Chapter Forty?One

  The Practical Joke of Starboard Lane

  The Clover eased out of the unstable corridor like a swimmer breaking the surface of deep water. Her hum shifted back to a steady, relieved tone, and the resonance dust thinned into harmless drifting glimmers.

  Kael released a long breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “Okay,” he said softly. “Let’s… not do that again.”

  Kessa sprawled dramatically across her seat. “I feel like my spine had emotions.”

  Lyra hopped up and down in place. “WE DID IT! CLOVER DID IT! WE ARE SPACE LANE GODS.”

  Jarin rubbed his temples. “Lyra, please don’t declare dominion over cosmic phenomena before breakfast.”

  Lyra froze mid?bounce. “OH RIGHT. BREAKFAST.”

  Kael turned in surprise. “You’re hungry now?”

  Lyra threw both arms in the air. “Yes! The lane ate my hunger and now it’s back with reinforcements!”

  Kessa clapped. “Breakfast celebration! Kael, set autopilot. The lane is calm.”

  Kael nodded and switched controls to Clover’s soft-lane glide. “Alright. But nobody touches anything until—”

  Lyra vanished down the corridor.

  “—we agree on what we’re cooking,” Kael finished helplessly.

  Jarin sighed. “Too late.”

  Clover hummed with something that could only be interpreted as gentle amusement.

  The Setup

  Kael eventually followed the others to the galley — which was suspiciously quiet.

  Too quiet.

  The kind of quiet you only got when small, chaotic siblings were plotting.

  Kessa stood at the counter, stirring a pot with exaggerated innocence. Lyra hovered beside her, hands behind her back. Jarin leaned against the fridge with a mug, the picture of calm patience — which meant he definitely knew what was coming.

  Kael narrowed his eyes. “What are you three doing?”

  Kessa smiled sweetly. Lyra giggled. Jarin raised both brows as if to say, Brace yourself.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Kael sighed. “Just… tell me what the joke is so I can mentally prepare.”

  Kessa gasped, scandalized. “Kael! How dare you assume—”

  The pot on the stove exploded confetti.

  Kael yelped. Lyra shrieked with triumph. Jarin covered his face to hide laughter. Kessa threw her arms up like a victorious magician.

  “TA?DAAA!” she announced. “Chaos breakfast!”

  Kael wiped glittery confetti off his jacket. “Why—how—WHAT—?!”

  Lyra bounced. “We installed a microburst confetti canister under the heating element! It was SCIENCE!”

  Jarin added helpfully, “And completely safe.”

  Kessa leaned on Kael’s shoulder. “It’s a morale?boosting culinary experience.”

  Kael groaned. “My heart jumped into my throat.”

  Lyra beamed. “GOOD. That means the glitter reached it.”

  Clover pulsed golden lights in the galley — supportive, delighted, complicit.

  Kael pointed at the ceiling. “You, too?”

  The Clover flickered pink.

  Jarin sipped his tea. “She helped us calibrate the timing.”

  Kael sputtered. “THE SHIP HELPED?!”

  Lyra saluted. “Clover has officially joined the prank war.”

  Kessa nodded solemnly. “She is one of us now.”

  Kael leaned heavily against the counter. “I have lost control of this ship.”

  Clover hummed something smug.

  The Aftermath (And Unexpected Beauty)

  Once the confetti was swept up, and Kael had stopped muttering about “mutinous glitter,” the family settled into an actual breakfast — simple, warm, and grounding after the tension of the unstable lane.

  Clover dimmed her lights into a soft sunrise gold. The lantern pulsed gently from its dome, almost like laughter in light form. Even the Bloom shimmered faintly in the greenhouse.

  Kael stirred his tea, shaking his head. “You three are going to give me early gray hair.”

  Kessa squeezed his arm. “Gray is distinguished.”

  Lyra gasped. “You’d look GREAT.”

  Jarin nodded. “It would suit you.”

  The robot bee landed on Kael’s cheek and buzzed approvingly.

  Kael sighed. “I’m surrounded.”

  Kessa tucked herself under his arm. “You’re loved.”

  Kael paused. Swallowed. Smiled.

  “…Yeah,” he said quietly. “I really am.”

  Clover hummed a soft, steady note — the same resonance she’d used in the dreamfield, in the unstable corridor, in the Shadow Gate.

  A note that meant:

  I’ve got you. I’m with you. Let’s keep walking the road.

  Kael looked around the galley — at his siblings, his ship, their lantern, their Bloom — and exhaled in something that felt like genuine peace.

  “Okay,” he said, standing. “Let’s get ready for whatever comes next.”

  Lyra pumped her fist. “Adventure!”

  Kessa slapped the table. “Chaos!”

  Jarin sighed. “Breakfast first.”

  Clover pulsed warmly.

  And together — confetti in their hair, glitter on their sleeves, laughter still bright in the air — the Hartleys prepared to face the next light on Jorin’s forgotten road.