Lark lifted her head at a soft knock on the door.

“Lark?” Conan popped his head in. “Is this a good time?”

It had been twenty minutes since Avi had left. Lark no longer felt like she was about to explode, so she smiled stiffly and nodded.

“Come on in.” Lark stood up.

Conan was followed by Shamira and the stranger from before. Shamira ran to Lark and enveloped her in a hug, surprising both of them. She awkwardly took a step back from Lark.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Shamira nearly cried. “You have no idea how scared I was when you coughed up blood!”

“I’m sorry.” Lark scratched her neck. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m not exactly sure what happened.”

“I have an idea,” the stranger piped up.

Shamira stepped aside so Lark could see him.

“This is the genius little brother I told you about, Joshua Cynbel.” Conan draped his uninjured arm around Joshua’s shoulders.

“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you!” Lark gave a genuine smile, shaking Joshua’s hand enthusiastically. “I’m Larkspur Bei, but you can call me Lark.”

“A pleasure to meet you, princess. And if I may point out, you are now Larkspur Kynaston.” Joshua gave a slight bow. He wasn’t cold, just…clinical. No smile, just a burning gaze that seemed to have as many questions as she did.

“Ah, right,” Lark said. “I guess I am a Kynaston now, huh? Still not used to that name.”

She studied Joshua, automatically comparing him with his brother. A little shorter than Conan’s six-foot height and less muscular, though he was still fit. A resemblance in the strong jaw, angular nose, and high cheekbones were unmistakable. Joshua’s dark blond hair was a shade darker than Conan’s, almost a light brown. And Joshua had hazel eyes, as opposed to Conan’s blue with green specks. They also lacked the warm, friendly look Conan now had for her.

Joshua wore slacks and a button-down shirt. Oddly formal next to everyone else, who wore casual pants, shorts, and loose shirts. He was also carrying the first real notebook and pen she had seen since coming to this time.

“Where are we?” Lark asked, distracting herself from comparing the Cynbel brothers.

“We’re in Vusal, on the palace grounds,” Shamira said.

“We’re here?” Lark felt sorry she had missed seeing the city on their way in. “When can I go exploring?”

“You’re still a secret,” Joshua reminded her. “You can’t leave the palace grounds yet. But that still gives you over a hundred acres to tour.”

“One hundred acres?” Lark’s jaw nearly dropped.

“The palace grounds were created to be completely self-sufficient,” Conan said. “It’s never happened, but the entire government could be under siege for years, and you’d be fine.”

“Wow.”

“You’re in the hospital building, located behind the main palace,” Shamira offered.

“This is a hospital room?” Lark looked around again. “It seemed like it, but it’s way nicer than I’ve ever seen before.”

“That reminds me, you said you had an idea of what happened to Lark?” Shamira asked Joshua.

Joshua tapped the notebook in his hand. “If I understand the scans correctly, you overextended yourself. The bio-bots can store a lot of energy, but it’s not infinite. If you continue attempting to output energy after the stores are drained, they will turn to the next closest source. Your own body.”

“I beg your pardon?” Lark looked down at herself, then back to Joshua, puzzled.

“Your body is made up of energy. It’s practically a long-lasting battery. But it’s also delicately balanced. If you continue to ask it for too much, it will shut down. Your organs were basically eating themselves up.”

Shamira went even paler than she normally was. It made her fiery red hair and emerald eyes stand out even more.

“It’s imperative we carefully learn your limits to ensure you don’t endanger yourself again,” Joshua lectured.

Lark nodded, feeling chastised.

“How are you feeling?” Joshua asked, looking between her and his open notebook.

Lark stretched, trying to internally gauge herself. “I feel perfect!”

Joshua nodded. “Excellent. Then we can start lessons tomorrow. I will be your tutor for the time being. I have enough of a grasp on most essentials to help you. For now, we’ll do lessons in the morning, tests in the afternoon.”

“Tests?” Lark raised her eyebrows.

“We need data on the bio-bots. We need to know your abilities and limits.”

“Ah, those kinds of tests.”

“With your permission, I’ll take my leave.” Joshua gave a small bow.

Lark blinked. “Um, sure. Thank you?”

She watched him exit the room, then turned to Conan. He was trying to stifle a laugh.

“Is he always like that?” Lark asked.

Knowing she was going to be spending nearly every waking minute with Joshua for the foreseeable future, and since he was family to Conan and Harold, Lark had hoped to be good friends with him, but the formality of his speech and bearing created a barrier. His detached gaze made her feel like a science experiment or puzzle to him. Which, admittedly, she kind of was. But that didn’t mean she enjoyed feeling like one.

“He warms up to people,” Conan assured her.

“Sometimes,” Shamira mumbled under her breath.

Lark shot her a look, then sighed. “Oh goody. This is going to be fun.”

Lark’s head was spinning, and she had only had two days of lessons. There was no end of facts, theories, names, numbers, and experimenting.

Finished with her break, Lark was walking Snowy on a leash and harness back to the classroom. Her earlier lessons swam around in her memory.

“We’re still in the Milky Way, but a different solar system. It’s named Verne, after Verne Sheridan, the man who discovered Evren was capable of being habitable.” Lark had been mumbling all this under her breath, but as she opened the classroom door, she said triumphantly, “Evren is the third successfully terraformed planet!”

Thinking the classroom would be empty, Lark was surprised to find Joshua already there, typing something into his tablet.

