(The following letter is written in a tight, purposeful script across a sheet of parchment smudged here and there with black soot.)

To my dearest sister, who lives in Talfore:

Arlais, I hope you will forgive me for writing again so soon without waiting for a response after my last letter.  Much has happened in the past two weeks that I wish to share with you.  And, thinking back on my previous words, I hope you will forgive me for being so… ambiguous, self-centered, and even a bit meandering.  I have included a small gift for you this time, by way of apology:  a basket of ripe apples, a container of dried apples, and three containers of dried herbs, all from the orchard behind Edessan Blades.  Which reminds me, did I ever tell you that I relocated?  I have not been back to my cottage on Montford Way in some weeks, as the Commander has allowed me the use of her home behind the shop while she is away.  It is a far more comfortable living arrangement and the location is ideal.  As well, the Town Hall Courier is only a short ride away.

I picked the ripe apples myself, but the dried apples and herbs were prepared by Miss Shaylei le Orban, whom I believe I alluded to in my previous letter.  By the time this missive reaches you, she and I will have been friends for nearly three-quarters of a year.  How much has changed in so short a span of time!  There are moments when I feel as though I have been swept up in some current, one which spins me around and takes me to unexpected places… sometimes to meet unexpected people, for better or for worse.

Now, I do not wish to alarm you, but on the 23rd of last month, there was an incident at the tavern near the shop.  The Queen’s Inn, it’s called.  I was relaxing among some fellows, when a man in a green cloak burst in, holding a young woman hostage under his knife.  He threatened to kill her if one of those present, the Baron le Orban, did not give him what he wanted.  A key of some kind, apparently, though I know not to what.  The Baron and a man in his service, named Astartes, managed to save the girl, but the cloaked figure, known as the Tenebrae, was able to escape unharmed.  The Tenebrae is widely regarded as the leader of the Brotherhood of Common Goods and is considered an extremely dangerous, ruthless man.

But here is what concerns me most, Arlais.  Before the Tenebrae escaped, he made a vile threat against Miss Shaylei’s life.  I cannot tell you how angry I was that he had made such a threat and then escaped with his own skin in tact.  As angry as I have been in some time, I can tell you.  But, looking back upon the incident, I am not sure there was much to be done for it.  Evidently, there are some who think Lord le Orban and his man should have run the Tenebrae through, even at the cost of the young woman’s life.  What do you think, sister?  Was it right to prioritize saving the hostage over capturing a known and dangerous criminal?  What if there are others who die by his hand, because he was allowed to flee unhindered?  As for myself, I doubt I would have–or could have–sacrificed the girl… but I cannot help but wonder whether that makes me a fool or perhaps merely weak.

I believe I may have been unnecessarily insubordinate to Lord le Orban, as well.  In my anger and frustration, I rounded on him afterward in a way that was admittedly… less than becoming of a Knight.  We spoke again a week or so later, and I apologized.  He told me that he didn’t think the Tenebrae would act upon the threat that was given.  Yet, he made arrangements to help Miss Shaylei secure protection, all the same.  It would seem he is saying one thing but thinking another.  Were I clever enough to understand why.  And it irks me, something he said:  that I could not possibly be more concerned about Miss Shaylei’s safety than he.  This temperamental nobleman who always seems as though he must have the last word.   If it weren’t for his relationship to Miss Shaylei and her fondness for him, I should care a great deal less about his esteem.  And I think that, if anything, the incident at the Queen’s Inn has shown me just how deeply I do care for her.

I cant bear the thought of something happening to her, Arlais.  These past few months especially, they are more than I could have imaged or have hoped for, coming to this city.  They have changed… everything.  Just as the seasons stole away the dreary winter and replaced it with the colors of spring–that is what it was like, when Miss Shaylei entered my life and became my friend.  Before, I thought only to fight for high ideals and to make up for past wrongs; now it is flesh and blood that drives me to be a better man.  Around her, I feel almost human.

In time, if and when I am promoted to Esquire, I think I will ask Harith for his permission to court Miss Shaylei le Orban.  What do you think of that, Arlais?  Of course you do not know Miss Shaylei personally, but from what little I have told you of her so far, do you think you would be supportive of such a thing?  I have already hinted to Harith that she has family in the business of trade, who are looking for southern markets.  Do you think Harith would be more apt to agree to such a union, if it brought our family wealth and northern connections?  It certainly is the Farin way, and our family has never shirked from marrying across the duchies.  But… I get get ahead of myself, dear sister.  I still worry over my relationship with Miss Shaylei’s noble cousin, who is acting as her guardian while she remains in the city.  And of course, there is the matter of my status within the Knights.  I work myself ragged trying to improve myself and to impress the Earl Marshall with my progress, but I have hardly had a glimpse of him in these past few months.  Somehow, I was able to make an audience with the new Cardinal of Lithmore, and yet, I cannot seem to get the attention of my own leader in the Knights Lithmorran.  I wonder why that is, when there are so few active Knights at present?  Perhaps there is something ill in my own timing that I should be concerned about?

