Chapter Text
Last summer, we were mere boys. Cosseted in warm golden fields, racing headlong as our horses’ hooves turned up clods of perfect earth. Our tryst stolen from beneath the noses of our warring fathers. Our laughter rang from the shores to the hills.
Time has changed. Last summer was an age ago. Winter, dark and desperate, lasted as long as I could remember, biting, clawing, and freezing until I felt no more alive than the ice beneath my feet. Then came a sunrise and a song. And you, cousin, broken by my own hand. Will we ever laugh together again?