~Naminé~
“Cathar!” I whispered excitedly. I had been terrified at first, but as soon as we got behind the pillar he let go, turned me around, and instantly threw his arms around me in a big hug. He may have been younger in cycles, but he still towered over me. “What are you doing here, brother?” I asked him.
“I had to see you,” he said as he tried to push his blond hair out of his dark brown eyes.
I leaned back out of his embrace to look into those eyes. My younger brother had aged much since the King had sent him to the garrison to train only several months ago. I hadn’t seen him since. “Will you get into trouble?”
“If they find me. That’s why I had to sneak up on you like that,” he said, while looking around covertly.
“Why would you risk it? It would be dangerous for you to be seen conversing with a servant,” I told him hastily. Although I was so delighted to see him and would have given anything to have more time with him, I knew if we were caught it would be a catastrophe.
“Naminé, I am leaving tonight. I had to see you before I left.”
“What? Where are you off to? Why?” I asked him as my voice shook.
“They are sending my convoy out for scouting. We leave at nightfall and make our way to the boundary. I do not know how long I will be gone or when I will be back. I have been aching to see you. Have you been all right?”
I trembled. I didn’t want him to go. He was only fifteen. Why was he being sent out? I didn’t understand any of it. “I’m all right,” I told him weakly. “Cathar, I don’t want you to go. It is too dangerous.”
“Nam, I have to. It’s an order,” he said as he wrapped his arms tighter around me. “Please tell Father and Mother, and don’t worry for me. I will be all right. We have been training hard, and I feel stronger than I have ever felt before.” He looked down at me and wiped the tears that strolled down my cheeks. “I love you, dear sister of mine. You must remain strong. I will be back for you.”
As he walked away, he gave me one last look, slightly smiled, and was gone. I stared after him with a nervous, terrible feeling in my gut that I was never going to see him again.
Chapter Thirty-Four