I have some ideas, too. You don’t need to make this the only thing you focus on. I’m sure you still want to figure out what Tristan has been up to.
In truth, I’d barely been focusing on that at all since I’d learned he was alive.
It still hurt too much to think about.
Couldn’t he have told me sooner?
Five years. I still wanted to know what had happened to him…but the Tristan who had written to me in that book wasn’t what I’d imagined.
I’d imagined that I’d find his body after many years of searching and beg the goddess to restore him to life. Or, if I was truly lucky, maybe he’d just be a prisoner in need of rescue. I’d known the latter case was unlikely, but I’d hoped for it, since it would be so much simpler.
But this Tristan?
He sounded confident. Almost pleased with what was happening.
In truth, he sounded like Tristan usually did, and that was the worst part.
I hadn’t even checked the book again to see if he’d sent a reply when I’d asked for proof. I didn’t need to. I knew it was him.
I knew the arrogance, the veiled insults toward people he didn’t respect. Every word of that letter was Tristan’s signature.
The relief that I’d hoped for along with that confirmation simply wasn’t there.
Was it horrible of me to be unhappy that Tristan was happy? That my fantasy of rescuing him was unnecessary?
A part of me was still clinging to the hope that there was something amiss that I’d need to fix. I didn’t have the whole story about the situation, of course.
Maybe he had a good reason for everything he was doing.
But I feared the possibility that he didn’t, and because of that, I’d stopped looking.
That was unacceptable.
“You’re right, I do want to know what happened to Tristan. But you’re right here, and helping you is a higher priority. I’m still going to keep looking for him, but now that we know he’s alive, it’s nothing I need to rush.”
It was a coward’s answer, at least in part. But Sera nodded, seeming to accept it.
We looked back to the fight after that, but my mind was elsewhere.
Tristan… What are you really up to?
Chapter VI – Two Heads are Better than One
I tried to bury my worries about Tristan in my studies, but my mind kept wandering.
How had he survived?
Did Mother and Father know?
And, perhaps most importantly, why was he involved in kidnapping Tenjin?
I needed to talk to him directly at some point. He had ample chances to tell me about his situation through the book if he had wanted to. He’d even sent that hooded figure to talk to me in the spire.
That couldn’t have actually been him, could it?
Could his human body have been taken away?
I shook my head. It was much more likely that the creature I’d seen was some sort of solid illusion, like those created with the Shadow attunement.
I needed answers.
I reached under my bed and retrieved Trials of Judgment.
I’d been procrastinating about reading the Mysterious Book Entity’s reply to my question. I’d been afraid to face the possibility that it really was Tristan.
But that was absurd, and I knew it.
Why would I give up when I was finally this close to my goal?
I could do better than that.
I could be better than that.
I flipped open to the most recent page and looked for the Mysterious Book Entity’s latest reply.
Corin,
Your skepticism is warranted. In your position, I wouldn’t believe a presumably deceased family member was writing to me, either.
There are any number of other explanations, after all.
Perhaps I’m simply using the name “Tristan” to get inside your head, after having watched your behavior in the spires. Maybe I need to manipulate you for some sort of task.
But ask yourself first — why would I bother with a ruse on that scale?
What advantage would there be for me to cultivate a single student as an asset? Providing you with a legendary weapon and an escape from the spire?
The answer is obvious.
With my level of influence, there are clearly more powerful tools available.
So, there’s your logical answer. There’s no good reason for anyone else to be bothering.
But it’s still easy to argue that, perhaps, it was simply an issue of opportunity. Maybe I didn’t have the ability to place the book wherever I wanted, and it was your choices that led us to this discussion.
Maybe I’m simply taking advantage of what information I can glean about you.
I’ll offer you another form of proof, then.
When we were children, Father made an effort to introduce us to many prominent families.
He was an excellent performer, parading us as prodigies. Martial talents unlike any seen in a generation. We were winning children’s duels almost as soon as we could walk.
And while displaying our dubious talents, he made connections, and reacquainted himself with old friends. Friends in higher places than his own.
We were taught to be proper, to be polite, and to never say too much about the state of affairs at home.
The intent of it all was quite obvious, in retrospect. Our family’s flames had been fading since the war, and he hoped to secure our name through profitable marriages.
Do you remember Yunika? Perhaps you’ve seen her more recently than I have.
I remember how we used to talk about how perfect it was that she was my age and her sister was yours.
I’d joke that we could be “double brothers” if we married them both. You argued it would be “triple brothers”, since we’d be brothers by blood, and brothers by marriage twice-over.
Father would have been pleased if things had gone that way, I’m sure.
I remember Yunika. I think of her fondly at times. Other times, I regret that I had so little foresight. So little understanding of why Father introduced us to those girls in the first place, and what our fates might have been if things had gone the way he wanted.
So, yes.
I am your brother.
I have thought of you often in the years we have been apart.
In asking the Voice of the Tower about me, it is clear that you thought of me as well.
That pleases me, though it reflects a weakness in your character. You should have grown beyond me long ago.