Dear Suraya

I am going to school. Truly. I shall attend the greatest magical school of this land.

I won't say I am not excited. Ever since I was born, I have known of the Academies - the foci of arcane learning and future leadership. I still recall my Lord Father, telling us the tales of the Archmages, the one where they got together and remade the world.

There's real magic, possibly a way to see you again, but it wasn't to be mine. Oh how it had hurt. That's when I picked up the sword again. I was 4, I believe. I trained. I worked. I obeyed. I had made peace. Yet, this fickle fate forced the forbidden fruit in my face. Again.

And I've got companions now. It feels like yesterday when the D'vier family adopted me. I am the heir to the old military guard, one of the four pillars that defend the southern border. I had expected to be paired with the other three - Kuroki, Jax, or Durand.

The first is a foreigner princess. The Decat lineage are the rulers of Shattered Isles, the ones closest to uniting the Archipelago. I had heard that she is a capable socialite and a natural leader. She could be turned to our cause.

And there's the criminal merchant - just a family business enterprise spread too wide and thin, their agents across the Nas continent and beyond trading all sorts of goods. Wrong.

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They have entrenched themselves deep into the Vermilion Kingdom, next in line for a hereditary noble title. In fact, his admission to the Academy will seal the deal. If anything, I do not understand how the Miles patriarch has avoided being knighted without slighting the crown? Worth looking into. They control the information and goods, have the eyes and ears among the populace, there hands are everywhere. Will he be a friend, or a foe? What should I do?

I can't help but hear the blood rushing through my temple. And there's my shame, too. I deeply regret the very acts that now bring me to this precipice. Laurel was a good master, and a brother, and I miss him dearly. I wonder what I would have done had I known. Was their another way?

Regardless, atonement is all I hope for now. I shall not fail. Our cause is just. The plight of the oppressed is beyond the bounds of reason and faithless negotiations serve no one. I am to be a tool of reckoning, not to be wielded for selfish ends. I shall build this road with blood and flesh were the ink to run dry and the stones shatter. This is my destiny.

As I write, my cheeks are flushed, my heart races, my nerves quake. It has been so long since I was so young and reckless. So long since I went to war. Mock me all you want, you would do the same. If only.

With love. As always.

Father.