(2021-11-04) Anareline's Unsent Letters, Letter 6

Details

Author:	Alli
Summary:	A letter to Anareline's long-lost sister, regarding current events.
Rating:	T for Teen

Chain: Anareline's Unsent Letters

Elaria,

As my present fills with the ghosts of the past, I suppose it should be no surprise that my thoughts return to you, my sister. You taught me to fight, but your most important lessons were unintentional. I learned well to guard my heart, to avoid bonds of love or obligation that would constrict me to act against my nature. I learned not to let myself feel so deeply that I could not walk away, or that I could not survive another to do so. I kept myself alone, even while among others, for millennia.

I was lonely, and it must have made me weak. Then there was Cerelar. It wasn’t Love, like you described, but I was fond of him. I enjoyed being with him, and I did not miss him when he was in the Dream. We had two children, before it ended. I tried to shape them, and then I let them walk away from me without protest. I meant it as love.

And now, with Caspis, I am bound again. My guard fell to pieces with one touch, there on the bridge in Astranaar. He came as a ghost out of the past, and tied me back to a world I had long set aside. The Cenarion Circle, politics, ancient druidic mistakes, cults to the Old Gods… I even went on an expedition with him, his shan’do and a draenei. I no longer remember how I was able to keep my world so small. And now I begin to look more closely at the ties I have neglected, my ties to my children.

This brings me to the second ghost, and the prompting behind this letter to you, sister. I am certain you recall Sidhanei Ambersong. I had thought her long-dead, with the others like her. So how can she be demonstrating sword-dancing to my children in a talent show? How can my daughter find her so fascinating, as Celaven writes? What can she want with my… [the writing blurs into a splash of ink here]

[writing resumes in the same handwriting, but a slightly different line width indicates a different pen]

Maybe this is a different woman, who simply has an unfortunate name. A different woman who has a lot of opinions about the arcane arts and who

Caspis thought the same of me, perhaps it was another Anareline. But I was not. It cannot be a coincidence. I need to see her, to know for sure. What is she planning? I cannot play her games, I know I haven’t the skill. But if she hurts my children one of us will die.

What would you think, sister, if you knew she was still alive? I never saw you again, after that last day, but I know you would have died for her.

Sometimes I wonder, did you?