Isabelle was walking the hallway of her Haulani residence with measured, irate steps. "Iris!" - she shrilled in a hushed voice, looking around corners and pulling back the heavy curtains that had been holding back the afternoon's sultriness.

From inside a stuffy cupboard Iris held her breath and listened to the sharp footsteps approach and recede, the sound of her heartbeat ticking the beats of a second among spare pots and linens. For a moment, they stopped, and she slowly let out a breath, not really knowing what to do next.

Then, Isabelle knocked the front of her heel against the cupboard door, and a startled yelp from inside had her swinging the doors open and pulling out a small, frowning dark-haired girl. "You will apologize to the trade commissioner's daughter," Isabelle demanded through pursed lips, holding her daughter firmly with both hands.

"She took Elias' slingshot, and-"

"Calm down and apologize to the girl."

"But! She is the one-", a slap echoed in Iris' ears as her train of thought was derailed by the sharp pain that came with it. Surprised by the sudden and forceful hit, she turned her head back to stare at her mother.

"Go back outside. Once you've apologized you will give her the stupid toy as a gift." Isabelle snapped. She picked up Iris' long hair and put it to one side of her face, covering the girl's reddening cheek, then took her by the hand, half-dragging her until the child was almost running to keep in pace with her mother's long strides. Her mother didn't say another word to Iris all day, apart from the expected pleasantries in front of company. Throughout the day, Iris kept thinking about the look in her mother's eyes after she'd struck the blow that left a feint red mark on Iris' cheek. Alongside the seething anger, her mother's almond eyes had been filled with fear.

Fiat Lux was in full swing, and for Iris, that meant today would be another day of following her parents around and politely smiling at everybody she came across. She'd be getting compliments on what a polite young girl she was while her brother would be out with his friends actually enjoying the festival. And her baby sister was no fun at all. Rosalie was only two and stuck to their mother's side like a tick.

The only thing she'd been looking forward to was the sparring event. Contestants had been facing off during the week in thinning numbers, leaving only the strongest, quickest and smartest to face off in the last matches before the finals. Iris was abuzz with excitement. Her father had donated a significant sum for the aid of Haulani's poor, so the whole family was seated close to the governor's platform, the best vantage point to watch the bouts from.

Not a single fight had passed, and Rosalie had already started sobbing, evidently frightened by the display. It was a matter of minutes before those sobs would turn into an outright torrent of tears. Iris rolled her eyes at the baby and tried to focus on the fight when she felt a tug on the sleeve of her dress.

"Take your sister back to the fair and calm her down." Her mother issued her order in the usual matter-of-factly tone.

Iris wanted to complain, but there was no one who would listen. Her father was laughing at someone's remark, Isabelle was sending her pointed and impatient looks and her brother was nowhere to be found.

She was filled with anger as she walked her little sister between the various stalls littering the streets. Rosalie was quiet now, irritatingly so. "Do you want candy?", Iris tried for the tenth time, pointing at one of the stalls. Once again, all she got in reply was silence as the girl stared at the ground and tugged at the ridiculously large bow on her head. "Fine," Iris snapped, "I'll play and you watch and stand there in silence."

The fair suddenly became more fun. She skittered from stall to stall playing games and tasting deliciously laid out treats. At one point, she was having so much fun she forgot about what she was missing out on the sparring ring. At one point she turned around and Rosalie was nowhere to be seen.

The sun was starting to set and the revelry had already filled most with booze and carelessness. No one had seen the little girl and Iris felt like she'd run the length and girth of Haulani in panic. But the city was criss-crossed with dim side streets and the ever hungry characters that occupied them. Desperately, she made her way to the port. Maybe she'd find someone there to help her. Or a ship to sail away on.

"Little Iris! Looking for Eli?" The voice came from a tan, burly man. Iris recognized him immediately as one of her brother's friends.

"Have you seen him?", she asked. Maybe he was sober enough to help her search.

"Not for hours. Better get back to your parents now, the sun's about to set."

Iris' chest sunk. "Have you seen a little girl with a big white bow?"

The sailor frowned, thinking. "A friend of yours? Some child walked onto the old galley a while back", he said with a chuckle, "but that's all I've heard of little girls dockside."

"Where is she now?!"

"Don't know… Better head home now!" He yelled after her before going about his business. Iris was already running, although exhausted by hours of searching. As she neared the derelict ship, she saw a group of sailors huddled in a circle. Every so often they let out bursts of laughter. When she approached them, she saw Rosalie in the middle, giggling as she poured liquor into glasses and pots and urged the sailors to drink. Apparently, Rosalie had unwittingly dragged them into a drinking game. The bow was missing from her head, but apart from that, she appeared unscathed.

Iris called out to her and the girl dropped the bottle she'd been holding, to the dismay of her entertainers, and retreated behind one of the men. 'Ridiculous', Iris thought, 'the little brat is hiding from her own sister behind a stranger.'

