Vikkin was unusually quiet. It had been some months since they had last visited Highgarden, and Kovan had always been of the impression that his brother enjoyed seeing the Tyrells, but after exchanging a few pleasantries, he’d grown rather quiet. The older he got, the more serious he seemed to get, going from the carefree, eccentric little boy he’d been, to the more dutiful son he was expected to be, but Kovan hadn’t expected that to start spilling over into their interactions with their old friends.
The two of them were sitting in the shared sitting room between their two rooms in the guest suite in total silence. Kovan was only sitting there reading because he wasn’t ready to go to bed yet, but it did cross his mind for a moment that Vikkin was being too quiet.
“Kovan.” Vikkin said, knocking Kovan out of his own thoughts.
“Mmm?” Kovan asked, absent-mindedly, only half-paying attention to his brother.
“You’re older than I am.” Vikkin said, though it didn’t quite sound like the statement of fact it was so much as a question.
As little attention as he was paying, Kovan’s only response was, “Yes, I am.”
“When was the first time… you fell in love?”
Kovan stopped and looked up at his brother. “You’re in love?”
“I didn’t say that.” Vikkin said, just a little bit too quickly, but Kovan’s older brother senses were smelling blood.
“Who is it?” Kovan asked with a slight smirk, closing his book and leaning forward. He was met with silence, so he continued on his own. “Is it one of the Tyrells?” More silence. “It’s Lady Jana, isn’t it?”
The look of shock on Vikkin’s face was all the confirmation he needed, even before the words seemed to pop out of Vikkin’s mouth. “How did you know?”
Kovan could hardly believe his ears. His brother had barely hit his teens. He had guessed correctly, but that had been more out of his intuition than because he’d actually thought about his baby brother being “in love.” He laughed, but all he said was, “So. What do you intend to do?”
“Intend to do?” Vikkin asked, clearly never having thought of it before. “What- what do you mean?” He sounded anxious.
“Jana Tyrell. If you ask father, I’m sure he would arrange-“
“No!” Vikkin interrupted him, sounding downright terrified by the idea.
“Why not?” Kovan frowned at him.
“I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to do it like that. She’s not- she’s too pretty for me.” Vikkin finished in a small voice, looking down at his hands. Kovan snorted a laugh, but before he could actually say anything, Vikkin stood up and began walking away to his room. “Never mind. I didn’t say anything.” He said, and was gone in a flash, leaving Kovan to stare after him, still trying to stifle a laugh.