Threads of Fate

Chapter 75 ~ The Final Piece

    Even with their most pressing matters out of the way, it was still days more before they were finally ready to leave Lochren. Just as she planned, Tissaia had taken the time to speak with Erel before the male departed. They hadn't said much, though Erel had expressed multiple times how sorry he was that he'd never tried to contact them again.

    He had explained that many times, especially in the first months after he left, he'd often thought about coming back or trying to get in touch with them, but remembering how desperately Talarion had begged him to leave made him afraid to risk it. Then, after he met and married his husband, it no longer seemed like a wise choice to seek out a former lover he still bore some feelings for.

    Tissaia was as understanding of that as she could be, and all she told him in return was that her brother had been glad he'd made a life for himself, and that she knew he had always cherished their time together.

    Then, Erel had asked if Talarion ever found someone else, and she answered honestly, claiming that her brother had found someone he loved so much that he wouldn't allow even death to separate them. Erel left soon after, taking with him the few letters he and Talarion had exchanged at her behest, and Tissaia had shut herself into her brother's room afterwards.

    She didn't allow anyone else inside while she was working. Not even Azael. She didn't want anyone else handling her brother's things until she knew what she planned on doing with them all. She had taken her time sorting through all of his belongings, from his clothes and weapons, to the few trinkets he'd acquired over the years and the remaining letters between himself and Kaius.

    She had only skimmed through a few of the older ones, not wanting to accidentally read something not meant for her eyes. Tissaia chose to keep some of their very first letters and all the ones that mentioned herself, and the rest, she burned away.

    She had decided to have most of his weapons sent to Arcan, along with several of his blankets and some shirts, but his leathers she requested to have distributed to members of the Cahirim who might need them. They were still in good condition, and she didn't want them to go to waste.

    His other clothes were being sent along with the supplies Azael had arranged for the village that had suffered from the fire. Tissaia was also keeping any of the small trinkets that she had made or purchased for him, and those she knew had come from Kaius.

    There were many of them that she hadn't even been aware of, and it left her heart strangled with affection, knowing that Kaius had always been taking care of her brother in what ways he could, even when they were apart. From her own belongings, she took only her clothes, several books, and the few gifts her brothers had given her over the years.

    There was nothing else she wished to drag along to her new home. She hadn't expected to want anything of her parents' either, but Kahari had finally persuaded her to at least look in their rooms, just in case she missed anything. Tissaia begrudgingly did so, and in her mother's room, she found a portrait hidden beneath a large sheet.

    A portrait of herself and her twin, which had to have been done recently, judging by their ages in it, but when, and why, she had no idea. Still, the fact that her mother had wanted a portrait of them stirred something within her, and very briefly, she wished she could've asked Astara about it. The portrait had departed the manor along with the rest of Tissaia's belongings.

    And finally, four days after her brother's memorial, she left Lochren for the last time. The manor would be left to the person selected to take her father's place as Lord of Lochren, and she had already suggested several worthy families to Azael.

    Those families would meet with them in Arcan after the rest of Roshan's affairs were put into order so they could determine who would be the best fit. But before then, they had one more stop to make on Drenusha's quest.