It was an early, crisp autumn morning, and the sun was barely lifting itself over the treeline of the city of Selerica. The dirt roads of the countryside and farms surrounding it were already busy, the commonfolk having started their work day hours ago. They toiled away in the fields, all preparing for the coming harvest with eager anticipation. There was an air of excitement to the city and country streets now, but also an aura of anxiety. There was much work to be done before the struggles of winter, even this far south in Arkasia.

To Lukas Von Lichtenwald, seated comfortably in his carriage, it all seemed very, very far away. The wooden wheels clattered endlessly along the dirt road, passing farmhouse after barn after farmhouse... oh, there was a stable of some kind... then another farmhouse...

He huffed, resting his chin on his hand as he stared listlessly out the window. He was a fair featured young boy, with perfectly swept, platinum blonde hair and almost crystalline blue eyes that sparkled in the morning sunlight. Even at only eleven years old, it was clear he would be an exceedingly handsome young man in only a few years, but for the moment, he simply looked bored. He suppressed the urge to tug at the pearly white horn buttons of his overcoat with a well practiced expression of self control, keeping his posture stock still the way was fitting for a noble of his standing. Of course, since he was in a carriage of only him and a handful of his older brothers, he didn't keep his posture perfect, choosing to let himself slouch in his boredom instead.

"...ere, Lukas?"

Lukas slowly pulled himself upright, as he caught his name in the flow of conversation beside him.

"My apologies brother, have you asked something of me?" He replied.

Adlet, the brother who Lukas had correctly guessed had said his name, pursed his lips in a smile, holding a hand softly over his heart.

"Egads, brothers! Our littlest brother appears most certainly cross with me! Whatere offense could I have commited, to receive such formality from mine own blood?"

Adlet continued gently clutching at his chest, gesturing dramatically with his free hand as if he were a maiden about to faint. Of the other two brothers in the cart, the eldest, Sarian, kept a perfectly neutral expression at the overdramatic show, although everyone within the cart knew him well enough to know that he was suppressing a smile. The other brother, Adrian, the closest to Lukas in age, laughed without reserve.

"Perhaps knighthood would be a poor career for one such as yourself, brother Adlet. Have you considered theatre?" Lukas said back, matching Sarian's blank, diplomatic expression.

Adlet shrugged, leaning back casually in the polished mahogany seat, laying a hand over the pommel of the longsword resting next to him.

"Well, we all have our true callings, do we not?" He said with a smile.

Lukas honestly couldn't tell whether he was referring to the sword or the theatre...

"Your question?" Lukas reminded his older brother with a huff, letting his posture and tone relax, even if only a little.

"I was asking if you were going to be brooding the entire way to Kasin, or just most of the way there."

Lukas instantly turned to look back out the window, ignoring the dramatic gesturing and 'gah!' from his brother as he once again tuned out the cart. He couldn't quite tune out Adrian's laughter, though... he was the loudest of the brothers, certainly. Coming from a family with seven sons, it was certainly a notable acclaim, Lukas thought, if not an admirable one.

The carriage hit a particularly large bump in the road, jostling everyone inside. If it weren't for the thick upholstery on the wooden benches under them it would likely have been quite painful, but as it was, the conversation barely stuttered as they went over. Lukas went back to watching life outside the window, once again drawing back into his own head.

The countryside farms and small towns surrounding his home city of Selerica were growing more and more sparse already. The fields of different grains and crops grew larger to fill in the spaces, and the workers and commoners walking about became fewer and farther between. It wasn't the first time Lukas had left his home city, but it wasn't a common occurrence either. Even though the scenery hadn't changed even slightly, he was still far more interested in what was outside of the carriage than what was inside.

His shoulder was jostled, as Adrian pushed him lightly to get his attention again. Lukas shot daggers at his older brother with icy eyes, which Adrian promptly ignored.

"Say, Little Lu," Adrian said. Lukas' eye twitched at the nickname. "Are you not proud of Sarian, brother? You haven't spoken a word to him yet on this trip."

The trip has been hardly a quarter of an hour long...

