The long hallway that led to a grand chamber was bathed in the golden light of a mid-day sun. In its warm light, portraits of men and their families hung in elegant style, framed in silver and emerald embellishments. Somehow, they always looked so unhappy. Forced to sit for hours in front of a man who would paint their likeness so generations past would know of their ancestors and on it went until they reached the doors of this grand chamber and all that hung before the door was an empty frame.
The one before it had two young children, their mother and father: Kaivaerian Nilhandril, his wife Rivaria Nilhandril and their two beloved sons: Varaelian Hilstrastian Nilhandril and Vanrael Lanostrian Nilhandril. It was before their portrait he stood, looking to faces that had long since changed. Death had either taken them or they had become only ghosts of what they had desired to become.
It wasn’t in Kaivaerian’s face that Varaelian found any sort of comfort for he was naught but a stranger in his life—this man who he had taken on as a father, looked back at him as if he would come to life and tell him of his disappointment.
“I find you here nearly every afternoon, love.” Kirian approached his husband, placing a hand at his shoulder, “What has you so entranced?”
“I cannot help but feel guilty.” The lord looked to Kirian’s warm smile, sighing heavily, “I could have stopped his death yet all I did was take his place.” Varaelian’s words were heavy as he looked again to the painting, looking into the two blue eyes of the child he had replaced, “I have lied for so many years that I even began to forget my own name in this happiness. I have a happiness that is based on the death of a man that probably deserved it and the lies that put me in this position. I cannot carry on a line nor make his house any more whole than it was before…”
“If you try to fix everything, you’ll find that not everything is broken, Van. Even with what you are, you cannot see everything, perhaps this was what you were meant to do. In my time with your kind, not every path was clear to their eyes or mind. They could never look into every possible outcome and predict exactly what would happen.” Kirian mused, taking Van’s hand, “Whatever came of your life then, brought you to me now.”
A smile came to his face easily at these words, “Tevruden says I should stop thinking about it so much, whatever punishment lies ahead of me in wake of the truth is better than fretting about it for the rest of my days.”
“You know that none of us think little of you for any of this, right?” His hands brushed through his husbands hair lovingly, brushing soft blond strands from his shoulders and face, “Tylla, Tevruden, Feiyn, myself—Have you told Elleynah?”
“No. You lot are the only ones who know.”
“I’m sure she’ll be surprised.”
“Assuming she doesn’t pass out from shock, yeah, I imagine it’ll be amusing to see her face.”
“Come now, don’t scare her.”
“If I can’t scare an 8 year old, I think Elley can handle this truth.” Van grinned from ear to ear, remembering the look on his daughter’s face. Never had he seen her so happy or full of wonder. It had only been a few months since he took her in, but she called him “the best present ever.” “I figured she’d scream.”
“I think she wanted a ride more than anything. What else would she do if a mythical creature from her picture books showed up in her house?”
“I don’t know what I expected, really. I assumed she’d scream and run away.”
“Tylla? Scream and run away? Tevruden put a sword in her hand and Feiyn a rifle and all she wanted to do was play with them. I can’t even get her to sit still for me to bandage her knees when she scrapes them.” Kirian laughed, hooking his arm around Varaelian’s and leading them away from the painting, “She is doing very well with her sword and glaives. She could be a proper spellbreaker someday, Van. Do you see that?”
“I prefer not to look. Let her future, our future, be a mystery—it makes it more worthwhile.”
