A wax-sealed letter to the Exalted Queen and Prince-Consort of Dalvath

Father, Mother,
I am sorry I was not fully honest with you before regarding my need to stay where I am. The agent you sent was instrumental in seeing us to Dalvath's main camp well-armed and safely. We're close enough to the border now my heart aches to know the sun and, by extension, my family are nearer than ever. But until that sun shines in this country, too, I am not *able* to leave. I made a vow that cannot be broken, one that the Saints-- if not the gods themselves-- heard and are holding me accountable for.

The beast in the heart of Crypha may be real, literal-- housed in their capital. There are stories of it. To purify the sky, we may have to purify *it* in the process. In so doing, we would win the war. In so doing, we would run the vampires underground forever. It may be that the enchantment is derived for something else, such as the hundreds of towers stationed across this country... but that's something I hope to have the Army's support in investigating and solving. There's an expert in Astrea your agent recommended reaching out to as well, and so I hold out hope we might have other keen hands and minds on hand to help us with this.

I'm not sure if you've heard of what happened in Winter Bloom yet. Luther Valentine somehow walks again. We were lucky to escape with our lives... while Saint Lydia, a symbol of hope for the non-vampires of this country, was not so fortunate. I was able to stop him from consuming her heart, but nothing more. I prayed to the Divine Suffering shortly before the attack. I prayed that the pain suffered here for hundreds of years would have been enough by now, that those who fight against the vampires had endured to the point they could strike back. Lydia was carved open while alive after that, her slow and agonizing death used by Valentine to desecrate the sanctity of the church and the town; to deprive the mortals here of the one guaranteed safe haven they had in this country.

I don't know if I can bear to pray again after that. I don't know if it was heard at all... but I almost fear knowing whether or not what happened was Her answer; Her proclamation that no, the worst is yet to come, and that lessons have not yet been fully learned.

Despite that, I hold out hope for the dawn. I will fight for its coming. I want for it to eclipse and outshine the dark future Father foresaw. I want to believe what Cassander does-- that while the possibilities of futures exist, it's up to us to either assure or deny them the chance to flower. With love, I am begging for your forgiveness with regards to my recklessness. With the hopes of seeing you soon, I am asking for your support so I can achieve the task set before me-- and make this world *better* for it.

The way you both did years ago. The way you both will again by bringing all of our might, and the might of our allies, against Crypha now. I'm lead to believe the state of their fiefs is nothing in comparison to the splendor and advancement of their capital, and I trust you both and others to not underestimate what Crypha are capable of.


Forever proud to be yours,
Illara Alessio Zar'ath, Crown Princess of Dalvath

Type

Journal, Personal