Dear Mother

What happened on that day? What made you decide to us me?

Did you know what would happen? Did you choose me in order to save my life? Was this your first and only act of love to me?

Did you think this would kill me, removing me from your life forever? Was I just a necessary sacrifice to save my brother? Is that all I was to you, something that you needed to be rid of?

Tell me, Mother. Did you love me? Did your eyes, even for a moment look upon me as a treasure, something to be protected?

Was that love only reserved for your son, for the one who never caused you pain?

I wonder, if my life was so horrid to you, if my existence could only cause you sorrow, why did you let me live? I wish I could have died that day with the rest of my kin. I wish I never had to face the reality that I was never loved. Was this your final punishment for me being alive?

You hated her, my birth mother. I know you did. She died giving birth to me. That was the only reason Father acknowledged my existence. He hated me as much as you did. To him I was the representation of his sin. To you, was the symbol of his disloyalty.

Remere was perfect. He was the child that was loved and, in turn, loved everyone. He loved you and father. He loved the half mages. He even loved me, the person he should hate the most, the sin that marred his parents' perfect union. He should have been the one who was gifted with Light magic, not an imperfect bastard like me.

Yet he was kind to me. While Father never referred to me as his daughter, he called me his sister. While you scorned me and hated me, he held my hand and assured me I was loved.

He was the only reason I never noticed the hateful stares that bore into my soul. He was the only reason I could fin joy. I loved my brother. I listened to his plans. I even adored the woman he chose to marry.

But she was the one who shattered that illusion of happiness. She wished to destroy my brother, to steal the life of your son. She wanted to rob our family of the one piece that kept it from falling apart.

This is why I cannot fault you, Mother. I cannot hate you for using me if it was to save my brother.

Sometimes I wonder, if I had been born as your daughter, would things be different? Would a sacrifice of our kin have been needed?

Would we have been a real family, then?

"Allenore! Come on!"

The light mage looked up from the bag she was tying.

"Just a minute!" she called.

"Come on, Nore!" Kain teased playfully. "Don't make us leave you behind!"

Snickers came from all around the group as Allenore swung the bag over her shoulder. Nobody noticed the old piece of parchment stuffed into her pocket.

When she had been a girl, all she'd ever wanted was the love of her parent. She had though they were her only family.

Perhaps she was wrong.

In the end, Allenore was glad that Hadea had used her as the spell's catalyst. If she hadn't, Allenore would have died with the rest of the Ascelians. She would never have met Kain and the others.

The others all grinned as she caught up.

They were her family, now.