On the way back, Iris made sure that the once again quiet girl knew not to mention what had happened to anyone. At least, she thought, she could use her sister's irrational fear of her to cover up her mistake.

Iris stood still for a moment, listening, before stepping quietly around the creaking boards that would give her away. The curtains were drawn, drowning out the dim streetlights. She moved quickly through the dark corridor, toward the light left by the door to await her father's return. Only a little farther and she would melt into the summer night.

She stopped in her tracks and quickly ducked behind the door frame. In the entryway stood her mother's dark form, illuminated by a single handheld lamp. Iris' mind started racing for a way out. Any time she got caught she felt like a little girl again, lesser. Then, a light shone from the corridor she'd just come from and her heart filled with dread. Had her father returned earlier than she'd thought? She hugged her body against the wall, cornered like a hunted animal.

She shut her eyes tight as the light approached, cursing herself for being so careless and feeling the inevitability of swift punishment. However, the tall, foreboding figure walked past her, and she heard her mother's voice from the entryway.

"And where would you be off to, Eli?", she asked in her tired but strict voice.

"Business."

"Curious. Not going off to drink with your friends this time?", she retorted with a dubious hint of sarcasm.

Iris heard the creaking of the door, followed by her brother's voice, "Would you walk with me? There is something I'd like to discuss." Iris panicked for a moment as she heard them both step out. Could they be discussing her? She dismissed the thought and took her chance to slip out into the yard. Thin and still not very tall, she easily hid behind a palm tree while the pair talked on the pathway just ahead. A minute later she saw her mother walk back into the house and waited a bit before catching up with her brother.

"Thanks for the help, Eli," she chirped from behind him.

He swiftly turned around and frowned when he spotted the wispy girl trailing him. "I was giving you a chance to sneak back, you little flea-ridden monkey."

Iris let out a sigh and a haughty complaint. "I'm not little anymore."

"Go bac-"

"Where are we going today? The Fingers? The docks again? Can I use your bow again?"

"That's too dangerous for little girls who freeze up at the thought of getting caught," Elias chided.

"I thought you were father." She responded.

Her brother went quiet and they walked in silence until they reached the docks, where all was alight with life again.

Through the small slit in the door frame Iris saw Erasmus Acquarone. Her brother was inside the room as well, hidden from sight.

Erasmus' finger was tapping against the table in irritated impatience. An unseen man spoke across from him.

"Six unmarked crates from the Steelhull trading company," he said in a rushed manner, "Dingam thinks he saw poison."

"Thinks?", asked a hoarse voice skeptically.

"He had to get out with his head still screwed on to make the report, didn't he?", the first man snapped back. "Said he could tell by the way they handled it." The other man scoffed, but was interrupted by Erasmus.

"Alana." The man sat back in his seat, stance wide and imposing, as if he could pounce at any moment.

A woman responded, "They've gotten bold after John, intimidating our vendors, openly slandering the company. They're probably going to try to sabotage the ship again."

"Again?", a new voice questioned.

"A rat already tried to sink us." Erasmus' anger was reflected in the tension in his voice. Iris saw him nod, and heard the scraping of a chair against the floor as one of her father's people got up from their seat and started walking around the room, their steps followed by the occasional sound of metal clanging on wood. Iris' whole body tensed as the footsteps neared the door, gearing for an escape to her room. She had prepared sewing materials and a pair of half-finished gloves she could pretend to be busy with.

The footsteps receded and her father's voice could be heard again. "We are under attack, my friends. And clearly our enemy knows that the only way to topple us would be from within. Someone here thought he could stab us in the back and slither off into the night." Iris saw Erasmus' gaze fixed on someone in the room, and although she couldn't see his eyes she could feel it was murderous.

"N-no Erasmus!" the hoarse voice exclaimed, followed by the rattle of a chair falling to the ground. "Whoever it was, they lied to you!" Iris heard a scuffle. "I'm loyal!"

"Stabbed, poisoned or drowned - that is how you would see your comrades ." Erasmus stood up and grabbed the sides of the table, leaning in as he spoke his accusations with overflowing disgust.

The sound of metal scraping against wood could be heard as the second person stood up, soon followed by the others. The accused's protests were now a jumble of pleas and denials. He begged his comrades to spare him by name, amongst them, Elias. At this point, Iris couldn't look away. Even if she ran away now there was no denying what was about to happen. Pleas turned into shrieks followed by the sickening sound of blades piercing flesh. All the while, all Iris could see was her father, as he calmly observed what was unfolding.

She knocked on her brother's door later that night, but there was no answer.

The long leaves above them rustled against each other making light dance across the earth. Rosalie's sobs echoed in the back of Iris' mind as she listened to them. Erasmus was deadly still, expression stern, gaze focused on the horizon. Isabelle stood an arm's length away, dead eyes looking at the hole where her son's clothes lay in absence of his body.

Iris closed her eyes and listened to the leaves. There was nothing for her there anymore.