"Should I have spoken? Of what do I have to be proud of?" Lukas asked defiantly, keeping as much of his expression contained as possible. It wasn't common that he found himself thankful for his tutoring in politics, but being able to hide his real feelings was much appreciated.

Adrian's eyes bugged, and Adlet grinned like a wolf before barking out a laugh too harsh and crass for a person as high ranked as him.

"Oh, well this is something I didn't expect!" Adlet choked out between fits of laughter, howling and slapping the seat beside him. Adrian was just staring at Lukas in shock, but he too was starting to chuckle.

"Lukas, oh, Little Lu... You really didn't hear?" Adrian asked him.

Didn't hear what?!

"I am afraid not, brother."

"I knew you weren't there for supper last night for the announcement, but to think you didn't hear even afterwards!" Adlet shouted gleefully. "What could possibly have kept our littlest brother so busy last night that he wouldn't have heard, hmm? Brothers, any guesses?"

"I say he was sneaking into the kitchens after he skipped dinner!" Adrian chirped.

"I did no such thing," Lukas deadpanned back.

"Oh-ho, Adrian, so young, so innocent..." Adlet crooned, wagging a finger back and forth in the air. "Our dearest brother Lukas is of such an age now where other things may come to mind. Perhaps he's taken a liking to one of the servant girls? Oh, I'm quite sure of it, you can tell from that wistful gaze in his eyes... he must miss her so dearly already!"

"I do not."

"No, no!" Adlet cried. "Do not sully the good name of a maiden so, Lukas! Even when you do not miss your lover, you must proclaim so! Such is the way of a true connoisseur of romance!"

"I do not have a lo-... a girl that I like!" Lukas finally shouted back, going red in the face as the mask of calm he had been wearing broke. Adlet and Adrian both started howling with laughter at him, and he flopped back in his seat with a huff, arms folded tight in front of his chest.

"Despite our mutual relationship to you, Adlet," the deep, smooth voice of Sarian spoke up for the first time. "Not all of us chase after the tails of any pretty girls we see."

Adlet shrugged with a smirk, and leaned back lazily in his chair.

"Come now Sarian, we're just teasing him. Gotta give him a hard time, no? He did skip supper after all," Adlet said, finally at a reasonable volume.

"Got to, Adlet, not... gotta. We are on our way to the capitol, remember. I will accept nothing less than perfect manners from you, understand?" Sarian said, a firm warning underlying his words.

For the first time of the day, Adlet's smile fell, and a sour look crossed his face.

"Of course, dearest brother," Adlet answered with a mock bow, voice dripping with fake sincerity.

"Lukas," Sarian continued, ignoring Adlet's display.

Lukas kept his arms folded, still red in the face, but he turned to catch his brother's gaze.

"I have been called to the capital city of Arkasia to meet my fiancée. Our marriage was agreed upon by Father and Mother recently, and the news was passed on to us at supper last night."

Lukas felt like he had been kicked in the chest by a horse. To meet his fiancée? Sarian was engaged?

"To whom?" Lukas asked, all of the previous teasing completely forgotten as he bolted upright in his carriage seat.

"To the crown princess of Arkasia, Lady Alyssia Keirland."

Lukas nearly fainted.

"To the... the crown princess?"

Sarian nodded curtly, his expression unreadable.

Sitting back faintly in his seat, Lukas' head was swimming. He hadn't heard anything about this before, not even the slightest mention that his oldest brother was getting engaged, let alone to outright royalty. The Lichtenwald family was powerful, certainly, and it wasn't even much of a stretch for their eldest son to be married directly into the royal family, but to see it actually happen?

"Congratulations," was all Lukas managed to say, as he deflated in his seat.

"Thank you," Sarian replied politely, before turning to look out his own window, ignoring the carriage much the same way Lukas had earlier.

As Adlet and Adrian picked up their rather rowdy conversation, Lukas felt everything grow distant, until the scenery out his window was naught but a blur, and the voices in the carriage with him just static noise. His brothers' talking may as well have been the steady pouring of rain in the monsoon season, or the lapping of waves against a lake shore...

Out the carriage window, the morning sky was slowly turning into the pale blue of a winter morning. Slowly, Lukas drew farther and farther back into his mind, as an old memory pushed its way up.

