Rin sat with Sera on a shaded terrace that overlooked one of the inner courtyards. She had a letter open in her hands, but her eyes had not moved beyond the first paragraph in quite some time.
'You keep doing it,' she said at last.
Rin glanced up from the small wooden carving he had been idly turning between his fingers. 'Hm?'
She looked at him then, her large, dark eyes like bottomless pits, radiating waves of some suffocating, unnamed emotion.
'You know what I mean, prince,' Sera said quietly. 'All these years, all this time and effort… inviting him. Including him. Acting as though everything will be normal for him someday, when we know...'
Rin allowed himself a small, half-smile and shrugged a shoulder.
Sera lowered the letter to her lap. 'You know it is all in vain. Teaching, and training, and building bonds with the others…' Her voice softened to a whisper. 'It will all mean nothing in the end.'
For a moment Rin simply watched the courtyard below. A pair of attendants were crossing the path with a basket of folded linens. Somewhere farther off, someone was laughing.
Then he looked back at his sister.
'Why must I worry myself with things that have not yet come to pass?'
'But it will! You know, better than anyone, that it will have to –!'
'Mm.'
There was a soft, crinkling sound, and he glanced to the side to see Sera's fingers tightening around the letter, crumpling it.
'Why give him hope…' she whispered, almost to herself.
She didn't say anything more. He didn't add anything else either. He just leaned back and started fiddling with the little wooden figurine again, a faint breeze stirring his curly hair. His expression was relaxed, and manner calm and unconcerned.
As though he had no worries in the world.
…
…
Arin felt this change like a sudden drop in the pit of his stomach.
Now, they were standing in a great hall, with a familiar corridor leading down into darkness to one side. He knew that it led to the ancestral chamber.
Three figures had already started making their way down the corridor. The emperor and empress were standing tall to either side, with Ralen in the middle.
Since he was here, he must've been twelve. He had already started bearing more resemblance to that angry boy in the clearing than to the wide-eyed child who had waited eagerly for his brother. Something in his appearance also spoke loudly of the emperor himself, whose features he had mostly inherited.
However, wearing those same, heavy ceremonial robes that Arin remembered, the boy looked smaller than ever.
Arin felt Rin's body step forward, his boots tapping on the smooth, stone-tiled floor. His walk was controlled and determined, and had already drawn the attention of the three people before him. They had come to a stop. His younger brother's pale hair caught the dim light as he turned his head around to look at him
The emperor and empress stood rigid, more like sentries than parents. Their blank faces had given way to traces of confusion at the sight of their oldest son.
'Rin...?' the empress muttered.
'Thank you for waiting,' he said as he reached them.
'Why… are you here, crown prince?' the emperor asked. He exchanged a quick glance with his wife, who only shook her head helplessly.
Ralen frowned immediately. 'Indeed. What are you doing here?' he demanded. 'This is to be my ceremony! You know we are to come here alone, and -'
Rin only looked at him coolly, but something in his expression was enough to shut down the younger boy's tirade.
'I have something I wished to say first,' he said.