ZEPHYR RAVENSWOOD

Words of greetings accompanied by bows from serving maids, guards, and others of alike lesser status, echoed from around them as they passed through the great yard. Zephyr was making his way to the royal library, and his half-brother had chosen to go with him for reasons he had no knowledge of. He wanted to tell him “No” when he had requested, but he felt it would be strange to dismiss his accompanying to somewhere as public as a library—if the one in this world was anything like the one in his previous life.

His half-brother, of whose name he was still yet to know, had requested a word and had not yet spoken the word, and it troubled Zephyr as much as the fact that he lacked the knowledge of the whereabouts of the library he intended to go to. He was previously of mind to cajole a guard, in a way that would not raise suspicions, into leading him, that is if guards even had the luxury to have any, but the person accompanying him now did have such a luxury, that was why he had begun slowing his pace so his half-brother would take the lead. It was working okay for now, the young prince of curled brown hair was slightly in front and him behind.

“Strange, isn’t it?” the young prince said, “You’ve never been one for books. I wondered what could have fascinated you to visit the library, that’s why I requested to accompany His Grace.” He turned to his right now, and Zephyr followed.

They were somewhere, Zephyr didn’t know where exactly, but they were somewhere ways away from the holdfast, that he was sure of. The castle was big; the first time he noticed it was when he rode out with Flynn into the city, the sheer vastness of it made his head spin, and he wondered how anyone would not get lost. He was sure people did, he would, there was no doubt about that.

“Still not,” he answered, with a lie of course. He loved books the most of any media he had laid his hands and eyes on. They were the ones that stayed with him the most, especially during his downtimes. The knowledge they gave him filled him with comfort, so of course he loved them, but here and now, from his half-brother’s word, it was obvious the other he had taken over from did not, and in return, to the people in this word his love for books were now non-existent, and he had to keep that up somehow.

“But do you know what I find strange,” Zephyr began, halting as a sceptical air smeared his voice, “...you asking for a word, but speaking none of it…”

His mind was of something different from what his mouth said. Less doubt he was curious of what the word his half-brother had requested for was, but he wished to know of another more. He wished to know why this person had a demeanour greatly different from his brother’s and mother’s. The books he had read could not tell him exactly why, the movies too, and even the games. It stressed him greatly, this world did, there was no one he could confide in. The burden was becoming too much for him to bear alone by the passing day, he needed someone to talk to at least, to keep his sanity he needed someone, a person he could trust and in no way would his truth hurt them, it would be a great deal for him if such a person existed.

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Zephyr didn’t notice before, but now he did. They were already standing before a façade of sturdy stone, which was carved intricately with an open book and a raven peeking into it from its other end. It was obvious where they were, it was the library he sought. The walls of the building were made from the same sturdy stone as the façade. Its door was of oak, and the thickness was vivid just by looking at it.

He was here now, and he hoped his visit would not amount to nothing. If he could learn a thing or two about this world that might in some way help his survival, it would be a blessing. Afterall, it was a library, secrets lurk beneath their walls, he just needed to search for them. He thought to pray for his search to be successful, but he was not sure if any supreme being existed in this world, at least he had not yet heard of any in his days here.

His half-brother turned to face him, and muttered words that made Zephyr the most confused he had ever been yet, “It’s been a while all three of us came together like we used to. Doesn’t it bother you as much as it does me?”

All three of us…? Zephyr thought to himself, his eyebrows furrowing into a checkmark, as a gleam of confusion caressed his eyes. He was unable to hide it, and his half-brother made no mistake of missing it. What sort of relationship did Zephyr have with someone from the second branch? And who is this third person?

“—Sour,” his half-brother said, some words from his mouth noticeably escaping Zephyr’s ears, but it still no doubt did the trick of calling him out of his reverie, a smoke of thought so thick that if he remained in, it might have begun to seep out from his mind and into the world for all to hear.

“Sour?” Zephyr questioned after a gasp. He had successfully broken free, but his confusion still lingered. The questions kept piling up on each other and he wanted answers, but there was no quick way to get some. His farce would be at risk if he dared blunt his words; that he could not afford. He would find one way or another, or so he hoped.

“Your face was sour,” his half-brother answered, a faint, exasperated sigh escaping his lips before it. “I see that the thought of us three together still worries you, I wonder why despite you being with him every now and then. Seems I’ll never understand your reasoning unless you tell me. I just hope you’ll begin to tell me things.” He turned around and pushed open the library’s door, and while its creak sang an ugly song, he added, “Flynn and I worry about you, Zeph. Maybe confide in us a bit.”

Up went Zephyr’s brows, and there it stayed, hanging above his eyelids as his mind swayed a great sway, another of many. Flynn… the third is Flynn…?