It was a summer day, hot but not overwhelmingly so and lacking even a single cloud in the beautiful, azure blue sky.

"What's wrong, Lukas?"

A much younger looking Sarian said, as he appeared standing over a five year old Lukas. The older brother's shadow blocked out the hot, summer sun, standing calmly over where Lukas lay on the grass.

"N-nothing," Lukas said with a huff, crossing his forearms over his face.

"Then why are you crying?" Sarian asked, but without even the slightest hint of teasing in his voice.

"I'm no-"

"Lukas."

"...Adlet didn't let me play with everyone again today," Lukas muttered quietly, wiping the slowly increasing tears away from the corners of his eyes.

"Hmmm," was all Sarian said in reply, as he sat down cross legged on the grass next to Lukas. Neither boy seemed to care much about sitting on the ground, despite the extravagant, richly coloured clothes they wore.

"Why's he so mean!" Lukas finally cried out, letting his tears fall freely now. "He's always doing this, and he doesn't care! Everyone else is always playing together and doing fun things, but they won't let me join! And Mother and Father don't help either, they just tell him to let me play, but then he just does it again anyways!"

Sarian sat quietly, with his arms folded and eyes closed, letting his youngest brother cry his frustrations out. When it seemed like Lukas had stopped, he answered slowly, and quietly.

"Why do you think he does it?"

"Because he hates me," Lukas sniffed, sitting upright to match his older brother.

Sarian actually cracked a small smile at that.

"I'm quite sure he doesn't hate you."

"Then why does he do this!" Lukas yelled back in protest.

Sarian looked at him, the older brother's emerald green eyes searching his face for... something, though Lukas didn't know what. Lukas shrunk back a bit, embarrassed at his outburst, and instantly unsure of himself.

"Adlet has his own troubles to deal with, Lukas," Sarian said calmly. "He doesn't always deal with them in the right ways, but he's trying his best. I hope you can learn to forgive him as well, someday."

Lukas pouted, leaning forwards on his knees and letting his blond hair cover his eyes so he didn't have to look at his brother... and so his brother couldn't see his eyes, too.

"I just want to play with everyone else," Lukas muttered, looking every bit the dejected child he was.

"What about Arabelle?" Sarian asked back.

"She's so boring!" Lukas said in a huff, forgetting himself and flopping onto his back in the grass again, no longer crying but still rubbing the red from his eyes. "She's so little, and she doesn't do anything!"

Sarian laughed then, a deep, hearty laugh that seemed as bright as the summer day around them. It was a rare thing to hear that laugh, and not the polite chuckle and smile he restrained himself to in front of others. But here, in the empty courtyard of their manor, with neither their parents around nor the servants, or even any of their other brothers, Sarian let himself laugh fully.

"Yes, I suppose that is true. Three year olds don't tend to do much which would be interesting to you now, do they?"

Lukas huffed, splaying his arms out to the sides and staring up at the sky. A moment later, he watched Sarian lean back and lay down next to him, just close enough that Lukas' arm was almost touching his elbow.

"Do you feel lonely, little brother?" Sarian asked, also staring up at the sky. His dirty blond hair, so similar yet so different to Lukas' pale, platinum blond, splayed out around his head like a mane, glinting in the midday sun.

"...No," Lukas sniffed, sounding unconvinced by even his own words.

"You have six brothers and a little sister, nearly a hundred servants in the manor, Mother and Father... and yet still feel alone," Sarian said, also completely unconvinced by Lukas' answer. Oddly enough, Lukas could see that Sarian was still smiling lightly, as a light summer breeze tousled his hair. "But not one friend your own age, hm?"

Lukas looked away from his brother, crossing his arms over his chest and giving a slight huff.

"I relate more than you know, littlest brother," Sarian said, reaching out and ruffling Lukas' pale hair, smiling all the while. "There are six years between me and Adlet, the next oldest brother, you know? There was no one my age in the manor growing up for me as well."

Lukas looked back over sheepishly, blue eyes sparkling.

"Really?"

"Really," Sarian said back, giving him another smile. "Do you want to know what I did to help?"

"Yes, please!"

