>>5959227To you, today should have been a day like any other. You’d start by waking up and enjoying a full breakfast with your family. Your eldest daughter, Bronte, would no doubt be filling you in on the latest tome she’d been studying. For a girl who was hardly 10 years old, she was a strange one. You’d never met a child that enjoyed reading quite so much as her. Then again, when you were her age, you were barely literate. It wasn’t until you’d been adopted and eventually joined the Officer’s Academy that your love for books would flourish. From what you knew, Ashe had started reading just around the same time Bronte had. Perhaps with the two of you serving as her parents, it was no surprise she’d turn out this way.
Reserved and polite, Bronte was the easiest of your children to deal with, and save for her silver hair, was perhaps the one that resembled you the most. Your middle child, Ogier, was another matter. Full of energy, he was the opposite of Bronte in every way. He absolutely loathed reading and could not wait until he finally came of age and was allowed to hold a sword. You’d often catch him staring out the window, watching intently as Tristan went over his martial lessons with Kate. It was plain to see that your son was jealous of the boy. Regardless, he’d have to wait until he was older before you’d allow him anywhere near the martial grounds. At breakfast, he was the most likely to try and make his older sister miserable, something you’d grown accustomed to breaking up.
Finally, there was Lila. Just barely reaching five years of age, Lila had yet to find the same sort of confidence Bronte or Ogier had. She would follow you around, hiding behind your legs whenever possible. You didn’t mind too much, but hoped she would one day come out of her shell. She’d often sit by your side as you worked. Though too young to understand what it was you did, she knew it was important. All three children carried the Weaver name. While it had been tempting to reclaim d’Rusalka, you felt that belonged to Tristan now. Besides, you had no desire to erase the legacy of your real father.
You had intended today to be no different than any other day this year. The formation of the United Kingdom of Fodlan had become official, and with it, there was much work to be done even in remote Rusalka. Trade agreements needed to be renegotiated, ore shipments needed to be rerouted, and plenty of petitioners were knocking at your door, each ready to beg for you to grant them whatever it was they needed. These tasks would take you well into nightfall, but today, Ashe had forbidden you from doing any work whatsoever.
Because it was your birthday.
