After breakfast, Arabella gathered the group in the main hall and offered what she called "a proper orientation" — a tour of the estate's main spaces, conducted with the specific warmth of someone who knew a place so well that sharing it came naturally.
She showed them the library, which was large enough that Marcus made an involuntary sound and then collected himself quickly.
The music room, where Seraphine had spent the extra day playing piano with William, and which produced a specific quality of attention from Sara, who'd apparently studied music before she'd studied cultivation.
The long portrait gallery, where generations of Crosses looked down with varying degrees of severity.
Liam spent five minutes at one portrait specifically, a Cross from several generations back who was depicted mid-combat, flames wreathing his sword, expression carrying a familiar quality.
"This is where you get it from," he said to William.
"The fire affinity runs in the family," William said.