The room was a converted office. An updated version of whiteboards hung along one wall—a projected screen hovered less than an inch from the wall, and instead of markers, you used a special stylus to write in the air. Two desks for Joshua and Larkspur sat next to the single window overlooking an orchard with a variety of trees. Maps, globes, notebooks, and papers were scattered around the room, with the occasional flickering hologram depending on the lesson.

In the corner, Snowy had a huge, fluffy bed and scratching post with food and water bowls ready for her use. There was even a litter box for when lessons went long and they didn’t get a walk outside. So far, she hadn’t disrupted class with curious explorations too much.

“Very good, your highness.” Joshua stood up.

As he politely waited for her to take a seat, he launched straight into a twenty-minute lecture about astronomy, which Lark actually found interesting. She and her brothers would stargaze for hours back on Earth. But that reminded her.

“Um, Joshua?” Lark raised her hand. Why, she wasn’t entirely sure. “Actually, you said we could talk about time travel after the break.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Joshua nodded. “My apologies, your highness.”

“Just Lark is fine. We’re not doing any official functions right now,” Lark said for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Thank you.” Joshua bowed for what felt like the hundred and fiftieth time.

Giving up for today, Lark moved on. “So, there are time travel particles?”

“Yes. Doctor Franklin stumbled upon them as we were researching how to make teleportation easier and more energy efficient. He merely called them ‘time travel particles,’ but I am going to officially name them the ‘Wright Particles.’ I only wish I could make it public knowledge. His funeral is tomorrow, and no one will know about one of his greatest achievements.”

The most dynamic part of Joshua, Lark had noted, were his hazel eyes. He hadn’t cracked a smile for the last two days, but when he got excited about something, his eyes lightened almost to a honey gold. When he was lost in concentration or was mournful—like now—they grew dark.

“Well, from what I’ve seen, he is still highly respected as the brilliant man he was,” Lark said, hoping to lighten Joshua’s mood.

He only nodded his head silently.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Lark said gently. “I heard you two were really close.”

Joshua’s face softened, eyes getting a little wistful. “Grandpa Franklin and his experiments have been my life since I was twelve. I lost more than my mentor when he was killed.”

Lark didn’t know what to say, and Joshua seemed lost in memories. Lark sat quietly, wondering if she should try to comfort him somehow. But before she could awkwardly pat him on the shoulder, Joshua blinked, and he was back to his distant, clinical self.

“The Wright Particles travel around,” Joshua said, moving on as if nothing had happened.

Lark was a little taken aback.

I thought we were getting somewhere. For a second there, I saw a human being. Not a science-crazy machine.

But he was getting back to time travel, which she needed to learn all she could about, so she pushed her frustration aside to focus. With Franklin gone, he was the only expert around.

“If they move, how do you find them?” Lark asked.

“I developed a scanner that targets the particles.” Joshua sounded a little proud. “It lets us know how much is gathered where.”

“Where does this information get sent?” Lark tried to sound casual.

Despite the fact that she asked endless questions about all her different lessons so far, Joshua glanced at her with narrowed eyes. “It comes to a program on my tablet,” he finally said.

Lark endeavored not to look too greedily at the small rectangle device sitting on his desk. It had a touch screen, although he preferred a stylus, and holographic capabilities.

Asking if that was the only place to find the information would most likely be a dead giveaway for what she wanted to do. Well, so would her next question, probably. But it also seemed like a logical thing to ask.

“Are there limitations to when someone can travel to?”

Look innocent, look innocent! You’re just a pure-hearted, curious student.

Joshua didn’t answer for an agonizing minute. Just looked at her thoughtfully.

Please don’t tell me I blew it.

Lark resisted fidgeting nervously. She highly doubted using the top secret time travel technology for a trip to save her brothers would be approved. So doing it first and asking forgiveness later was the path she had chosen.

Joshua finally continued in a lecturing tone. “We’re not sure of a time or distance limit yet. But we do know you shouldn’t go back on your own timeline.”

Lark felt her heart crash and didn’t think she could quite manage to keep it off her face. “Why is that? Does it change the future?”

“The man who tested it several times complained of a bad headache that worsened each trip.”

“That’s all? Just a headache?”

Hope made her heart start thumping in her chest. She was thankful Joshua didn’t have enhanced hearing. If all it did was mess with her head a little, the bio-bots would probably take care of that. And even if they didn’t, she would gladly live with head pain for the rest of her life if it meant Alex and Sterling were alive and well.

“It did something to his brain,” Joshua said, giving Lark pause. “We don’t know what exactly, or how bad it could become, because he ended up dying in an unfortunate accident. After that, King Avi forbade any time travel within one’s own lifetime.”

Sobered, Lark pondered thoughtfully, but not for too long. Really, to see her brothers again, she would take that risk.

Joshua pointed to the clock on the wall. “I have preparations to make for Director Wright’s funeral tomorrow. Instead of tests this afternoon, Conan will take you on a tour of the palace, perhaps even some of the grounds if you have time. I’m sure you’d like to see more than this room, the dining room, and your suite of rooms.”

Lark looked at Joshua, astonished. He still didn’t crack a smile, but was that a joke he just said?

“He should be here any moment,” Joshua said. “We’ll pick up on time travel in a few days.”

“Thanks.” She smiled.

She heard footsteps coming down the hall and turned to hook Snowy back onto her leash. They opened the door to Conan, hand up ready to knock.

“Hey!” Conan grinned. “You guys ready for your tour?”

“Ready!” Lark said, walking down the hall.

She heard Conan remind Joshua about dinner and her step faltered. Conan and Harold had invited her to join them for dinner, and she had accepted earlier.

Duh. Of course it would make sense for Joshua to be there, too. Oh goody.