To me, it's not a hard stretch to think of Sephiran wrapped around Sanaki's finger, even when she's very small. It's also not that hard to imagine her requesting, or even demanding, a bedtime story.

Sleep did not come easy to Sephiran on most nights. There was something about Sienne, the capital of Begnion, that put his very being at unease. It was, he had no doubt, in part due to what Begnion had done to his home, to his people, the herons of Serenes. But there were other things that troubles him, too. Things left unsaid, things left undone. If he had been there long ago, when Begnion had formed, would things be different?

if he had, he knew sleep might come easier than it did. He had not been, however, and that could not change.

Once, his nights were full of going through records, of keeping himself and his mind busy. He had wanted to see what had become of his child and his bloodline. What he found pained him. He had forced himself to finish combing through those records, and now his nights were full of pacing and walking the halls. Guards who had once been concerned that the duke of Persis wandered the halls late at night no longer batted an eye as he passed with a simple greeting.

His walks were mostly aimless and meant to tire himself out, but there was one area that never failed to keep his attention. No matter which path he took, he always wound up in a long hall adorned with the portraits of past apostles. They meant so much to him, more than nearly anyone in Begnion could ever understand. He knew some people wondered why he often found himself in the hall, slowly walking from portrait to portrait. Others had seen it as his loyalty to his country, to study the face of each former apostle.

In nearly every one, he could see a small part of her. Some had her eyes, a small number had her hair, one even smiled like her. He knew all of their names, of course, from his nights of diving into historical records. But it was the picture on the end that always held his attention the longest.

She had never held the title of apostle, but Altina had founded Begnion, and so her portrait had also held a place with the others. Part of Sephiran hated the portrait. The artist did not catch her fire, her passion. Another part of him could not pull himself away from it. He missed her deeply. The longing he held for her was his secret. No one else in the country knew. No one needed to know. It would raise questions that he did not want to answer.

He exhaled slowly as he shut his eyes. He could remember everything about her. He remembered the sound of her voice, her laughter, her touch, even how silky her hair was. At his lowest point, he feared the passage of time would make those details hard to recall, but they still came to him clearly.

A sudden noise, a faint padding noise, jarred him from his recollections. He turned quickly and startled the newest little apostle as much as she had him.

It took him only six steps to reach the frightened child. "Apostle Sanaki, I apologize for frightening you. I must ask, why are you up so late?"

The young girl, for even though she held the title of apostle, she barely reached the duke's knee, looked at him with large, golden eyes. Her hand crept towards her face as though she might rub her eyes as children often did when they were tired. She stopped herself midway and lowered it. "I could ask you the same," she said in a tiny voice.

"Yes," he said as he knelt closer to her level, "you could. I'm afraid I cannot sleep."

"I can't either," she admitted.

"Would you like me to stay with you until you do go to sleep?" Sephiran offered.

Sanaki considered it for a moment then nodded. Sephiran, who had carried her before, offered to do so again. She shook her head but held her hand out to him. With the faintest hint of a smile, he stood and took her hand. It would make the walk back to her bedchambers longer, as he had to shorten his steps greatly to keep up with the small child, but he did not mind.

"What keeps you awake, child?" he asked as they walked. "A bad dream?"

Sanaki shook her head. "I can't sleep," she said again. Her eyes told a different story. She would blink slowly, as if fighting sleep. In his many years, Sephiran knew sometimes children just did not want to go to bed. Even though Sanaki was told when to go to bed, as Apostle, she could tell everyone no, she did not want to go to sleep. Maybe she just had not realized she held that sway yet.

When they arrived at her chambers, he held the door open for her and smiled as she suppressed a yawn when she passed him. He shut the door behind them and asked if there was anything he could do. "A drink of water, perhaps?" he asked as he pulled her blankets down and hoisted the young girl into her bed. "A lullaby?"

Sanaki giggled at the suggestion and shook her head. She sat down and held the edge of her blankets in her hands. "Do you know any bedtime stories?" she asked.

"What sort of stories?" He knew countless tales he could tell her, but he did not know where to start.

Sanaki considered for a moment as she stretched out against her pillows. She waited for Sephiran to cover her with the blankets before she decided. "Do you know any stories about Altina that aren't about her founding Bengion?"

Sephiran felt as though the young apostle had just punched him in the stomach. He managed to keep a calm, collected outer appearance, but his heart had begun to flutter. "Is that the only bedtime story you receive?" he asked her.

"Yes," Sanaki answered. "It's always the same, no matter who tells it."

"I see."

He smoothed the blanket under his hands. Of course it would be the type of story that should be hammered into the apostle's mind. The mere thought wounded him, but he wondered how, exactly, twisted the story had become over the centuries. "Did you know, then, that not only did she become queen of her own country, but that she also fought for the goddess, Ashera?"

Sanaki's eyes grew large as she shook her head. It was a surprise to her, though many children grew up on the story of Ashera's Three Heroes. Was that the Senate's idea, then? To try to erase the laguz from Bengion by not telling their apostle of the three heroes?

"Do you know, then, of Yune?"

"She's the goddess of chaos," Sanaki answered obediently.

Sephiran nodded, though he hated the idea of Yune being a destructive force. He knew the truth of both goddesses, but it had been long decided that Yune would take the blame for the safety of Tellius. That did not stop some from seeking Lehran's Medallion, which housed the small goddess, to try to awaken her.

