The Exiled King | ✔

Chapter 20 - Letters To Brother

Dear Halian,

I am writing this letter in the hopes that I might someday be able to send it to you.

I'm sorry, Halian. I won't be coming back home and I won't be able to keep my promise to you and Mother.

I was killed and my body taken by some stranger who came from the sky. Don't try to look for him—He's dangerous and I'm too far gone.

The future of House Whiterose now lies on your shoulders, Halian. I'm so sorry to burden you with this, but I know you'll do great.

Tell Mother I love her and that I'm in a better place now.

Your brother,

Kuban

Tears fell on the letter clasped in Halian's shaking hands. It was the first letter Kuban wrote, evident from the aged and yellowing paper and the date written in Kuban's careful handwriting at the top corner of the envelope. Just days after he'd left for Anhua.

Halian's heart clenched as he realized that his brother hadn't even made it to Anhua before his life was stolen.

He carefully folded up the first letter and slotted it back into the envelope and put it aside, looking at the pile that still awaited him. It had seemed absurd at first—like Kuban had been writing a letter every other day, but his brother had been dead for so many more years than he'd known and the pile of letters didn't seem nearly as strange now.

The next letter was a little less weathered and was a few months from the first.

Halian,

I think I will continue to write you letters, even knowing you may never get them. Someday, they might make their way to you. At least, I would hope so.

I hope you're adjusting well at home and you and Mother aren't grieving too much.

I'm sad that I won't see you grow up, or get to teach you archery or swordsmanship, but rather than dwelling on the sad moments, I will reminisce about the times we shared.

Remember that day we snuck into the kitchen and stole all the fresh cookies? I remember I burnt my fingers grabbing them and that we ate so many we had a stomachache later that night.

Make sure you protect your hands next time you sneak a warm snack from the oven.

Kuban

Halian noticed that the tone of the letter had shifted. In the few months, it felt like the grief with an undercurrent of anger had changed into resigned sadness. The messy and harsher ink strokes had softened into his brother's careful and familiar handwriting that Halian had often seen on official documents and letters in the Whiterose castle.

Halian spent the next few hours opening and reading the letters, slowly reducing the mountain of parchment. Some were long, a lot were shorter. Sometimes, Kuban wrote them when he awoke from a nightmare or a bittersweet dream and sometimes when he felt lonely. Sometimes they felt like letters properly addressed to Halian and sometimes they felt more like diary entries.

At last, he reached the final letter. It was wrapped in a pristine envelope and dated recently. It had been a rollercoaster of emotions as Halian read the glimpses of his brother's new... life. Or perhaps 'death' was a more fitting word.

With steady hands, Halian gently opened the last envelope and drew out the folded parchment.

Halian,

I hope that this letter got to you safely. I asked Garyth to send it to you and I hope he keeps his word.

It is funny to think that I once loathed him, but the longer I've had to reflect on things and to get to know him, the more I just pity him. I don't know what his motive is, but I know it is far more important than I could ever have thought. I will never be able to forgive him for taking my life, but I have at least made peace with it.

The Ether is not so bad, actually. I miss you and Mother dearly, but I have everything else I could want here. So... just know that I'm happy here and when you've lived out a long and fulfilling life, you'll see me again.

May your life be long and blessed.

Kuban

Halian packed up the letters and stashed them away, tying them together with a piece of twine and keeping the pile of letters underneath his bed, tucked into a corner and out of sight.

He felt calm, more so than he expected to. At first, the grief had overwhelmed him. It had been like finding out his brother was dead for the first time. For so many years he could only speculate, but the hope had remained that perhaps Kuban was still alive... somewhere.

He'd lived so long in denial it was almost a relief to finally be able to mourn his passing and let him go. And knowing that Kuban was in the Ether was comforting. Though the two worlds were only distantly connected and not freely accessible to mortals, Halian was a vampire who walked between Dargon and Heresh. Perhaps there was a way to meet Kuban.

And if there was not, he'd just wait. He'd live out a long life and one day... join his brother and tell him stories of the life he lived.

There was an immense comfort in knowing that there was something... someone waiting for you when you passed.

I should tell Mother, Halian thought abruptly, It's time to officially let him go.

He strode over to the desk in his room and grabbed a fresh piece of parchment and dipped his quill in the inkpot, wondering how to best convey the news gently. He knew his mother had been hurting the most since the years stretched over the timeframe when he was supposed to return to them. So many times, she'd justified the lack of communication from Kuban as him being too busy, or perhaps the letters got lost along the way. But gradually she'd lost the spark of hope.

He finished up the letter, then grabbed the bundle of Kuban's letters, selecting one. He opened the envelope and took out the parchment, adding it to the envelope with his letter. Then he heated some wax and sealed the letter shut with the Whiterose seal.

<--<< >>-->

Finally, some closure for Halian.

Leave a vote and comment before you go? :)