I feel like I understood Wren just a little more than I did before. He was far more complex than I originally thought. I guess I never really considered the reason he may be so closed off and holding everyone around him at arm’s length was due to fear. He was afraid of what he could do to us, not that we would hurt him. And something about that little fact stung.

I crossed my arms and laid my head down, heaving out a sigh.

“I can hear your thoughts from here and I find it very distracting. I took this job because I prefer the silence. Isn’t there someone else you could find to pester?” Ezra looked at me from the corner of his eye. We were sitting in the castle’s library, and he was working on logging some of the new material that had been shipped in from overseas.

I rolled my eyes before propping my chin up on my right hand. “I am trying to figure out Wren. He’s avoiding me. At first, I was worried it was because I did something stupid again, but now I’m worried that he is afraid of something else. I spoke with Wilder about it yesterday but honestly it didn’t help, if anything I feel more anxious.”

“Fascinating troubles.” His voice was monotone and clearly uninterested.

“Ezra-” I grabbed onto his arm and was about to complain about how he wasn’t being very sympathetic. Then the sound of the door opening hit me. In the milliseconds it took my brain to register what I was looking at; I collapsed to the floor and pressed myself up against the desk. 

“Good morning, King Aldous.” Ezra stood from his chair and bowed. “Would you like me to fetch the material you were working on yesterday?”

“Good morning, Ezra. If you wouldn’t mind.” I heard footsteps make their way over to one of the tables, and the scraping of chairs.

Ezra opened the cabinet behind the desk that was across from me and grabbed out a couple of books and some paperwork. He didn’t look at me as he passed by. “Here is your reference material. Are you staying an hour again?”

“Yes, we may be moving to advanced history today, if you could pull some reference material for that, I would appreciate your help.”

“Most certainly. I’ll compile a list for you to review.” I heard Ezra’s footsteps approach again as he made his way back around the desk. He sat back in his chair, a knowing smile on his face.

“You seem to be in high spirits Ezra.”

Ezra’s eyes darted down to me for a moment. “You missed him, but the prince was just here. He was complaining about his problems. Again.”

“When doesn’t he complain?” Wren’s voice joined in, dry with a lack of interest.

My grandfather laughed. “The boy has... Opinions. He’s always rambling about something. You’re a saint for humoring him, Ezra.” 

Ezra snickered. “You’re telling me sire.” 

I reached over and pinched his leg. “But don’t let me distract you from your lessons.” Ezra reached down and ruffled my hair. I swatted at his hand; he was treating me like a child. I slumped against the desk, wishing I could disappear as my grandfather began his lecture.

“As you may remember from a previous lesson, there were six major settlements that divided the continent: Archmire, Finoria, Darsineka, Eistrira, Tundra Valley, and where you are from, Renascent Bramble.” There was a shuffling of papers. “The Children of the Yew lived in the center of the land and were very influential in bringing knowledge of how to grow crops. The Children of Yew’s earth magic was amazing to witness. I once attended one of their festivals for the coming of Spring, and it is one of my fondest childhood memories.”

“Wilder has described them to me,” Wren’s voice cut in, a low and thoughtful tone. “They always sounded like something to remember.”

“There could come a day when you and Wilder bring that joy back to the world. The Children of the Yew should not be forgotten. They did far too much for the rest of us to simply fade away.” There was some silence that followed along with the quiet sound of turning pages. 

“Eistrira,” grandfather continued, “was the land of Dragons. Diverse and rich with crystal mines. But their homeland vanished seven hundred years ago during the first God War. The land that remains is what we refer to as ‘No Man’s Land’. No one truly agrees on what happened. Some say Infernal, others claim the God of Immortality set his own land ablaze and disappeared. I was young when it happened, and even I couldn’t tell you for sure how it happened. That will be between the people of Eisteria and their God.”

I remember grandfather telling me more when I was younger. Eistrira and the Bramble used to have strong connections to the new budding country at the time, Archmire, a land not far away from this one. With its rapid advancement, Eistrira had been poised to overtake a lot of the Tundra Valley and Darsineka. If they hadn’t disappeared there’s a good chance we wouldn’t be here and the ruling lands would be Eisteria, Finoria, and Archmire.

“Finoria built the first port cities, drawing in trade from all over the world. They dominate the northern coast. They are incredibly powerful, known for having a greater army than even Darsineka.” There was another beat of silence.

I braced myself for the next part of this story. I leaned my weight against Ezra’s leg, closing my eyes.

 “You won’t find these details in any of our books, but it is common knowledge that our ties with them were broken the night Eistrira attempted to assassinate my entire family.”

“You don’t have to go into detail about it, sire.” Wren’s voice was gentle, concerned.

“I promised to teach you everything I could, and this is important.” Grandfathers voice softened with a heavy sigh. “In my one thousand years on this planet, I have experienced many lifetimes worth of memories. It has become a dark stain in history that I left out of the textbooks because I don’t want this to define our future. There will be a day when I am far gone, and when Clay is far gone. And I don’t want people to hold anyone at fault. I want there to be a day when Finoria is our ally once again. Just as I believe there will be a day when Eistrira and the Bramble comes back.”

“That’s… Either brave or foolish. Leaving out history like that. It’s dangerous.”

