I was not ready. Not by half." His voice carried a faint chuckle, but it was laced with memory. "I thought I understood legacy. I thought it meant leading our House, defending our lands, ensuring the vineyards thrived. But the truth of it…" He glanced toward the hills, eyes narrowing against the light. "The truth is that legacy isn't about command. It's about us, our family and the love we have for each other and those that dear to us."

Alistair said with quiet honesty. "Sometimes, the family does not get the luxury of waiting until it is ready." He smiled faintly, turning his head just enough for her to catch the softness in his expression. "And in time, I learned that the burden was not as heavy when shared. Your mother. Cassian. Elian. You."

"Sibylla." he said, his tone deepening, steady as the earth beneath their feet. "I never needed you to be Queen, Voice, Senator, or any of the things. The only thing I ever needed you to be was my daughter."

"Though." he added with amusement "I must admit, the Abrantes spirit in you has given me more grey hairs than I would care to confess to anyone."

He smiled as he gently reached for the ring and placed his back on his finger as he wrapped an arm around his daughter. "Oh Sibylla, what shall I do with you?" He pondered curiously, with a teasing smile as he gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Well, well—would you look at that? The mighty House Abrantes sharing heartfelt wisdom among the vines and no one thought to invite their most charming son?"

Elian strolled up from the lower path, all confidence and grin, his hair windswept in that deliberate way that suggested he'd been anywhere but where he was supposed to be. His shirt collar was undone, sleeves rolled past his elbows.

He came to a halt beside Sibylla, giving her a playful nudge with his elbow. "See? I told you." he said with that incorrigible, roguish grin. "I told you and Cassian both you just need to relax a bit! Look at you two, one brooding and the other intellectually overpowering out there in Theed and beyond. Meanwhile, the world's still turning, the grapes are still growing, and I—" he gave a dramatic gesture to himself "—am as effortlessly handsome as ever."

Alistair, who had been doing his best to maintain the quiet dignity of their earlier exchange, gave a low chuckle and folded his arms, watching his youngest with a look that was equal parts fondness and weary amusement.

"Oh, don't even get me started with you, young man." he said in that dry, warning tone that carried the weight of years of paternal experience. "Relaxation, you say? You could stand to be a little less relaxed. The vineyard hands report that you were supposed to be helping inspect the irrigation channels an hour ago."

Elian winced, caught mid-smirk. "Ah, well… inspection is such a broad term, Father. I prefer to think of it as—supervising from a distance."

"Come along then." Alistair said finally with a hearty laugh, placed his hands around his son and daughter. "Your mother's waiting, and I'd prefer she not send Cassian and search party for the three of us."