Truth be told, being the Arbiter’s son weighs a lot. It weighs a lot in the fact that he’s always been expected to be something big. A smaller, younger version of his father, poised to take over when his father grew too old. But that’s not how this story goes.

Sunjata’s always been a softer child. More sensitive than Shaju had ever allowed him to be. It was unclear whether or not he’d pass his swim trial in the Drowning Trails, but when he had he continued on, doing whatever he could to try and get his father’s attention in a good way. It hadn’t worked, though. And as the years moved on, he spent more time with his mother, spent more time figuring out the way the world seemed so strange – to live on top of another society, pretending like they were the monsters in the night. But it’s all he was told, and all he got to go off of before he managed to get some separation from the Bratena household.

That’s when his parents sent him off to a training bootcamp of sorts, one for Bravlet and Bratena youths, where he’d learn the tips and tricks to become the next wave of enforcers and soldiers. But it had plenty of drawbacks. He was the Arbiter’s son which came with its own stigma, either he wasn’t good enough to be the Arbiter’s son and therefore a disappointment, or he was figuratively on a level too high for most to feel comfortable with associating with.

It was a lonely childhood with a few faux friends throughout, until Savera joined in, a little bit later than most others did. And when nobody else wanted to help her figure out the way this training bootcamp worked, Sunjata had offered and extended that olive branch to her. So he showed her the ropes, got to know her, and she became quite possibly the first close friend Sunjata had ever had.

But things don’t always go well in that regard, especially when feelings get tossed into the mix. Call it a puppy dog crush, but when Sunjata hit sixteen he eventually wore her down enough to date him. Things went well at first, but eventually it became quite clear to them that they needed different things. Between the two of them, things ended amicably, despite the awkwardness after. They went some time without seeing one another and Sunjata spent a far amount more time invested in his studies and research.

When they graduated, however, they got in touch again, remaining just as friends, but Shaju seeing that Savera had promise in her ranks and thinking that it could up Sunjata’s own ambitions, paired them together – announcing their engagement to a full crowd at a party in the Core, an engagement that the two of them were completely unaware of.

Both protested the engagement shortly after, but the only thing they succeeded in doing was delaying the marriage. For now, they can continue to delay it so long as they meet at least once a week to keep up appearances in the Plates. It’s a feat made more difficult with Shaju enacting his own quiet punishment to Sunjata by placing him in the Enforcer patrols in the Drench during the heaviest part of the city wide lockdown.