Fond Letters

The day after being coronated, Heron found himself with some extra time so sat down to write a letter to his sister. He chewed on the quill for a bit deciding what to write. He definitely had things to talk about.

Some of which though he would prefer to say face to face.

Finally though he pinned down his letter:

"Dearest Sister,

I am sorry that it took me this long to write back to you, but it has been rather busy here at home. Home is not the same without you.

They had my coronation yesterday, as father is weakened dreadfully from the attempt on his life. He is fine though, but he misses you.

If you have not heard the Queen of Lumna decided to lead a party against the people who attempted to kill father. I gave her two of our knights, the twins.

I am glad to hear that Asrar has loosened up some. I've been worried about him for years. Keep working on him, my dear Hazel, and I am sure you will be able to smooth him out.

Now, my dear sister I am going to go on a bit of a personal rant. Your mentioning of 'future sister-in-law' in your letter has caused me no small amount of grief. Elswyth was reading over my shoulder and has been teasing me ever since.

No, we are not in a relationship, and I doubt that we ever will be in one. Though, I suppose, if she did not hate nobles, especially royals, so much, she might make a good queen. Honestly, I had not even thought of it, I am way too caught up in my little sister's love affairs to even think of my own. I know someday I will have to marry, but as of right now I hardly care all that much. I am only seventeen, after all.

Anyway, Elswyth and father do not get along. She is rather outspoken and as I mentioned has a deep seated hatred of royals. Though she has complemented me saying that I 'aint as bad as some.' It's a long story on how we became friends. Too long for a letter.

I really do miss you, though I am glad to hear that you like Carendlus. It is probably a lot more relaxing than Jarenkul was. The news of the queen being pregnant is exciting, Amriel should probably start preparing a gift for the little royal child.

When you come home, Amriel may be different than you remember. I may be a rather destructive king. Ah, well, just hope I don't destroy anything important.

Always, Your Brother

Heron."

Heron was fairly pleased with how it read and smiled in satisfaction as he held it up.

"Writing another letter to your sister?" He had not heard Elswyth walk up behind him.

He glanced up at her and nodded, "Yep."

"Hmm. I want to write her one too."

"Really?"

"Why not? I'll be having to learn to get along with my future sister-in-law, right?" She grinned.

Heron groaned but did not stop her. It was her bird who was going to take the letter anyway. So he just added on a postscript.

"Ps. I love you. Elswyth decided she wanted to write a letter to you as well. Seeing as Sun is hers, there was no way I could stop her so I just let her do as she pleased."

He glanced over at where Elswyth was painstakingly writing, obviously trying to keep her handwriting neat. He wondered what she was writing to his sister.

Honestly, he had to admit he was somewhat happy Elswyth was taking the initiative to become friends with his sister. He wanted them to get along and he hoped that everyone he cared about could be good friends with each other.

He turned away. Well, if she was writing to his sister he might as well write a letter to Asrar as well. He took out another paper and began writing again.

"Hey Asrar,

Its been a while since I last saw you. I am sure that you have kept your promise to me of keeping Hazel safe. Not that I needed that promise from you. It's pretty obvious that you would gladly die for my sister. Of course she would not be happy with that, losing her best friend. I would not be exactly happy with it either, but I would understand. I mean, I would die for her as well.

Forgive my rambling. I just miss you almost as much as I miss Hazel. You are one of my few friends, after all. I was glad to hear that you are loosening up as I have been worried about you for years. I am glad father listened to my suggestion as I always thought Carendlus would be good for you.

If Hazel has not told you I have been coronated. As much as I have been trained up for this, I am not sure I am ready as of yet. I had so many plans, and now I am going to have to speed them up. I will go down in history though, either as a horrendous king or as a wonderful one.

Depending both on whether my plans work out and on who you ask. Some people will love the plans I have for Amriel, others will loathe it. I hope that both you and Hazel like it, cause no one else's opinions really matter to me.

That being all said, I hope your trip is going well and that no drastic challenges occur for you. If the worst thing you fight while there is a spider than that would be excellent.

I also want to say that if you ever decide that you want to pursue my sister romantically then you have my full support. I would love to have you as a brother-in-law. And honestly I am not so blind that I don't know my little sister is deliriously in love with you. Though if you do not feel the same way for her, but I know you well enough to know you do have some feelings for her, than do not feel any pressure over it.

With all seriousness, Heron"

As he finished pinning down his letter to Asrar, Elswyth finished the one she had been writing to his sister and refusing to let him see it tied it along with his to Sun's leg. She sent off the bird after briefly kissing his feathery forehead.

Both of them watched the bird fly off into the distance in the direction of Carendlus.

"Well." She said, "He should be quicker this time, now that he knows the route."

"Oh?" Heron smiled, "That makes sense I suppose."