Shadow of the Prince

The Necessary Choices We Make

Dal stood outside of the familiar hovel that she called home. She wondered if the thought of a home was supposed to bring about warm, fuzzy feelings, or some sense of security.

All Dal felt was anxiety. She gingerly fingered the basket in her arms.

She entered the dark shop, her eyes straining to get used to the lighting. Movement at the back caught her attention, and a dark blur sped at her with inhuman speed. Dal was knocked backward, and nearly pushed onto her haunches. 

Dal laughed.

"Where have you been, Dal?" The tawny-haired mass curled into her chest said Theikuth's voice muffled against her.

Dal pulled the scrawny twelve-year-old boy from her arms, frowning when she noticed the gauntness in his face.

"When's the last time you ate?"

"Yesterday... Mom hasn't opened the shop this week, and dad hasn't traded anything at the docks."

"Mother didn't open the shop? But what has she been doing all this time?"

"I don't know, Dal. She comes home late, after dad and I get home from the markets. Dad asked her once where she went, but she never answered and he didn't ask again."

Their parent's lack of affection for one another was no secret to the Leary children. Rather, it was nearly the only comfort that Dal could find here. It was one of the few things that didn't seem to be changing. She and Theikuth often wondered how they could stand to have children together.

One child, you mean.

"Well, you're in luck, my mouse," Dal smiled, shaking off the nagging feeling in her chest. She opened her basket, revealing an assortment of meats and cheeses. "Look what I brought you from my new job."

The smile that spread on her scrawny brother's face was worth every deceitful decision she was undertaking. She handed the basket to him, urging him to help himself.

"Dal?" Her mother's groggy voice called from the doorway at the back of the shop. "What are you doing here?"

She was silly to think she would be welcomed back by any besides her brother, but the pang of emotion in her heart stung nonetheless.

"I brought you all a few things from the castle."

"Gifts from the prince?" 

Her mother stepped out further into the shop. Dal could see the tiredness in her eyes, speckled with what looked curiously like hope. 

"Yes," she lied.

Her mother's lips pressed into a fine line before she nodded curtly. Dismissively. "Good. Well, you should be getting back, shouldn't you?"

"But she's only just gotten here," Theikuth said, the same confusion in his voice that Dal felt.

"She has a role at the castle, now, Theikuth. She hasn't the time to keep coming back here to distract her from it."

Dal swept her gaze to the floor. Tears stung the back of her eyes at hearing her clipped tone. But, she was used to this. This was how it had always been. She was silly to think that it was ever going to change. 

She turned to a crestfallen looking Theikuth, and gave him a small smile. She tousled his dirty hair, not knowing when she'd have another chance to share a moment with her brother.  

In a very un-Theikuth like manner, he suddenly wrapped his skinny arms about her, embracing her. She felt the unspoken words he sent to her. 

I love you, his embrace said.