My grandfather laughed. “Honesty is your best trait, Wren. I know what I have done is wrong. But I hope it will help the healing process one day. Because as much as I miss my family, I don’t blame anyone. There is something far larger at play than you or I could begin to fathom.”

“If honesty’s my trait, yours is something a little darker.” Grandfather didn’t deny it. It was controversial what he did. Wrong. I always believed it needed to be known, talked about. Keep others from making the same mistake. 

After more discussion of alliances, crops, and wine from the Tundra, Ezra stood and left the desk area with a small stack of books. It was tempting to trip him on his way, but I figured that would be far too cruel. It was a mercy I granted him. 

History was always hard to sit through. So much pain and pride tangled in who allied with who. Still, it was something I needed to understand if I was to lead one day.

“While the King rests his voice, I wanted to share some of my own imparting wisdom as someone who had to start from scratch much like you Wren. Hearing all of this directly from the King is the best way to understand the history of the roots of Darsineka. There’s hardly anyone left of his generation. When I came here, I attended lectures at the school in town, and they can’t compare to hearing it from the source. I think it's amazing you are taking the time to learn, unlike a certain someone I know. Clay hated the prattling of these old stories.”

 “Ezra is right. That boy never had time to listen to me. But one day when he’s King he will need people around him who can guide him. He’ll mature one day.”

Ezra scoffed out a laugh. “You have so much faith in him sire.” There was another pause. “You know what Wren? Clay would probably appreciate it if I asked you something for him. I’ll keep it short so you can keep going with your lesson, but when he was here just a bit ago, he was complaining about how he feels like you're avoiding him, is this true?”

Ezra you dirty-

“Avoid him? Absolutely.”

I felt like my soul had slipped from my body.

Ezra walked back around the desk and sat back down. “His heart would be so broken if he heard that.”

“If he had heard that, then I would hate it if he cried. I can’t stand tears. But I also hope he wouldn’t take it personally.” Wren’s voice was right behind me. He was so close, right on the other side of the desk.

That’s when I realized.

That bastard.

“You knew I was here.”

Ezra burst into laughter, clutching his gut. I stood and turned around to look at Wren, leaning his weight against the counter, arms folded, wearing the smuggest smile I’d ever seen. “What a cruel prank.” I jabbed an elbow into Ezra’s side.

“We wouldn’t have suspected a thing really if Ezra hadn’t given us a new book with a special note.” Wren produced a piece of folded paper between his pointer and middle finger. Holding it out to me. I snatched the paper from him.

Do me a favor, Clay is hiding behind the desk because he’s too scared to actually talk to you. Take him off my hands?

I crumpled the note and slammed it down. “I trusted you, asshole. You are no longer my friend.”

“Oh, to be young again.” My grandfather chuckled. “Clay you are certainly a handful. Wren, how about we pick this up later? It seems you have some other business to attend to.”

“I’ll help you to your room sire.” Ezra got up once more and approached grandfather, helping him out of the chair. “You two can clean this up until I come back. I’ll only be a few minutes. Books go back in the cabinet.”

I collapsed into Ezra’s seat, running a hand through my hair, brushing it back from my face. Wren was silently gathering his supplies and cleaning up his workstation.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your- um… Tutoring?”

“Your grandfather seems to find tutoring me in his spare time to be a relaxing hobby. He especially likes to show me history books and tell me stories about how the Kingdom grew. Tell me of the Gods. But we also work on reading, writing, math, and anything under the moon.” Wren walked the small stack of books and paperwork towards the cabinet. Placing them gently inside. “And it’s a welcome distraction.”

“Yeah?”

Wren nodded. “I… Wasn’t lying earlier. I was avoiding you a bit. I just didn’t know how to approach you.”

“Ouch.” The confession stung more than I thought. 

Then I felt pressure on the back of the chair, and I could feel his warmth. How close he was. My throat felt tight as I slowly looked up to him. I felt like I was trapped. “Oh- okay, what is happening?” I croaked out.

He hesitated, the words dying on the breath he sucked in. He leaned back and withdrew himself. Instead, he leaned against the desk. What was going through this man’s head? “There has been a lot of misunderstanding between us. I want to apologize. It is never my intention to make you feel uncomfortable around me.”

“I think you are misunderstanding; I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable with me. I have wanted to apologize for so long for the bonfire night.”

He blinked in a look of surprise. “What?”

“The bonfire night. You know? I totally made a move on you, and it was completely inappropriate of me. And I have felt so bad for making you feel like that… Unless that’s not what you meant?”

Wren rubbed a hand over his jaw, eyes staring out at the wall. I felt like crawling out of my skin. Was I wrong this whole time? I really wanted to know what was going on in his head. Finally, he hung his head and let out a soft chuckle. “Okay. I think I’ve caught up now. And I think between the two of us, we had vastly different concerns.”

“I have never been more lost. What do you mean?”

“How about we wipe the slate here, call things even and let’s move past this whole thing.”

“Okay, I am not saying no, but dude you have to explain some things here.”

“If you forgive me, I forgive you. Simple as that.”

“You never had anything to apologize for in the first place?” 

“Neither did you.” His eyes sparkled with his enjoyment, and I about melted with the relief I was feeling.