"Well," Sarian said, turning to again stare off at the endless sky above them, this time with a wistful expression on his face. "I made friends with one of the servants that was close to my age."

Lukas stared at him, mouth agape.

"But Father and Mother say that's bad!"

"Because of what happened with me as a child!" Sarian said, laughing deeply at the expression on his little brother's face. "That rule wasn't around when I was your age, you know."

Lukas shut his mouth, leaning in patiently, eyes and ears open wide in anticipation of the story.

"She was a few years older than I was at the time," Sarian began, still looking skywards, as if he could see his own memories in that infinite expanse above them. "I was just a few years older than you are now, and every bit as frustrated at things. Her name was Mina, and she was the daughter of our old head servant at the time. We met one day near the kitchens, while I was wandering through the manor randomly, and she was carrying a sack of vegetables from the storerooms for supper. I hadn't seen someone my own age in days at the point, and the last ones I had seen were but another group of nobility at a gathering... one of those terrible tea parties Father and Mother are going to make you start attending soon enough. I asked her if she wanted to come play with me in the courtyard, and she wouldn't even look at me. Kept muttering something about "young master" and "sir" and "sorry" and bowing over and over... it was absurd, really."

"You hadn't seen her before?" Lukas asked, shifting his way around until the top of his head rested comfortably against Sarian's arm.

"No, no... it was the first time I had wandered around in the basements, near the kitchens. I had never had the chance to cross paths with her or the other kitchen staff before."

"So what happened?" Lukas asked insistently.

"Well, she told me that she could not leave the kitchens until the supper had been made."

"Oh... so you didn't end up playing?"

Lukas couldn't see Sarian's face, but he somehow knew his brother was smiling.

"No, I helped her take the bags to the kitchen, then snuck her outside to play anyways."

"She left her job in the kitchens?!"

"She didn't have much choice once I said it was an order from the heir of the house!" Sarian laughed, shaking Lukas' head with the movements. "We snuck out into the courtyard, into the back, where you can't see from the windows. She was nervous like a man covered in honey in a bear den... shaking half the time, barely able to speak to me... but we played games until the sun set that night. And by the end of it, I had even convinced her to call me by my name!"

Lukas sat quietly, pondering why his brother thought being called by his own name was of such importance.

"I went to see Mina almost every chance I got, after that. She slowly got comfortable around me, and we became best friends for a long, long time... or at least it felt like it at the time."

"Can I meet her someday?" Lukas asked, rolling his head back to look at his older brother.

The smile Sarian wore didn't fade or change, but Lukas thought that, despite his smile, Sarian seemed sad in that moment.

"Well, that's just the thing, isn't it?" Sarian said, still staring wistfully at the sky.

"What is?"

"It took years, but eventually, we got caught. Mother and Father found out, and they were... less than pleased."

"What happened?" Lukas asked, caught somewhere between curiosity and concern.

"Mina and her whole family were expelled from the manor, and I have not seen or heard wind of her since."

Lukas sunk down lower, pressing a little tighter in towards Sarian for comfort.

"I thought this was supposed to be a happy story?" Lukas sniffed.

"It was the happiest of stories," Sarian said back, and Lukas knew beyond all doubt that he was smiling. "That's why it was so sad when it ended."

Lukas didn't know what to say.

"I suppose all that I was trying to say with this..." Sarian continued. "Is that someday, somehow, you'll make a friend your own age. I don't know when or how, but it will happen. And when it does, it shall be a beautiful thing... something that you hold dear for the rest of your life, no matter how many years pass."

"I don't wanna make a friend if I'm just gonna lose them..." Lukas muttered.

"Going to," Sarian corrected habitually, before twisting slightly to look down at his brother. "And why not?"

"Because it's sad."

"So is being alone," Sarian said pointedly. Lukas again found himself unable to answer.

"Besides..." Sarian continued. "Have you heard the saying about candles, Lukas?"

"Candles?"

"They say that a candle that burns half as long, shines twice as bright."

"...That's dumb."

Sarian laughed again, turning his attention back towards the sky.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that one, Lukas."

And with a gentle pat on the head from Sarian, the two brothers fell into silence on the grass, looking up together at that endless blue sky above.