Freyr sighed in relief when both Sir Magni and Íris left with no complaints to follow his suggestions. His uncle Røkia had ended up accidentally giving Freyr the perfect excuse to send Íris away and not just Sir Magni, as such he wouldn’t have to worry about what he ended up discussing with his twin sister, and also now his uncle as well.
Freyr had to admit to himself that he was a tad disappointed that his hair had already been messed up when he actually had someone do something with it, without it being for a specific reason for once. He didn’t have much time to mourn his messy hair though, since the limited time he now had to talk with his sister and uncle was already ticking down. His mini oasis would run out sooner than he was prepared for if he wasn’t careful.
“I need help.” Freyr started as soon as his sister had dismissed the warriors who had been training for a rest break so the three family members could have some privacy. Freyr immediately sensed both Freyja and Røkia tense up before he could continue. Freyr quickly went into discussing his problems, realizing that if he just left it at just the one sentence for too long that there may be even bigger problems that might evolve into a dispute between kingdoms. Freyr was treated like he was a fragile person to be protected by, especially by these two family members in particular, after all. “I’m too nervous having servants around; especially when the Taicirusian servants seem to have a decent amount of sway in the envoy. I need advice on how to interact with them.”
Both Freyja and Røkia gave Freyr a blank look out of surprise, probably momentarily confused that it wasn’t a topic that would be able to be solved via fighting. Freyja was the first to come back to her senses, since she suddenly burst out laughing. “Of course that’s what you emerge from your seclusion to talk to me about. My twin brother must now face the enemy that is his own self isolation from others. It may be your biggest battle yet, my dear brother.”
“Stop teasing me, Freyja, and give me some advice or tips on how to interact with them. I can’t tell how much of a distance is the appropriate amount to have with them. Last night, during the banquet, we were discussing books I enjoyed. Yet this morning they have both been keeping a large distance between us. Did I do something last night that made them distance themselves? Or is the distance they have now the proper amount, and last night was just because they were trying to be nice?” Even Freyr could hear the panic dripping from each of his questioning words that stemmed from his introverted nature. It was no secret that the more demure twin had almost actively avoided interacting with anyone outside of direct family members, so the desperation coming from him to now actively try to befriend outsiders was something new to even Freyr.
Freyja respected her brother’s request, and switched her teasing manner to one of a caring sister giving advice, though she still had a small smirk on her face that it seemed she couldn’t repress. “It’s going to be fine, Frey. I’m sure they are also a bit nervous and unsure how to interact with you as well.” Freyja reached out and ran a hand through Freyr’s long pristine hair with a sadly far off look in her eyes. “You are going to become their ‘queen’ someday after all. If they were to get too close to you and then offend you then it could possibly lead to dire consequences for them. Yet I’m sure they are also extremely curious about what kind of queen they are going to have to serve.” Freyja thought for a moment and her smirk returned with a small chuckle. “Considering how much of a recluse my dear brother is, I’m sure their curiosity is also intensified since there isn’t enough information about you just flying around.”
Røkia stepped in as well, seeming to want to add a little bit of advice as the twins’ uncle. “What your sister is trying to say is just be yourself. You will eventually find the right balance on your own, and if you don’t you can just swap out the servants with people you do feel comfortable with since you are the one with the power. The servant and master relationship is different for each person, so your sister and I can’t just define what the right distance will be for you to have with your new, or future, servants.”
Røkia had a very affectionate tone of voice when he started, but he then suddenly changed his tone to show the seriousness of his next words. “Just make sure, above everything else, that the servants you decide to keep around you long term are ones you can trust with your life. The goddess Ianthe may weave the threads of fate together so that you meet different people in your life, but that doesn’t mean she will necessarily insist that the shared threads stay entangled longer than you are comfortable with. Ianthe gives us mortals the free will to snip the ties we have with those who are toxic to the tapestry of our lives. If any of the servants seem like they will threaten how you chose to live, make sure to snip them from your life immediately.”
Freyr felt a bit weird hearing his guardian deity suddenly being brought up offhandedly, but he knew his mother’s side of his family were all tied to Ianthe’s main temple in one way or another, so it made sense that she would be brought up while his uncle was trying to give advice. Knowing Ianthe was the main deity Røkia worshiped, other than Røkia’s own guardian deities of course, the advice should not have felt so pointed when directed at him; yet the advice really seemed like Ianthe was trying to use one of her believers as a way to tell Freyr to go wild and not worry about such things as relationships, because Ianthe could always change them on a whim for him.
Freyr tried his best to shrug off the semi ominous feeling, and instead tried to focus his somber thoughts on the mention of carefully choosing who to trust. “I know how important trust is Uncle Røkia; I’ve lived my own life weighing the importance after all. I will continue to choose my trusted people carefully, and also make sure I don’t reveal too much about myself to outsiders. I fully understand that I’m going into a marriage based on an accidental lie, and therefore I risk ruining the alliance that my marriage is supposed to stand for if anyone were to find out too soon.”
Freyr’s resolute posture and words must have worried his sister and uncle, because Freyja immediately pulled him into a small hug, and Røkia started to ruffle Freyr’s hair again. Freyr was surprised to suddenly have both of them see something odd about his words and try to immediately comfort him, when he himself couldn’t figure out anything odd about what he said. It was the truth that he had lived his whole life as a lie in public, and always had to pick and choose who to open up to. It was also true that he planned on continuing the same lifestyle even when he moved to Taicirus so he wouldn’t ruin the alliance that was the whole reason for his marriage. So why were they both suddenly trying to comfort him as if something suddenly changed?
Although both Freyja and Røkia seemed to want to say something, Freyja won out in the race to be the first to try to say comforting words to the anxiety induced introvert. “You still need to make sure you find a few people you trust. Okay Freyr?” Freyja’s whispered voice in Freyr’s ear was tinted with worry. “You might have a few people here in Ástland that you trust and share things with, but most of those people are people that already have known you since you were born; people who you were forced to trust based on the circumstances, not necessarily people that you chose, yourself, to trust. It’s going to be a lot harder to find and choose for yourself who to trust, especially when you are going to be surrounded on all sides by strangers and without a single familiar face.”
Røkia chimed in as well from where he stood behind Freyja. “You shouldn’t have to evaluate internally who is trustworthy enough to talk to, yet we adults have accidently caused you to feel the weight of the two kingdoms on your young shoulders with every choice you’ve made. It’s too late to take it all back and try to fix the past mistakes we’ve inadvertently caused as you were growing up, but we will still try to show you that it’s not all on you for this to go well and try to fix what we can.”
Freyr couldn’t understand why his uncle seemed to suddenly have guilt manifesting from deep within his amethyst eyes. Freyr didn’t have time to dwell on it though, because Freyja suddenly tried to change the topic back to a more positive atmosphere. “We were going to give you advice on becoming closer to your knight and servant weren’t we. I’m sure Uncle Røkia and I can come up with a few plans.”
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