Another year, but at least this one felt a tad more hopeful than the last. It could hardly have been worse of course, but Konstantin had decided, no matter the effort it cost him, to try to look on the bright side. He had his family and for now that had to be enough. This did mean, however, that he expected them to be solid foundations (quite unfairly), but Ari’s announcement, and the confirmation from Zelda that this was not simply something he had missed, shook those imagined building blocks firmly.

“Has something happened?” He asked, eyes burning into his brother, trying to ascertain which aspect of his brother’s life was causing him to burn down another.