Chapter Two

Adara smiled wanly at her younger son. Twenty months old, Link was curious and inventive, and right now was trying to get sweets off the counter he was much too short to reach. Adara watched his struggles for a few more moments before scooping him up. Wrapping her arms around him she tapped his nose playfully, holding him tightly against her chest. "No no, Link. Your going to spoil your supper." she told him gently. Baby Link smiled up at her with a brightness only an innocent child could possess and giggled, trying to grab her hand. He was much too old for that game now, but Adara was just glad he still let her snuggle with him. Her older son Samus was four now, almost five, and all he cared about day in and day out was learning to fight so he could join the Royal Guard like his Father and his Uncle.

Adara looked out the window to watch him. He was practicing fighting moves Kirsley had shown him with the wooden sword he'd given him last month in honor of the Festival of Din. Adara smiled as she watched him. Maybe it was just a Mother's pride, but she thought he was just wonderful for his age. He looked just as she imagined Kirsley must have looked at his age, albeit with golden hair and not Samus' shockingly red hair.

In the distance a bugle sounded. "Papa! Papa!" Link cried, struggling out of his Mother's arms. "That's right, Link! Papa's coming!" Adara said, laughing. Adara held her son's hand tightly as she led him outside to see his Father. As they waited outside their small home, Adara felt her heart dropping. Kirsley was always one of the first in the gate. He'd always come in, smiling hugely. He'd come and ruffle Sam's hair, toss Link into the air, and kiss her, and than he'd say 'We won another one, Babe. We got 'em!" Than Samus would say "You got 'em Daddy! You whipped 'em good, right Daddy?" And Link would try to repeat him, and say "Whip 'im Da-ee? Get 'im good, Da-ee?" And Kirsley would laugh and smile at his sons and say "That's right! Your Papa's the man! Samus and Link's Papa kicks butt!" Than they would all go in and celebrate, not just for the victory, that was what the little ones thought, but Kirsley and Adara knew it was to celebrate that Kirsley came back safe and sound.

When Adara saw her brother-in-law Brailyn walk through the gate, one of the last, slow and with his head down, she knew without a doubt. Her husband's luck had broken, and he wasn't coming back from the front this time. Doing her best to hold herself together for her kids, 'Dara swallowed and called her elder son over to her. "Samus, I want you to take your brother into the house. Stay there I until I come and get you." Samus' brown eyes flashed with anger. "But Mama, I want to see Da-!" But his Mother cut him off. "Don't argue with me Samus, just do what I say! Right now!" She was sorry to snap at him, but she didn't want them there to hear Brai's inevitable news, or see her reaction. "Take Link and go." she told Samus, lifting them up to the top of the stairs. "I'll be there in a few minutes.

Adara waited for Brailyn, and the time it took him to walk to her seemed to take centuries. The slight hope she was left was almost unbearable. She walked the last ten feet or so to him. "Where is he, Brai? Where's my husband?" she asked him, reaching out and taking his hand. "Tell me what happened, Brailyn! Please, I need to know!"

Brailyn couldn't bring himself to look at her. Kirlsey had died to save him, after all, and left behind his wife and sons in doing so. "I'm sorry, 'Dar." he said quietly. "I, I left his body just outside the gate. I didn't want the boys to see." Brai said, his voice breaking off into a sob. "I'm so sorry, it's all my fault! He was looking out for me, I should have seen it coming..."

Adara wrapped her arms around him, doing her best to suspend her grief so she could comfort him. There would be many long nights for her to cry through, she didn't need to cry now. "Don't, Brai. Don't do that to yourself. We both know how Kirsley was. You, you were his baby brother. I don't blame you, Brailyn. I never would. I couldn't. I just don't know how to tell my sons their Daddy isn't coming home."

Brailyn hung his head again. "The boys... Link's too young to understand, he'll just miss him. But Samus, Godesses, Samus!" Brailyn curled his hands into fists. "It was only a boy who killed him! Not even a teenager, just a child! Damn those rebels, damn them!" Brailyn looked up at Adara. "Do you believe it? Kirs, cut down by a little boy?" Brailyn shook his head. "He told me, before he, went. He told me to tell y-"

Adara stopped him. "Not yet, Brai. Wait, tell me and the boys together. I know Kirs, and he wouldn't have forgotten them in the end. He loved those boys too much to have been worrying about me." An idiotic smile floated over Adara's face briefly, and Brailyn saw how close she really was to hysterics. He smiled back at her sadly. "He didn't forget them, 'Dar. But you were the first one on his lips."

