Dear Kinny,
Last night, I killed a darksoul in war.
It’s the same as I always do, but this one was young, smaller, even, than me.
I stood there as I watched the light leave her eyes, and I couldn’t help but wonder...to the monsters like her...
what if I’m a monster, too?
Missing you, as I always do,
Soraya
He loved how she wasn’t afraid to be real with him. To be raw and honest, for so few Sacred ever were. So, he’d written her back with his heart in his throat, wishing he could explain to her what he really meant by his words.
Dear Sora,
You’re not wrong. You’re just honest.
Take it from me. I would give anything to be chased
by a monster like you.
Yours,
Kinlear Laroux
He sent every letter like it would be his last.
For each time the raven soared away and came back...he wondered when he would hear that she and Arawn were Matched. They would be perfect together, their magic and their ability to fight.
Even though just the mere thought of it made Kinlear’s stomach twist.
Footsteps sounded out now, drawing him back to the present. It was a delicate, albeit hurried cadence that he knew to be his mother’s gait—and sure enough, the queen of Lordach walked in.
“Kinlear,” she said.
Gods, the way she said his name.It made him feel smaller than a speck in the sand.He wished he had wings like the birds, so he could fly away. So he would never have to hear her say his name like that again.
Like it pained her.
Like it was laced with poison.
“Oh, hello, Mother Dearest,” Kinlear said instead, holding his ground as he sat upright. She winced as she saw the marks upon his ruined skin.
But she hadnever, not once, stepped in to take the penance for him.
Only Arawn.
“To whom should I credit this mostjoyous?—"
“A Sacred Prince thinks before he speaks,” the queen cut him off. “You would be wise, my Child, to silence your tongue unless you wish to lose it.”
And there it was.
The typical motherly threat that was spun with sugar but cut like the sharpest edge of a knife.
She swept in, gossamer gown trailing behind her as the birds chirruped and flittered away, as if even they sensed their queen’s wrath. She paused beside the marble table, her floral scent making his head spin. At least she had the decency to hand him back his cane, which he’d left standing against the domed entryway.
