Yesterday's Enemy [AoT]

MEMOIRS OF HAVAS [04]

(SET TEN YEARS BEFORE HAVAS IS BREACHED)

'Councilman Bervik led Havas out of an age of lies and secrets. After the civil war, it was he who taught trust and friendship to a people who knew nothing but war and lies. As such, Lord Amos Bervik began Havas' golden age of prosperity and peacetime. His importance to our fair nation cannot be overstated.'

-An extract from a historical account of the Bervik family's rise to power.

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MEMOIRS OF HAVAS

04

Wall Maria, North Region, Havas, Western O'Haen

Lorelai had come of age. Today was the second of January, her eighteenth birthday. She had grown in leaps and bounds, from a troublesome kid to an equally troublesome young woman.

Age and distance from home had only increased Lorelai's impulsivity and confidence. She had spent the last two years in the Havasian Cadet Corps in Ingreed, the capital. The military, whose discipline had failed her, had made Lorelai wild. She was strong, intelligent, powerful, and famous. And it had made her arrogant.

Today, Lorelai returned to her home in O'Haen for the first time in two years. To see her godparents, and Gabriel, who was shortly turning thirteen. She sauntered up the road to the house, her hips swaying, her head high.

Lorelai had grown to be a beautiful woman, long platinum hair and deep brown, judging eyes that could turn any man weak at the knees. But despite this façade of confidence, it remained just that, a façade. Though now beautiful and more dangerous than ever, she bore the same struggles that she had as a child, only amplified.

She knocked at the door sharply, turning once more to look across the valley which had held her childhood. She felt incredibly nostalgic. As impressive as the capital was, O'Haen was Lorelai's home.

Romero opened the door and set his eyes upon the girl he had raised with pride. He'd grown a beer belly, Lorelai noticed.

The two embraced for a couple of seconds. "Well, look at you, girl! Ain't you a sight for sore eyes? Damn, you put on some muscle in Ingreed."

"Yeah, old man, I reckon I could kick your ass now, huh?"

"Is that a challenge?"

"It always is," she grinned, kissing him on the cheek once before slipping past into the house.

The old building was much the same after two years. Ancestor's portraits still decorated the wooden walls; its floors were still strewn with a dozen hand-woven rugs.

She dropped her bag to the floor. "Wow," Lorelai breathed. "This place hasn't changed at all."

Romero slung an arm around her. "Well, I know there's one person here who can't wait to see you."

"Only one?"

"Gabe's a very unsociable teenager." He cracked open a beer. "What a waste a' space, that boy. Went huntin' up in Hellebore while back, couldn't even bring himself to loose an arrow."

"Gabe has other talents. More of an... artistic temperament."

"Ah, is that what they call it?" Romero teased. "I've missed you, girl."

"So have I," a voice called from down the hall.

"Tamsin," Lorelai exclaimed, hurrying to embrace her godmother. Lorelai held her close; she couldn't decide whether Tamsin was smaller, or she was just taller. They hugged for several minutes.