Half of the Kingdom(ft. commentary)

~Feb 17

She sighed, "I'm sure you're right, Andarin. You always know just what to say," She smiled prettily.

Andarin gave a halfhearted smile back.

Nynesi took his arm again, "Now come. Father hasn't been feeling well lately, and I'm sure it'll cheer him up to know that at least one of the missing persons have been found. And uncle Dominic will be anxious to know anything you can tell him about Miry."

Andarin just nodded. He knew Nynesi was going to ask him to stay, and he couldn't, as he had to get back to Miryanna, but he couldn't use that as an excuse, since no one was supposed to know where Miryanna was.

Andarin spent the rest of the day getting any other tidbits he could. He find himself being almost interrogated by Lord Heolstor, but with some sweating and quick thinking, he was able to deflect most of the questions without giving away anything crucial and without telling flat out lies. By the end of the day he just wished the whole ordeal was over so he could get back to Miryanna and give her what news he could.

That night he stayed with his parents and younger brother at the Dohmnall house, for there was no way he could make it back to the country estate that night. He was a little surprised to find himself uncomfortable. Many times whist in the mountains, he had wished for home and a soft bed. He wondered how Miry was so at home in the harsh lands to the far north. It was always cold in the mornings and evenings, though it be midsummer. And the snow would come early and stay late, making travel next to impossible sometimes. Plus, the living conditions weren't the greatest. Rustic, decidedly. He had always grown up in comfort, with plush beds, regular mealtimes with him having to do nothing for it, shelter from the elements. There has never been hunger in the camp, for it was well established and the hunters there were skilled, and there was ample shelter when it rained or snowed or something. Yeah, it hadn't been too bad. But he'd never loved it like Miry did.

excellent andarin perspective. i want 20 more pages of it.

But now he was back home. For this is what he'd always considered home. But he felt something was amiss. Then he realized: it was his brother. His older brother was missing. He was dead. Taken early by sickness.

oh yeah andarin's brother died. That's kind of a big deal.

Andarin's shoulders sagged. He and Agaric had never been very close, and more often than not, when they were children, they could be seen fighting rather than playing. But they had been brothers, and Andarin missed him terribly. The exciting recent events had helped distract him, but now he sat alone in his room, the room he occupied since childhood, filled with memories both joyous and woeful.

mood

He sighed and shook his head. He wouldn't think on such dreary things tonight. And he started getting ready for bed. But the thought stayed with him: You'll never see Agaric again.

:(