It Could Have Been More

Disclaimer: Only the woman speaking is mine. The rest is TP's

A/N: What if Thom had found a friend/ possible lover at the convent? This is what I think it might have been if his friend remembered him. Set after Thom's death.

"Lord Thom of Trebond

419 H.E – 439 H.E

Beloved brother"

His gravestone is simple. No formalities, no mention of his deeds for which I am glad. He was manipulated into using his power for evil and I only want to remember the Thom I laughed and joked with, at the convent. Simple but treasured memories, which are few.

Thom of Trebond.

Everyone hated him—loathed him. Except his sister, and few friends, except me.

When I first met him, he was cocky and stuck to his books. A typical scholar, I had said. He would become great someday and teach others at the University. I knew perhaps the gods had other plans but never had I expected the ending that had come.

I remember the times we talked, just him and I. I was young, playful while he was serious and sarcastic. His Gift, the same color as his eyes, was powerful. His stare even, could wilt the brightest flower or so I thought.

A few months later, I heard that my sister was pregnant with her first child. Soon I'd go to visit her in Carthak while at the University, when I was done here at the convent. I was one of the mages in the Queenscove line, the Gift as green as my eyes. Thom once said that he liked my eyes, the way they light up when I smiled.

When I left for Carthak I sent letters back and forth, telling Thom to wait for me. He wrote back telling me about his next experiments or his rise to Master. I was glad for him and told him to be safe.

For too much power could mean his outdoing, I prayed to the Goddess that it wouldn't.

But I guess she didn't hear me.

For when I returned a year later, in the year 440 Human Era, I had heard that the queen had just birthed a son and that the kingdom was celebrating. I was anxious to see Thom again after so long. His sister was married and living at Pirates Swoop, so I was curious if Thom had visited them.

But when I arrived, asking for Thom, his sister told me that he had been killed in the battle of 439 and that he was the result of Roger's second attempt for the Crown. I shed no tears but only asked the lady knight when the child was due—the swell of her stomach was showing slightly.

She had told me it was a boy and, if she was right, she and George were going to name him Thom.

I didn't cry until I reached the palace, sinking to my knees in sobs, screaming and cursing the gods. I resolved to go back home and train harder, forget everything, and take it as a dream…

I realize now, all Thom did, all we did, was all to hide something else. It was to hide his guilt; the shame at what would come next.

His experiment and his unexpected death. But everything had a cost that much I knew.

Thom's payment was his life.

I thought we would grow old together as friends or acquaintances, teach apprentices and such. At the convent, I grew to accept him when no one else would and he did the same. We were friends—good friends.

But I wish it could have been more.