"Ashera wanted Yune..." he paused to find the right word to tell the young girl in front of him. He could not tell her that Ashera wanted Yune killed or destroyed. After a few seconds, he settled on another word. "... removed." It still sounded somewhat cold to him, but Sanaki appeared to understand. "The goddess sought three heroes to do that. One of them, the only beorc, was Altina."

"What do you mean 'only beroc?' Did laguz fight with her?"

"Yes, she fought with both lion and dragon."

"And they did not hate her?"

"No, child." He chuckled, more to himself than to Sanaki. "Altina fought beside both the king of dragons and the king of lions. On the field of battle, they were equals. Off the field of battle, well, she quarreled with them occasionally. It was never anything they could not work past, but," he chuckled again as he recalled Altina, her face twisted in anger, as she turned on her heel and stomped from her tent, her long purple hair streaming behind her like a banner, "arguments do break out even among the best of friends."

He had followed her in an effort to comfort her, but she was so furious she only told him to "hang that lizard and be done with him!" When his efforts to soothe her did not work, he pointed out that hanging a dragon would be quite the difficult task. She had not laughed, but some of the anger did leave her face.

However, it had taken her three more days to so much as acknowledge Dheginsea's presence.

Sanaki had nodded knowingly. "Sigrun and Tanith act almost like sisters, but they fight," she agreed. Sephiran had seen the two of them squabbling from time to time. He did not mind the bickering so much, as along as they trained to preform their duty in protecting Sanaki.

"That's right. Even if you care deeply for someone, you will not always agree with them. Though they fought alongside each other for their goddess, they occasionally did not agree with each other's tactics. They knew, however, that their disagreements needed to be put aside when their goddess called upon them. On her orders, they sought out Yune."

Those who rewrote history would make it seem as though there were several battles and massive causalities. Yune had people on her side, as well, but the battles were few and far between. He had never thought Ashera needed such force. He had felt it would have simply taken Altina or himself to coax the young goddess from hiding so she could meet with her other half face to face.

Ashera had not wanted that.

"Though dragon and lion were faster than her, Altina kept up with them. She was always one of the first to lead the charge, even if she was outpaced by her laguz companions. Those who opposed Ashera and sought to shelter Yune were little match for them."

"Why would anyone defend a dark god?"

Sephiran sighed heavily at that question. It was a difficult one to answer, no matter the subject. Why did some choose one side over the other? Who truly knew what was within someone's heart? "Some," he said softly, "felt Yune was not in the wrong though she flooded the world. There were others, however, who sought to use her and her powers. Others just enjoy chaos, war, and bloodshed. Reasons vary from person to person."

Sanaki gave a tiny nod in understanding, her small face solemn.

"Completing their task from Ashera was not easy. Yune had hidden herself." Much as a child did when they were in trouble, Yune had tried her best to avoid Ashera's punishment. "It took many, many days to find her. Rumors swirled on where she was, and many of them were false, made up to throw Ashera's champions off Yune's trail." Those false leads had made the trio furious, but none more than the dragon king. He had offered to fly across the continent and find Yune himself, but Altina had held him back. "Their work paid off when the three heroes were tipped off to her hiding place. No one knew what to expect, so they prepared themselves for the worst."

"Did she fight?" Sanaki asked. She ended her sentence with a loud yawn. The small apostle was struggling to stay awake, but Sephiran's every word held what little attention she could offer him. "Was she mean?"

"She fought, but she was not mean," Sephiran answered softly. Yune had surprised all three of them. She had the power to defeat the three of them, and she had put up quite a fight. He would not tell Sanaki the details. She was too young to hear of such. When defeated, Yune had sniffled and asked them to please not take her to Ashera. Altina had later reported to him that the three of them had exchanges looked among themselves. They had given it all with blade, claws, and flame, but in the end, Yune had merely been a frightened little goddess who knew she was in trouble. "Yune understood what Ashera wanted, but she did not want to face her punishment."

He looked down to the floor for a moment. "Yune asked if she had to be taken to Ashera," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Altina responded that it was their duty to take her. She said she would not fight anymore and praised them for being such fierce fighters. Though she said she would go willingly, neither laguz king trusted her. They bound her hands and she was escorted by the dragon king back to Ashera."

Such measures had been uncalled for. It troubled him to stand by Ashera's side and see the tiny goddess next to the king of dragons, her tiny wrists shackled. Altina had met his gaze over Yune's head. She, too, had been upset.

"What did Ashera do?"

"She wanted to remove Yune," he reminded her gently. "Yune, as one would expect, did not wish for that to happen. The three heroes, and Ashera's own advisor, Lehran, were able to convince her not to do that by reaching a compromise. Yune would be sealed away, tucked safely into a medallion and soothed by heron song. Sealing her away was just as good as removing her, as either way, Yune could not trouble anyone."

"But that's - " Sanaki yawned, " - so sad..."

"It is, child," Sephiran agreed. He brushed her hair from her face. "But it was better than the alternative. She is still around, sealed away in Lehran's Medallion." He watched Sanaki as she snuggled under her blankets, then leaned forward and placed a kiss atop the apostle's head. She would fall asleep quickly, he was sure of it.

As he stood from the bed, she rolled over and curled up on her side. He stood for a full minute, waiting to see if she would ask him to stay until she fell asleep. When she did not, he slowly, quietly walked to the door. As he opened it, she called for him.

"Sephiran?" In her sleepy state, and with her voice muffled slightly from her covers, it sounded more like "Seffrrrn?"

"Yes?"

"Good night."

He chuckled to himself, surprised by how two words could warm his heart so. "Good night, Apostle Sanaki."