Adara almost lost it just than. But she held onto her composure and just nodded soundlessly. She glanced back over her shoulder, and saw Samus' face in the window, looking out and watching them. She waved to him, and he smiled brightly and waved back. Adara turned back to Brailyn and sighed. "I have to go and tell them. Samus, at least. Link won't understand, your right. But I have to tell Samus. He probably thinks Kirs is hiding somewhere, some grand suprise in store. It won't have crossed his mind that his Father could have fallen. Kirsley is unbeatable to him." Brailyn looked away. "Yeah, he was to me too. You want me to come?" Brailyn asked her. He didn't want to, the last thing he wanted to do was be there when she told Samus, but if she wanted him there it was his duty, it would have been even if his brother hadn't asked him to watch over them.

Adara paused. "I, I don't know." She bit her lower lip as she considered it. As much as she wanted to just go in alone and sit her son down, there were things she couldn't answer that Brai could. Brai had been there. And the sooner it was real, the better for all of them. "I guess you'd better. If Samus has any questions... you could answer better than I could." Adara looked into Brailyn's eyes. "You're good with him. I know you know how to answer."

As soon as they started up the steps, Samus flung the door open. "Where's my Papa?" he asked, starting down the stairs. "Uncle Brai, where's my Papa? Is he hiding? Does he have a suprise for us?" Adara realized Samus had a better handle on what Kirsley's abscence meant than she had thought. She opened her mouth to say something to him, unsure what it would be, but before she could speak Brailyn scooped him up in his arms and carried him back up into the house. "Nah, buddy, I'm afraid he don't. Lets go back in the house; your Mama and I have to talk to you about something."

Adara took Samus and sat him on her lap. She didn't need to tell Link anything, he was just a baby afterall, so she left him play on the floor with the wooden blocks Kirsley had carved for could feel Samus tensing up. He was a smart boy, he had a good inkling of what was coming. "Sweety, Daddy... your Daddy had an accident today." she said softly, brushing Samus' flaming red hair back from his forehead and avoiding his muddy brown eyes. "They whipped Daddy today." she thought to herself, hearing Samus and Link in her head asking Kirsley if he got the bad guys. "They got him good." But she couldn't say that to her son, it would have been beyond cruel. "Samus honey, one of the rebels, one of the bad men, they hurt Daddy real bad." Adara blurted out, forcing herself not to cry.

Her son's eyes were wide and afraid. "Where is he, Mama? Where's Papa? I want to see my Papa!" Samus cried, struggling to get down.

Adara held him tight. "No, Sam, you can't! You can't see Papa! Papa's not coming home, Sam, Papa can't come home anymore!" she cried, feeling the tears beginning to betray her.

Samus struggled free from her. "I want to see my Papa!" he screamed, looking around wildly. "I want my Daddy!" The little boy ran out the door before his Mother or Uncle could stop him.

"Samus!" Adara screamed, going after him, her throat tightening with fear. But before she could get down the steps Brailyn grabbed her arm. "Wait, 'Dar. Stay here with Link, I'll go bring Sam back. He needs a minute. It's, it's a lot to take in."

Adara nodded painfully. "Alright. But hurry, Brai. I want him with me. We need to be together now." she whispered, barely registering it as Brailyn nodded and ran after Samus. She walked numbly back into the house and sat down on the floor. She hadn't accepted it herself yet, that Kirs was gone. How could she expect a four year old boy to?

Link padded over to her and laid his head on her shoulder. "Mama?" he asked, and somehow Adara felt a smile, a genuine smile, touch her lips. He was such a sweet little boy. Reaching up to brush his cheek with her finger, the window in front of them exploded in a shower of glass and fire. The sounds of battle could be heard clearly outside now. The rebels knew the game was up, and in a last attempt at victory, they had brought the fight home to the Loyalists.