General Keyd Van Herth had seen more horrors through his forty-three years of life than he cared to admit or remember. He'd been recruited for the Pontei royal guard as a young boy, taken away from his mother's arms never to see her again. He'd been bitter, at first. Mouthed off to his superiors, defied them, even. It had earned him quite a few beatings.

Then he'd learnt that taking his anger out on the training dummies worked much better.

Best in his class, he'd been sent off to the front of the Surveina-Pontei war at just sixteen. He didn't remember most of his teammates faces, just their blood. The war had ended when he was twenty one, and he'd been sent off to the outskirts to redo his life. He thought it was stupid until he met Marisse.

The same year he met her, they had Solstice. He'd never forget the way those chubby fingers clutched at his hands, making him forget, if only for a moment, how much blood stained them. He knew sixteen years was more than enough for his baby, but he wished it had lasted more.

It had all faded so quickly, the night of the attack. Surveina had reopened attack, and all the life he'd built had slipped between his fingers in just a few hours.

He'd been called back to the capital soon after.

It had been five years since it happened, yet at nights, he still found himself clutching Solstice's bow.

He was in the castle, the King, your father, had called him. He was supposed to stay only for a few weeks, as the King had requested him to teach his sons the basics of fighting. He had asked for some time to think, and the King accepted.

As he was walking through the palace, he saw your brothers running out of somewhere. He didn't think much of it, until he heard soft noises from one of the bedrooms. Sobs and sniffles, like those of a teenage girl. The fatherly instincts he had long buried urged him to approach, and that's when he saw you.

The princess of Pontei, the youngest of four brothers.. knelt down on the floor, crying. Your hair was all messed up and you had a forming bruise on your face. It didn't take too much effort for Keyd to guess it had been your brothers.

He approached you quietly, already knowing what he'd do.

He wouldn't teach any of your brothers how to fight.

He'd teach you.