#faraena

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I came home to an empty house. Now that my youngest sister was bound away, I had the whole place to myself.

It felt lonely.

“Maybe you should find a nice lady and settle down,” Shala had said earlier that day, as she balanced one of her three-year old twins on each hip. “You'd be a good father – I know that from experience.”

“Nah, he's too serious,” Retsub grunted into his drink, but I could hear the jest in his voice.

“Well, maybe I will then,” I said.

I had yet to find one, though.

But there was time yet. I was young.

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Five years later, I came home to an empty house and thought, “This place is too big. Maybe I should move.”

“Don't you ever get tired of the silence?” Shishlia had asked that afternoon.

“Hey, at least he can get a good night's sleep that way,” said Erniker, who was suffering from a lack of it due to their newest addition. “But maybe it would be good only up to a point.”

What point?

Well, there was still time to change things. I had my life ahead of me.

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Five more years later, I came home to an empty house. It was a smaller house, and closer to work. I had almost decided to just move into the castle at one point.

“There's tons of room here, y'know,” Aileev had pointed out that day, “and I'm always looking for somebody to hang out with. I mean, if you ever need company....”

I wasn't sure a teenage girl was quite the right “company” to keep though. I was pretty old for that.

But what about other company?

There was still room in this house.

But work was pressing. I didn't have time to look for somebody.

I still had time in my life... right?

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Ten years later, I came home to my empty little house and thought, “What if she were here too?”

“If anybody needs a friend, it's Mom,” I'd overheard Veelia say that morning.

“Maybe she needs a boyfriend,” said Faraena.

“Pfft, Mom, with a boyfriend?” Aileev snickered. “That's impossible.”

“Yeah, she'll have a hard time getting anybody, the way she dresses,” Faraena sighed. “So much for that gossip.”

I liked her.

“No,” I said aloud. It echoed through the empty room. “She's too good for this place. Too good for me.”

Besides, I was almost old enough to be her father.