Well, that is enough mulling for now, I think.  No doubt you’ve tired of it already, even with your level of patience.  In better news, I have sold three sets of armor in the past month, which is more business than I could have hoped for in such a short span of time.  It feels as though some of my hard work around the forge has finally begun to pay off.  Soon, I shall be able to send you a pretty silk shawl that you deserve and some toys for the children, lest I fall out of favor as brother and uncle, respectively.  It also means that I will be able to supply the Knights Lithmorran with adequate weapons, should they be required… but I’ll save that topic for another letter.

I miss you a great deal, Arlais.  I hope all is well and that you will forgive me for being such a self-centered sibling.  And do give your husband my best.

By my hand this Arendas, Augustus 3, in the year of Our Lord, 357,
Your loving brother,

A_____ de R______

(The following letter is written in a hasty, almost reckless script, with unsteady lines and small mistakes here and there.)

To my dearest sister Arlais,
I, Argider de Roldan, send greeting from the north:

I am sorry this letter arrives so late, Arlais.  More than two months since my last, I think?  Sometimes, I can hardly keep the days in order; they all seem to meld together in a jumble of tasks that never end.  But I am getting ahead of myself.  Here, I shall help you to understand:  recently, I began an apprenticeship with Commander Amira Khalid, a fellow Fariner and veteran of the Front.  I had been wanting to improve my skills around the forge, in the hopes that I might be of better use to the Knights, but much to my surprise, the Commander also offered to put me in charge her shop, Edessan Blades.  Needless to say, I accepted the position.  I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to learn more about the requirements of owning and managing a business.  Well, I can now tell you, managing a shop is a great deal more work than I had anticipated, and it has given me far more of an appreciation for Harith’s accomplishments.  And though it has been a good lesson, I confess that it has also been an exhausting one.

There is another apprentice with whom I must share the forge, and I cannot say it pleases me very much.  Something about that man irks me deeply, and I do not trust him.  He comes into the shop in the sort of hooded cloak that only unsavory people wear, and whenever he speaks to me, it’s as if he’s merely putting on a show.  Do you know what I mean?  I get the impression that he only tells me what he thinks I want to hear.  And what’s more, I have not been able to pursue my investigation into Sir Sabin de Guiscard’s death as I had originally planned.  Whenever I set out to do so, it seems as though another of my responsibilities gets in the way.

I was, however, able to escape my responsibilities for a short while earlier this month.  Under the auspices of survival training, I ventured beyond the city and its environs for the first time since my arrival in Decembris of last year.  I spent nearly a week out-of-doors, and oh, Arlais, it was glorious!  I felt more alive than in all my days in the city combined.  I climbed the mountain peaks west of Lithmore, so high I could see all the city spread out before me down below, and I swam in serene Harmon Lake, the water so cold I thought it would freeze my bones.  I saw waterfalls, fields of wildflowers, all manner of game, old ruins… I even stumbled upon a bear cave!  If you promise not to become upset, I’ll even tell you that the bear itself was home when I entered.  I must have disturbed it, for it rose upon its hind legs and roared at me angrily.  I made a quick exit, of course, but Mirza and I traveled a bit more cautiously after that day.  It reminded me so much of my journeys with uncle Theo…

But, something more than responsibility called me back to Lithmore, and so I made my way through the hills and along the northern road, until I was within the high stone walls once more.  While out there in the wilds, I was allowed some time for reflection, and I came to realize that there are things that I have done in my life that can never be undone–secrets, I admit, that I haven’t told even you about, Arlais–but I wonder if it is time, perhaps, to unshackled myself from those mistakes.  Not to forget them or to leave them behind, but to embrace them as an essential part of myself.  I hope that this makes some sense?  You know I do not have your same way with words.  But importantly, if she can accept those flaws, well, then there is hope for me yet, don’t you think?  I don’t know if I shall ever be a good man, but sometimes, I begin to hope that I might be just good enough.  For that reason, I will endeavor to work even harder than before.

And on that matter, I should finish this letter and drop it off at the post, before I am late to my next training session.  If you hear from Harith, do let me know?  I shall eagerly await your next missive and any news from the South.  Give your husband and the boys my best…

By my hand this morning of Lunisda, Quintilis 10,
In the year of Our Lord 357,

A_____ de R______