August 1489 PD
Sweetest Lia,
Oh, Lia. I'm so distraught as I write this. It's only been months since it's happened, but you'll have to forgive the tear stains. And I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner. It hurt too much.
The baby came too quickly, too early. The doctors couldn't do much to save him, and he died a few hours after being born. We still named him. Orion.
Did you know that Terra and Myula have the same constellations? Most of them have different names and stories, but there's a few that have the same. On Myula the story of Orion is about a man, a warrior who had to complete three tasks and earn three stars in order to save his love. In Terra it's about a hunter with whom the goddess of the moon and hunt falls in love with, and the jealous brother of the goddess sends a monster to kill him. The goddess, in morning of Orion's, creates a constellation in honor of the man she loved. Either way, it's a love story involving a strong man. And I refuse to let my son go unnamed. After all, we must have something to call him in the next life.
Randy and I have recently decided to adopt a little baby boy in Orion's name. Randy found him when he went into Myula for work. The baby lost his father to raiders (33), and his mother died just after childbirth. His grandmother, who was taking care of the month old babe, was ailing and happy to have found a good home for him, for her magic (the little bit she had was divinary) told her she had not long to live. The baby's name is Matthew. It's close to Matthias, I know, but I'm going to leave it as it. His birth mother, who no doubt would have loved him with all her heart, gave it to him, and I'm not going to change that. I can think of no better way to honor a baby who didn't get the chance to live and grow by giving a child who very nearly lost the chance the ability to thrive. I'm going to give a little boy a chance, one my baby didn't get. And I can't dwell on the bad—I've got three children now to care for and I'll be damned if I don't give them the best that I possibly can. Besides, working helps me not focus on the grief.
I'm so happy to hear that you're doing so well with Luca. The big sister in me (I may be a mother but I'll always be your older sister) is right there next to you, getting all excited about it. And I wouldn't be too disheartened as his leaving—I've got a strong good feeling that you two will continue to grow closer. And we both know how accurate those "feelings" I get usually are.
With all the love in my heart,
Rora
Annotations:
33) Raiders: This is referring to the raiders from the country of Eclos, to the west of Gedonelune. Due to the extreme poverty of Eclos, they often raid the towns on the western edge of Gedonelune.